I don't have any pictures of bead soups to share with you. Unfortunately. It seems both my partner and I were a little late in sending our parcels off to each other - coincidentally, we both sent our bead soups off on the same day (ie. this past Saturday). She tells me that the post office assured her the package would get to me within 4 working days. Which is odd, cos the lady at my post office said it would take 8-9 working days for my parcel to reach her. Hmm...does this mean my postal service is really slow and inefficient?
BSBP updates aside, I played with more resin this weekend. I listened to LoriF and Dreaming of Beads (thanks for your comments!) and filled my green-and-red Christmassy ring with a thin layer of resin. A teeny-tiny part of the ring is missing some resin - I think I didn't spread it well enough - but I think it turned out pretty alright. It's a lot more durable now. So glad I listened to my 2 commenters! I also made a few more rings and pendants.
Things I learnt from this weekend's resin projects:
1) Faceted crystals look flat under resin (see centre ring in the first pic). Sigh...and it looked so good pre-resin.
2) I need to find a better way to anchor my rings so that they are level before pouring the resin in. My current method of blutacking/taping the rings down is clearly lacking since the resin didn't spread evenly. Any tips on this would be very welcome.
3) Bubbles aren't so much of an issue for me. Maybe it's the warmer weather we have here?
4) Sometimes it's better not to glue the design/picture to the bezel before you seal it. Especially if the design/picture is on really thin paper; the bezel may show through and 'dull' the actual colours of the design. (see difference in colour between the 2 floral pendants in the second pic)
5) Patience is a virtue I need to cultivate. Constantly lifting the cover off resin projects to check on them is not helpful. It's a sure-fire way to ensure that lint settles on the projects and also that you'll accidentally brush against the projects or drop something on them, thus smearing the resin.
6) Experimenting with wire to form open-backed 'bezels' and filling them with resin is finicky and messy and may possibly require greater care and finesse than I'm capable of.
I finally mailed my bead soup package to my partner this morning. I know I should have sent it off earlier, but I had such a hard time figuring out what to send. The lady at the post office said it'd take about 8 working days for the parcel to reach Bahrain. Which means my partner only has around 2 - 3 weeks to make something (or a few somethings) out of what I sent. Apologies are definitely in order, so....Hajer, I'm so sorry I left it so late; I hope the beads I sent make up for my tardiness!
Here's a photo of what I sent. Ermm, I think I kind of overdid the whole 'disguising pic' thing.
..... for not blogging much lately. I was away on a short holiday - we had a 4-day Chinese New Year weekend here in Singapore - and have also been in a bit of a funk thanks to my (poor) health.
But I've slowly been gathering the bead soup to send to my partner and will be mailing it to her by the end of this week. I'll post pics soon of what I'm sending - but first I'll have to learn how to disguise them; I don't want to ruin the surprise.
I really hope I haven't left it too late. For those of you playing in the BSBP, have you mailed your packages yet?
So I emailed my BSBP partner - actually, we've already emailed each other twice - and now have a better idea of what might challenge her. I'm still deciding on the exact beads though. This is my first time playing - hers too - and I want to send her a really good bead soup. Or at least, something that she'll appreciate.
In the meantime, I'm still dabbling with bezels and resin and generally making a mess. At the moment I've prepped 2 rings and a pendant. I'd like to prep more before making a batch of resin though, so I don't waste any of it. You can see the rings here:
I'm still debating with myself whether I should use resin for the ring on the left (with the red/green swirls - very Christmassy, I know - I'm always a season behind) since there really isn't any more room in the bezel. At the moment, it's just been Mod Podged to death. It feels and looks pretty sturdy but I'm not sure if it'll survive being worn day in day out.
What do you think - to resin or not to resin? I'd love to hear what you think.
Oh, and in case there are any other literary nerds out there, the words you see in the other ring are from Leigh Hunt's Jenny Kissed Me.
Callooh! Callay!
Why all the excitement, you ask? It's because I've been lucky enough to be picked to participate in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party. There are 202 people taking part this time, from all around the world. What's the BSBP all about? Go here to find out the details.
In brief, you get paired with a partner and then exchange with them several beads that must include a focal bead, a special clasp and some coordinating beads, which you then use to make a piece of jewellery. The whole point of the event is to get you to make something that's out of your comfort zone and I think more importantly, to connect with other bead lovers and....just have fun!
I've been paired with Hajer who lives in Bahrain, in the Middle East. She tells me she likes to try everything beading-relating so I'm going to have a heck of a time figuring out what to send. Check out Hajer's blog to find out more about her and her jewellery. She's got a pic of a lovely peyote cuff and promises that there are more pics to come. I can't wait!
I have a confession to make.
I am terrified of resin.
I've had some ICE Resin on hand for longer than I'd like to admit. Let's just say that its 'Best Before' use date has come and gone. But last weekend, I was feeling a little reckless and decided to just play with it - and to heck with the results!
Here's a pic of my adventures in resin. I think the rings and pendants turned out really well for a first time. I was beyond relieved! I won't be so afraid of resin now.
Happy New Year everyone! May 2012 bring each of us good health, much happiness and blessings galore.
I made a bracelet for myself on the first day of the new year. It bears my mantra for 2012 and includes some lovely freshwater peacock pearls I picked up on holiday in HK.
Have you been making jewellery too?
