New Tutorial and a Vote

Concrete and resin cab ready for beading

Just finished up the last of three tutorials on my concrete and resin cabochons over on my website over at Skunk Hill Studio.  This one's on resin - specifically using epoxy resin as a topcoat.  I love the sense of physical depth and the vibrancy of colors that result. 

I'd given myself  an August 31st deadline.  Finished editing it yesterday.  Sigh!






 So, moving right along.  I'm now thinking of my next tutorial.  Should I cover:

Option 1: Dyed Papers

Folding and dyeing tissues papers for use in scrapbooking, paper collages, or as unique wrapping paper?

Or

Option 2: Loop and toggle clasp with right angle weave

Instructions for a loop and toggle clasp using right angle weave.  I work most of the stitching flat, then lace it over the forms to make everything much simpler.


If you have a preference, leave a comment and let me know.  My goal is to have the new instructions posted by October 1st.  We'll see how that goes.

Victorian Listening Device (aka a Bug)

"Victorian Listening Device" by Tamera Mickelson

Here's a piece by one of my favorite artists;  Tamera Mickelson of T.M. Originals.

I got to see this at Sunday's Seedbeader meeting and I begged to take some pictures.  It's tiny; smaller than a quarter all told, the body somewhere between a penny and a nickel in size.  The 'guts' are old clock workings that she salvaged and encased in resin.  The bead work is done with size 11 Delicas. 

Side view, "Victorian Listening Device" by Tamera Mickelson

Three of her pieces are featured in the recently published book 1,000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art and she'll have a booth at SteamCon here in Seattle in October.  But you don't have to be a steampunk aficionado to enjoy her work.  You can see more of her work, including some additional captured cabochons, at her Artfire site, Javagoth. 

Grabbed one of her postcards! 

And here's the other side

I Had a Little Dremel

Earlier this week I had the belated, but bright idea of pulling out my trusty dremel tool to help me sand my growing collection of concrete beauties.  But when I went to change drill bits, I couldn't get the shaft lock to engage.  Pout!

Unsure whether it was just myself or if the tool was actually broken, (does anyone else have this problem?) I packed it up and headed down the street to the local Home Depot, where I happily accosted unsuspecting sales associates in the tool department and made them take a look.  The universal answer, after it had been passed from hand to hand, was Broken.  Double Pout!

A girl has to have her accessories

Potential good news - I may be able to get a replacement part and fix it myself from Dremel (if I can ever manage to call while they're open).  But that wouldn't help me in the short term.  But what before my eyes should appear,  but a row of brand new dremel tools and accessories, singing their siren songs.  Aack!

My new Dremel 1000 with its little accessory kit

So now I'm the proud owner of the Dremel 1000, with its handy dandy speed dial of 5,000-35,000 rpm.  And I love it!

I spent the afternoon sanding with these little sand paper drums.  They worked beautifully on the concrete and I only caught my cuticles twice.  I probably should have worn safety goggles (squinting doesn't really work to keep concrete grit out of the eyes), but all and all I emerged happily unscathed and triumphant. 

And as it turns out, once you've worn the little sanding drums down so that they don't actually sand anymore, they become buffing wheels.  How perfect is that?

Sanded, buffed, polished and painted - Ready for a night on the town

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Concrete pancake just removed from the tray

Are you sick of concrete yet?  Hope not: it's what I worked on today and hence my focus for this post.

I pulled a tray's worth of concrete pancakes off of their blue tape today and the immediate results were far from stunning.

Take this blue baby: the concrete had crept well past my design lines and underneath most of my beads.

After Sanding

A little work with with sandpaper - 60 grit to remove the excess concrete and 150 grit to knock back the scratches - it's starting to look a little more presentable, but still nothing to write home about.

Just add water (though resin is more permanent)

To test how it would look if I added resin (and to remove any left over concrete dust) I ran it under the tap.  The colors and beads immediately jumped out - this gives me a good idea what it would look like with resin.

Open Studio Evenings in Full Swing

Hard at work, laying out designs and mixing concrete

Four intrepid souls from the Sead Beaders' group helped me kick off the first of three open studio evenings. 

Couldn't have asked for nicer weather - in fact the sun was so bright we ended up having to pull the curtains for much of the evening until it set. 

Shelly smoothing concrete over her designs

It was fascinating watching what people brought to use for inclusions - so many new ideas.  I can't wait for this Thursday to see how everyone's pieces turned out.

And I hope everyone is pleased - often, they have a bit of an ugly duckling look about them until we've had a chance to brush them up with a little sand paper and add a touch of acrylics or resin to help bring out the design.

And that's what this Thursday evening is all about - and playing with resin as well.

A tray of colored concrete pancakes waiting for their reveal

For those who attended last week: you'll have a chance to put the finishing touches on your concrete cabochons.  If you weren't able to attend, but are curious - I will have the concrete available for experimentation.

