Faux wood, rice pudding, and a preview

I've been having another faux wood/scrimshaw attack... months after I actually made my turtle necklace (see previous posts). A technique can be very addictive when you enjoy it, I try to use it as much as I can!!!
But first, I'll point you towards Julz's Blog as she tried this technique and her results are wonderful. I've yet to bring myself to actually texturise the wood...

Oh, and you MUST SEE Kim Cavender's wood cuff, oh and this one too, they are absolutely gorgeous... When I grow up I want to clay like that!! Have a look at the rest of the cuffs while you're there (and the rest of her work. If you're not familiar with Kim's work, you should be!!).

And these are my latest "faux wood/ivory/scrimshaw" efforts:

I've also done some colourful playing, assembling some casts I'd made a little while ago. I used some oval jump rings for this. I'd probably need to hammer them to make them stronger! I'll get to that eventually. I even made the little clasp but it didn't fit in the picture.

I just love this mould. It's called AM019 Med Etruscan Shield and you can see pricing on this page near the bottom. This is the mould used in the top pendant too. The round pendant was made with AM332 X5Lge 7 UP (prices available on bottom of this page). You can order these moulds through various people depending where you live. If I get myself organised, I plan on bringing a few pendants to the next craft meeting, we're having a pre-loved sale, and a "bazaar" of things we make ourselves, if nothing else, it'll be great eye candy for everyone to see what everyone else has been up to :)

Here's something else I made with the Etruscan Shield:

And with two products I've been wanting to try for a while, some Sheer Heaven Vellum, and Tim Holtz's Adirondack Alcohol Inks!!! I've been using Pinatas, and quite like them (bought them before the T.H.A.A.I. were available) but, like many, I am a sucker for the colours in the Adirondack range! Specially Terra Cotta and Butterscotch!!! *grin* That stamp is one from The Stampsmith, which I hadn't used in a looooong time!!! I think I stamped it in Russet, from the Archival range (also from Ranger).

I'm also hoping to be shown the ropes of Felting, by Kylie Mell who has been playing with felt a bit. I saw her do ONE DOT and saw a gorgeous little calico bag she'd made. It's contagious! I've used the back of one of my calico bags to experiment on, so far, added 3 felt hearts (cut out from Spotlight felt) and even made a freelance flower with a stem, with fibres I felted myself. It's not perfect, but it's satisfying somehow... yup, all I need is another craft! Though, anything that is quick and yields good results is what I prefer these days as my time is limited and evenings are usually spent preparing something for the next day's lunches. My two are a bit ... how can I put it, particular about what they like and don't like, and I can't make anything with peanut butter, due to allergies (I respect that, but it does make my life a bit difficult as pb, but... I'd really hate to be the parent who sent a pb sandwich to school and killed a child!!!)

Speaking of food made me think of this recipe which I quite like on cold Winter weekend mornings: Creamy Rice Pudding, just make a bit more rice than you need for dinner, and you have the perfect excuse to have that the next morning! I made it without the egg the other day as we were all out of eggs, and it wasn't as thick, but it was still delicious. It did have a strange-ish but pleasant taste but that's entirely my fault as I went to pour in some cinnamon (I love cinnamon, I add it and nutmeg to the recipe) and realised, only too late, that I'd put cummin in there! I scooped out as much as I could (I don't think I love cummin in the same quantities as I love cinnamon). I kidded myself that it was an Indian breakfast! I did enjoy it. The girls didn't want to touch it, and by the time DH got up, there was none left ;)

I still haven't received my copy of Altered Arts Magazine, in which a tin I made is published, so I'm giving you a sneak preview anyway:

Hmmm, well, I can't wait til the postie brings this mag home!!!

Wire weaving bug

I got this bug from Carmel... after seeing her beautiful jewellery, she mentioned a book on her blog, and my local library (Fremantle) just happened to have it on the shelves! So I borrowed it and I had to try (having had a quick but informative demo from Carmel) and I did.
This is the wire work

and inspired by what Carmel had done but not having the same little gizmos, I finished mine with a Krafty Lady mould (of course)... I rolled a ball, pushed the wire in it, and pressed it into the mould. I'm very happy with the design.


Well, that was fun, I then had to try with three wires, and wider! Well, nice, but sheesh, mistakes show up quite a bit, and it's not as easy to undo as knitting!!


Anyway, it's been fun, still I have no idea how to finish the copper one... and I'm sure the "mistakes" won't show as much when it's a piece of jewellery!

You can see Carmel's wire creations here and here.

Electronic Copy of Beads Etc is available!

If you subscribe to the newsletter you can see the whole magazine for free, and have access to past issues too!
The mould is from Krafty Lady.
Although I did mention it when I sent the article to the magazine, they didn't print it (well I didn't see it when I read it quickly, must read it more in depth, but then I wonder why since I wrote it, after all!)... the idea for using only two colours to get the look, came from this faux scrimshaw tutorial. I credit the technique throughout the Krafty Lady site! So apologies to my inspiration, I did try to give you credit in the article!