Creativity In A Nutshell

crabble tile pendants certainly are all the rage at the moment, but there's no reason to settle for the typical cut and paste projects. This tutorial will walk you through using fun stamps, Pearl Ex Pigments and micro beads to create some one-of-a-kind pendants and charms of your own.




Ingredients:

• Scrabble tiles or similar (there are some scrabble tile look-a-likes out there)
• A variety of stamps - smaller stamps will fit the scrabble tiles, but remember that you can use just a part of a larger stamp for an interesting affect
• Ink pads in a variety of colors - I reccomend Staz On
• Pearl Ex Pigments
• Regular white glue (elmers or tacky)
• Diamond Glaze or Glossy Accents
• Modge Podge
• Micro Beads
• E-6000 and bail (unless you're going to drill your tiles)

Tools Of The Trade:

• Paintbrush
• Plastic pallet (for mizing pearl ex pigments)
• Safety Pin
• Waterproof, permanent pens - Faver-Castell India Ink pens or Sharpies work well
  

Process:

• Step One: Select your stamp. I am using some great small stamps I picked up at Michael's for $1. Ink your stamp.If you are using a stamp larger than the scrabble tile, ink a slightly larger area than you intend to use - it's pretty tough to get the stamp exactly where you want it on the tile. Stamp the image on the tile by laying the tile down on the stamp, not the other way around. Press down lighty, doing your best not to wiggle it around.

• Step Two: Try layering differnt stamps and different color inks. You can also use embossing powerder and a heat gun at this point if you'd like.

• Step Three: give the stamped images time to dry. If you are using an  "imitation" scrabble tile, more than likely it has an unfinished surface and the ink will seep into the tile rather quickly. With an actual scrabble tile, the ink will sit on the surface and need more time to dry. Once they are dry, you can add punch to the stamped images using pearl ex pigments, mixed with a little bit of water and glue. Use them just like you would paint- mix colors, play around. I suggest using a small brush to apply the pigment to your tiles.

• Step Four: Again, allow everything to dry. At this point, you can add 3-dimensional stuff to your scrabble tiles. I recommend starting with micro beads because they're small, however, by all means, play around. If you are using micro beads, I would suggest:
• Coat the side of the scrabble tile you're working on with a thin layer of mod podge or slightly watered down glue.

• Place the micro beads about where you want them - it's going to be impossible to play them exactly in the right place on the first try. Using a pin, push the beads to where you want them to be. Allow the mod podge or glue to dry completely.

• TIP: No matter what - DONT leave the container open. I... I guess I really am a clutz, though I wish I could say I was just multi-tasking too much, but of course... I managed to spill them. All over my desk. It was a disaster. Good luck!
• 
  Step Four: Once you're happy and everything is dry you can seal the tile. Here is the crux. If you've used a waterbased ink, you're going to need to use a sealant that is NOT water based. Otherwise you're going to end up with a blurry mess. Finally add a coat of diamond glaze or glossy accents. If you're working with non-traditional scrabble tiles, you're going to want to coat every side of the tile. Wait for one side to dry completely before working on another side - I've learned this the hard way...

• Tips for applying Diamond Glaze: Use even pressure, working around the edges, then moving into the middle. If you happen to get a bubble, you're not really going to be able to pop it. Drag it out using a pin.
• Step Five: Now it's time to complete the pendant. I always allow my scrabble tiles to dry over night - that way there's no risk of mess ups - and as I am clutsy as it is, I don't need to do anything to add to the liklihood of my messing up. Using a small dab of E-6000, attach a bail and voila!
• Tips for working with E-6000: If you're sensitive to strong smells, make sure you have some ventilation. I'm pretty sure there are warnings for this... In any case, I try to work with small amounts and leave the room if I start to get a headache. I dab a bit of epoxy on a scrap piece of paper and use the tip of a safety pin to dot a tiny bit on the back of the bail - a lot goes a long way. Then I place the bail on the tile, center it, and use another safety pin or a toothpick to carefully swab away any excess epoxy. This takes some practice :) 
• 
  
  
  
  
  

C'est Fin!

As I said in my previous post : It's Bottle Cap Week! This is the first of my bottle cap experiment tutorials. It's pretty sweet, check it out, make some modifications of your own and play around with this fun way of creating entirely unique pieces.


What's The Plan, Stan?

Ingredients:

• Bottle cap (for this toutorial, I'm using a basic crafting bottle cap)
• Sprinkles
• Diamond Glaze

Tools Of The Trade:

• Hammer or a rubber mallet
• Piece of scrap wood or a wooden worksurface
• Nail
• Fine grit sandpaper

Process:

• Step One: There are tons of different kinds of bottle caps to work with, and ways you can play around with them. For this toutorial, I'm choosing to work with a basic black bottle cap, purchased for crafting. If you are not working with a crafting bottle cap, for this toutorial you're going to need to gently flatten the edges. This picture shows you the difference between a regular bottle cap and a crafting bottle cap.
  

• Even though the bottle cap I'm working with already has somewhat flattened edges I am going to flatten them out a little more. Place the bottle cap top up on the piece of wood or your work surface. Gently hammer the cap so the sides are pushed out and down. Ok, so not sooo gently. These bottle caps are pretty tough, and trust me, they can take it. Later on, we'll experiment with taking it from a flattened edge, to a rounded edge. But lets not get ahead of ourselves... :)
• Step Two: Now we want to punch a wee little whole on the flattened edge we've just made. Use a small nail, and gently tap it on one edge. Don't push the nail through - you just want to use the small pointy tip to make the hole. Flip the bottle cap over and repeat to make it a clean and wide hole. If the edges are jagged or sharp, use a fine grit sandpaper to file it. (I started with a rough one, about 60, then cleaned it up with 220)

• Step Three: Ok, so now we're ready for the fun part: decorating! Since I've been wanting to play around with the sprinkles I bought for resin crafting, I've decided to use them for this tutorial. I sprinkled a layer of sprinkles :) in the bottle cap, then added the word yum. Last, I sealed everything with a coat of Diamond Glaze.