We'll work with the epoxy resin both in conjunction with the concrete and on its own.  I plan to spend some time this evening drawing little designs that might get used in the resin. 

Steampunk bracelet from Cindy's ResinObsession blog

Here are some fun links on working with resin:

• Resin Obssession - an entire blog devoted to resin jewelry, with a recent article on a Steampunk bracelet.
• Resin Jewelry Tutorial with John W. Golden - the video is a little long, but he's quite thorough.
• Resin Jewelry Making 

Play Dates at the Studio

Pouring concrete cabs - don't look like much at this stage, do they?

I've been playing around with ideas for summer classes for weeks now.  (Yes, I'm slow!) The problem: I wanted something lighter and more playful than a standard workshop lineup.  So I came up with the idea of a series of evening 'play dates' in the studio, each with it's own theme, but that build on eachother into something bigger.

For a while now I've been meaning to make some new focals for my beadwork using concrete and resin.  And I decided that would be my theme.

First up - Concrete Cabs on Thursday, June 30th.  We're talking small batches of concrete, mixed in clear plastic drinking cups with all sorts of interesting inclusions possible.  If you keep the mix fairly dry, you don't need to build walls to contain it.  Blue painters' tape holds my focal items in place and with a little luck prevents concrete from sneaking underneath.  You can also draw guides on the tape.  

Concrete tinted with procion dyes

I tinted the concrete with old procion dye mixtures - two different blacks, navy, scarlet, golden yellow, fuchsia and turquoise.  The colors look rather pastel when grouped as they are at right.  That's okay - its rather like adding gesso to a canvas, simply a base layer of color from which to work. 

Potential concrete focals, some with resin topcoat

Follow-up and Resin, Thursday July 7th.
The following Thursday, we'll be finishing up the concrete work - sanding, adding additional color with acrylics and rub n buff, and playing with resin.

If you attended the earlier session, resin can be used to 'butter' the concrete to deepen and enrich the colors, add a sense of depth and impart a high gloss finish.

Resin cab with embedded design

Or you can use resin by itself, embedding beads and other found objects or painted papers and drawings to create unique focals, like the cabochon featured at right.  I used the cab in my December Art Bead Scene challenge piece, Hunting Fae. 

Bead Rings - Tuesday, July 12
These fun bead rings (see more here) are quick to make, fun to wear, and a great introduction to right angle weave.  They are also great practise before setting out to capture a cabochon with right angle weave, since they use many of the same techniques.

Fair warning though - they are addictive to make and all your friends will want one!

Play Date Times
The three above are all evenings, starting at 7:00pm and running until 9:00pm or until I run out of steam, whichever is later at my studio just south of downtown Seattle. 

Focal - concrete cabochon with resin

Capturing Cabochons, Sunday August 7th
This is going to take longer than an evening, so carefully scheduling around Mariners' games and Sounders' games and concerts at Qwest field (the tricky part of neighboring two stadiums), I set the date for the first Sunday in August.

Bring your own cabochon, or cabochon shaped object, (or purchase one of mine) and I'll show you how to capture it with a mixture of right angle weave and peyote.  This will be an all day workshop. 

The evening play dates will be free, though donations are welcome to help cover materials costs.  And I'll be updating my website in the next day or so with this information and supply lists and such.  I will be charging for the capturing the cabochon class - just haven't quite figured out what yet.  Pricing is always so difficult!

June 23 update:  I  have now updated the calendar at skunkhillstudio.com and added separate class pages for each of the above.   Phew!  I forget just how much work that is.  I'll be adding more pics in the next couple of days, but I'm done for today. 

So, if you happen to be in the area and would like to stop by, drop me a line!  I'll send you the addy, directions and supply lists.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good - earrings to coordinate with my Hunting Fae necklace.  Like most of my earrings they're a coordinating rather than matching set.  I wasn't sure how the left hand earring would look without the tablet bead, but I think it turned out well and I really like its curves.  In truth, I think I prefer it. 

The Bad - yesterday's experiments with resin.  I just don't work with resin often enough, and in between times I forget things I know.  Even as I poured the resin into the copper frames, I berated myself for thinking that a single sheet of paper was enough to keep the resin in the frames.  And I was right.  I'm more amazed that one didn't leak than that three did.

Resin's also likely to stick to whatever barriers you erect to attempt to corral it.  Most of these will require so much work to try to save them I'm not sure if it's worth it. We'll see once I get my belt sander set up.  The resin disks in the trays turned out better, no pics of them, though.

The Ugly - my poor studio!  I didn't make it to the studio until early afternoon yesterday due to other commitments, but I had a full day's worth of work lined up.  Normally I straighten at least a little as I work.

Yesterday I just kept piling things and shifting piles so I could keep working.  Between tearing through my beads looking for what I wanted to send for the Bead Soup, searching through and cutting my decorated papers and setting everything up to do the resin work, the studio was in shambles by the time I noticed it was getting dark and ran out, locking the door and the mess behind me.  So here's where I started this morning.