My Favorite Show…(better late than never)

Bead Soup Hoppers…..you can find my bead soup here:  https://www.susansartcircus.com/bead-soup-all-at-once/

Over Mother’s Day I had my booth full of things at the Bernardo Winery in San Diego, California. It was the 37th year that this show has been going on and about 10 years that I have participated.

Peek!

The winery is a beautiful spot. Filled with antiques from the century they’ve been raising grapes on the property. Hundreds of olive trees line the walkways and buildings. Lush landscaping and flowers all around. Many small specialty shops and, of course, the wine tasting room plus they have a restaurant in the middle of everything! Needless to say it’s my favorite place and I get to be there (as long as Veronica juries me in) twice each year…Mother’s Day weekend and again the weekend a couple weeks before Halloween.

This time my whole family came on Mother’s Day. My son…

Paul

…he fell in love with my friend April’s Yorkie, Suzy. Isn’t she cute?

Ua

My daughter came all day to help out.

Goofy...

And my husband, well, let’s just say he found some new friends.

Whenever you get the chance go visit the Bernardo Winery…you won’t regret it!

Christmas with Ice and Santa!

Christmas is coming?! Really? Didn’t we just do Christmas?

I have to admit that Christmas has not been my favorite holiday over the past decade. When you’re on the road, as I am, through the holiday season Santa is more work than pleasure. Add to that 10+ years of this love/hate relationship and thinking about Christmas seems really daunting.

So, several months ago I was sent some beautiful Rue Romantique pieces from the Ice girls and asked to do something for Christmas. My first honest response in my head was, “oh no, not that!” I’ve wrestled with it ever since…until this past week.

Knowing our blog hop was fast approaching I knew I had better wrap my head around it or be totally delinquent. Out came all the pieces and more from my design team stash…ribbons, the component Rue pieces, resin, bezels, papers….all of it all over the studio. I stared at it for several days. Pushing it aside I went back to my all time favorite material, shrink plastic, and just began to play with some holiday stamps. Then it dawned on me! K.I.S.S. Stop over thinking it and keep it simple stupid!

Merry Christmas and Santa emerged…

Merry ornament

I pulled out the alcohol inks in red and green to add some holiday color to the components. Wrapped a bit of vintage ribbon to the bottom.

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Santa had to have some shiny, sparkly areas so out came the iridescent glitter added to some ModPodge then painted into his fur, beard, hat, and sleeves. Also some glitter was added to the component piece then resin over the top to seal.

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Here it is a bit closer so you can see how wonderfully the glitter falls into the component grooves then lights up under the resin. Santa and all the pieces also have a resin coating. Such a nice gloss to reflect the lights when these are hanging from the tree. The bottom crystals are also from the Connie Crystals…last blog post…beautiful, faceted teardrop shapes. They made the perfect sparkling end to the base of both.

Here’s to Christmas…a better relationship with Santa and wishing you all the meaning of the season!

Check all the fantastic Christmas projects for the hop!! Don’t miss any of them!

ICE Resin site  http://wp.me/p1MCno-2W3

Lexi Grenzer http://lexigrenzer.blogspot.com/2013/11/rue-romantique-ornament-blog-hop.html

Pamela Huntington  http://pamelahuntington.typepad.com/february_2007/2013/11/handmade-holiday-blog-hop.html

Jen Cushman  http://wp.me/p1lhEq-Gb

Until next time…

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Hop Along With The Ice Resin Team & Their Connie Crystals!!

Hello everyone! I’m baaaack!

Well, if you’ve been following the Ice® Resin Creative Team then you know we’ve all been to the Emmy’s and back again. What you didn’t know was some of the back story. Each of us was sent a huge box of goodies directly from Ice headquarters and we also received a box stuffed with crystals from Connie Crystals. There were so many that we decided to design a few more things after the dust settled.

