Trying Something New...Resin Jewelry!

I've decided to try making resin jewelry! I love how quirky the pieces are and I also love the idea of embedding practically anything in the resin to be preserved forever! I tried to make a few pieces last year but it was one disastrous FAIL after another. So after making cloudy piece after cloudy piece, I gave up and put my resin away. It wasn't until my mom was looking for something a few weeks ago that she found my resin and molds and it sparked my interested again so I tried to give it another go.
Oddly enough, it was on my second attempt that I realized it was actually the mold release that was making each and every one of my pieces come out cloudy in some spots. Plus, I didn't have my hardener/resin mixture exactly evenly measured so everything was turning out sticky. Unfortunately, when you don't get the resin mixed properly, you're wasting a good chunk of money (depending on your brand, I use Castin' Craft) on failed batches of resin and hardener. So needless to say, it makes me wince every time something comes out less than perfect. *Fingers crossed* that I have it figured out now! Here's a little progress timeline:

Here was the first batch, before I realized the mold release was making them cloudy...



Then the second, no mold release, trying out separate layers of glitter with the sticker in it's own layer in the front!





And third...trying transparent color resin dye...another thing that kills me to waste..too much and the resin will not fully cure, but turn out flexible instead. Too little and the color is barely visible. These turned out great!




And just a few of my latest! I actually colored a couple with just a touch of tempera paint to make them opaque and did more layers of glitter on the others since I'm a sparkle girl. I already put necklace findings on the rectangular ones and a ring back on the green glitter one. LOVE them, may list them soon. Or not. ;)




Any thoughts?

Lots Going On, But a Surprise Feature!

Lots of things have been going on this week, some not so great (relationships, car troubles), others, REALLY great (a friend is engaged!).

Today, Garrick over at the Senioritis/Itmakesyoulazy Blog was kind enough to feature my shop in the Friday Finds blog post!
http://itmakesyoulazy.blogspot.com/2010/03/friday-finds-32610.html


As for the Senioritis Etsy shop, it's one of the most interesting, fun shops I've seen. They have great prints featuring well-known historic figures like Albert Einstein, Lewis Caroll, Dr. Seuss and Babe Ruth in fun ways and including a fitting quote on the print. I guarantee you that you've never seen a shop like this!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/senioritis


I have to say, my favorite is the Jean Harlow print:





Thanks again to everyone at Senioritis/Itmakesyoulazy for the great feature!

Hearts and Hands United Team Project

For one of my Etsy teams, Hearts and Hands United, our latest team project was to create something to fulfill two of the the "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue" categories for the upcoming wedding season.
I decided to make a set of 2 bows, one in white and one in blue, to fulfill the old and new categories.



See what other items the team has come up with here!
First installment:
http://heartsandhandsunited.blogspot.com/2010/03/team-project-no-1-something-old.html

Second installment:
http://heartsandhandsunited.blogspot.com/2010/03/team-project-no-1-something-old_19.html

Owl Cam- So Cute!

I've been addicted to this owl cam since the other day. Everyone is waiting for the baby owls to be born and watching the mommy (Molly) and the daddy (McGee) in the meantime. It's definitely addicting, I'm taking forever to write this tiny piece because apparently one of the babies, whom the owner of the owl box and camera are calling "Max," has been born!
Here's the website or you can just give it a second to load and push the graphic of the arrow on the picture to stream it below (great if you don't want the annoying chat that goes on from the main site):
http://www.ustream.tv/theowlbox

Free TV : Ustream

Peeps Ice? I'll Take One!

I'm probably the biggest sucker for different drink creations. I love all the new flavors Starbucks comes up with (ok, except for gingerbread and eggnog, not my favorite), love the variety of drinks at Sonic, flavored Coca Cola, etc. So imagine the squeal I let out when I got an email from the Peeps company advertising the new Peeps flavored Ice at Rita's! I quickly checked out the site for more information and to find out where I would be able to buy one of these interesting sounding concoctions. Unfortunately, there are NO Rita's locations in California, Nevada or Arizona, places where I would be able to check them out before they left the stores. I would love to know how these things taste, I'm imagining probably just like sugar ice but it's the idea of it all! And yes I know it looks like yellow snow but we all know it isn't. Lol.
Someone please try this for me when they come out, I'm desperate!




Another thing I was missing out on this year was my beloved Shamrock Shake from McDonald's! Apparently no locations near me were selling them (do people in California only eat bland, diet-y stuff?) and don't try to ask employees about the shakes, lest they think you're a lunatic. Upon reading several blogs though, it seems that this year's shakes were nothing short of disappointing, lacking the classic minty flavor and including {shudder} whipped cream and a cherry??? Just...no.
So I got out my ingredients (thank you, Restaurant Secrets cookbook!) and made myself a Shamrock Shake that was just as tasty as I remember from when I was little.



Ahh, pure delicious-ness!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! (Psst, Cupcakes Here!)

Lol, sorry for the weird title. I've been trying out some new stuff besides my felt items, this time I'm trying resin jewelry! I've just been practicing making pieces that are clear, bubble-free and now I've experimented with color! Anyway, I've been meaning to post more but haven't because of that. So sorry!

Just also wanted to say Happy St. Patrick's Day and post this yummy picture of cupcakes from Sprinkles (Dark chocolate with Bailey's Irish Cream frosting)! If you're in the area of one, have one for me please!

Golden Girls as Inspiration? How Random.