• Tip: Apply the diamond glaze thickly - you're going to want it to adhere the sprinkles in one go and you don't want to deal with reattaching things later. Once you've covered everything with the diamond glaze, you can still move things around using a pin. It takes quite a while for diamond glaze to set. Because diamond glaze is water based, the more you move the sprinkles around, the more likely it is the diamond glaze will get some of the color from the sprinkles in it. This can add a cool effect. Once you're satisfied with your charm, leave it alone until is solid hard.
• You Will Get Bubbles. It's a fact of life, or at least life with diamond glaze. I still haven't found a really good way to get bubbles out of diamond  glaze when you're working with a project like this. So, instead, I just break up the bubbles as much as possible and incorporate them into the overall piece.

• Another tip - if you're going to add anything into your charm... make sure it's waterproof. I guess I had a special moment when I wrote my 'Yum' with a waterbased pen. The result is a green blurry mess, but oh well.

C'est Fin!

More Similar Fun Stuff!

More Stuff on the Information Highway:

Lately I have been preoccupied with... you guess it Birds! This fascination started when I noticed the increase of swallow charms, particularly in brass and copper jewelry. They're everywhere! At first I was a jewelry snob, "If everyone is doing it, it simply isn't for me" But then... I have to be honest, I fell in love with the simple, understated beauty of these birds.
I wonder what it is about the symbol of a bird that we all love and cling to so much. Maybe it's the idea of being free. Maybe it's desiring the ability to fly (away from, or to, something or someone.) Maybe this stage in my life just needs some birds. I don't know.
Whatever it 'means' I do intend to play around with some metal birdie charms, however there are other ways to add some birds to your jewelry art.



What's The Plan, Stan?

• I'm going to list a few non-traditional bird jewelry project suggestions. As I get to try them out myself, I will tell you about them in follow up blogs. Please, let me know what you think, or give suggestions for some cool bird jewelry.
  

Some Birdie Ideas:

• Feather jewelry is all the rage. You don't get any more bird-like than with beautiful feathers. Peacock feathers are especially beautiful, but they are also all over the place. Stop in your local crafting store (like Michaels) and see what they have for feathers. You may be surprised by the huge variety of feathers available. Are you worried that your new-found treasures were delivered via less than Kosher means? There are some farms, which will sell/give away bird feathers, which have been found, not... em... plucked. Peacocks will actually molt their long plumage (in the fall I believe). Do some research - and remember, if you sell your feather creations, it's great to mention if your feathers were found vrs... em... plucked.
• Paint it, baby! We all have artists inside us. Ok, well mine likes to jump up and down a lot and loudly proclaim it's existence, but the point is, you can create your own little painted charm, and cover it with Diamond Glaze, Glossy Accents, ICE resin or some other products. A couple weeks ago I made these cute bird charms with tiny water color paintings and scrabble tiles. I'm still learning how to use Diamond Glaze, but I think it's a great area to explore in creating jewelry.
• Go for the gold! Or copper. Or silver. Whatever! If you are going to use bird charms, like the majority of jewelry and bead artists out there, try to make your unique. I know it is tempting to see a necklace using that traditional flying swallow (see above picture) because it's beautiful, has classic lines etc... but then what are you? Just one in a million. Use different metals! Use different kinds of birds! Use dancing birds! Be unique! Or don't. The choice, my reader, is yours.
  

C'est Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase
Your work could be right here! Submit your own bird jewelry ideas to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

In my bead and charm-making adventures, I have often heard many people talk about working with Diamond Glaze. I have mostly been tampering with Glossy Accents, but I though, eh, what the heck?! Got ta try something new, right? Well... my first venture with Diamond Glaze was in my Artistry Beads Tutorial, and things could have gone better.

Problems:

• I found that the Diamond Glaze quickly began to set and harden, much like nailpolish lacquer. 
• There were literally millions of big and little bubbles, which were already in the bottle. I know that if you shake the bottle, you're going to get bubbles. I didn't shake the bottle. Still there were all these annoying little bubbles! Gah!

Good Things:

• I really like the nice, solid and hard finish with the Diamond Glaze. It's very shiny, and shiny is good :)
• It has no smell that I noticed
• It didn't take long to dry... but then again that's a good and a bad thing
• I have been told that you can mix watercolors etc into it, and it's water-soluble, so that adds other options, however, I have not yet experimented with that aspect of Diamond Glaze yet
  

What's the Plan, Stan?

• Well, I am going to continue to experiment with the Diamond Glaze to see if I can't get something to work. As I find solutions, I will post them to keep you all updated!
• If you have any tips or tools of the trade to use with Diamond Glaze, please, share! Email me at cagarp@plymouth.edu
  

Where can you buy some Diamond Glaze of your own?
Art fire

There's a lot of beautiful jewelry out there. I can get caught up on Etsy for hours and hours, just engrossed in all the wonderful ways people create jewelry. It truly is an art. That word right there, art, is the key to what I aspire to with my jewelry. I believe any necklace, earrings, ring, bracelet should be a unique and inspiring work of art.
One way to reach that goal, is to create interesting and innovative designs. Another way, however, is to create my own little art beads and charms. I have been working towards that with my scrabble tile charms and pendants. My next new idea is to create miniature watercolor paintings, which I will epoxy onto a shape and create a miniature mounted painting, which can strung on a necklace, or dangled from an earrings.
I am just in the beginning stages of this technique, but I am so excited about it, I just had to share the idea! I have a great deal of experience with watercolor painting. To see a collective gallery of my watercolor works, skip over to my art website.
On a side note, I will also be testing out Diamond Glaze for this tutorial. Since this is my first time using it, I have come up with a lot of problems and am searching for solutions. Stay posted to learn more about my adventures with Diamond Glaze!

