Reversible Clay Ice Resin Heart Pendant with Sugar Heart Sprinkles

This item is now for sale on Etsy!

Wow, I sure am making a lot of heart pendants! I suppose it is because I am a romantic and if these don't sell, I will wear them all myself, no worries. I've always been a fan of pink too. Who knew this tomboy had a girlie streak in her?



I started off with some cold air hardening porcelain clay I made myself. It was starting to crack. I liked the idea of a cracked heart, felt it was poetic and a bit tragic so I used a mold to get the basic shape.



I painted the heart pink and filled with resin, topped with sugar heart sprinkles. You can see my Jezebel Root Attract Wealth Necklace Amulet and my Dried Lavender Windowed Victorian Healing Heart Pendant being made too. Cool!

Some of the Ice Resin did bleed through but it also closed to cracks in the heart! I just had to use my Dremel tool to sand it all down, add more paint, some glitter and seal with varnish.


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I personally find this pendant adorable. Yes, it is imperfect but that is what art-by-hand is about. I am sick and tired of the big machines of the world creating flaw-free stuff that we wear.

This is one of a kind and has my foodie touch. Nobody else out there has one. That is what making jewellery is all about for me!

Rose Quartz Heart Ice Resin Pendant with Sugar Sprinkles

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This pendant is now for sale on Etsy!

I have always wanted to use crystals in my jewelry and have them suspended inside. Ice Resin finally allows me to do it and I get to add a beautiful glass heart to the mix!



I really want to include a foodie touch to some of my pieces which may seem weird but if you know how much I love food, it shouldn't surprise you. So to give the resin a little character and the heart a little texture...



This pendant is now for sale on Etsy!

It made the background appear bubbly when it wasn't but that's OK. For me it makes it quite fascinating to look at and having the background a little blurry helps bring the romantic speckled heart into focus.


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I am falling more and more in love with working with Ice Resin. It is doing exactly what I want to do (although the company says the more I use my molds, the clearer the pendants will be). I have dreamed of encasing and making three dimensional pendants. Now that I am getting used to it, there will be no stopping me!

Jezebel Root Attract Wealth Necklace

Check it out on Etsy

Here is my air hardening porcelain clay that I made from scratch that I turned into a bowl. I absolutely adore this piece, it is exactly what I wanted to accomplish. Like an offering bowl with a piece of Jezebel root suspended it in as a talisman.



I wanted to make the bowl organic-looking so I shaped it with my fingers and tools but left a lot of character. I smoothed it out with my Dremel tool and attachments so it reminds me a little of an egg.



I had some Jezebel root that I put inside, covered with Ice Resin and then let cure. When it was hardened I drilled a hole through the top.



I threaded it with brown cording, knotting on some beads and it is good to go! This is my first official Etsy product for sale.

I just love how earthy it is and hope that it attracts lots of wealth for the person who wears it. Please note that it is also associated with destroying enemies and was used as a talisman for prostitutes, oh my! But I made this with the intention of attracted wealth in positive ways to the person who wears it. Not in a skuzzy evil way.

Lavender Windowed Victorian Heart Pendant

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Pendant is now available on Etsy!

There is something so magical about coming up with an idea and making it happen. I have been wanting to make this lavender pendant since I was out in BC but back then, I just did not know how to put all the components together to make it work. It is nice to feel like I have come so far and now I can just make it happen. A truly empowering act.



I went back to my first medium... air hardening clay. I divvied up the clay, wrapped it in plastic wrap and then sealed in plastic bags. Oh how I loved to be back playing with earthy clay, something so root chakra about it.



I covered my board with wax paper and taped it down and then put the clay into a heart-shaped mold. I popped it out and got out some tools.



I removed the center of the heart to create a bowl where the lavender and resin would go. I also added an eyelet on top. I let this sit for days to make sure it dried through.

I wish I could have photographed the process of adding the lavender and topping it with resin but that probably would have ruined my camera, it was very messy.



I wanted to have a "white wash" effect on the frame front and back so I dry-brushed an opalescent white paint onto the pendant. I also brushed on some opalescent Pearl Ex powdered pigment to get the lavender layer to shine.



To finish it off I covered the pendant in fine clear embossing powder which I melted with a heat gun. Then I varnished the pendant to finish it off.


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A very rustic yet classic pendant that I think is a real treasure. I finally did it! I have been waiting to make this for years and now it is real. It is here because I had the courage to get over my fear of resin and get back to working with clay.

Two years ago I hit a real creative wall because of fear. I am ready now and taking on the crafting tools and breaking those walls down. As a result, I am getting closer and closer to re-opening my Etsy store. I can hardly wait!

My Electronic Scrapbook 2004 and Big News

As much as I want to lose myself in crafting, we have been under the weight of huge news and realization about our lives. As excited as I am about the prospect of leaving Nova Scotia in a year and a half, it comes at a huge cost. We had such hopes and dreams and we realize now, they are over.



