This year has been all about experimenting and growing as an artist.

So this weeks shop update is all about surface design on jewelry. I drew up some wonky shapes, laser cut them out of acrylic, hand painted each one and then covered the tiny abstract painting in resin.

These have been so much fun to make and I love that each and every one is 100% one of a kind.

I also took some of my new ceramics designs and translated them to jewelry. These pieces are designed by me, then laser cut and engraved by me and then I fill in the engraved parts in different colors of paint. The finished pieces are so neat to look at and wear!

You can find all the new jewelry pieces here.

In other news, all of the Crafty Bitches Club tshirts have shipped. Once photos started popping up of people wearing them I got a lot of requests for more. So I have started a second preorder with a delivery of early July. If you want to get in on this second run, just click on over to the order page here.

I figured I’d share a few here too…

I’ve been pretty busy working on lots of Quilt Market goodies and these new jewelry pieces, so I don’t have much to share other than this. I’m hoping to change that up soon enough. As for a shop update, I’m shooting for the second week of October. So if you were interested, keep an eye on my blog, IG account or new shop.

I decided to initially keep the sale separated in an Instagram shop. Somewhere where I could just snap the photos quickly and upload them with out a whole bunch of work. I’d add them every Tuesday and Friday morning before CT woke up and then go about my day. This system has worked out perfectly so far and I’ve cleaned out a small chunk of pieces, but I realize not everyone who may want these pieces uses instagram. Which made me think that if something is still available after three sales I can just delete it on Instagram and add it to the SALE section of my shop. I will probably do this with pieces I have a large quantity of and some loose pieces too.

You can see all the pieces I’ve added so far HERE.

Oh and I got overly ambitious and decided to make a dress to match my new jewelry to wear at the show. Yep, I’m THAT lady! At least this is the only show I’m doing this year and afterwards I get two weeks of relaxing before we all head to NYC!!

I’m excited and stressed about it all!! Bring on the social anxiety ridden events! I’m ready!

The 50% I did like, I REALLY liked! So much so that I felt the need to share three of them! I also really wanted to share these new necklaces I made. I designed them for myself, for my picky taste. I figured there may be others out there who like the same exact style as me, so I made a handful for the shop too. My plan is to have them up and ready by Friday, but my luck is horrible these days…

I started making my own plastic pieces sorta by accident. I HAD been researching ways to reproduce some of the plastic flowers and such that I used in my necklaces. Demand was greater than supply at the time (this was before I started buying vintage pieces in super bulk). I could never find a way that would work for me, and there were loads of options. I just happened to be browsing one of the art stores in Baltimore while waiting for a ride (I believe it was my sisters birthday and she wanted to show off her new car) when I came across plastic casting supplies. They had everything you needed to make the mold and cast a bit of plastic. I bought some rubber, some plastic and three different pigments to try out. I was excited! I LOVE trying new things! The idea of adding a new skill to my list just  makes me so happy.

Casting plastic was seriously love at first pour. It was great. It felt just like making creepy crawlers as a kid. Which was something I did a LOT. (I still compare it the same way today when asked) Depending on what plastic I used it was almost instant gratification. My love of mixing and matching colors was also utilized, different drops or squirts of pigments produced different shades, and then different plastic reacted different to those shades, so the possibilities were endless. To this day, casting plastic is still my favorite craft to do. It’s been almost 8 years and I’m still not bored.

Business wise it was awesome too! I was able to reproduce a bunch of vintage pieces in new vibrant, colorful forms. I could make a neon pink fly to go in your hair, or a lime green octopus to hang around your neck or a tan camera to wear on your finger. It was a lot fun, and I’m so glad my sister was late picking me up that day, otherwise I may not have stumbled on this awesomeness!

So, to go along with the giveaway theme, I am giving away all the hand cast plastic pieces pictured above! (In the blue and yellow photo, I couldn’t fit it all nicely in one photo!) I tried to pick and choose as many different pieces as possible without going TOO overboard!!