What's The Plan, Stan?

• I'm going to walk you through my initial process of creating these fun, original works of art, with additional information on paint and paper.

Ingredients:

• First of all, you will need watercolor paper
• A note about paper: you will quickly notice that realm of artist watercolor paper is vast, and rightfully so. Different kinds and qualities of papers will have different affects. Here are the basics:
• Cold press paper will have a more rough, more visible texture to it. This can be good or bad, depending on what you want.
• Hot press paper is the opposite, which a much smooth surface, and minimal visible texture.
• To begin with, student grade is fine, at least until you know if you like this idea or not.
• You will also, of course, need watercolor paints
• A note about paints: while I would not suggest buying a crayola watercolor paint pallet  you should not spend a gazillion dollars on the firt project. Try a cheap boxed tube set for $6-$7 at Michaels
• For this adventure, we are going to work with two scrabble tiles to mount our pictures on. A - because we are (hopefully) already familiar with them, and we already have some (again, hopefully)
• If you have something else you can mount your paintings onto, by all means, try it out, and feel free to let me know how it went via cagarp@plymouth.edu
• Epoxy - there are tons out there but E9000 is a good one
• Mounting bail 
• Diamond glaze, or similar
• Modge Podge to seal the painting

Tools Of The Trade:

• Fine round point watercolor brushes - synthetic work just fine
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Masking tape
• Watercolor pallet (you can get one for $.99)
• Art cloth - any clean old rag will do
• Mechanical pencil

Process:

• Carefully trace the scrabble tile on the watercolor paper, using a mechanical pencil. Make sure the lead is pressed right up against the tile.

• Next, keeping an extra boarder of about 1/2 inch, cut out the square.
• Tape down the paper, lining up the edge of the masking tape with the edge of the traced scrabble tile. Watercolor paper gets distorted as the fibers expand and soak up the pigment, but if taped down, it will shrink back to its normal shape.

• Paint your design/picture using whatever variety of watercolor techniques you know. Allow to dry completely. Remove the tape gently, so not to rip.

• Trim off the extra border around the painting. 

• At this point, you may want to prep the scrabble tile. You could paint it, stamp it, do anything at all. Be creative! You may want to seal the scrabble tile with a coat of Modge Podge or lightly watered down craft glue.
• Attach the painting to scrabble tile using Modge Podge, or basic crafting glue. 

• Turn the scrabble tile face down and trim off the extra paper.

• Seal top of painting with a coat of Modge Podge.
• Don't use watered down glue, as the water will cause the painting to smear.
• Epoxy the bail to back of the scrabble tile.
• Coat one side at a time with Diamond Glaze or Glossy Accents and allow to dry completely.

C'est Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase
Your work could be right here! Submit your own artwork beads to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!
Project: Scrabble Tile Jewelry
Tutorial: Scrabble Tile Pendants and Charms

I love the unreserved sparkle of vintage costume jewelry. It's so beautiful and reminds me of playing princess when I was younger. It's easy to find some vintage costume jewelry of your own. I got my pieces from a yard sale ages ago and just recently had the time and inspiration to play around with them. Keep your eyes open for broken or incomplete pieces that you can modify.



What's The Plan, Stan?
Using a few different vintage costume jewelry pieces and some lovely Swarovski beads, we are going to create an entirely new necklace and set of earrings to show off some lovely sparkle.

Ingredients:

• For this specific necklace, I used an old necklace with these really pretty metal flowers set with Austrian Crystals and tiny pearls in the middle, as well as an old clip on earring. I took the necklace apart, using just one of the flowers for the pendant, and the main earring piece is also going to be used. There were great crystal dangles on the earring as well, which I will use on the necklace to accent the pendant. Oh also, I used the lovely chain from the necklace, complete with the clasp. to complete my new necklace. If you can't find vintage pieces quite like this, you have a couple options:
• Modify the design! You're a crafty individual and I have faith in you! (Please send some ideas, I'd love to hear them!)
  
• Look around on the various beading sites to see if you can find something similar.
• Peach colored fresh water pearls
• 6mm Swarovski Crystal Silk faceted rounds
  
• 4mm Lacy agate rounds
• 3mm silver plated jump rings
• 6mm silver plated jump rings
• 4 silver plated crimp beads
• 4 silver plated crimp bead covers
  

For the Earrings:

• 6mm Swarovski Crystal Silk faceted rounds
• 5mm Swarovski Colorado Topaz roundells
• 4mm lacy agate rounds
• Silver plated headpins
• Silver plated french earwires
  

Tools Of The Trade:

• Bent nose pliers
• Needle nose pliers
• Round pliers
• Wire Snips
  

Process:

• First, I created the pendant for the necklace. This process will totally depend upon what sort of fun findings you have found. I created a nice dangley chain using jumprings from the upcycled vintage earring and attached the great crystal dangles. Then, I attached the earring to a headpin with a beautiful Swarovski faceted round, connected to my upcycled flower finding. I'm really pleased with the affect.