When I discovered this hidden fairy underneath one of the paths in Ridge Park in Coquitlam in 2004, I was filled with a sense that everything was going to be OK. We were poor and struggling but we came up with a plan that was going to take care of us.



Even as the squirrels still chitted at me, we had grown to be neighbours. I did not like the idea of leaving BC ever so Reg and I came up with a plan that meant our chances of staying on the west coast would be excellent. That was always part of our future, to be in BC no matter what. No matter what indeed.



Reg and I went to Nova Scotia to go to great lengths to make sure that there would be no way Reg would be passed up for this opportunity. It put us in great debt but it was an investment in our long-term future.



We came back home to BC, filled with a sense of destiny and hope, that our lives would have meaning and perhaps make a difference in the world. Change would be coming for us and we were excited.



In the meantime I continued to make amulets. I used this robin's egg to make a woman a fertility charm (which I no longer will make). I trusted and believed we were on the right path.



Reg did everything from stripping logs to working in the movies to make money. This is the most prominent image of him from I Robot.

And now it is over. Well, technically it isn't completely over but the dream is dead. This is not how I wanted to go back home but at least we know now that we are going home in a year and a half.



I have been lost in mourning for Reg and his dream. We tried so hard, we thought we did everything right and nothing has worked since we moved here. It is like we fell off the path when we decided to leave BC. I just hope that when we go back, things will feel better. I have been gone over four years now, it's hard to remember what it was like when things felt "right" but I have hope that it will once again.

Ghost Hunter's Amulet & Oil

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My two ghost hunting oil amulets are almost complete. I just have a couple more details to finish and I can re-open my Etsy store!

This little bottle contains homemade lavender oil with three elderberries and a quartz crystal. A lot went into making this beauty. More details to come. The gypsy bells will help call the spirits to your side. They love the sound of bells!

Cold Porcelain Mermaid Shell Copper Pendant Tutorial

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This pendant is now for sale on my Etsy site!

Not that long ago I wrote about making homemade cold porcelain. I made one small batch that I had to knead in glue and the fumes really got to me. I could not NOT use it so I made a few pendants with it.

For this post I used a chocolate mold (don't worry, I won't use it for chocolate or food of any kind ever again) that I got at the Bulk Barn. I just pushed in the clay and then popped out, added an eye hook and let dry for at least 24 hours.



I got out my Winsor & Newton Cotman Sketchers Pocket Box Set of watercolours and just added a yellow and orange wash on it with lots of water. Then I let it dry.



It was just too subtle for me so I got out my Rembrandt pastels, put some orange and yellow on my and rubbed the shell so the colours would only go on top of the ridges.



I found the pendant a little "flat' so I brushed on some Ice Resin and let it set overnight. I noticed the clay was kind of dry when I sculpted it in the mold and I could see some imperfections and cracking and wondered how Pearl Ex powdered super bronze would impact the shell. I had seen this product do amazing things.



Oh wow! It looked all nice and shiny, metallically, LOL. I loved it but it was now a little too one-toned and I wanted more texture.


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I used some of my clear homemade embossing ink (which is working amazingly well) on top of the pendant and then sprinkled with clear chunk embossing powder.



I got out my heat gun and...


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This pendant is now for sale on my Etsy site!

OMG, perfect! Now I could see all the different layering of colours, techniques and the texture was exactly what I wanted. It looks like the shell just came out of the water! Perfect for a mermaid pendant.

When I started this process, I have no idea what was going to happen. In fact I was convinced this was going to get thrown out but I wanted to experiment. I wanted to keep layering and see what happened. The results? Exactly what I wanted. This is going to make a stunning necklace!

Do not be afraid when you are all crafty! Yes, some things will end up craftastophies and that is OK because sometimes you will get what you want... or something even better!

Halestorm's Love Bites (So Do I)

Happy weekend! Reg introduced me to Halestorm this morning and I just had to share. Talk about being fearless! This band is frickin's awesome.

Enjoy Love Bites (So Do I)!

Getting over iMovie fears!

My fearlessness does not just apply to resin and power tools, it could also apply to software. We have an older version of iMovie and I can not say that it is easy to use! I wanted to take photos from my first Ice Resin photo tutorial and turn it into a slideshow with music. I thought it would be easy but getting timing right... Ugh! But, here is it:



I did it! My back hated every second of it but I did it. Learning software with a project in mind is the only way for me to learn. It keeps me focused and kind of gives me a deadline.


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So even though my purple resin skull is not perfect, I did add some Pearl Ex powdered pigment, a purply one, to the surface which really brought out the back purple colour and created this stunning sheen. Then I varnished it and will be turning it into a necklace for myself today.

