Creativity Fire & Ghost Hunting Amulets

It took me over a month but I almost have my four amulets ready for Etsy. On the left you have the cinnamon oil filled with fiery-elements decorated with Latvian amber. Infused with the power of the sun, good luck and creativity, I see these going to an artist who is ready to make it big.

On the right you have the lavender oil with elderberry and quartz for those seeking to connect with the paranormal. A real ghost hunting pendant, something I had never seen before so of course, I had to make it. I know these are meant for paranormal enthusiasts like myself.

Yes, I am still playing with clay and resin but I have also felt very called to make this mini vial magickal pendants as well. I am just following my instincts and have intended on making these for a long, long time.

I did use some reference material but mostly, I just followed my instincts. They were a lot of work but listening to my spirit and following what my inner voice said to do made all the difference. I am taking all the knowledge I have gathered over the decades and creating something completely new. My own spell, my own... recipe.

I adore these little bottles. I hope they end up going to a good home when I am ready to put them up on Etsy.

Learning from Craftastrophes!

Last fall I really wanted to get back into making jewellery and wanted to do it as DIY as possible. So I tried salt sough and added some vervain, inspired by its protective abilities and the show Vampire Diaries, LOL.

Salt dough ends up shrinking too much even if you bake if for a while, stays really rough and just did not feel right in my hands. I did not like working with it and let it go.



I really wanted to play with foodie elements and combine them using Diamond Glaze but even though I varnished the candy sprinkles with hairspray, the glaze still started to dissolve everything. This is what stopped me years ago. It also did not help make my Vincent Price pendant get all shiny. It got kind of gooey.

It was at this moment I realized it was time to invest in Ice Resin, the real deal resin that is super pro and expensive.



Back to clay... Then I tried to make air hardening cold porcelain. Which did make great pendants but...???!!! The fumes from the glue (not to mention touching glue) bothered me a great deal. So I tried making my own homemade glue.



Which did thicken but it clumped all to hell! What did I do? I sieved it and hoped for the best.



I tried making the porcelain clay with it but it got so liquidy, it was unusable. That's it! I was done!



I asked Reg to take me to the dollar store and bought two bricks of air hardening clay. The real deal that has already been pressed and is good to go. All natural and according to the package, gluten free! Which made me laugh my ass off.



There we go. Back to what I originally used when I first started making my amulets and pendants all those years ago in BC. Much better and still economical.

One More Disaster



Again, to be a cheapskate I tried making "resin-like" pendants using my molds and a hot glue gun. I thought I was really onto to something at first.



Until I tried to get them out of the "bleeping" molds! One split into three layers, one wasn't too bad but the one with the heart (that OK, turned out to look cool) was sheer and absolute hell to get out of the mold. I mean it, I was swearing like a sailor and had no luck and this was a brand new mold I had invested it. I found a video that said you can dissolve glue using alcohol to get it to separate hot glue from any surface so I doused it with it.

If this did not work I was just going to set the damn thing on fire, I was that pissed! Slowly but surely I plucked it out using a spatula with my fingers screaming at me for being such a stupid idiot.

OK, so that is it! No more being a cheap ass. It is time to get out the Ice Resin and stop fighting with the process. And get back to my clay roots and really do some sculpting.

Sometimes it pays to be a DIY Goddess but most of the time? For Goddess and sanity's sake, when it comes to crafting invest in the real tools and products. This is supposed to be fun, not HELL!

My Electronic Scrapbook: Westwood Plateau, Rocky Point, Butzen Lake, Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia, Spring 2004

It was a hard financially challenging winter so when the spring of 2004 came around, I decided to try something. I tried to make magickal pendants.

I made this one for my friend Michelle for her birthday. I can not remember off the top of my head what herbs I put inside the clay but they were obviously for increasing peace in her life. The quartz crystal would help resonate that wish. I made it for her because she had decided to really bring yoga into her life and I wanted to support her on that journey.



When Beltane came I made love amulets with rose petals. You can see the flecks in the clay. After they hardened, I painted them and sold them on ebay. I had to do something to help us make money and as far as I know, there was no Etsy back then. Imagine!



The weather became beautiful as usual and we still went for weekend trips near our neighbourhood. Here I am at Buntzen Lake, I think wearing a necklace I made myself.



We would sometimes drive down to Rocky Point in Port Moody and talk about our future. We had an idea about what to do next with Reg's career but it was not an easy process or decision. When we would go here I would envision our lives getting better and started looking forward to the future.



I still did my hikes in Ridge Park and had gotten into the habit of touching this giant stone on the floor of the trail with both hands at the top of the hike. Game me a second to breathe and really have a moment at the top. I named it "The Spirit Stone" and would ask for its blessing and to help get me stronger and protect us.