• Once I was satisfied with the pendant, I attached two 4mm jumprings to the flower petals, allowing me to attach wire for the necklace on either side. String the wire through a lacy agate round before crimping, in order to protect the necklace from getting too worn and breaking. Crimp and cover with silver plated crimp bead covers.
• Now just string the beads following the same pattern for both sides of the necklace:
• 3 freshwater pearls
• attach your crystal dangle using a 4mm silver plated jumprings
• 3 freshwater pearls
• 1 lacy agate bead
• 1 Swarovski faceted round
• 1 lacey agate bead
• 2 freshwater pearls
• Crystal dangle
• 2 freshwater pearls
• 1 lacy agate bead
• 1 Swarovski faceted round
• 1 lacey agate bead
• 2 freshwater pearls
• Crystal dangle
• 2 freshwater pearls
• 1 lacy agate bead
• 1 Swarovski faceted round
• 1 lacey agate bead
• 2 fresh water pearls
• 2 lacey agate beads
• crimp bead
• 1 lacy agate bead
• String your wire through a 4mm silver plated jumpring, then back through the agate bead and crimp bead. Crimp and cover with the crimp bead cover.
  
•  Attach jumpring to upcycled chain. If the clasp is still intact, use it! If not, attach another one using a 4mm silver plated jumpring.
• For the earrings: Place first a Swarovski faceted round, then a roundel, then a lacy agate round. Finish with a wrapped loop. Attach to the silver plated french earwires.
  

A note about lacy agate : agate is a natural gemstone that comes in a million different shapes, colors etc... I happened to have to really lovely, but also very pale, blue lacy agate rounds in my bead supplies. For this set, I wanted something that was light in color, which would enhance the overall light feel of the necklace. If you can't find any light blue lacy agate, go with something light in color and you'll be good to go.

C'est Fin!





Bead Artist Showcase
You work could be right here! Submit your own upcycled vintage costume jewelry to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!

• Aztec Secrets: Jewelry Set Project  
• Sparkling Wine: Necklace Earrings Set Project  
• Classic Decadence: Vintage Inspired Earrings Project

Create the look of funky foreign ephemera stamps with these post-office inspired earrings.



What's The Plan, Stan?

• Use two postage stamps (either real, or not :) to create twin scrabble tiles charms, which will be used to make a simple, yet distinct pair of earrings.
  

Ingredients:

• Two scrabble tiles
• Two stamps (I bought a small pack of scrap booking stamps - made to look like they're from all over the world, however, there are literally tons of options out there. You can use some stamps you have in your own collections, you can buy some real exotic stamps online, you can make your own...)
• Tacky Glue
• Glossy Accents (or similar)
• Two eyepins
• Two ear wires
• Four large jumprings
• Two small jumprings
• Two pyrite rondelles
• Two shell 4 mm rounds
  

Tools Of The Trade:

• Drill with small bit
• Scrap piece of wood
• Paintbrush
• Needlenose pliers
  

Process:

• Measures and mark two holes on each scrabble tile - one on top, one on bottom. Drill :)
• Cover blank side with think coat of lightly watered down glue. Place postage stamps on top, then add another coat of glue. Allow to dry. Repierce the holes with a thumbtack, safety pin etc
• At this point you can add further decoration to the tile with Pearl Ex Pigments, sharpies, colored pencils etc. I left mine as it is. Allow to dry completely.
• Cover each surface with glossy accents.
• Once the tile is completely dried, add the jumprings. Attach the earwires to the top jumprings by linking them with the small jumpring. 
• Connect the eyepin to the bottom jumpring. Add the pyrite rondelle, then the shell round. Close with a wrapped loop.
  

C'est Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase
You work could be right here! Submit your own BLANK to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!

• Tutorial: Scrabble Tile Charms and Pendants  
• Project: Scrabble Tile Jewelry 
• Classic Decadence: Vintage Inspired Earrings: Project
  

More Stuff on the Information Highway:

• Recycled Crafts
  

What's The Plan, Stan?
Well, this is a bit of a complex one, folks, but we are going to make some incredibly unique and super cool charms and pendants by semi-melting old and used CDs.

IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE:
Semi-melting these disks gives off potentially dangerous fumes. I am sure the State of California would have warning labels ALL OVER this tutorial. The point? Be careful, please. I did this project in a spray booth - - a small room with a massive fan/vent, sucking all the harmful fumes away from me. Despite this, I did get a slight headache. Ok, the headache could have been caused by the annoying sound of the massive fan the the whirr of the heat gun, but all the same... If you are sensitive, take extra precautions!

Ingredients:

• Old and used CDs 
• NOTE: You can use all kinds of CDs and DVDs. Different brands and types will have different effects and colors once you heat them. I just rummaged through my ever growing stack of burnable CDs that I no longer need or use. Play around. I would not, however, go out and buy some CDs for this project. For goodness sake, just use the old ones.
• Glossy Accents (optional)
  

Tools Of The Trade:

• Heatgun
• Pliers (you are going to want at least two pairs for easy maneuverability)
• Pushpin
• Scissors or wire snips
  

Process:

• To begin with, you should note that a CD or DVD has two layers. One is a sort of metalic layer, and the top layer is like a thicker plastic coating. You can separate the layers, and work with the metallic layer alone, or you can fuse them together. The metallic layer on its own is a little weak, however.
• If you want to fuse both layers together, which I suggest, start by cutting a CD or DVD in half. Hold one half over the heatgun with a pair of pliers. Obviously, don't get your hand in the way of the heatgun. No one likes burns. 
• Every CD or DVD reacts differently. Here are some general rules. Keep the metallic side towards the heat, the plastic side away from it. The plastic has a tendency to bubble in cool ways, but it will also crack and may fall off the piece. You don't want that to happen. The metallic side and the edge of the disk will go through a unique and interesting transformation as they heat. Remember to be patient, but also take it slowly. Allow yourself to get to know the process and become familiar with what the heat gun does to the CD. It may take you a few tries to find something that you like.
• Once the metallic side is nice and melted, and the plastic side is fused, turn off your heat gun and cut out some fun shapes in the CD. You will notice that the CD cools down relatively quickly, but still, please be careful and don't burn yourself. Make sure you gently trim your edges with a pair of scissors to make sure they aren't sharp. Use the heat gun once more to further round the edges and add any more fun bumps and bubbles to the design.
• At this point, you will want to make your holes so you have delightful, string-able charms and pendants. I just used and pushpin and worked it through. You may be able to heat up a straight pin over a tea light and work it through that way, or perhaps a wood burning tool.
• You may wish to protect the plastic side of your charm/pendant, especially if it has become very cracked. I used glossy accents, but you could try a coating of resin, or diamond glaze.
  

