Ruby, Blue Topaz, Amethyst, Citrine and Aquamarine Set In Clear Resin

These are the resin pieces with gemstones in them, that I have done so far. Some have been drilled but others have not. Because, I am still new to resin I do a bit of experimenting. For example I love the purple glitter with the Citrine gemstone. But, as you can see the Citrine moved a bit out of the window so it is not exactly where I intended it to be. The lighter colored stones, do not do well with glitter in the resin. I thought it would enhance them but it did not. The light blue stone, which I think is Aqua but could be a pale Blue Topaz, is really quite nice if you can get a good lighted shot. The pudgy pear Amethyst is a really lovely light purple but it kind of got drowned out in the resin. The two blue Topaz I really liked adding just a touch of white acrylic paint to the resin in the final layer to add some dimension, again I am not sure I like the glitter. I think I will do without it next time. On the other hand, the Ruby is in completely clear resin, with no glitter and it is quite lovely, but there are micro bubbles, that I did not eve know where there until I took it out in the sunlight. I think the micro bubbles don't necessarily take away from the piece, especially if you want to make it look more natural, but customers may not care for it. Some of these have been listed in my Etsy store, Melissa's Menagerie of Stuff, and some have not. This week the kids and I are on Spring Break, so I hope to get some more of these completed and listed. Some I list as cabochons, and others I make into finished pieces.

Do You Need A Good Arm Workout? Hope Resin Keychain With Pink Beads

Do you need a good arm workout, for a really good price? Then you need to be drilling your resin manually, using a bead reamer. The other day, I drilled some more pieces and let me tell you my arms got a work out. It is hard work doing it this way. Most people use a dremmel, I like the old fashioned way, lol. Or just like torture. I have been being creative with my resin again. I had this charm, from another project, so I decided to place it in resin. Rather than using glitter, I used pink beads to add the pink color to the piece, and one stray blue bead got in there too. Then I drilled the hole, with my bead reamer, and added the wire wrap bail and the keychain component. This is a reversible keychain, because the other side of the charm has a dove on it. This is available in my Etsy store, which you can access by clicking on my Etsy store banner on this blog. This would make a great gift for any woman who needs a little extra love and hope to carry around with them.

Team All About Blogspot Treasury on Etsy

I will try to feature a team treasury at least once a month, and possibly twice. Treasuries take a long time to put together, so showing them some love is a great motivator to do more. You can view the treasury, and purchase by clicking on this link. If you would like to join the team, All About Blogspot, just click the link. This treasury has the theme, Mother's Day gift ideas. So, if you are not sure what to get Mom this year, check it out. There is jewelry, art, beauty products, items for the home and more too.

What Have I Been Up To?

My newest project is a tire garden. I had old tires donated to me, which is a bit tricky because they are all different sizes. I had to prop some up to make it more level. Now I just need three more cans of paint, one more board, and start filling with dirt. Three tires already have stuff planted in them. I will show the final result, when it is finished. I am still working on the crochet wall hanging for the fire dept, here where we live. I have not decided, yet, how I am going to do the logo. I have never crocheted a logo before, so it could be interesting. I took about 400 pictures yesterday, of my resin pieces, and jewelry. I got some really good shots. I did get to sand some of my pieces, to last night, and will have new pieces in my Etsy store soon. That is what I have been up to. How about you?