More Memory Frames and Sly Dreams

Just thought I'd show you the process of making one of the memory frame charms. I was reading Tim Holtz blog the other day and he had used clear UTEE mixed with Distress Embossing Powders with what he said were fantastic results. So thought I'd give it a try and use up some of my DEP (not that keen on them anyway) and see what happens. It's quite a thick mixture once it's melted and the distress bits sink to the bottom, so a bit of a stir is in order. I used "Shabby Shutters" because as you know green is my favourite colour. I used a mold from Krafty Lady, 5 different sizes of domino shapes.A little trick I gleaned from reading Margot Potters blog and watching one of her Youtube videos. Saves having to drill a hole in the utee/opals after it's set. Bend a piece of wire and after the uteee/opals has been poured and before it starts to set lay the piece of wire into the mold and hold it (with tweezers, it gets hot!) until the utee/opals starts to set. That way you have a ready made bail.
It's a bit difficult to see, but round about where the blob is on the mold is where I've laid the wire.
Here I've laid a memory frame over a stamp.
Poured the utee.
Let it set then gently pulled the stamp off.

The domino tiles have been stamped with black Stazon ink and I also, after I had taken the photos, smooshed the stamp pad over the memory frames with black just to colour the raised pattern.
By mixing the DEP with clear utee/opals you are supposed to get this grainy, flecky kind of effect which to me isn't all that evident. But I do love the colour and I've managed to use up some of the DEP which probably would have languished in a drawer of my desk for ever and a day.
I'm feeling pretty chuffed today. The black and ivory necklace in the post below is SOLD. One of the ladies I work with has bought it as birthday gift for a friend.
Totally unrelated, but do you ever wake up from a dream and just wonder why on earth you dreamt that particular dream. Well I had one of those last night. I was on Dancing with the Stars and my partner was Sylvester Stallone...I know.....what can I say! I was all frocked up in satin and glitter and fake tan with a lovely tiara and we swanned around that dance floor like Fred and Ginger. I tell ya, that Sly, he's light on his feet (must be all that boxing) but the weird thing was, he was dressed as Rambo! Someone psychoanalyse me please! Did we win?.......don't know, woke up for one of my numerous visits to the toilet. Damn my bladder to hell!

No Housework Get's Done

Here's some Leandra beads I made yesterday, still pretty wonky but if you clump them together it's not quite so noticeable. I've attached them to various lengths of chain then attached that to a large jump ring which I attached to an even larger ring with a hole in it. Added another large jump ring that I threaded some small beads onto then put the whole thing on a chain. Fun to make but I'm suffering with RSI in my wrist and my shoulders are killing me from being hunched over the desk for a few hours. Who says you don't need to be fit to craft. Think I need to go to a gym and do some sort of muscle strengthening exercises.......me.....gym.....nah!
Another memory frame. Black gold and silver Opals and I laid some opal scraps over it when it was set then blasted them with the heat gun to attach them to the base.
This is the reverse side. After it was set I sprinkled on some silver and green Opals granules and heat seat them with the gun.
The small memory frames I made the other day have now become a bracelet with come small beads between the frames.
The reverse side.
In between all this jewellry making I have made some ATC's but I'll post them another day.
The pest control guy is here to do the annual termite inspection. Nice guy but I always dread his visit in case he finds some huge infestation and the roof is about to fall in. So far so good.

Opals "play Date"

Had a fantastic day on Monday. The art world is a wonderful place to meet lovely people and my friend Svetlana is one of them. We spent the day at her place and played with Opals embossing powders. I've had a melt pot on order for about 6 weeks and Opals for a bout 3 weeks that I haven't been able to play with much without the melt pot. So Svetlana gave me her unused one (it's been sitting in her drawer for about 2 years) and when mine finally arrives I'll pass it on to her. So we tentatively melted and poured and these are some of our results. Below are a couple of molds that I had made with the 'mold & pour' stuff. The one on the left is a cameo and on the right is a piece of jewellry I'd picked up in a second hand shop. I've brushed the cameo with perfect pearls just to highlight it a bit and the left one is a combination of colours swirled together.
These little trinkets are Ranger memory frames about an inch square. Laid them over a patterned stamp then poured a combination of silver, gold and black opals into the frames let them harden then lifted them off. Gorgeous patterns and colours, but the beauty of them is the back looks just as incredible as the front.
The two long frames at the top of this post (sometimes blogger plays mind games with me, could have sworn I uploaded that photo, now everything is out of sequence) are the same technique as the little ones, just different colours, clear on the left with perfect pearls and a combination of green, black and silver.
So tonight I'm taking a class with Mel on how to make melt art beads and I'm really looking forward to that, so get ready for another post on my bead successes or failures (whichever the case may be) in a day or two.
I'm off to have lunch, vacuuming and washing four floors is exhausting and hunger inducing!