C'est Fin!


Here's an example of a pair of earrings I made using charms I made from a DVD. These earrings, called Purple Days are available for sale on Etsy.

Bead Artist Showcase
Your work could be right here! Submit your own upcycled CDcharms or pendants to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!
The Heatgun's The Boss! Embossing Technique
Recycled Jewelry: Idea Introduction

Making jewelry is expensive. There is just no way around it. So, I'm going to start handing you tips and tools for making it much more affordable, and in some cases free. Remember, the goal here is saving a dime, but also saving the environment.


What's The Plan, Stan?

• Raid your (and your friends') recyclables and trash
• Ok, I don't necessarily want you to go dumpster diving, but keep and eye out for:
• Soda and beer cans
• Bottle caps
• Plastic water, soda, juice etc bottles
• # 6 recyclable plastic - it will shrink when you heat it up (a fun tutorial to follow in the near future)
• Go through your magazines
• Most magazines have some pretty sweet pictures (after all, most of us only look at the pics anyways! Use 'em to make some beautiful beads, like the Tutorial on Scrabble Tile Pendants and Charms
• Keep your eye out for cool text and stuff (a sweet tutorial using these little treasures is sure to show up soon)

• Rummage through your drawer of miscellaneous hardware
• Look for cool string-able stuff, like washers. Or look for funky little stuff that you can glue on to make fantastic designs, like steampunk jewelry.
• Broken Technology
• We all have broken or old technology around. Take it apart and find some really sweet stuff to make nifty, geeky jewelry with
• Calculators
• Keyboards
• Ancient computers
• Those annoying broken remotes
• Ancient and broken phones (if you have ancient but working phones, you really should donate them to people who need them)
• Broken Watches
• How many of us have stupid non-functioning watches just kind of hanging out in our dresser drawers in the blind hope that one day they will miraculously begin ticking again. I'm not saying you should destroy your Rolex, but old and not especially valuable watches have some really nifty parts in them.
• The glass
• Rotart parts, hands etc
  
• Chips etc, if a digital watch
• Old Board Games
• What happens once you lose one of your game pieces? You can't exactly play the game, so it ends up collecting dust in some closset or cupboard. Instead, raid 'em for some wicked sweet jewelry
• Dominos
• Mahjong tiles
• Checkers
• Scrabble tiles (of course)
  
• Use your imagination!
  

Do you have any cool recycling/upcycling ideas? Let us know! Leave a comment below, or email me at cagarp@plymouth.edu.

While you may think embossing is for cardmaking and scrapbooking, it is actually a powerful tool to add to your bead making repertoire.



What's The Plan, Stan?
We're going to go over the basic technique of heat embossing. Try out your skills on one of the many projects and tutorials listed below. Come up with anything fantastic? Share it! cagarp@plymouth.edu


Ingredients:

• Embossing powder (I suggest using clear, but there are a wide variety of colors available out there)
• Pearl Ex Pigments (optional)
  
• Ink (there are literally tons of kinds of inks out there. I recommend using Stayz On)
• Stamps (these can cost you lots and lots of money. I search through the $1 bins at Michaels, Dollar Stores and I make my own)
• Object to emboss on (such as a pre-drilled scrabble tile, or domino)
  

Tools Of The Trade:

• Heatgun (there are some good and some not so good heatguns out there. Having only worked with one, I'm not in a position to recommend a specific one. Check out different websites and read the reviews)
  

Process:

• Clean the surface of the object you are going to emboss on. (EX: if you're making a domino pendant, wipe it down with rubbing alcohol)
• Ink your chosen stamp (don't use too much ink, especially on a non-porous object. Try blotting your stamp on a tissue etc before stamping it.)
• Stamp your image! Lay the stamp down on a table and press the object on top of the stamp, rather than the other way around. This way the image will be placed exactly where you want it.
• Sprinkle with embossing powder over a piece of scrap paper. Tap your object to get off extra powder, and sift back into container.
• Heat the ink/embossing powder - - don't hold the heatgun too close so it doesn't actually burn it :) You'll see powder transform into bubbles and voila!
  

A note about Inks:

• Many of the projects bead artists will create use non-porous objects, such as dominoes, glass slides, etc. Regular dye-based inks, while still great on porous objects like scrabble tiles, won't stick on these surfaces. Also, if you intend to use alcohol inks with a stamped image, the alcohol will bread down dye-based inks and ruin your image. Remember these simple rules:
• If you're working on a porous surface, and not using alcohol inks - use regular ink.
• If you're working on a porous surface, and using alcohol inks - use "Stayz On" or "Metallic Inks"
• If you're working on a porous surface using alcohol inks and you want to create a resist image, use regular ink.
• If you're working on a nonporous surface, alcohol inks or not, use "Stayz On" or "Metallic Inks"

A note about Colored Embossing Powder:

• As I mentioned above, there are tons of beautiful colored embossing powders out there. However, why spend the extra cash (which many of us are so short on!) when you can make your own?
• Mix a small amount of Pearl Ex Pigment into your embossing powder and you have created your own unique color :)
  

C'est Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase
Have you made something beautiful using an embossing technique? Your work could be right here! Submit your stuff to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!

