Rue Romantique Christmas blog hop

Welcome to the last day of the Rue Blog Hop.  I hope you have seen all the great ornaments on Friday, Nov. 8 by Kristen Robinson, Jen Crossley,Cindy Cima Edwards and Cindi Bisson.  

Saturday, Nov. 9 was packed full of great bits by Carol la Valley,Lexi Grenzer, Pamela Huntington, Susan Walls and

Jen Cushman.  

Today you can find work by  Thespa

McLaughlin, Lesley Venable, Jo Mama and  Susan Weckesser

For those of you who have been watching my work, you know I'm on this animal kick.  I love to cast animals and incorporate them into my work.  So when I heard we were doing an ornament, I knew it would have to have some sort of animal.  I love finding a sleeping owl nestled in a tree in the middle of the day, so I wanted to bring that feeling into my ornament.

I started by casting an owl with Ice resin.  

I Used golden fluid acrylic to color the surface.  These add color but allow light to come through

I used the interference blue to add some shimmer to the surface.  I then sprayed the piece with a polyurethane clear coat.

Next I drilled a very small hole in the center to the bezel

 just large enough for a head pin to fit snug.  I folded the head pin over so it would lay flat and taped it down.  This helps ensure no resin will seep through

The Rue Romantique bezels are great for adding patina because all the fine detail allows for contrast.  I wanted a rustic sort of look, so I painted the entire bezel with white nail polish and allowed it to dry

 Once it was completely dry, I rubbed off the highlights with sand paper.

 Once I had enough of the polish off, I used the Golden paints to add highlights.  You could also use an Ink pad, oil pastels or anything else that adds color!

I mixed a small amount of Ice Resin and poured a few drops into the bezel.  I covered the Resin with some pink glitter because...well who doesn't love glitter?

While that was drying, I made a tassel with some ribbon, leather, chain and a  stick I had covered in resin awhile back.

TIP: when your not feeling particularly creative but you want to be in the studio, I spend my time creating components.  I will make resin paper, sticks and other bits.  Sometimes I just cut and enamel interesting shapes.  That way, when the mood strikes, you have baubles and bits to use and you don't have to wait around for things to dry!!

I took a pre-made flower ribbon and created a wire wrap on each end.

Once my bezel was dry, I drilled a hole on either side and attached the flower ribbon.

I made a loop on the end of my head pin and attached my tassel, and Viola, a sleepy owl to rest in your tree all season long!!Ill probably wear him around my neck after Christmas!!

Happy Blog hopping