casting in France

In France, All of the homes in Defort have wooden shutters with beautiful hardware. Most have these cool metal heads/bodies to hold the shutters open. Late one chilly night I decided to attempt to cast one of the shutter holders.

Putty sets quickly, so I was confident i could cast the neighbors hardware without being caught. I did not take in to consideration the cold weather. I passed back and forth attempting to be inconspicuous. going back often to blow warm breath on the putty! Mt first attempt failed because I was to anxious about being caught and it was not set. My second attempt was more successful. I cast the piece in Ice resin

I used gilders paste to alter the resin. I used resin to glue rhinestones in place. The cool green/blue glass piece at the bottom was a flea market find from Claire. It was originally part of a lamp shade with hundreds of these glass "blobs" They are beautiful..Thanks Claire for the cool piece I painted a thin coat of resin to give it a shine

I used bronze chain and garnet. I added a SLK bezel with resin to finish the piece off. I poured the bezel 1/2 way and painted it red and rubbed some gold gilders paste. once it was dry, I poured the bezel full and added a piece of torn french paper.

I love how this bezel turned out. Many people have asked me "what kind of stone is that!" The layers of resin and gilders paste give it a depth you cant achieve with one pour.

slide in resin

Here are the samples of what I came up with for the slides.

Here is what they look like in the "original state"

Here is the slide taken apart

Here is the slide set in an open back bezel with Ice resin

And a another

Like I said, they look cool with a light source. Here is a sample with a piece of paper behind it. You can see through the entire image. Its cool that the image is translucent, but not practical for jewelry. When wearing it, it just looks like a dark empty bezel. Maybe I will make a lamp shade of chandelier with them. It would be cool to figure out how to place a small LED light behind the piece....HUM...maybe it can still be jewelry. Come on My French friends, you can help come up with some great ideas!

on the way!!!

I finally got everything packed up and on its way. A friend gave me some old slides. I set one in an open back bezel and resin. It looks really cool with the light behind it, but not so great against dark clothing. I sent each of you one of the slides and hope you can come up with a cool project (this is really a selfish act because I have tons of them and need ideas!!!) Hope they all arrive safe and soon. Miss you all

Claires pipe

Claire also found a pipe at a Paris Flea Market. She was kind enough to let me cast it. I cast the entire piece, but had to cut the mold to get the pipe out. This left me with 2 parts of the mold. I cast both pieces with the intent of making them whole again. But once I took out the front piece, I liked it so much, I choose not to use the back.

Last year I purchased a pack of bronze bezels in Tucson. The well is very shallow, so they do not work well for an Image. But they do hold enough resin to secure a 3D piece. This Bezel made me think of an old Victorian frame

This piece reminds me of an old Victorian photo. The women would sit very still, stone faced, for there portrait. I used a paper reminiscent of Victorian wall paper for the background. I used some bronze chain, silk ribbon and gemstones to complete the piece. Thank you Claire sharing your beautiful treasure!

I purchased this pipe at a flea market in France. I was told it was carved from Ivory, but after a bit of research, I believe it is a mershon pipe. Either way, I thought it was cool and wanted to make a piece of jewelry out of it. As I have said before, One of the things I love about Ice Resin, is it allows you reproduce special pieces. I paid a lot for this piece and want to use it is several different ways.

I used acrylic paint to alter the cast piece. I painted a thin coat of resin over the piece to give it a shine and brighten the color. I used some chain, ribbon and gemstones to finish it off.

remembering France

I made some tokens for each of the girls that went on the France trip. I did not have room in my luggage to take them with me, so I planed to send them as soon as I returned home. well here we are a month and 1/2 later and Ive finally got them packaged and ready to go. I have been dragging my a*# because, after I returned, they just did not seem special enough to commemorate our experience. I have been thinking on what I could make that would be a special token of our time together. But.... I got nothing! We had such a special time together, I could not come up with anything that was as meaningful as out trip. So, the girls age getting the original tokens and my wish that they could have been as amazing as our time in France was.

A bit of France

I have not posted much about the France trip/workshop. Not because I dont want to share, but because Im still processing it. It was a life changer! I had the MOST amazing time and met the most wonderful women. You never know how a large group of women are going to mix. This group could not have been any better if I hand selected them myself. Each woman brought something magic to the table. I made friends with women I am blessed to know. As much as I love and live to make beautiful jewelry...This trip turned in to so much more than a simple workshop. I loved the class and making cool stuff, but the real gem of the trip was the girls (and wonderful husbands) who would have thought 3 husbands on a girls trip would make it so special! I have lots of pix I will post over the next few weeks but I want to take some time to really think on how to even describe the adventure. Here are a few to start off with. We got lost......I mean took a detour from Toulouse to Derfort. We all got a bit hungry so we stopped for some pizza. We ordered cheese and olive pizza.

A bit different that in the States. Maybe Olives are rare in France!!!

This had to be my favorite part of the trip. Beautiful meals made by Nesa and shared with friends

Susan and I found a cool clown to pose with across from Moulin Rouge.

And some awesome class time