•  Childhood Checkers Earrings: Project
• Monday Madness: Weekly Earring Project 2  
• Classic Decadence - Vintage Inspired Earrings

Go Buy Some!
Embossing Powder
Addicted to Rubber Stamps

What is the draw of the Mona Lisa? The subtlety, the mystery. Create your own mysterious intrigue with this Mona Lisa inspired necklace.





What's The Plan, Stan?
We're going to use a scrabble tile to make a beautiful unique pendant for this vintage-like necklace

Ingredients:

• For Pendant:

• Scrabble Tile
• Image from magazine etc (cut with scrabble tile template)
• Pearl Ex Pigments (optional)
• Glossy Accents
• Tacky Glue
  
• Two gold plated jump rings
• One gold plated eyepin
• One 6 mm onyx round
• One 3-4 mm faceted garnet round
• For Necklace:
• 34 wooden oval beads (dyed red)
• 16 3-4 mm faceted garnet rounds
• Four 6 mm onyx rounds
• 16 flat oval garnet beads
• One gold plated jump ring
• Two gold plated crimp beads
• One gold plated clasp
• Wire for stringing - I use fishing line, actually :)
  

Tools Of The Trade:

• For Pendant:
• Drill with small bit
• Scrap piece of wood
• Paintbrush
• For Necklace:
• Needlenose pliers
• Beading board (optional, but most helpful)
  

Process:

• Drill two holes in the scrabble tile - one on the top, one on the bottom
• Glue your image onto the tile. Let dry, and coat with another thin layer of glue. Re-pierce holes with a pushpin or safety pin.
• OPTIONAL: Add more detail with Pearl Ex Pigments and watered down glue. Allow to dry.
• Coat entire tile with glossy accents. Allow to dry completely.

• Place jump rings though both holes. Attach eyepin to bottom jump ring. Add first garnet, then onyx beats. Close with a loop.
• Bead Pattern for necklace:
• Wooden bead: Garnet Round: Wooden Bead: Garnet Oval:Wooden Bead: Garnet Round:Wooden Bead : Onyx Round. 
• Make sure to place your crimp beads between two garnet rounds, rather than right at the end of the necklace. This will prevent it from being worn too much and breaking. End one side with a jump ring and the other side with the clasp.
  

C'est Fin!


Bead Artist Showcase
You work could be right here! Submit your own Mystery Woman Necklace to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!

• Project: Scrabble Tile Bracelet
• Tutorial: Scrabble Tile Pendants and Charms
  

More Stuff on the Information Highway:

• Scrabble Tile Jewelry Supples  
• Mini Scrabble Tiles
  

Do you remember those fun times, playing checkers when you were little? Or maybe you still play checkers! Either way, show off your checkers skill with these beautiful checkers earrings.



What's The Plan, Stan? 


We are going to make some super fantabulous earrings, using plastic checkers pieces, not the old fashioned (but equally sweet wooden ones).


Ingredients:

• Two checkers pieces (For this project, I used the white ones, however, you can use the black ones for a totally different effect.)
• Alcohol Inks (One or two colors - I used Wild Plum and Stream)
• Alcohol Ink Blending Solution
• Alcohol Ink Applicator and felt rectangles
• Stayz On opaque white ink pad (NOTE: When embossing, and then coloring with alcohol inks, regular old ink pads simply won't work. For the vintage earrings, we used that technique to create a resist technique, which is cool, but not what we're going for in this project)
  
• Floral Stamp (I used a beautiful one I found in the Michael's $1 bin)
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Silver Pearl Ex Pigment
• Glossy Accents
  

Tools Of The Trade:

• Drill with small bit (NOTE: you won't want to use too small of a drill bit, as it is more likely to get stuck and or break on you. I've done this - please, learn from my mistake)
  
• Scrap piece of wood
• Heat Gun
• Trash bag (hopefully one devoted to art use)
  

Process:

• Drill your checkers pieces, close to the edge, but not too close :)
•  Mix clear embossing powder with a pinch of silver Pearl Ex Pigment in your mixing tray (or baby food container top :)
  
•  Cover your work surface with a trash bag : Prepare to Alcohol Ink! Apply your two alcohol ink colors to the felt and stamp away. Add the Blending Medium as you like. Let it dry, then do the opposite side, and the edges. Once you are happy, allow both checkers pieces to dry completely.
  
• Stamp one side of the chipboard with stayz on opaque white ink. Sprinkle with embossing powder/Pearl Ex Pigment on top of the stamped image and heat with your handy dandy heatgun.
• Allow to cool. At this point you can gently add more Alcohol Ink and or Pearl Ex Pigments. I left mine as is.
• Coat with Glossy Accents (or similar). Allow to dry completely
• Add jumprings and ear wires and voila!
  

C'est Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase
You work could be right here! Submit your own BLANK to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!

• Alcohol Ink Pendants  
• Domino Pendants
  

More Stuff on the Information Highway:

• Blockheadstamps
  

• Scrabble Tiles
• Acrylic Paint (I used white, blue, yellow and red
• Glossy Accents
• Silver Ink
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Silver Pearl Ex Pigment

Tools of the Trade

• Drill and tiny bit (Just gotta love power tools!)
  
