October 20, 2012 – 11:07 am
Over a year ago now, Laura decided to arrange a meet up for Folksy sellers in the local area and invited me along as we’d been to fairs and stuff together even though I wasn’t active over there any more. What actually happened is Laura, Zara and I (who had met before at various craft fairs) ended up meeting up regularly, first for dinner and now it’s turned into a Bingo ritual.
Months ago now we were talking about my blog and I said to Laura that I would write a post about her and only now am I getting round to that, sorry Laura! So this is my first of a two part installment about my friends online who became offline friends and who make lovely things. Come back tomorrow to look at Zara’s lovely wares!
Laura makes jewellery under the name Laura’s Jewellery and has done for at least four years now, possibly longer I haven’t asked, but I know she was opposite me at my very first craft fair (blogged about in 2008!). It was a rubbish fair, we shall say no more and just show some pretty things. Honestly I’ve no idea how she does these but aren’t they great?
She has some fab butterflies in this style too, however my dislike of insects with wings (phobia?) dictates them inappropriate for showing here…
And this is my personal favourite item in the whole shop…
She is an active member of the Craft Britannia team on Etsy. her Etsy shop is HERE so make sure you go bookmark it.
She’s also on Twitter.
And Pinterest.
Oh and Facebook– go there too!
And her dog Ellie is from the same place we got Penny, so obviously being a dog lover I had to include a picture of her sweet Alsatian/Husky face! Look at those huge ears!
November 1, 2010 – 12:44 pm
I’m struggling to blog at the minute as I have a shedload of wholesale orders I am working on, but I have found a little bit of time to finish some ideas and list them online. I have Polo mint earrings too, but the posts haven’t set yet, so they will be online later in the week… Also planned at some point are “peppermint” flavours to go with the “spearmint” ones.
September 28, 2010 – 8:59 pm
Since I posted about the cupcake bezel class, it seems loads of people want to get hold of that shape, moreso than the hearts and stars, so I wondered, what other shapes should I start to offer? I plan to introduce the cupcakes to the range very soon, so this is the current list;
* Heart Pendant (black, though white is on the way!)
* Star Pendant (black, again white on the way)
* Bracelet Squares (black, white on the way)
* Bangles (white)
* Circle Pendant (white)
* Cupcake pendant (white)
I’m thinking maybe ring blanks at this stage? Suggestions please! 🙂
Don’t forget to enter the bezel competition! www.flickr.com/groups/pennydogbezelcomp
September 12, 2010 – 7:29 am
It’s been a while since a feature wasn’t just all about me, me, me! I found this small, little discovered shop- also from the UK- on Etsy this morning. All of the jewellery is created from old broken jewellery and here are some of my favourites…
Click here for Recycloanalyst’s shop
It’s about time I shared a tutorial with you. I have a couple of other ones I hope to post relatively soon too…
You will need:
Clear Polyester Gelcoat
Plastic spoon (optional)
Plastic cup
Mixing stick
Mould release spray
Hot pink Pearl Ex powder
Lisa Pavelka “Romance” Texture stamp
Band Saw or Junior Hacksaw
Black pigment inkpad
Drill
Acrylic spray
9mm jump ring
Recycled jewellery chain
Recycled flower dangly earring
Suppliers:
Pearl Ex powder and Lisa Pavelka stamp from the Polymer Clay Pit: www.polymerclaypit.co.uk
1) Prep the texture stamp with mould release spray and leave to dry. Spoon about 4 level teaspoons of polyester gelcoat into a plastic cup and add catalyst as directed.
2) Stir well until it is a beige colour instead of pink and sprinkle in some pink pearl ex powder. Use the stick to mix this in thoroughly to give a pearlised effect.
3) Pour the gelcoat onto the rubber stamp and then level out with the spoon. Leave to set for about an hour- gelcoat sets much faster than normal resin!
4) Pull the rubber carefully away from the resin piece.
5) Cut a rectangle out of the resin sheet. I used a band saw, but you can also use a junior hacksaw if you don’t have one.
6) Apply the ink to the texture on the resin thoroughly and leave to dry for a few minutes before sealing with an acrylic spray.
7) Drill a hole through the top of the piece. Take some old chain from some retro costume jewellery and attach each end to the pendant through a 9mm jump ring. The chain should be long enough that it doesn’t need a clasp. Next, take the earwire off an old costume earring and hand the charm in front of the resin piece. Close the jump ring.
Enjoy!
