Seaward Pendant

I've been dabbling in PMC for a  year and quite seriously for the past six months.
Everything I've learned has been through trial and error and reading a lot of books!
Here is a pendant I'm pretty happy with.
It's PMC3, the chain I made with fine silver wire (18 gauge jump rings and hammered wire). The stamps I used for the text and the seashell are from a collection I got at Alpha Stamps  called
Under the Sea Cling Stamp Set.
The pendant is about 2.5 inches long including the seashell and the chain is 28 inches.

I plan on many more pieces! PMC is a lot of fun to work with and you don't have to be an expert to make something thoroughly satisfying.

Mermaid Lantern

Continuing in the beachy mermaid theme I've got going on here is a fun lantern I made for Alpha Stamps. I had so much fun making her! Most everything came from Alpha Stamps with the exception of the tentacle thingy, which I made from polymer clay and the disc that is in back of the mermaid figure-also made from polymer clay.

I just realized the wee pearl I glued into her hand has gone missing and she's gazing at her palm.
Oops.
Perhaps she's just wishing the artist that made her abode was more on the ball.
Thanks for stopping by!

Tunnel Book Love

Oh, I do love tunnel books! Here are three versions of the same kind of construction. I did these for the fabulous folks at Alpha Stamps with a wee tutorial on how to change the 'scenery' around if you have a hankering to do so!

First off, if you've never made a tunnel book, there is a great tutorial Here at Kira Nichols
awesome site, Oops, I Craft My Pants.
Secondly, what I am going to show you is easy peasy and a fun way to change out what you have in your tunnel book. You can design one to change with the seasons, or make a little beach babes fashion show like the one I've done here.

 



























After I constructed the bones of my book, I cut pieces of card stock into 4x4 squares.
I tried to slide the squares down through the top of my book, but they won't fit, so I trim off the excess and dry fit it again. I've learned that even though I'm measuring to fit, they don't always, so it's best to check. After I get the size right, I trim out most of the paper leaving about 1/4 inch 'frame'.

I use the first frame I cut as a template for the additional frames. How many you cut is up to you. The more layers you have, the more depth and dimension you get. This book has slots for eight frames.
After all the frames are cut out, it's time to play!
Since I want this to be beachy and tropical with a vintage feel, I'm using these collage sheets from
Alpha Stamps:
Bathing Costumes Collage Sheet
Boardwalk Fashions Collage Sheet
Beach and Shore Backdrops Collage Sheet

I cut out a lot of foliage, ladies in swimsuits and a couple in street clothes and played around until I got things in positions I liked and glued the individual pieces on their frames.
I colored the bottoms of each frame so they blend into the scene.

After that, it's a matter of playing around with the order they go in and what you want to be in the background, foreground and mid-ground.
I also used one of the frames to change the background from the ship/beach scene to beach parasols.
Here are ladies with the parasol background.

Supplies lists and a couple of shots of the other tunnel books......

"Shipwreck"

"Waterbabies"

 

Supplies for 'Shipwreck'
Ships and Waves Backdrops Collage Sheet
Mermaids #3 Collage Sheet
4x4 Die-Cut Chipboard Frame Set
Travel Sea Shells Grand Adhesions




Supplies for 'Waterbabies'
4x4 Die-Cut Chipboard Frame Set
Mermaids #3 Collage Sheet
Ships and Waves Backdrop Collage Sheet
Children at the Beach Collage Sheet
Dimensional Mini Seashells
Sand Dollar Ledger Scrapbook Paper

The parasols in the Beach Babes are from Graphic 45 's Birdsong Collection, 'Endless Spring'.
The paper used for the front of Beach Babes is Fresh.

Additional Supplies
Vintage Plastic Beads
Copic Markers

More Buggy Things

These are a few more of the Bug Plaques I've made. I think over time I've probably made at least a couple of dozen......bugs are fun!

Most of the bug plaques start out with a wooden base of some kind, then I make the polymer clay tiles and texture them to my liking.

I've been playing around with nail polish as enameling for a while now and really like the way it looks with the brass glowing through the color.

I like to use brads and stuff like old nails to add more texture to the plaques. Plus, it's a great reason to muck around in old junk shops!
Thanks for stopping by and having a look!

Year of the Cicada and other buggy things

This is the year the cicadas come out of their seventeen year sleep, rise from the ground and cause havoc...they eat, work hard at making little baby cicadas and lay their eggs in the smaller branches of hardwood trees.
Aside from the yuck factor I feel when I think about a plague of cicadas, they are also pretty fascinating creatures as are most insects......if you happen to like buggy things as I do.

Inspired by the seventeen year locust, this is a plaque made from wood polymer clay and brass findings. The beautifully made cicada is a raw brass stamping I found online at Vintage Jewelry Supplies. I enameled him with nail polish applied with fine brushes. Nail polish remover will clean the brushes okay, but best to have a couple for dedicated use and don't spend a lot of dollars on them as they don't last long!
The clay tiles were cut out with cookie cutters and textured
with various stamps and tools with interesting patterns.
The color is painted on with acrylics.
The leaves are also brass stampings enameled with nail polish.
The wooden plaque everything rests on was primered, then painted with gold acrylic paint and then a layer of Quinacridone Gold was washed over the top to give it a richer look.

What the Bee Knows 2

Altered Matchbox Triptych inspired by P.L. Travers, the author of the 'Mary Poppins' books and a wonderful collection of her articles from 'Parabola' magazine called 'What the Bee Knows'.
A very interesting and long-lived woman, she met many other famous writers, artists and poets in her time, including Peter Llewelyn Davies, (J. M. Barrie's son and her publisher) and W. B. Yeats.

The lavender came from my garden as well as the wee twigs.
Thanks for stopping by!