Bramble - #64-68: the doll parts set

More time than usual has passed since my last item blog due in part to having a slight case of burnout last week.  I think I know the reasons for the burnout and have gotten over it but the necklace in the set was sort of a catalyst and represented the piece I wasn't able to figure out, complete, and move on from. Yesterday was the breakthrough day though and I think this completed set is now one of my favorites.

I started by removing the face of a barbie doll which was slightly difficult, not based on materials or technique, but because it was my first time doing so and it gave me the heebie jeebies. I hate dolls and never keep them in the house but picked up some at the thrift store for repurposed jewelry. Soon after, it became easier to focus on cutting through the plastic with an xacto knife to remove the facial features.

The main material in the pendant I was trying to make was a round bezel which I planned to attach to a square bezel. The face was slightly difficult to insert into the round bezel without it looking rat-like, so I went with an alternative method and only inserted a certain portion of the features. I like how that turned out better, appearance-wise. The plastic was secured with my usual decoupage medium that I pretty much use on every project, Mod Podge (matte).

And that was pretty much where I left it for a week until yesterday. I knew I wanted to make an accessories set with common elements and had just picked up a bag of little cloth roses and some various plastic pearls that seemed like they would help make those elements. The eye pins in the picture were just used to for the mock up and the bead placement planning. The actual attachments were all done using the ice-pink wire, which was a great color and worked well to bring the other colors together.

Results:

The bracelet was made using a blank metal cuff. I first attached a frame of small plastic pearl beads followed by using more adhesive to secure a plastic doll shoe. The roses were attached by winding some of the pink wire through the backs and wrapping under the round bezel.

The earrings began with using adhesive to attach a key and a keyhole charm to a pair of barbie hands. From there, I made a small bead strand using the pink wire and it consisted of two mini pearls and bead caps framing a gray bead. Fish hooks were attached and the earrings were completed by winding some pink wire through the backs of the roses, making an eye loop, and wrapping the rose to the hand.

This is the first time I have done a ring and have recently found a nice stash of adjustable metal rings with blank bezel space. I continued the barbie / rose / pearl theme by attaching the face bit not used in the necklace bezel plus the other common elements.

The square bezel barrettes don't have any barbie bits but were just a continuation of the elements of the set.

I really like how the necklace, which had previously had me frustrated, ended up developing. Instead of maintaining a chain necklace as I have done in the past, I broke up the chain by adding bead and bead caps which I looped using the pink wire. Six of the plastic pearls have a light rose cast and the two closest to the bezel are light taupe. The rose was attached with looped wire and hanging from the bottom of the pendant is a pair of handcuffs which have pearls attached with wire.

Primeval - #63: the Correggio cell

I have a large book of Italian works and chose one of the cells from the ceiling painting that Antonio Allegri (Correggio) did for abbess Giovanna Piacenza to use as a decoupaged wall hang.

The piece started with some craft wood, turquoise and brown paint, and a weather crackle medium.  I was practicing with the medium in order to help achieve a weathered and aged look to the wood.  A base of turquoise was dried before adding a layer of crackle and then a wash of brown while the crackle was still tacky.  I also did the brown wash a little differently by doing the actual wash of the color with the water while it was on the wood instead of first mixing it in a cup.  The results held better and had a more dramatic appeal with that method.

Once all that was dry, I then applied the picture.

The piece still needed to have a more weathered and old look to it, so I worked on it with sandpaper and creme wax for a bit.  I used a quick sanding technique but with a good amount of pressure for the edges. The print was more lightly scratched and scuffed and the white creases throughout the print happened when the bumps that were formed from the glue underneath the picture got sanded.

The final step was to add some gold leafing.  This was also a first for me and gold leafing pretty much sucks to deal with but gives some great effects.

Results:

Chops - #62: the walrus jaw bone

A very different piece of decor that first started out as a walrus jaw bone.

It was a turquoise-and-brown kind of day, so the things I was working on got the same treatments and this meant a little bit of experimenting.  First, I painted the jaw bone turquoise and then applied a weathering crackle medium once the paint was dry.  The crackle was meant for surfaces like wood, but I wanted to see what effect it would have on bone.  A brown wash was applied while the crackle medium was still tacky.

Once dried, it was time for decoupage.  I knew I wanted to go with Brom but didn't know what image until after the paint job.  I settled on Shade of Blue.

  

It was looking good but still felt like it was missing a thing or two.  While trying to decide what final things I would add, I was was drawn to the jewels on the figures hand and dress and realized I should use some stick on gems in place of them and also as an outline along the side of the bone.

  

The final step was just to add the hanging wire which I did by drilling a hole through one of the back bone chunks and wrapping the looped wire.

Results:

Trickle - #61: the moose antler bit necklace

This is a small bit of moose antler I picked up and wanted to turn into a pendant necklace in a different style than #47 and #48.  The first thing I did was apply a tinted sealer, which I have never used before.

The results of the aqua tint on the bone color was pretty cool and I can see working on pieces with a variety of sealer tints in the future.

Because I was concurrently working on a few pieces using some manner of the turquoise and brown color combination, I decided to add brown stripes and a thin wash of turquoise.

And this time, instead of wrapping the antler in wire, I drilled a hole through it for the wire and then added a bone feather, tan leather thong, and toggle closure.

Results:

Rouse - #57-60: the metal and bones

Recently, I completed three new pairs of earrings and a necklace.  The necklace matches one set of the earrings in that they both include bone while the other two pairs of earrings have similar metallic bases.

The metal base earrings consisted of 2 elephants and 2 owls, both of which had a blank round space which I was eager to glue something into.

I chose a deep red striped background paper to use on both and decided on a steampunk-ish design theme, which seemed natural considering the metal. Once the paper was in place, I would glue on a gear object and a key to each owl and also fill each elephant space with colorful glass beads and rocks.

Results:

For the bone set, I had picked up two matching bone pendant / beads for earrings which just needed to have o-rings and clasps attached.  Easy peasy.  The necklace was a lot more involved and for it I combined: a length of copper chain, strands I made of pearl beads and a wooden bead, and a pendant which I had previously pried off of the necklace in #14.  To the pendant I added another pearl and wooden bead, as well as a bit of deer bone which I wrapped in wire for attaching.

Results:

Halcyon - #56: the foil hang

There was a lot of work put into this piece and it was a pain in the ass, but I am really liking the results and I employed some new tricks that finally got certain effects I have been trying to get for a while.

The piece started with this metal framed picture I found in a thrift store.  The glass was foggy and scratched and the wood inside the metal frame was rotted and warped.  But the item inside the frame is made from this weird combination of foil and plastic, so it was still fine.  I don't think I've quite seen anything like it before and the feel of it reminded me of those lids that come with disposable foil pans that people take to a bbq. The image is of a woman and a boy playing instruments and standing around with some giant flowers.

  

So I removed the foil print and then used scissors and an x-acto knife to cut away as much green as possible.  My purpose was to attach it to new background paper which would be attached to the front piece of the side table drawer I had pulled off in #55.  I would also add a knob at the bottom to make it functional.

The paper was decoupaged onto the wood and once everything else was attached, I tried something new and sanded the edges.  This was to help give it a nice, worn-in look and it also helps the appearance of the paper blending with the wood. Will probably always do this now.  Yay sanding. 

Results: