How to Make a Glowing Cat's Eye Pendant with Resin

Are you SUPERSTITIOUS? Do you believe  black cats are bad luck if they cross your path? Need a last-minute resin jewellery project for Halloween?  How about a glowing cat's eye pendant! No need to save it just for Halloween though - it's purrr-fect for Friday the 13th too! This resin project can be made with either epoxy resin or UV resin. But the secret to making the eye look 3D is to use a doming resin .  Here are two that are excellent for this project:  Epoxy resin (suitable for jewellery and doming).  Magic-Glos UV Resin . Magic-Glos has no odour (unlike other UV resins) and it's non-toxic. Plus, it allows you to get a really  high dome .  If you choose the UV resin, you need to cure it in the sun or use a UV lamp like this one .  You also need a cat's eye image. Lucky for you, you can DOWNLOAD this one for FREE ! Notes About Printing the Eyes They are sized to fit a 1" bezel when printed on A4. You may need to make adjustmen......

Read more »

Fabulous Jewelry from Findings is here! And Your Chance to Win a Copy.

I love it when unexpected deliveries arrive at my door! This week, I got a surprise delivery - one which made my day. I had hoped it might arrive before Christmas, but here we are in October and the advance copy of my new book "Fabulous Jewelry from Findings: Chic Designs using Spacers, Caps, Clasps, and More" arrived by courier, all the way from the US. This book has been three years in the making and to see it finally come to fruition is a dream come true. To say I'm excited would be an understatement! Fabulous Jewelry from Findings is a jewellery making book with a difference - there are no beads, no embellishments and no crystals. Instead, the projects in this book show you how to make chic and elegant jewellery using nothing but jewellery findings: where clasps become necklaces, bead caps become rings and spacers become bracelets. You'll do a double take as you realise what these jewellery pieces are made of! These innovative designs will have you loo......

Read more »

Knot-a-Bead Tool - How to Knot Pearls and Beads Perfectly!

Earlier this year I saw Beadalon's cool new Knot-A-Bead Tool in action at CHA. It made quick work of knotting strands of beads and the demonstrator made it look SO EASY. But if you've ever watched a product demo at a craft show, you'll know that it looked much easier when the demonstrator did it than when you tried to do it at home. But I'm happy to say that this is NOT one of those occasions.... this tool is every bit as easy to use as it looks and I'm pretty impressed with how well it works. It's definitely a tool worth adding to my collection! So let's take a look at the knotting process. You'll need: Beadalon Knot-a-Bead tool Silk thread Clam shell bead tips (aka calottes) G-S Hypo Cement Needle Tool Beads or pearls of your choice I'm working with silk thread which comes with a needle already attached. It even has a knotted end (so it won't fray) so I've just threaded on a calotte (from the inside of the hole). Next,......

Read more »