I have cut out pieces for a sewing project. I have! But I keep getting distracted by sticking rhinestones to things.
First, it was replacing the missing rhinestones in the brooches from the previous post, as well as changing the dangles on the bows brooch.
I knew I didn't have black rhinestones to match those in the flower, but then the light hit them just right and I realized they're purple. I didn't have matching purple rhinestones, but I had roughly analogous purple rhinestones, so I went ahead and super glued those in place. As always, no-one's going to get close enough to see the irregularities.
I did, however, happen to have a perfect match aurora borealis rhinestone to replace the one missing from the bows brooch. I also have a small stash of vintage AB beads, so I chose one to hang from the center, with swagged chains on the outside. I'm much happier with this than the original design.
But then
I kept playing with the rhinestones and larger acrylic craft gems and had some fun.
I have a 30mm x 40mm center cameo/cabochon setting that I'm making a mold of, to play around with resin, and, yes, I have craft gems the right size to go into that (also making molds from those, so I can make different colors and opacities.) My brain jumped to half-remembered pressed glass and molded celluloid styles of vintage jewelry, and I decided to play around with creating designs with rhinestones and craft gems and such, to eventually also cast in resin, in hopes that the result would evoke pressed glass or molded celluloid.
I used a 28mm x 39mm acrylic mirror to draw ovals on paper, using a mechanical pencil so I could make sure the line was snug to the shape, then cut those ovals out. I didn't feel like dealing with glue, so I covered one side of the ovals with double stick tape, then started stickin' on the shinies. Since the goal was monotone resin, I figured blank areas would benefit from some texture, so I stuck down some glitter.
Then I coated everything with glossy sealer, hoping that would help smooth out transitions, and just generally keep stuff together.
These are the first three I made
They were fun! The main reason I didn't put more together that day was because...well, since the initial craft activity was small repairs on the thrifted brooches, I didn't think I'd be doing it for long, so I was sitting on the floor. This was not great for my posture, and I had to stop sticking things to other things for the sake of my back.
When I wanted to make some more a few days later, I worked standing, on the work surface made by the steamer trunk on a TV stand (the steamer trunk holds doll clothes and accessories and used to be on the floor, but, again...unhappy back. I really like the height it is on the TV stand, plus: storage below!) I added a stinger to the bug, made three more of these...medallions? Cabochons? (even though 'cabochon' refers to something smooth and round) and also decided I wanted them to be matte/frosted and not shiny. A long-unused can of Purity Seal provided just the right finish.
I wanted these to have a thicker base than just, y'know, a piece of paper/poster board, so I mixed some Aves Apoxie Sculpt epoxy putty, put it between wax paper, and used bamboo skewers to keep the thickness even. Then I made a mess of the thickness when I peeled off the wax paper, but it's fine. After everything cured, I used the Dremel to smooth the edges, then some super glue mixed with corn starch to fill in gaps on the edges, and sanded again.
I was, however, really unhappy with the big flower. The edges of two 'petals' extended over the edge of the base. I tried filling in under those, but that made the whole thing too wide for the intended setting, so I made another version. I like the flower shape more on the original, but I like how the revised version actually fits the allotted space more.
When I made the epoxy putty base for the revised version, I had putty left over--it's really common for me to mix too much epoxy putty, and I try to make little things from the extra, but I'm generally not good at having ideas for what to do (I have made several awkward clay roses over the years.) A few projects ago, I used the extra to make the beetle; when I had extra putty from the bases I made for the earlier medallions, I flattened it with the wax paper and rolling pin, cut another oval, then pressed the beetle into that. Once it cured, I took the rotary tool to the edges, then I used a carving tool to score the random lines. I'd like to sculpt some little legs, but I feel like that's beyond my skill level.
The extra putty from making the base for the revised flower was pressed onto a paper blank, then I pressed the skull into that. The skull is something I made a few years ago, when I was experimenting with DIY silicone press molds. Before I got any resin, I tried using the molds with epoxy putty, with...mmm...not great results--except for the molds made with the piece of skull candy I randomly got with a bag of toys from a thrift store. I cleaned up the edges of one of those putty casts (which were still more OK than great) and stuck it in the center of this piece of putty, then added the rhinestones and beads. I used a bamboo skewer point to add texture around the center, and a ball chain to add evenly-spaced divots around the edge. After it cured, I cleaned up the edge and spray matted everything. (Incidentally, a proper mold of the candy skull was in the first round of molds I worked on.)
I might be ready to start working on making molds from these--I'm trying out brush on latex mold maker, so the process takes a while. Should give me plenty of time to
y'know
sew.
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