Other Pendants I've been working on...

Glass Beads, Antique Silver Charm, Silver Wire

Pewter Base with antique silver beads & Findings

Beach Rocks & Sea Glass

Beach Rock with Vintage Dictionary paper

Beach Rock with Tree of  Life

More Recycled Brass Bullet Casing Pendants

I'm still trying to perfect my wire wrapping skills and get my pendants looking sharper before I put them up for sale, but here are a few pendants that will soon be available either on my Art Play Today Shop website  or my Art Play Today Etsy Shop.  I'm still playing around with these, and contemplating whether or not they are worthy of selling or not.... let me know what you think, I would love some constructive criticism and honest feedback!

Playing around with Spent Brass Bullet Shells...

I have a whole bunch of brass bullet shells (all ready been shot, no danger involved) that I'm dying to use in my art jewelry.  I am wondering if anyone can tell me how to cut through them?  I've tried a dremel, but it doesn't give me enough control.  I've also tried a jewelers saw, but I keep breaking the blades.  If anyone out there has any advice or ideas on how I can cut these babies, please...let me know.  They have so much potential.

Here are a few more photos of what I've done with them so far.  I have many more ideas and would love to hear your ideas as well!  What do you think?

What I've been up to lately: Pendants and Portable Light Box

More New Pendants

Pictured above is a photo of some of more of my Art Pendants I've created using dominos, and round glass pieces.

I've been struggling with getting good photos of these because of the shiny surface of the resin and glass.  There is usually way too much glare to get a good picture.  I took this photo using a light box I recently made using foam core and white construction paper.   (See picture below)

Soccer Bag Domino Tag

I've been busy helping coach my daughter's select soccer team this summer.  I made these domino name charms for their soccer bags.  They turned out great!  I drilled a whole in the domino's, stamped a soccer ball in the corner and used Ranger alcohol inks to color the rest of the domino in their team color.  I then sealed the top with a light coat of modge podge before writing their names.  Next I wrote their names using a Sakura Souffle pen.  To make them durable I poured a thin coat of resin on the tops!  I think they turned out great!

Take Apart/Portable Light Box

This is a portable light box I made using foam core and construction paper.  The link for the Tutorial is here.  It's a great way to make an inexpensive light box that you can disassemble when you need to store it and assemble again when you are ready to take photos of your work. 

Soldering Art Glass Pendants: A Video Tutorial

I was asked recently how I made the art glass pendants I posted a while back.  I'm no pro at this technique and am still very much a novice, but I found this video on YouTube and I think it explains everything you need to know to start making your own soldered art glass pendants.  I have also listed another tutorial under My Pages on the right hand sidebar.  It's listed under the Non-Video tutorial page or you can click here.  One last note, here is what I used to make my soldered glass pendants, a starter kit from SimplySwank.Net

Obsessed with Dominoes!

I've really been into making jewelry lately (as you can see from my last few posts), partly because I feel afraid to start a new painting as I have several unfinished laying around.  I can't seem to get anything going that I like.  So instead, I've been using some prints of my existing art and few new small artworks to make dominoe and soldered glass slide pendants.  I LOVE the dominoes!  They are so fun to work with, and I just love the weight and feel of them (I also love the sound of them when they click together).  I'm starting to amass quite a collection!  Here is a look at what I've been doing!

Original Art Jewelry: So fun!

These are some pendants I made using prints of my original paintings.  I'm just experimenting, but I really like the way they look.  I'm not sure how to attach the bales so that they are durable.  I sealed the backs and then painted a layer of black acrylic, then using jewelry glue, glued the bale to the back.  I wore one of them for a few days and soon the bale and layer of acrylic paints peeled off.  Any ideas on how I can make these better?  On another note, photographing these is no easy task!  They look much better in person, but I am a very amateur photographer and don't know how to get rid of the reflections in the glass.  Tell me what you think about these...do you think they would sell on Etsy?

These I made using stainless steel washers and shell buttons and wire.  I used jewelry glue to put it all together and they are very durable.  What do you think of these?  Do you think something like this would sell on Etsy?

Front of Pendant

Backside of pendant

More attempts at soldering.  This is the back and front side of one pendant.  I'm still working on the soldering technique...My husband built me a rheostat (controls the temperature of the soldering iron) using a dimmer switch and a regular plug in thing.  I plug the rheostat into the wall outlet and my iron into the rheostat.  I use the dimmer switch to control how much electricity is being fed to the iron (thus regulating the temperature!  My husband is a genius!  It has helped a lot and I think my pendants are starting to look a little better.  Here are a few more pendants I've made recently...

Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your feedback on these, good or bad!  Happy Creating, have a great week!