Botanicals In Frosted Resin

I am so pleased to introduce my new line of resin jewelry! These miniature cherry blossom branches were made from real twigs and polymer clay flowers.

These pieces take quite a bit of time to make, and in an effort to maintain the quality of this style I will only be offering them with Italian sterling silver chains. Yes, box chain - my favorite!

Encased in clear resin, you can fully enjoy the multi-dimensional elements. I love working with paper, but it is so...well, flat...

I will always prefer embedding 3-D objects, and am especially inspired by flowers or other natural elements. Life is so hectic now, sometimes we don't even get out of the house or office, let alone be able to slow down and actually enjoy the outdoors. So it's nice to be able to carry a bit of nature with you.

The back and sides are sanded with a fine grit paper to produce a soft frosted look. The result reminds me of ice - with tiny treasures frozen inside, of course!

New variations will be coming soon, including different blossom colors and fun beaded chains.

Resin Casting Supplies

I've received a couple inquiries about where to find various resin supplies, and I am happy to share. My local craft store, Michael's, has a very limited selection but it is where I buy my resin. I get a weekly coupon in the mail for 40% off any item, so that is a fabulous deal! Everything else I buy online. Of course, you can do a search for anything and pull up countless pages of stores. I've done a lot of comparison shopping and these are my favorites:

Deep Flex:
http://www.yaley.com/molds/Jewel_Cabachon_Molds.htm
They have the best prices I have found for jewelry molds. Just a note: Do Not buy their mixing cups - not only are they wax, but the measuring lines are not accurate! (Resulted in a few bad batches before I figured out what was going on.)

Resin Obsession on Ebay:
http://stores.ebay.com/RESINOBSESSION
Here you can find almost everything you will need including several items I have not seen anywhere else. She also has several video tutorials demonstrating the basics of working with resin.

Resin Obsession is also on Etsy!
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5886916
The selection here is not as great as in her Ebay store, but you can find some other unique items.

Delphi Glass:
http://www.delphiglass.com/index.cfm?page=itemList&viewcat=2413
Their prices seem a bit higher, but they gave a lot of interesting items.

Dick Blick:
http://www.dickblick.com/categories/jewelrymaking/

Remember when ordering resin online to take the shipping charges into consideration as part of the cost.

When I'm ready to buy, I always check all the above sites to see if anyone is having a sale or offering shipping discounts.

My First Little Black Box - What's Inside?

A few days ago, I received my first Little Black Box in the mail. Basically, of number of artists of various handmade items submit their work (for free) and usually sample sizes, as a way of promoting their shop. So, when you purchase the Box, you get an array of little goodies, and get to see and try things you might not have otherwise heard about.

I purchased the September box for $23 and received 18 items. Some I would never use or wear, but others were really wonderful and I was pleased to discover them.

So, what's in the Box?

3 sets of earrings, 1 beaded zipper pull, 1 copper wire-wrapped charm, 1 beaded bookmark, 5 soap samples, 1 resin ring, 1 paper gift tag, 1 necklace with 5 mini note cards, 1 pocket mirror, a tube of vitamin C serum, 1 magnet, and 1 facial scrubbie. Most items also came with coupons of 10-25% off for your next purchase.

Here are my favorites:

Soap, soap, soap! These are great because for me, fancy soaps are sort of a luxury that I'd hesitate to buy for myself. Also, it's hard to know how something smells if you're trying to order online, so these are a perfect item for the Little Black Box. I was able to see the wonderful quality and delicious scents and will definitely be going back to some of these shops to purchase soap in the future.

Look at that - yes, a full-sized bar of soap from The Gourmet Bath Shop, now that's an awesome "sample"! The scent is 'Strawberry Musk' - sweet, but subtle, and just wonderful.

Next, 3 sample soaps from S.V. Soaps, KaressKrafters, and Soap Sushi. They all smell yum, yum, yummy! My favorite things about all these soaps is that they are made from quality ingredients like Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Soy. And the delightful scents are of Spa quality, not the fake perfumy stuff you find at the drugstore.

My favorite though is the Bathtub Candy from Bodyluxe. Something about this scent, 'Orange Pomander' - I just can't stop sniffing it!

Next is this unusual bookmark from Kitty Hawke. It's very pretty, and something I will be able to use. That is, of course, assuming I might someday have a chance to actually do some reading!

BeeDazzles really stands above the rest with her offering. Not only did she provide a lovely necklace with a nice satin cord, but she included 5 mini note cards with envelopes all in a cute little box.

Finally, this Vitamin C Serum from Mainly Naturals was an awesome sample to find in my Box. It is something I would probably not otherwise have ever tried.

I purchased this Little Black Box this time because I will be participating myself in December. So I wanted to get a feel for what sort of items were included and how they were packaged. It gave me some good ideas, but was also a lot of fun! I will probably be ordering more Black Boxes in the future. Who doesn't like surprises? And really, it was like receiving 18 surprise gifts all at once - pretty cool!