Here’s an actual list of the prizes:

• little bee earrings in lime green
• bow hairpin in dark gra
• large hanging wing earrings in vibrant blue
• rounded crest earrings in wasabi mustard
• acorn hairpin set in tan
• swooping swallow necklace in vibrant pink
• cougar head earrings in brown
• roller derby hairpin in dark pink
• flower plaque hanging earrings in lilac
• house silhouette necklace in orange
• treble clef necklace in vibrant blue
• deer head necklace in white (with gold specks)
• soaring swan necklace in white
• horse head ring in lime green
• swooping swallow hairpin in bubblegum pink
• bow hairpin in light gray
• bumble bee hair clip in mauve
• single bee hairpin in neon pink
• swirly crest hairpin in white
• flowy plaque necklace in dark gray
• camera necklace in yellow
• fox head necklace in cream
• octopus necklace in bright pink

Woah, I feel crazy after listing it all off!!

Now Here are the rules:

This giveaway is for ALL of the cast plastic pieces shown in the above two photos, there will be no substitutions. The contest starts right this second and ends Friday, May 17 at 11 p.m. EST when comments will be closed. At which time Rafflecopter will choose a random winner. The winner’s name will be added to this blog post soon after. Winner(s) will be contacted by email 48 hours after the giveaway ends If the first winner does not reply back to an email sent out within 24 hours, a second winner will be chosen. So please make sure to give your correct email address! Each giveaway item will be shipped out the day the next giveaway starts until the fourth week when it will be shipped out three days later.

This weeks giveaway is open to international readers (upcoming weeks may not be due to the size of the prize, so please keep that in mind)

To enter all you have to do is comment below letting me know

What is your favorite blog to read daily? Or if you’d like just link me to your own!

If you don’t comment, your rafflecopter entry is invalid!!!

This week we are going to try out Rafflecopter to help with the giveaway. It’s an awesome little widget that keeps track of everything and makes it easier to add us on such platforms as facebook and twitter. Make sure to log your comment in the widget, and if you would like you can earn more entries by adding us on Facebook, Twitter or tweeting about the giveaway.

If you have any questions or concerns about this new process, please let me know!

Also good luck to everyone that enters!!! I am excited to send these pieces to go to a great new home.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is closed and our winner is Lauren C!

We also did a second place winner who will receive 10 items similar to some of those pictured above. Our second place winner is Erin H.

Thank you everyone who entered! Keep an eye out for our next giveaway!! (which will be posted on Tuesday due to a slight set back)

I edited the Juxtapose Necklaces first, because I was excited to see them. I was so happy with the final close up photos that I just had to share some of them! They feel sorta dramatic to me. Kinda personal too. I’m thinking of printing off the top one to hang in my sewing room, as a colorful reminder of where I started.

Fun Fact: One of my favorite things is taking macro or up close photos. I love being able to capture detail that sometimes the naked eye can’t even see. I seriously prefer it over the everyday, real world around me photos. I wonder what that says about me?

If anyone is interested, all of these necklaces have been added to the shop, or were already in the shop but have updated photos now!

After lunch we ended up at Culler Lake, which is kinda part of Baker Park. It’s a cute little lake with ducks and all. It was perfect for taking pictures! CT and my brother were able to play and my husband was able to hang out on a bench.

My adorable sister Cori was really awesome about taking so many pictures too! Seriously, I took A LOT of photos!!

Funny thing, I have been making jewelry for almost 10 years, and somehow this is the first time I’ve ever taken pictures of my jewelry on a real live person!!! How weird is that? I’m pretty new to portraits where the jewelry is the main focus and not the person, and I’m not too sure about how they came out. I’m very happy with my sister in the shots, but I don’t think I did well focusing on the jewelry. I guess I’ll get better with lighting, composition and all the more I try?

Anyone have some pointers?

I found that I like the gray background way better than the white or wood grain. I think I’ll stick with it. What do you think?