Dark and Rusty

For the longest time, I don't think my art had a voice.

I think it echoed whispers of the artists that enchanted me.

It took many years for my pieces to start to look like my own style.

And now that I think my pieces look like me, I push myself to try something different.

Such is the case with these pieces.

I went all dark and rusty....

I took a lot of components I had and gave them a JAX Pewter Black bath.

I love how that simple step adds the look of centuries to a piece.

It can go from at-the-mall-shiny to just-excavated-ancient.

It is fun to add fibers into the mix....

I have to say.... 

I love this look.

I could not do it all the time, but I will do it more often....

I threw in some actual antiques as well...

The skeleton key and the sweetheart pin are vintage finds...

I hope you love to try something new too.

It changes your perspective....

Thanks for stopping by....

Archaeology Necklace

Sometimes it is just fun to do something that is outside your usual style.

A friend and I decided to try to make some things with a decidedly grubbier and darker look.

It involved a lot of JAX Pewter Black.

I used it to age some chains, focals, and beads.

And this Archaeology necklace was born.

Glass and polymer beads were combined into this fun necklace.

The smashed bottle cap with a map covered in resin looked so much better after it was painted with JAX.

Now I love it.

It was in my failures pile so I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained...

What a gain...

I made links for each of my beads and then dipped them in Jax.

They all got rubbed with wax and buffed.

The fiber piece was made from a bit of a muslin sheet.

I dipped it in watered down black paint and then waxed it.

And those little twisted wire jump rings...

I made them...

Now THAT was fun!

I thoroughly enjoyed trying a new look.

I will be doing more of this style for sure...

What have you tried that was new for you?

Thanks for stopping by...

Let's Make Jersey Yarn from a T-Shirt: A DIY Tutorial

I made some t-shirt yarn this week.

Start with a couple old t-shirts.

The key for this to work is to choose an unprinted t-shirt that has no side seams below the arms of the shirt.

Some people say you can use printed t shirts but I don't like the way the printed t-shirts turn out.

It is better if the printing is above the armpits of the shirt.

                                            

Cut the top of the t-shirt off.  

Cut straight across from armpit to armpit.

So far, so good...

Cut the bottom seam off the shirt.

To make it easier, I folded the piece in half so the two folded edges almost match up at the top.

Then I made cuts about an inch wide almost to the top fold.

Make sure cuts do go through the bottom fold but not to the top.

Open it up so the uncut strip lays fairly flat.

Starting about halfway down the area, make a cut from the left to the first slit on the right.

Then you want to cut it so you have one continuous piece.

Essentailly you will make diagonal cuts across the uncut strip.  

Once you are done cutting, you should end up with one long continuous piece.

This next part is my favorite.

Grab and gently pull the strip to get it to curl into a rope or yarn.

Continue stretching and pulling the strip until you have a continuous piece of t-shirt yarn.

The gray shirt came from the thrift store for a dollar.

This blue one was my husbands and had two big holes...

Instead of going into the rag bag, it will become something new.

You could just roll them into a ball.

I had these awesome metal spools  that I got at my favorite surplus store.

I wrapped the yarn on there and they are just waiting for my next project. 

 I have lots of ideas.

Thanks for stopping by...

                 Linking up with these great blogs.

Do You UTEE?

Last winter I discovered the magic of UTEE.

I had read about it, but had no idea what it was: Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel from Ranger.

Why didn't someone say so?

Anyway, it is essentially little beads of plastic that you melt in their little melting pot.  

Then you can dip all kinds of things into it.

They end up getting coated with a clear plastic coating that looks like glass.

My favorite things to UTEE are paper flowers and paper leaves.

Come see how they look in some designs.

To make a hole, I put a wire in a votive flame to heat it and then just held it on the petal to melt through.

Sometimes I twist a little as I do it as well.

See how they look like glass?

I often make little leaves from discarded book pages.  Each leaf has a piece of floral wire sandwiched between 2 pages so I can give them a little bend before I dip in the UTEE.

The UTEE makes each leaf so much more sturdy but it still looks delicate.

I added a bit of green tint to the UTEE batch for the leaves.

If you have never tried it, I do highly recommend it.

It is addictive though.

It is also worth the investment to buy the mat. 

It gives you a place to put everything while it cools and any extra UTEE just peels right off when it is cool to be used again.

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.