• Small paintbrush
• Flip Flop stamp (I was given mine a long time ago, so sadly, I have no clue where it came from)
• Heat Gun

Process

• Drill Tiles
• Paint entire tile with white acrylic - careful around letter
  
• Stamp and Emboss

• Paint background, edges. Paint flipflop. May take several layers.
• When happy, allow to dry completely. 
• Glossy Accents - DONT TOUCH FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR! Or you will be sorry. I was supposed to end up with two charms, thus make a pair of earrings. Instead I have a necklace pendant. You must consider yourself warned. 
• On a lighter notes, once the Glossy Accents has dried to a hard surface, the charms are done and you can use them in your super fun beading projects. :)

 Bead Artist Showcase

• Your work could be pictured right here! Submit your own completed flip-flop charms to Creativity In A Nutshell via email : cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel Free to include plenty of pictures, new stuff you tried, sweet new ideas and suggestions.

More Similar Stuff

• Tutorial: Scrabble Tile Pendants and Charms 
• Project: Scrabble Tile Jewelry
  

Jewelry and Bead Artists are constantly looking for new and unique ways to make their jewelry and beads. I, for one, find myself pacing the aisles or my local craft store, meditating over all kinds of plans of making wondrous creations with the strangest of supplies.
Recently, I strayed upon the idea of Chipboard Jewelry. Scrapbooking enthusiasts know chipboard is a dense cardboard, often printed with nifty designs. Coated with a sealant, chipboard provides a fantastic and lightweight canvas for any kind of bead, pendant or charm you can imagine.



What's The Plan, Stan?
As with domino pendants, there are literally limitless options with Chipboard Jewelry. For this tutorial, I'm going to keep things simple. However, stay tuned for many more creative, fun projects, expanding upon this same idea. 

Ingredients

• Chipboard Circles (I purchased some very inexpensive -$0.70- ones at Michaels)
  
• Silver Metallic Ink
• Clear Embossing powder
• Silver Pearl Ex Pigments
• Small mixing tray (I used the top of a clean baby food container)
• Acrylic paint/gesso
• Floating medium OR water and glue mixture
• Glossy Accents
  
• Two silver plated jumprings
• Two earwires
• Two beads OR Modified Clasps
• OPTIONAL: Pressed Flower , Fine Black Sharpie
  

Tools of the Trade

• Drill with extra fine bit
• Scrap piece of wood
  
• Heat gun
• Floral Stamp (I got a fantastic one at Michaels in their Dollar Bin! Woot!)
• Paint Brush
  

Process 

• Drill each chipboard circle - you'll want to have the hole as close to the edge as possible without weakening the piece - using a scrap piece of wood underneath to protect your work surface.
  
• Prep the surface: coat both sides of chipboard with acrylic or gesso (or a mix of the two) If you get paint in the whole, that's fine, just poke a pushpin or unfolded paperclip through it and you're golden.

•  Mix clear embossing powder with a pinch of silver Pearl Ex Pigment in your mixing tray (or baby food container top :)
  

• Stamp one side of the chipboard with silver metallic ink. Sprinkle with embossing powder/Pearl Ex Pigment on top of the stamped image and heat with your handy dandy heatgun.

• Once the chipboard has cooled entirely, you can either play around with the colors, using Pearl Ex Pigments or you can leave it as is.
• These earrings were left at this step
  

•  To make these earrings: Gently go over the entire surface with Blue Russet Pearl Ex Pigment (it's actually an antique-like rusty red), which has been mixed with floating medium or water and glue. (Use a soft paintbrush for this, like a watercolor brush) Then, add a wee bit more pigment to your mixture and go over some of the details on the earrings - I covered the flowers and a few of the loopy lines - with a fine paint brush.

• Back side option: You could leave the back blank. OR you could get creative and personalize your earrings. 

•  To get this effect: Coat the backs with a layer of glue. Apply Misty Lavender, True Blue and Blue Russet. Allow to dry. Coat the back of your flower with glue, set and coat top with glue. Allow to dry. Add your own phrase to the edge of the chipboard. I wrote 'Made With Love'.
• Once everything is dry (and it's really important that it is before you move on!) Begin the Glossing! Apply Glossy Accents to both sides. MAKE SURE THE GLOSSY ACCENTS HAS DRIED COMPLETELY BEFORE TOUCHING IT! Ahem... otherwise you will royally screw it up. Trust Me.
  

• Once the glossy accents has dried, you have a few more options. You can attach a small jumpring and be done, or you can add an accent bead. Here are two examples of the latter design:

  

• For one pair of earrings I used one half of two silver plated clasps - I think they make sweet metal findings! For the other pair, I used an undyed howlite round (around 6mm I think), and  a silver plated bead cap. Experiment with complimenting and contrasting accent beads and metal findings.
  

Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase

• Your work could be pictured right here! Submit your own completed Victorian Inspired Earrings to Creativity In A Nutshell via email at cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include plenty of pictures, new stuff you tried and any sweet new ideas or suggestions you may have :)

More Similar Fun Stuff

•  Classic Decadence - Vintage Inspired Earrings

More Stuff on the Information Highway
http://artrix-playtime.blogspot.com/2008/04/chipboard-jewelry.html

I am a huge fan of beautiful vintage prints, mixed with chic modern style. You can find this artistic influence all over the web - just take a peak at your favorite artsy blogs. Many of these prints make use of delicate florals, and from this, I have drawn my inspiration for this this project.

What's The Plan, Stan?
In this project, we're going to make relief-stamped images on scrabble tiles using a beautiful floral stamp for some fantabulous earrings.

Ingredients:

• Two wooden scrabble tiles (or similar)
• Alcohol inks (one or two colors)
• Alcohol ink blending solution
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Silver Pearl Ex Powder
• Glossy Accents
  
• Two ear wires, two eye pins
• Two beads, matching ink colors you're working with 
  

 Tools of the Trade

• Drill and small bit, small piece of wood
• Needlenose pliers
• Heatgun
  

Process

• Drill each scrabble tile in the top left corner
• Stamp the blank side of the scrabble tile with silver ink. Sprinkle with the mixed embossing powder/silver Pearl Ex Pigment. Heat with heat gun :D (I love this part!)

