Today I will continue on with the 10 year anniversary “festivities”! When planning this I wanted to kinda have a theme with the giveaways. Last weeks was a Garden Necklace which showed the true start to Art School Dropout as a business and not just a hobby. This week I wanted to showcase the next step in my creative endeavours, which was hand cast plastic.

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)