Custom order part 3 and your help needed please!
The horse hair and ashes custom order is nearly complete, I just need to swap some of the findings for sterling silver ones when they arrive (hopefully today) and make the silver name bits. I think I should be able to add the full name to the pendants, but a small initial might be better for the bracelets.
I cast a block of resin in bands and then cut it and sanded it with the bands going across the ring. However I now think it looks a bit plain and is lacking something. Any ideas? Do you think I should sell them in sets of 3? They won’t be very cheap because of all of the sawing and drilling and sanding involved, so hoping there’s a way of selling them individually still. Maybe I should just make them thicker?
Make 50: Week 45 and custom order continued
My make for this week is this pair of earrings, they have fabric embedded inside which gives them an ornate sketchy feel.
I am progressing with the custom order I blogged about in my last post. The pieces are now sanded and polished (sorry for the flash I took it after 10pm last night), I drilled them this morning and started working on the findings, though I need some ribbon clamps and triangular clamps to be delivered before the bulk of the work can be done. I will also be making real silver name tags for them too, so there will be another update…
Custom orders
I have quite a lot of custom orders going on at the minute. I have a special project involving locks of baby hair with Jellybelly*Jellybrain plus trying out bubble rings with photos for a lady too:
Normally I can do photo rings with the flatter square rings I make, but we tried this as an experiment.
I’ve also been making two bracelets and two necklaces incorporating horse hair and- for the first time- ashes. I’m quite pleased how the ashes came out, it looked horrible and sludgy when I mixed them in, but once set, the heavier pieces sank to the front, giving a nice granite-y effect!
As usual I have a never ending pile of sanding to do! I’ll share some more pictures as I go with these ones.
Make 50: Week 39 and 40
Last week I made this bracelet and additional charm as a custom order with horse hair and silver stamped plaques.
These hairsticks were made this week and are now available in my Folksy shop.
Press release: PennyDog Jewellery launches a collection for homes
| PennyDog can now adorn your home with bold coasters and soap dishesFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
PennyDog Jewellery, which has a rapidly growing customer base within the field of resin jewellery, has further added to the range of products available by now offering a homeware range, currently incorporating paperweights, coasters and soap dishes.
Paperweights retail at £26 and encapsulate objects from nature, butterflies, insects and dandelion seedheads. As they depend on the availability of specimens, these are strictly limited edition, with only one or two of the same style ever made.
The retail price for a pack of two coasters is £15 and they can be custom made to fit the customer’s décor. They are made from thick polyester resin and fabric, tied elegantly with grosgrain ribbon and gift card.
The soap dish sets can also be customised, and retail for £15. They are displayed in a white gift box with ribbon detailing, and include a handmade soap from Tamworth soapmaker Sue Gardner, trading as Soapy Chica.
Each item is cast in the mould, sanded and polished to a professional finish, and takes at least 3 days to make from start to finish.
Homewares from PennyDog are currently available to purchase on www.penny-dog.co.uk and will also include trinket dishes and tealight holders in the near future. As always, £1 from each item sold is donated to the Retired Greyhound Trust.
# # #
Handmade resin and recycled jewellery by UK designer, Kerry Wilkinson. If you would like further information on PennyDog, its policies and products, please contact Kerry to arrange an interview .
Custom pin tray- how I did it!
I made this pin tray as a custom order for http://lovealittle.etsy.com . It has magnets to attach it to the arm of her sewing machine and is shallow enough for easy access to pins when sewing.
First off I needed it to be no bigger than 7cm x 8cm. This ended up being 7cm square. I needed to make something the same shape to make the moulds from to pour in the resin, so I took this square purple bangle, drew around it on perspex and then cut it out with a band saw. I peeled off the backing film and superglued the bangle to the plastic. Once dry, I filled the gaps around the outside edge with milliput. Once dry I sanded it down againso that the edges were flat.
