Friday Finds

Are you an April Fooler or an April Foolee? Well, it's coming up soon, and you'd better get prepared if you want to fool more than you want to be fooled! I found an imaginative list of pranks here if you'd like to peruse through them to get your prank juice flowing.

I also found some fun ideas from the handmade arena. This one made me smile... A Boyfriend in a Bottle at Sparkly Pony on Etsy. Hmmmm, not a bad idea.

And a baby with a mustache! This baby is cute no matter what it has on its face. :) You can find your mustache at Wee Hilarity.

For this, I have only one word. Gross. But, gross and April Fool's Day go hand in hand, right? Find these matchboxes and other fun gag gifts at Dippy Lulu.

And of course, I found a plethora of fake spills; from baby bottles and melted ice cream to fingernail polish and paint. I even found a vial of fake spilled blood. I chose the picture of spilled Diet Coke, because that would be totally believable anywhere in my vicinity. You can find all this and more at Fake Food Decor.

Do you have any favorite April Fool's Day pranks? Comment and let us know!

Alisa

Unique

One of the joys I find with making jewelry is trying to make something completely unique and handmade. Of course I make jewelry with components I buy, but I enjoy making as much of my jewelry myself as is possible. I like how that idea pushes me to learn new techniques and keeps things exciting and new.

I was recently asked to design a necklace for my nephew who had earned his Eagle Award in the Boy Scouts. Being a guy's necklace, I wanted it to be simple... just an eagle on a leather cord. Sometimes I use rubber stamps to impress a design into Precious Metal Clay. It's a simple way to add texture or a picture to a piece of jewelry. So I started looking for a small rubber stamp that had a simple and masculine image of an eagle on it. I didn't have any luck. Most of the stamps I found were too large for a necklace... at least for the simple necklace I had in mind. The only one I found that was small enough was rather cartoony, more something for a child.

So... I decided to make my own! I didn't actually make the rubber stamp (which some people carve by hand, I found! Like Corrabelle in her Etsy shop The Mayberry Sparrow) but I drew an eagle that was exactly what I had in mind, and had it made into a rubber stamp. I was really pleased with the way it turned out, and with the fact that it was truly unique. I think my nephew liked it too! :)

This is my drawing. It has to be fairly simple, because too much detail ends up getting lost in the clay. Especially when it's going to be a small stamp.

 I took a picture of the stamp, but it is the clear kind and didn't show up well....

...but this is the completed necklace.

I'm so excited about this new method for making jewelry that won't be found anywhere else, I can't even tell you! I've had a couple more stamps made, and this time I ordered them from an Etsy shop called Dragonfly Buzz. She makes laser cut custom stamps. I do like to buy handmade when I can!

I drew the shark for a key chain I made for my husband. He likes sharks because they don't stop swimming. They have to keep moving forward, even when they sleep, or they will drown... That's just how their gills work. That pretty much describes my husbands outlook on life!

This is inspired by my mom. Not only does she collect lighthouses, but she is a constant, guiding beam of light.

And this dove represents my best friend. Every time I go to her in a frenzy, which is often, she listens patiently and calms me with her practical wisdom. She brings me peace!

This is the clasp for a bracelet in progress. :)

Alisa

Friday Finds

I found some great Springtime Finds this week! I love Spring, when the days get longer and warmer, and the flowers start blooming. Ahhhh, it makes me happy!

I love this sweet, simple Pillowcase Dress that I found in a shop called The Uptown Baby! She's got them in lots of colors, along with other adorable baby fashions.

And this Chippy Blue Mosaic Chair by Rush Creek Mosaics... Wow, I love it!

What says "fresh spring day" better than Crisp Apple Daisy Soap found at Satin and Birch?

As a child I remember watching for the tulips to start appearing as one of the first signs of spring. This Dew Tulip print from Walda Photography takes me back!

Alisa

Proud Mother Chickens

Good guess, but no. PMC does not stand for Proud Mother Chickens. Or Partially Melted Chocolate, or Pineapple Mango Cookies. It stands for Precious Metal Clay, and it's amazing!

Do you remember when you were a kid, and you got to play with Play-doh? I remember sitting at a table when I was little, making snakes, and birds nests full of eggs, and all kinds of stuff. After I had kids of my own, I learned that Play-doh is magical when it comes to calming kids down and keeping them quiet and busy for a while. I used to like to play with it right along with them. It's like one of those stress balls... all soft and squishy and relaxing.

Well, here I am, in my 40s, and I'm still playing. But I've graduated from Play-doh, and I've moved on to PMC! Anything you can make with Play-doh you can make with PMC... But it turns to silver, or bronze, or copper, or even gold!

Each type of PMC requires little differences in handling and techniques, but since I mostly use silver, I'll stick with that here. PMC (you can also find it under the brand name Art Clay) is made up of tiny particles of recycled silver that are mixed with an organic binder and water to form clay.  After it's been shaped into a masterpiece, it's dried, filed and sanded until it's just right, and then fired either in a kiln or with a butane torch. This burns off the organic binder, and sinters together the particles of silver. Sintering is different than melting. Sintering means that all the particles bind together at their contact points, so it keeps its shape instead of melting into a puddle of silver. What you have left is 99.9% pure silver, or fine silver, as opposed to sterling silver, which is 92.5% pure. One of the fun things about PMC is that you get a completely different look than what you get with traditional metalsmithing techniques.

PMC pressed into a mold I made from a honeysuckle leaf.

PMC cut into shapes, then joined together.

PMC mixed with water and painted onto a leaf.

PMC really lends itelf well to custom pieces of jewelry, too. It's easy to make a mold of something small that's sentimental, or to take a texture from something larger.

Made from a mold of an ancient Roman coin.

This was made from a texture I took from the bark of a pine tree

Is it any wonder I love PMC? You can find the rest of my jewelry here. Check it out, and let me know if you have any custom projects in mind! :)

Alisa