I've done a few blog interviews and one of the most common questions is, "Where do you find inspiration for your pieces?"
Oddly enough, I just realized that one of the things that seems to do it for me is watching Golden Girls on the Hallmark channel at night! For example, I was watching it a few minutes ago and happened to look to the right of the television and saw a pretty little arrangement of faux sunflowers. That arrangement has been there for at least a year now, and lo and behold, it inspired me to make a sunflower hair clip! Not the most wild of ideas, but still, for some reason, finding inspiration seems to come from watching this show at night...I wonder what the correlation is?
Possibly because the clothing they wear on the show is so brightly colored and very 80's, something I would say the majority of my items also are. Granted, my items are geared towards the younger crowd, but I think the bright colors and prints of the decade inspire me quite a bit!
Wow was that a random entry but it just occurred to me and I had to put it out there!

Here's to the Golden Girls!

Ah, Another Blog Feature and Treasury!

A sweet friend from the Will Craft for Food Etsy team I'm a part of asked me last week if I'd do an interview for her blog. Of course, I said yes and she posted it today! Besides the fact that my interview is up there, she has a great, fun blog that I'm sure you'll enjoy. Be sure to read the older entries as well!

Here's the link to my interview on her blog: http://craftyhorror.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/sunday-quickie/


Additionally, another friend from one of the Etsy threads I participate in included my bunny hair clip and Easter basket pin in her Easter/California Girls treasury! It's so fun and well put together, definitely makes you long for Spring!

My Handmade Spark Interview

Not long ago I was contacted by a friend on the Etsy forums who wanted to interview me for a blog post on the great handmade resource site, Handmade Spark!



This is a wonderful site for buyers and sellers, in the case of buyers, it's got an easy search function to look for items you want to see and learn about sellers, and for sellers, it's a great advertising tool.
I was so excited to see that the article was up, I thank Tiff for taking the time to interview me and Handmade Spark for posting it up!

Here's the link to the interview: http://handmadespark.com/blog/handmade-feature-with-ritzeerebel/

Blog Feature and Another Treasury!

This morning I received a convo from TheGreenHaven letting me know my shamrock hair clip was included in her "What a Find Wednesday" blog post!
Here's her post and I'll link you to her shop as well, she has some fun items!

http://thegreenhaven.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-find-wednesday.html

Her eco-friendly Etsy shop, has great reusable sandwich/lunch bags and more!:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/thegreenhaven



And my squirrel pin was featured in this great treasury from DesignsStainedGlass!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=118877

My Pretty Glass Heart Necklace from Neelrad!

Awhile back, I entered Cokie Pop Paper's giveaway on her blog for a pretty glass heart necklace from fellow Etsian, Neelrad. I received it today and I love it, it's on a nice ribbon and cord and hangs just right. I love the colors in it, it'll be perfect for a night out!




Please visit her shop here, she has some lovely items to choose from!:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Neelrad


Thanks again to both CokiepoPaper and Neelrad!

Hearts & Hands United Blog Feature! //Treasuries

I'm a member of 3 great teams on Etsy, one of them being Hearts and Hands United.The members are so amazing and lovely people from all over the world to talk to; I took a hiatus from my shop last year and jumped back in back in January. I was welcomed right away by a great group of people who are not only interested in promoting their own items but in getting to know YOU as a person (not to mention fellow crafter). There is such a diverse group of talented individuals, some knit or crochet, some sew, some make jewelry out of various mediums, etc. All have amazing shops and I have spent a great deal of time in all of them, getting to know their items. I would like to share the team blog with you:

http://heartsandhandsunited.blogspot.com/

And our team thread on Etsy!
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6458861


If you're a crafter (or a buyer) and want to pop in on either, please don't hesitate! No matter what time you check in, someone is sure to welcome you with a kind word. :)


Additionally, one of the sweet members, WomanWithTools, was kind enough to include me in her "Luck Be A Lady" treasury!



And Shoshipo was also nice enough to include my panda pin in her "Black and White" treasury!

Alice in Wonderland Movie- Loved It!

I don't normally watch Dreamworks type movies anymore because they're not really my thing now. But, this is Alice in Wonderland so I HAD to!
Knowing how popular the movie is and all the hype around it, I got tickets last night online for a showing today just in case it was a sellout. Luckily, we went to an earlier showing so it wasn't too crowded.
It was a REALLY great movie, the roles were case perfectly, I loved Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and I actually really liked Mia Wasikowska as Alice. I saw the regular movie version but if you have the stomach for it and have the chance to see it in 3D, go for it! There are many scenes that I'm sure would have looked amazing in 3D; it makes me wish there was a ride like that at Disneyland! It would be great if it was like the "Soaring" ride at California Adventure or even like the Simpson's ride at Universal Studios Hollywood.
But I digress...the movie was very good and if you're on the fence about seeing it due to negative reviews, hop off and catch a showing of it. You won't be disappointed!

Great Giveaway from BB*Jayde Skincare!

I'm posting this giveaway on behalf of a friend at BB*Jayde Skincare on Etsy! She has an excellent giveaway going on her blog for the ever pricey and wonderful hydraluronic acid serum! She has all the details of it on her blog post which is linked at the bottom, but suffice it to say that this giveaway is totally worth entering!

http://bbjayde.blogspot.com/2010/03/huge-giveaway-140-value.html

Here is the item you're trying to win: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41885260%C2%A0


Enter, enter, enter! It costs nothing to enter and you could win a wonderful skincare item from a sweet seller!

My Beautiful Necklace from Beegrl88!

About a week ago, I was notified by Steph at the OC Weekly blog that I won the giveaway for one of Etsian BeeGrl88's beautiful "Love in Bloom" necklaces! I chose the pink/red version and I received it yesterday; it's gorgeous and so well made. I will definitely be back to her shop to buy something in the future! I've provided a couple of pics and a link to her shop so you can check it out for yourself; it's not hard to find something to love!

Her cute packaging!




And how it looks when worn!





Here is her shop link:
Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Beegrl88