I then popped it into a tupperware tub, closed off half of it with plastercine so to preserve the ever-expensive silicone, mixed and poured the silicone over the top of the model. The next day I popped out the model and voila! a mould 
I chucked a load of pins into the mould (after tidying up the raggy edges with a knife) and poured in the resin. Once set I added the magnets and added another thin layer to semi-embed them and hold them in place. Once set, I popped it out of the mould and it looked like the above!
I then sanded the sides down to make them less pointy and sprayed the back and sides with lacquer to bring back the shine.
Make 50: Week 13 – Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve and Rothley Contemporary Crafts!
Something came to my head whilst walking the dog this morning so I knocked up a quick prototype. I was basically thinking about bracelets with heart on with photos in for a “Wear your heart on your sleeve” range and promotion, and I was thinking about a cufflink range for men with a similar idea. Then I thought I could combine the two by making a shirt cuff for a bracelet and having the heart as a cufflink fastener, so I duly learned to sew buttonholes!
This is the prototype, though I plan to go charity shopping for old “real” shirt fabric, and make these to order with keepsakes/photos/stuff inside the resin piece, as well as some off-the-shelf ones. I used a heart piece I had lying around so I am aware the colours don’t go, but what do you think of the concept- will it work?
The outside fabric is cotton, reinforced with interfacing and backed with felt. The cufflink is entirely detachable (so you can swap and change and design your own style within the range once it gets going).
Also, big news- I’m moving house! We are soon to pay the deposit on a part 13th Century farmhouse with pig sty and “cheese roome”, with some milking sheds too, so I am planning on holding crafting workshops now that I have a designated studio and shop/showroom space as you enter the front door! The plan is for the house entrance to be via the courtyard at the rear and the shop to be through the front entrance. It’s all very exciting! If you would like to teach workshops here (based opposite the old green in the large village of Rothley not too far from Leicester) on evenings and weekends every once in a while- or even a one off- in a contemporary craft for either adults or kids, please contact me with your project ideas, how long it will take and hourly wage. Once this gets underway I am happy to deal with the marketing and promotion of your workshop, and discuss material costs and extra facilities necessary.
The sort of thing that I’m looking for is candle making, soap making, kids jewellery, silversmithing, felt jewellery, textile art, embroidery, plush toy making, eco crafts, simple homewares, bag making, tailoring and basically anything else you think I have missed off- I have resin casting covered though thanks 
Now for a name, I’m toying with “Rothley Contemporary Crafts” but not sure if this is too boring, so accepting ideas for this too!
Latest press release: Knitting needles
I released a new press release this evening which I plan to distribute to knitting publications for their news pages, here it is!
Resin Jewellery Designer turns her hand to knitting needles
Introducing a new line of customisable resin knitting needles for gifts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Retailing at £8 plus postage, they are made from polyester resin, sanded to a point and with button or resin features at the ends to stop your knitting slipping off the ends. At the time of launch, they were available in size 3 (6.5mm) and approximately 7 inches in length, with a view to expanding the range to wider, thinner and longer styles in the near future.
Each pair of needles comes in a gift box, and is perfect for giving to a loved one. Choice in needle and end colours, solid or glittery can be made on request, and can be turned around within 10 days. Each pair goes through 5 stages until completion are completely unique as they are entirely made by hand.
They are currently available to purchase on www.penny-dog.co.uk, and will be for sale at the Sock trade and consumer fair, Loughborough Town Hall on March 14th 2009.
# # #
About PennyDog: Handmade resin and recycled jewellery by UK designer, Kerry Wilkinson. Specialising in custom orders and keepsake jewellery, and sold in venues within Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.
Blogumentary: Cody’s Steampunk Earplugs Part 4
Finished! I sanded them down with wet and dry, then sprayed with acrylic. Will be posted tomorrow.
Blogumentary: Cody’s Steampunk Earplugs Part 3
The plugs have now been cast, here’s how I did it…
Mixed resin and poured into mould, filling it 3/4 full. Left to set.
Sprinkled watch parts on surface of cured resin.
Topped up with catalysed resin to top of mould and left to cure again.
Demoulded.
