Valentine's Day Resin Hearts

I received a silicone mold with four designs, and I really wanted to test out the heart shaped one. I'm so happy that I poured these with Amazing Casting Resin. These make the perfect bezels!!

 Valentine Kisses

Bezel filled with Amazing Clear Cast. Now I wait for these to cure.

Michelle Jordan

 I feel so lost... I am going to miss you so very dearly. Thank you for all the encouraging words and for believing in me and my passion for polymer clay and resin pendants & jewelry. I love you my dear friend. Rest.In.Peace.

This was one of your favorite pieces I created with polymer clay, wire, and pearl ex. You never did email your address so that I could have sent it to you. See you over the rainbow one day my friend. I love you Shellebelle. <3<3<3

Resin Snowflakes

I really love the way these turned out. I found that Facebook offers a store front. I'm hoping to get one created this weekend. I've already gotten a couple requests for these snowflakes.

***I made more of these snowflakes but with Amazing Clear Cast resin which I happen to like much better than Easy Cast or Envirotex Lite epoxy resins.  This snowflake I created using Amazing Clear Cast. I know one cannot tell the difference in the photographs between the three products, but if you were to compare the three up close you would be able to tell that Easy Cast and Envirotex Lite has a little bit of a yellow tint to the resin.

UPDATE (Thursday, June 7, 2012): I've been learning a lot about resins. I have recently learned that when buying resins that one should always check that the hardener hasn't turned yellowish. If the hardener is yellow, that means that it has been sitting on the store shelf for some time. I haven't had any issues with curing the older resins, but if you want your pieces to look perfectly clear then don't buy what's left on the shelf if there's any hint of yellow. Since learning this I have again purchased Envirotex Lite that was not yellowish. Although, I really do like the clarity of Amazing Clear Cast, I cannot use the resin any longer. I had a severe allergic reaction to it. 

Resin & Glitter Pendants

Experimenting with glitter using a few different colors.

Plastic Candy Molds & Resin

I was trying out a little experiment using plastic candy molds and epoxy resin. I wanted to see if I could use these less costly molds with resin. As you can see the snowflakes turned out nicely, however; removing the resin from the molds was not an easy task.

Now maybe plastic candy & soap molds do work with epoxy resins when a mold release is used. I failed to use any sort of resin mold release. I don't want to test out my other snowflake candy mold with epoxy or polyester resin since that's the only mold I have left. The cured resin pieces stuck to the plastic candy mold and do NOT release very easily and also NOT after sticking them in the freezer. I had to use scissors and pliers to pull the plastic and cured resin apart.

Here's a picture of the ruined mold...

I'm really reluctant to try polyester resin (I've read that it shrinks a little when cured) in the plastic candy/soap molds because there's a heating reaction that speeds the curing time. When I was mixing the polyester resin in a plastic cup - the bottom of the cup melted and spilled all over my working space. Thankfully, I had my working space covered up.

Craigslist Experiment

So a few weeks ago I thought I would post a few necklaces I made with my resin creations. I only made ONE post that included four necklaces with pictures attached. This is what my ad looked like:

I make resin jewelry.

$10/each pendant; cash only

Altered State Series & Tainted Heart Series resin pendants strung on an adjustable black nylon cord. Max length of cord approx. 14 inches.

Altered State Series - the colors are turquoise and flamingo pink - some areas where the colors blended the pendant appears to be purple. Two pendants available.
Tainted Heart Series - the color is turquoise. Two pendants available.

I can make the cord longer if needed. The Altered State Heart necklace has been sold - I'm showing it because the vibrant colors didn't show up very well in the other two pictures. 

This is the email I got today:

flagged & removed: 2501657872 (jewelry) Handmade resin jewelry

Your posting has been flagged for removal.
Approximately 98% of postings removed are in violation of craigslist posting guidelines.
Please make sure you are abiding by all posted site rules, including our terms of use:
http://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use.html
If you need help figuring out why your posting was flagged, try asking in our flag help forum: http://forums.craigslist.org/?forumID=3. Include posting title, body, category, city, how often posted, any images, HTML markup, etc.
If your posting was wrongly flagged down (2% of flagged ads are) please accept our apologies and feel free to repost.
Sorry for the hassle, and thanks for your understanding.

I don't believe I have done anything wrong, and I'm not going to bother posting it again. It isn't like anybody showed any interest by responding. I can't afford Artfire or Etsy at this time or I would have more than the two pieces I currently have posted on Etsy.

Pink Awareness

The perfect necklace to remind women about Breast Cancer.

I absolutely love working with resin because there's so much one can create with it. The individual beads measure 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch. The length of strand is approximately 25 inches. There are 40 beads total and each one is sanded by hand and made with lots of love.

I really love the way this necklace turned out. I'm debating listing it on Etsy. Does anybody else have a hard time parting with some of their favorite creations?

Job Scam

I saw a job posting on Craigslist for beading jewelry. It sounded legit until I got this response:


Hello Carla,

Thank you for your interest in the position we have open. In order to be considered, candidates must meet the following criteria:

- Provide last 18 months work history
- Include two references
- Be willing to complete a standard 2 week training period
- Complete an IQ test, which is located here: http://iqtestiq.com/.

The test takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. Be sure to include your phone number after you complete the test in order to track your score and for contact purposes. Applicants scoring within a specified range will be contacted by telephone to schedule an interview within 24 hours of completion by one of our managers. Test information is strictly prohibited from being shared with any second parties. It is important to us that your information is kept confidential and exempt from disclosure.
Note: Applicants who do not complete the test will not be considered for the position due to the high volume of inquiries we receive.

Thank you again for your interest.

Sincerely,
Chiquita


Here's the link: http://fortcollins.craigslist.org/mnu/2480771358.html

Beading Jewelry (Fort Collins)

---

Date: 2011-07-06, 5:21PM MDT
Reply to: job-9cqhd-2480771358@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

---

I am looking for an individual who loves to make things who can assist me produce jewelry. At the moment this is contract work, but in the future, this can lead to a more permanent job. Should be a citizen and sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Suitable for an art or design student, an adult person who loves to make things or knit, someone with disabilities who wants to work from home. Please be someone who is clean and pays focus to details. The individual would do work from home at the moment until I have a bigger space. There is definitely room to grow and possess a long-term job.

• Location: Fort Collins
• Compensation: doe
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 2480771358

Selling on Craigslist

I've decided to test out the market on craigslist to sell some electronics and handmade resin jewelry I've made recently. I'm probably setting myself up to sell locally but I figured I needed to start some where rather than no where. I don't have a large enough inventory to do any craft shows - that will be for the future.

I was going to set up a shop on a website but decided to wait. Why I'm waiting because it's so much work writing HTML, and I really don't feel like doing that right now. My skills are a bit rusty since it's been a few years since I've actually done anything with HTML.

So this brings me back to testing the waters on craigslist...

Getting DSL

Yesterday I was so excited because my DSL was activated after being without broadband since mid-February. I have been using my BB's 3G connection for internet. I wasn't able to connect until after 9 p.m. So, I enjoyed using it for a few hours. When I woke up this morning, I found that my modem no longer was connecting to the internet. GRRRR!!! In exchange for DSL internet, I decided to shut off my cell service and tomorrow my phone becomes inactive. I won't be getting a new modem until Tuesday, and Tuesday cannot come soon enough. *sigh*