I have decided that I would like every day to be a little crafty. Once a week just isn't enough. Crafting this like this is helping me break through anxiety issues I have, makes me smile and laugh (which in February is quite the feat) and... I just love it. It is so much fun.

Every time I wear this pendant, it will remind me to not let fear keep me small.

Another craftastrophe, another day in my crafts room

Remember my cool resin skull pendant that was all cloudy because it is so freakin' cold right now? I decided it was going to be my test subject for my Dremel multi-vise and work station. Now apparently the two are not supposed to go together but the work station did not come with clamps. I had no real way of securing the pendant under the drill.

I got the vise, fitted it with some foam and put the pendant inside and squeezed the vise shut as best as I could.  I wanted to be able to put cord through the head and add finishing beads on the bottom which is why I set it up this way.

Was I scared? Hell ya! Power tools have always frightened me. I was never so happy in my life when I no longer had to take shop class. But I am moving past these crafty fears!



I fitted my Dremel 100 into the work station and added a small jewelry-sized drill bit from my Dremel drill bit set. As you can see, it only went 3/4 of the way, damn it! Not only that, it wasn't straight.



I added a long, thicker and bigger drill bit and it still didn't go all the way through!



So I added a "mega" drill bit! That would work, right?!



Crap! I smashed in the head of my skull! Actually I found that kind of funny.

Because the pendant sunk into the foam as I was drilling, I couldn't see what was happening. I pushed the Dremel right into the head. Who knew I was so strong?!

I ended up painting the top and will put a big bead up there so no one will see. This pendant is now officially mine.



OK so I got it through all the way but it is so close to the edge of the resin, part of it is broken. Live and learn...



At least I finally used both my drill and my vise. Yes, I know they are not supposed to go together but I thought that was pretty creative of me. Reg says next time I should use hand-held clamps. I still can't wrap my head about that idea.

So it is a bit of a craftastrophe but I did not get hurt and I will still wear this pendant. I learned so much for this experience that it was totally worth it. Getting over my fear of power tools and screwing up has been incredibly liberating.

I can't wait for the experimenting phase to be over and start making pendants for real now. I am starting to believe I can do it!

Valentine's Day Reg & Suzie Style

Reg and I are romantic but did not want to be part of the saccharin Valentine's Day machine. That said, for the first time in years there wasn't a snowstorm so we did go out together for dinner and a movie.

My Day



First though I gave myself a day off of blogging so I could do whatever the hell I wanted. I really wanted to play in my crafts room. Here I am embossing a heart-shaped pendant which I thought was appropriate. It is filled with lavender inside, suspended in Ice Resin (which yes, you can't see, not yet).



Remember how Reg was sweet enough to buy me both a Dremel Multi-Vise and a Work Station? Turns out my old Dremel did not fit in the work station! Reg had set everything up and then we could not get my Dremel in and he just sighed.

"Well, we'll just get you another Dremel then!"

I thought he was joking but he wasn't. The exact amount of money showed up right afterwards and paid for my new Dremel 100 which fits perfectly. Yesterday I read the manuals (which is a big step for me) and experimented. I was terrified, knots in my stomach, but I did it! Now I see that it is all easy and not scary. I am one more step towards being a crafty superstar!

The Food



Yup, we were big spenders for dinner. All I cared about was not cooking and saving money. I got the JBC at Wendy's, a junior bacon cheeseburger. That's it. I wanted room for popcorn!



It was the weirdest hamburger I have ever seen. It had tentacles! And for me you know what was weirder? Just mayo! No ketchup, no pickles, no mustard... I guess that's how they make it for under $2. No thanks. The lettuce was super crisp though.

The Movie



Totally our style, we went to see the movie The Woman in Black for Valentine's Day. We started watching horror films by accident on V-Day back in Ottawa when I had food poisoning and the only thing on was The Shining, The Exorcist (very appropriate) and The Haunting (the original, my fav).

There is something so anti-establishment to see a horror movie on the day of romance that it makes me laugh. Plus, I love good spooky movies! They are my favourite and make me happy. I know, I am weird.

The movie was technically good. So many great ideas, scary "boo" moments but was I really scared? No. Why? I didn't feel the main character was very frightened. I don't know if it was Radcliffe's acting or what but he just did not seem to be very frightened. I find with new movies that rely so heavily on CGI that the actors now have to rely on their imagination to scare them. If they aren't scared, I'm not scared. That's part of life as an empath.

Still, there is so much good about the film I would recommend it. The premise, the development... all of which were well done but in the end, I think the story got a bit lost. I even almost laughed at a very inappropriate moment. I left thinking, yeah, it was OK and not, OMG, I am not going to sleep tonight.

I adore time period films and all things supernatural so I am thrilled we went to see this for Valentine's Day. Reg knows me so well, it was a perfect fit for the evening even though it wasn't a perfect movie.

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day no matter what you were up to! Was it weird like mine?