Alice2

Alice is a favorite of mine as are all of these bezels. Pair that with these enormous cut, round Connie Crystals and I think I have a simple yet stunning bracelet. I didn’t want to overpower the images but accent them. A few smaller crystals swing with the little pewter pig at the clasp. What do you think?

And because I can’t ever do just one or anything easy AND I had more of these crystals…here is the second piece. (also an Ice® Resin piece)

Castheartwings1 Castheartwings2

 As you can see from the pictures there is an obvious range of color reflection coming from the crystals. It’s an aurora borealis coating that reflects an iridescent array of color . Aren’t they  gorgeous? And all the hanging pieces? Yes, they are cast Ice® Resin…but that’s another story.

Now here’s your chance to see what all the other gals have in store…

Today you can hop on over to…

Thespa K. Jones McLaughlin

Jen Crossley

Tomorrow the following designers will also have goodies to share!

Lexi Grenzer

Sandy Martin

Pamela Huntington

Have fun! See you again soon!

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The Big Reveal…or The Emmy’s Here We Come!!

Okay…so here we go! Is everybody ready? Somebody give me a drum roll!

First up…and I was going to say this is one of my favorites but I’d be lying. I loved them all once I was done and would’ve kept them…but… So here’s the first of five…
Segments of Time Emmy BraceletI have several obsessions and time, and how crazy fast it goes, is but one.
Time Close UpHere it is a bit closer. Love, love the Iced Enamels and how they colors seem to blossom under the Ice resin.

Ready for #2?
Gears & Steam Emmy BraceletI love this too! Mellow Steampunk. And let’s talk about that Fire Opal Enamel, can we?
Gears & Steam Close UpSee that piece on  the left? That’s the Fire Opal refracting light through the resin…gorgeous!!

Soooo….number three…..
Purple Butterfly Emmy BraceletNow I’m showing off another obsession I have  with insects of all kinds. Butterflies are probably at the top of the list but I love ladybugs, cicadas, even spiders! (as long as they are dead and under a layer of resin!)
Purple Butterfly Close UpAgain…don’t you just get giddy when you see how that Fire opal shows…and then add glitter!? Need I say more?

Onward and upward….#4
Pink Moth Emmy BraceletDid I mention I have a thing for bugs? Oh yeah….and moths…all kinds of big furry, colored moths! Somehow the picture of this isn’t half as brilliant as it looks in person. It’s hot pink, shades of gold, Fire Opal (of course), and some touches of purple and black. Yum…

Last, but certainly, not least… #5
"Flight" Emmy BraceletThis may have been the one I could’ve snuck on my wrist while I was packing the box…hoping no one would notice when they opened it at the other end. (Jen!) Um, yeah, so..there’s that Fire Opal (again) BUT this time I mixed it with some Chartreuse enamel! (that makes it different, right?)
flight Close UpOh my goodness! I will miss them all…

How exciting that they will all have new homes with someone from the Emmy ceremonies!? I am eternally grateful to the entire Ice Resin family for this opportunity and honored to be a part of such a fabulous group of artists!

Want to see the others?

Jen Cushman:

 http://jencushman.wordpress.com/

Kristen Robinson:

http://kristenrobinson.typepad.com/

Susan Lenart Kazmer:

http://susan-lenart-kazmer.blogspot.com/

Jo DeSerio Jones:

JoMaMa’s Blog

 Jomama’s Website 

Lexi Grenzer:

The Shabby Calavera 

Lexi’s Etsy Shop 

Sandy Martin:

Sandy’s Blog

Thespa K. Jones McLaughlin:

 http://vintiquitiesworkshop.blogspot.com/

Pamela Huntington:

Pamela’s Blog

Cindy Cima Edwards:

http://www.cindycima.com/

Cindy Bisson:

http://fatcatcreations.blogspot.com/

Jen Crossley:

http://amarkintime.blogspot.com/

Lesley Venable:

http://www.flatwoodsfolkart.typepad.com/

Jennifer Priest:

 http://jenniferpriest.blogspot.com/

Misty Grosse:

Misty’s Site