Resin Time!!

I am really really excited you guys!! I follow Carmi Cimicata on her Resin Crafts blog and on 10/1/13, she posted about a project she wanted her readers to participate in: Resin Time! I sent an email to her with my address and sat back to wait for an email to let me know I'd been chosen to participate.. and waited...and waited. Hmm... I guess she had enough people respond before me, and I couldn't participate. Maybe next time!

But then... late last week I got a package in the mail. I opened it and there it was! My very own time piece bezel!!

From her blog:

"Your watch face will be photographed and then I will be displaying them all in our huge booth at CHA in California in January.  That is the biggest crafting event in the world and I want your resin timepiece to be with me!

I plan to have a judging committee to select the top 10 favorites, which will be further featured on Resin Crafts Blog!"

The only requirements are to use either the ETI Resin and/or the Resin Clay. That doesn't seem too difficult but the question is, what the heck will I put in the thing?! I don't know, but I'm excited to be a part of this and can't wait to see what all the finished pieces look like from all the other participants!

Feature #3 for an Artfire Collection!!

Hey guys, I was featured in another collection on ArtFire!!

On the far right, top row, that's mine!! I did some polymer clay pieces a while back where I was trying to use various shades of brown and pieces to resemble faux woodgrain I made to make some steampunk-like pieces with clock parts. This was also towards the beginning of my using resin, so I tested using resin to encase them. This definitely was the best piece, but I never got around to making it anything ready-to-use unless someone buys it just to glue it on a bezel or something.

Anywho, just wanted to let ya'll know! :D

Craft ya laters!

Always Seal Papers For Resin Embedding

Previously on Artfire: Published On: 07-26-2012

Here's a quick post to show what happens if you don't properly seal whatever paper you want to embed in resin with mod podge or glue layer of about 2-5 layers:




These aren't as bad as you could get, true, and I didn't do a whole lot of embellishments in them (thank goodness!!) but it is still a little sad to see the soaking. It's so bad, I almost wish it'd soaked through the whole thing because it'd just be that liiiiittle bit more, yeah? Oh well, lesson learned, and hopefully these plus all the other examples out there will remind you to completely seal whatever projects you work on!!

Clear Resin Pendants with DIY Backing Decorations

Previously on Artfire: Published On: 07-26-2012

I found this blog that Carmi Cimicata does using Envirotex Resin to show the awesome diversity it has to it, and this is one of the many posts that caught my eye so much so that I just HAD to play with it in my own way!!

http://resincrafts.blogspot.com/2012/04/resin-shoes.html#



Aren't they just the neatest!!

She has the tutorial for making them on the link I provided as well as a bunch of other things so go check it out!

For mine however, since I didn't have a high heel mold, I used a little flower mold I have since they're thinner and would cure faster.



These are a few of the flowers that came out. Now, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them, so I went looking through my scrapbooking paper pads and found this one!



It's pretty neat, but doesn't seem too terribly exciting on its own. When I put it under one of the flowers however, it took on a pretty neat look!!




Isn't that neat?! I think I'm going to have to try fabric and maybe paints next and of course I'll share so keep an eye out!

I might even make bunches of the clear pieces and sell those as lots so you can put whatever backing on them you want and use as jewelry pieces or embellishments or whatever!! What do you guys think?

Careful Selection of Resin Molds Required

Previously on Artfire: Published On: 07-26-2012

I got this awesome mold for unicorns a while back that I was very excited to use for clay and resin. I used one slot for a clay unicorn that turned out ok (should have used different colors or not as many since it was a little too much to see the details of the unicorn) but a couple weeks ago, I decided I wanted to make a whole bunch of glittery resin unicorns!!

I got out the mold:


And I proceeded to put clear resin in each hole (except for the dirty clay one, oops! forgot to clean!) and got this (will explain the missing chunk further down):





This was all well and good......until I attempted to push them out. I decided to try with this orange one I'd poured as it was near the edge (the missing chunk you see in the first picture). I tried popping out while it was still part of the main mold, but that didn't work so I cut that piece out and tried cutting into the plastic around it, halfway through.

No matter how hard I tried however, this thing would NOT come out! I am so very sad that these didn't work as I was just so excited to use these for little kid's charms and to give a couple to a friend of mine! **sigh**

Lesson learned : choose your molds very carefully when working with resin. Make sure that they are able to be bent and folded enough to pop these guys out and/or use mold release! I might try to clean that last spot and spray with mold release and try one more time just to see if it's the mold or the fact that I didn't use release with the others, but I'm betting more towards the mold wasn't quite the right one to use.

First Attempt At Faux Blue Opal

Previously on Artfire: Published On: 07-16-2012


Thanks to Carmi over at resincrafts.blogspot.com and the referral back to Marie Browning's idea for Faux Opal Using Easy Cast Resin, I have been able to make these awesome pendants!!





**Please excuse the bad pictures, I'm still figuring out how to get the best shots but the first one really is how these guys look!!*

The instructions called for mylar flakes for the opal shine so I set out on a mission to find this stuff locally.

I had looked at about 4 craft stores one day, looked in the resin, clay, craft sections... I even asked a couple employees at the stores if they had any mylar flakes I could use as was recommended by these ladies but noone had the foggiest what I was talking about!!

I thought I couldn't have gotten THIS unlucky, could I?? At the HobbyLobby checkout, I saw this stuff though so I decided to get it to see if it'd do about the right thing, until I could find the real stuff online:



Only in looking up what they called this stuff to give it a name here did I find that apparently, this stuff IS mylar!! YAYY!!! Also, they seem to have about 10 different colors!! WOW!!