By pennydog
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Also tagged free, gelcoat, how-to, jewellery, lace, necklace, pendant, pennydog, project, recycled, resin, rubber stamp, texture, textured, tutorial, vintage
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A range of acrylic bezels- specifically for resin jewellery- now available
PennyDog continues to pioneer contemporary resin crafting in the UK with the introduction of specially designed acrylic jewellery bezels. The initial range features heart and star pendants and square bracelet feature blanks, all with a generous 5mm depth for embedding all sorts of goodies. Uniquely, they also come with a template for cutting fabric and paper to fit inside, making the process so simple and ideal for beginners.
Currently available in black, there are plans for white bezel bangles and circle pendants for late summer. The bezels are laser cut from sturdy acrylic in two sections, then pieced together by hand. Priced at just £2.20 for a pendant, they make creating professional results affordable.
All customers that purchase a bezel can enter their finished creations into a pool on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/groups/pennydogbezelcomp/) to be in with a chance of winning a bracelet bezel set and two further bezels of their choice! The closing date is November 1st 2010, so why not get making this summer?
Bezels and other resin supplies, as well as finished jewellery pieces are available at www.penny-dog.co.uk .
After my last negative(ish) post about resin crafters that copy, I’ve decided to show some of my favourite designers here who are making marvellous work in the world of resin! I even own a pendant from Serena Kuhl, a ring from Fake ID from the Resin Swap and I’m excitedly waiting for a cuff from Buy My Crap– proving there’s no reason why you shouldn’t buy something you like even if it is in a medium you are very confident in yourself- in fact it makes you appreciate the skill even more!
Hearts are really big at the minute it seems! Please click on the items to go to the sellers’ shops.
By pennydog
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Also tagged buy my crap, etsy, fake id, folksy, handmade, jewellery, just k jewellery, karamae, kitschen sink, resin, serena kuhl, serenakuhl, spoiltpig
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… is what my OH has just told me. I’ve discovered yet more people selling resin fruit jewellery which I originally started making about 2 years ago now, and for less than I sell it for. Thing is it’s an easy thing to do, buy polymer clay canes and stick pieces in resin, so I don’t know if I can state ownership of the design, but it’s still very annoying.
I suppose this means I am always one step ahead?
A few months ago I had similar concerns over a magazine article that was very similar to the way I’d written one in my book with a few additions which were actually pretty good. I sent the relevant pages of my book to the editor of the magazine and asked for her opinion on the matter. It then got dealt with in the wrong way and turned out that the author of the article who used to be a regular customer of mine got upset by the accusation, of which it wasn’t- it was a concern to be addressed by the editor only- and as a result of the editor passing the buck, this lady no longer references me as her supplier for moulds in her articles anymore. Very annoyed and I would truly love to name this magazine now but I won’t!
I guess there’s nothing more to do than keep exploring the limits of the medium and try to stay ahead of the game through being an experimenter and taking onboard the wants of the wider public, sharing the ones in books and articles that I don’t mind giving away and keeping the others to myself. I do like people learning to make resin jewellery themselves, this is why I wrote my book in the first place and chose to import the moulds from the States so that we have better supplies in this country for practising the craft. I just think there’s a difference between an artist explorign different designs, techniques and then making them reflect their own personality and style, and a crafter copying existing designs either directly from tutorials or from other people’s work.
I’m thinking about seasonalising my jewellery, rather than having it available constantly for years in the same designs, not only to reflect fashion trends but to make it more exclusive. What are the important factors for you when buying jewellery? Style? Price? Something unusual you’ve not seen before? Materials? Craftsmanship? Please share your thoughts and hopefully there will be a nice assortment of ideas from you that I can learn from and build upon for the next collection!
The acrylic bezels are here! I spend all last night gluing these babies together! There are plans for more styles and colours to be available very soon so watch this space, for the time being there are hearts, stars and bracelet components both singly and in packs of 6 available in black.
I’m running a mini competition on Flickr until October 31st in light of this. If you buy one of these bezels, please photograph what you make with it and enter it here, I will then choose the most striking and/or imaginative piece as the winner. The winner will receive a bracelet multipack plus two more bezels of their choice and will be contacted via FlickrMail week commencing 1st November.
http://www.pennydog.com is back up and running and I have a lot to do to update it, but it’s fully functional now and all of the products that were originally on sale are there. I have some new resin to add to the supplies section and a few more pieces of jewellery to upload, so keep your eyes peeled to the “new products” section!
To celebrate I am giving away a £15 gift voucher in a giveaway ending midnight on Sunday 11th July. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and that counts as an entry, alternatively (or additionally for an extra entry!) if you use Twitter you can tweet the following:
RT @pennydog http://www.pennydog.com is back open for business!
That’s it, no catches 🙂 I will announce the winner on monday.
PennyDog Patchwork (and illustration, recipes, other crafts...) 