Here I am again at Buntzen Lake. I realized I had taken so many photographs of this famous mountain behind me that is in so many TV shows and movies but did not have a photo with me in it. Reg was happy to oblige!



In June we decided we could afford the gas money to go once again to Harrison Hot Springs. It turned out to be the most beautiful setting for a wedding ever! Don't worry, we didn't crash it.



After being there in the cold and wind during the fall and winter, the summer was quite shocking. The place completely transformed into a stunning and almost tropical vacation spot where we went swimming and were beach bums for the day.

We were poor but our lives were still quite beautiful. I was trying my best to help out our situation anyway I could. Still, despite everything, we were quite happy.

Cheap & Easy Homemade Clear Embossing Ink

Creativity Thursday this week was a complete craftastrophe! So many things I tried were a complete disaster but one thing worked. So it was totally worth it!

I have been learning about embossing and so far the most frustrating part is figuring out how to use the ink pads. I wanted something I could put my stamp on that did not add colour, it was just... glue. This proved to be quite difficult to find but I did get one! I added the glue and it promptly dried out.

The Recipe



Thankfully I found this cached recipe here. My paranoid personality thinks that the increasingly popular and lucrative world of crafting does not want you to know how easy it is to make your own clear embossing ink but I am going to share how to make it with you.

You need 1 tsp of petroleum jelly, I used the classic, Vaseline. Mix in 1/8 capful of vegetable oil.



Then mix in 1/8 capful of alcohol to dilute. Mix together. It doesn't make a lot but it does make more than enough to rehydrate your ink pad.



I used a cosmetic foam applicator to smear some on and then removed any extra.



I did a test stamp, putting the stamp on the pad.



The pressing it down onto my sister Jamie's Wishcasting Journal.



I sprinkled with the embossing powder. Managed to get most of the powder back into the bottle.



On the left you will see that the embossing powder stuck! Yay!

On the right is the embossed stamp after I took a heat gun to it. Perfect!



I can not believe something I have tried finally worked so I am sharing it with the world instead of focusing on everything that fell apart. I will share that next week but today, I am celebrating my victory.



I always knew there was a little mad scientist in me! Who knew that it would come out while trying to make jewellery and getting all crafty?!

Creativity Thursday is here!

All week I have been looking forward to Creativity Thursday. Yesterday kind of sucked the life out of me though and now I have to go back to bed. I can barely think, I'm so tired.

I added some metallic powder to my Price/Poe Raven pendant and wondered if it was a mistake so I am backing away from the glitter until I get a little more sleep.

Maybe I should make it Creativity Tuesday instead? By Thursday, I am so beat...

Are you giving yourself time to play? Or do you need a nap too?

Jamie, Chaz, Yogamazing & the miracle of Apple TV!

When Jamie came for a visit in October, she told me about Chaz's podcast Yogamazing. She absolutely loves his classes, his casual and fun approach to yoga and was doing his classes regularly.

Considering I could only watch it on my computer which is in Reg's den, I just could not see how I could take his class. Then for Christmas, Reg and I got Apple TV for our early Christmas present right before I got pneumonia, thank goodness! It saved my sanity.

Now I can watch YouTube on my TV in my living room and do yoga! I really appreciate this episode in particular. Since I got sick, I have had more and more lower back pain. I do know quite a few poses that help stretch it out but I learned from Chaz what poses actually strengthen the lower back as well.

This has become one of my regular routines now. Thank you so much Jamie, Chaz and AppleTV (AKA Reg)! I absolutely adore getting new and interesting yoga classes that are fun and not too-long, usually around 20 minutes. Having a disabling illness that keeps me house-bound for six months of the year... This has helped me so much and inspired me to get back to my yogi self.

DIY Tissue Paper Raven Pendant

I am in the middle of making a reversible pendant. On one side is Vincent Price who I adore but my pendants always flip over so I decided to decorate the back as well.


Remember the raven in Gibsons that I had a deep moving moment with and he allowed me to take his photograph? Well I wanted to tie Price to Poe using this photograph for the back of the pendant. I also paraphrased one of my favourite quotes of Price's, "While other kids read books like Go Jane Go, Vincent's favorite author is Edgar Allan Poe."



I printed the text and the photograph of the raven on tissue paper which I cut to fit a regular piece of computer paper and adhered with a glue stick. It got a little jammed and smeared but I ended up liking the look of it. Then I got out some acrylic medium, just a little, to adhere the printout to the back of the wooden pendant which I had painted white.



It did get a little wrinkly so I used my fingers to smooth it out but that also smeared some of the ink. Next time? I will print out a mirror image! I wrapped the edges of the tissue paper around the pendant and gently tore off the excess.



I added more gloss medium to the top and let it dry overnight. It isn't finished but I love how it is turning out! I think Vincent would be proud. :)