After these pendants turned out so great, I might just try to get my hands on some more of this stuff!, in different colors!! Such a great price for a material like this when it's US $2.00 a bag and there's SOO much in there!

Only catch though guys, this stuff is extremely, HORRIBLY staticky!! I got the strips out and was just cutting bits off but it kept sticking to my hands, the table, my legs, etc. The only way I could get it in the mold on the first layer of resin so I could pour the second layer on top to seal it in was to use a paintbrush, put a layer of glue on the resin and then dob it on the pieces of mylar to stick to the brush and then apply to the glue on the jewelry piece in the mold!! Yikes!! Needless to say, it made a decent mess, but since glue dries clear, you can't even tell I had to do those extra steps!

Does anyone have any idea how I could de-static this stuff and make it easier to use next time?!

The Monthly Craft Challenge!!

I've seen this type of idea on other people's blogs where they have a weekly or a monthly challenge that they invite others to join in on. This can include people that already have those supplies, or maybe have to go out and get supplies so they can participate.

For me, I already have a ton of supplies just not getting used. I feel more like a Jackie of all trades, master of none. My goals in doing this challenge is to attempt to become more of a master at the crafts and hobbies I have delved in. My supplies currently are stored away in their boxes or drawers, wasting away, and that just makes me sad! The following should give you an idea of what all I have: 

Clay - clay, pasta roller, blades, carving tools, toaster oven, bead baking rack with pins, pearl ex powders, cutters:

Resin - clear resin (2pks), white resin (1 pk), tons of glitter, mylar flakes, transparent and opaque color dyes, molds, mold release

Candles - double boiler, thermometer, 3 color dyes, 6-pk scents, wicks, 10lb slab of wax, stearic acid, vybar:

Beads - seed, large seed, bicones, wood, glass, crystals, shells, cubes, colored wires, fireline thread, memory wire, jump rings, head/eye pins, earring hooks, clasps:

Scrapbooking - stickers, more stickers, gel pens, stamps, 4 pairs of edging scissors, mod podge glue, mod podge dimensional magic(to compare to resin), papers (singles and pads), ribbon:

Embossing - powders, resist ink, embossing ink pad, heat gun

Sewing and String Crafts - yarn, embroidery thread, spools, needles, crochet hooks, sewing machine, tons of fabric, patterns:

This isn't even all of the supplies I have, but it is a majority. I've been collecting supplies, as well as hobbies to go along with them, since before I was in High School. As such, I've clearly amassed a collection worthy of 5 crafters at least!

To try and whittle this stock of supplies down into actual items, I will attempt to challenge myself monthly with making things using the supplies I currently have, with only buying new things if it's something like more sewing thread mid-purse, or more yarn to finish the latch hook I'm doing, etc.

I'd like to try and do this all year, but let's see how long I can keep this up. Is there anyone else out there with a massive supply stock that wants to join me?? Or even if  you don't have a supply list like I do to choose from, is there anyone that wants to challenge themselves to either learn new methods of crafting and use the challenge to hone those skills, or even just get better at skills you already have? Let me know in the comments!

Howdy Hello Hi!!

Hi!!

My name is Teresa and I am the person behind "BeadsByCelleste". I came up with this name when I was 18 and not entirely sure where I got it from except that I liked the name Celleste (named my new cat this) and that I made jewelry at the time and wanted to make my own beads eventually. I currently live in the Cedar Park, TX area, am 27 years old and hold down a day job at a computer that makes me so anxious to just go home and craft most days!!

My personal interests include but are not limited to: jewelry making, scrapbooking, crafting, resin, polymer clay, mod podging, candle making, latch-hooking, cross-stitching, sewing, glass bead making/flameworking, DIY, riding my motorcycle solo or with my bf (he has his own, he doesn't ride passenger on mine!), playing videogames, watching movies (all genres), reading fiction and more!!

I learned how to make jewelry from my Grandma (G-ma) when I used to go over and spend the weekends with her in 6th grade since she lived just down the road and we'd spend our time playing SNES games, watching movies and crafting. For the record, this means that I've been crafting and making things for about 15 years now and I hope to continue crafting as long as I can! She has been my crafting role model and who I always blame (credit :p) for my addiction to the world that is Crafts/DIY! She taught me straight beading, then a beading technique I called figure-8 for years until I only recently discovered it was a double 'needle' right angle weave, how to make basic jewelry pieces, how to latch hook, how to decoupage and fabric painting/embellishing. Somehow she had the patience to do the sequin/bead designs and fabric prints that she'd cut around (all those details!! yikes!!) so she could put on a sweatshirt and paint on. She unfortunately passed in 2004, but I feel I carry on her spirit in all the crafts I do and all the new things I learn to do as I know if she were here today, she'd be just as excited as I am on what all there is to make and how!

Nowadays, I cruise Pinterest and I seem to have a board for everything... until I realize I in fact don't have a board for this, or for that, and then I create one!! This my friends is how you get up to 48 boards (and counting...) on your profile!! Yikes!! Please feel free to follow me if you'd like or just check out my pins/boards if you're interested or ever bored one day! http://pinterest.com/kiwikitty531

I wanted to create this blog so that I could share the projects I endeavor on as well as document the mishaps as well as the successes I have as I learn and try new things and grow as a crafter and DIYer and invite you to share along in my journey! With this in mind, I hope to see you back soon!!