•   Give it a minute to cool down. Splotch the embossed tile with one (or two) color alcohol ink. The ink will dissolve the embossed image, simultaneously creating a relief image, and floating the pearl ex pigment over the top in cool patterns. 

• Add Alcohol Ink Blending Solution to lighten the color - dab with paper towel as necessary.
• Once you are satisfied, allow the tiles to dry completely.
• Coat each surface with Glossy Accents. Remember to let each side to dry completely. Drying time can differ widely, depending upon weather conditions. For example, it has been pretty hot when I've worked with Glossy Accents in the past, so it has dried much faster. Today, however, it's been frigid and rainy - so it's taken much, much longer to dry. 
• Once the Glossy Accents has dried, attach a jump ring, then eye pin, with a matching bead. Attach your ear wires and TaDa!

Fin! 

Bead Artist Showcase

• Your work could be pictured right here! Submit your own completed Victorian Inspired Earrings to Creativity In A Nutshell via email at cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include plenty of pictures, new stuff you tried and any sweet new ideas or suggestions you may have :)

More Similar Fun Stuff

•   Project: Scrabble Tile Jewelry
• Tutorial: Scrabble Tile Pendants and Charms

More Stuff On The Information Highway

• Check out this great blog for inspiration: The Background Fairy and her sister blog The Graphics Fairy
• Need more inspiration?
  

• What the Deuce IS It?
  
•  Pearl Ex Pigments, made by Jaquard (who also make Lumiere Light Body Metallic Acrylic Paints) are color-concentrated powders with lovely bits of shimmery mica. That's all there is to 'em. And that's the beauty. You can mix them into anything, layer them on top of anything, and create some really fantastic designs while you're at it.
• According to the Jaquard Website, you can mix them into:
• Pearl Ex Varnish
• Gum arabic
  
• Oil paint
  
• Acrylic paint
  
• Gouache
• Varnish
• Clay
• Poly Clay
  
• Melted wax
• And almost any other medium out there :)
  
• Check out
  http://www.jacquardproducts.com/products/pearlex/ for more information.
  
• The Good, Bad and Ugly
•  Pros:
• They come in tons of beautiful colors (over 50)
  
• As noted, they are highly concentrated, so you really don't have to use all that much.
• You can create a wide variety of effects with them
• They're color fast
• They're light fast
• They're non-toxic
• They're acid free
• They won't tarnish
• And They're Beautiful!
  
• Cons
• They are pretty pricey
• You have to apply them with a medium that is going to hold them (as a binder)- so while you may make some kind of paste with just water, once the water evaporates, the pigment will just fall off.
• Some of the hues just won't look quite right on lighter backgrounds. Most watercolor artists will understand the importance of hue-contrasts and value-contrast, so really, that's to be expected. Try using all the colors on light and dark backgrounds to see what effect you like best.
  
• Verdict
• Pearl Ex Pigments are super fun, relatively easy to work with and will add sparkle and beautiful to any project.
  
• Try It Out!
•  Scrabble Tile Bracelet 
• Tutorial : Scrabble Tile Pendants and Charms 
• Monday Madness : Weekly Earring Project 
• Resin Casting Project
  
• Go Get Some!
•  http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=430429&pid=_Froogle&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=757999
• http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=100306 
  

Made by Inkssentials (Ranger) Glossy Accents is actually a scrapbooking product. However, it was discovered by jewelry/bead artisans as a sealant for beads.


Pros:

• Relatively easy to use - pop off the cap and you're ready to go
• No fumes! This is great for me since my "studio" is also my bedroom, and I don't want to smell nasty unhealthy fumes all night.
• Acid Free & Non Toxic (Good for the Planet; Good for You)
  
• Inexpensive - I think I got mine for around $5 (a 2 oz bottle)
  
• Dries quickly - However, I tend to think it has dried a bit before it has - it comes out kind of milky, and as it dried it clears. Do not be fooled! Let it set for as long as possible so it can dry to a hard finish.
  
• Doesn't react with alcohol inks - domino crafters know how important this is :)
  

Cons

• You can't coat a 3D object in one swoop
• BUBBLES! (Remember the yellow fish in Finding Nemo? He would have loved Glossy Accents!)
• Uneven surface - I have noticed, especially with my scrabble tiles, that the Glossy Accents has not dried in a smooth coat, but in a slightly uneven, lightly textured surface. It's not terribly noticeable, but still, I wonder why. I had read that you can have issues with Glossy Accents if you use too much, but I didn't use that much on the tiles.
  
• Water soluble- this is not a water-proof product. So, if you were to suddenly get caught in a downpour of rain, I couldn't promise that your pendant wouldn't begin to get sticky. However, I have never done a water test, so I don't know how much exposure will how much cause disintegration.
  

Of all the products I have tried so far, Glossy Accents has been the easiest and most convenient. I know most people love Modge Podge, but I am not a fan of the inevitable brush or makeup sponge marks left behind. The bubbles you can work with, by being careful to not shake the bottle, and using the applicator tip or a needle to pop them. I have also reconciled myself to the fact that there will be bubbles. 

Fun Tutorials and Projects using Glossy Accents:

• Domino Pendants
• Project: Scrabble Tile Bracelet
• Tutorial : Scrabble Tile Pendants and Charms
  
• Earring Project

Additional Information
http://www.rangerink.com/products/prod_inkssentials_glossy.htm

Where to Purchase:
Michaels or other similar craft store (though I didn't find any at my local JoAnn's)
http://store.scrapbook.com/gb-gac17042.html
http://www.capaper.com/product/5571?meta=FRG&utm_source=GBASE&utm_medium=CPC&utm_content=&utm_campaign=