September 2010

Crackle Pumpkin Pendant

By Michal Rainsbarger

Materials:

• Amate Designer’s Collection round pendant #60600090
• Ranger’s Distress clear crackle paint 
• Old book page
• Pumpkin image (Dover Publications)
• Burlap fabric
• Raffia ribbon

Tools:

• Scissors
• Small paint brush
• Strong clear drying adhesive
• Gel medium

Instructions:

1. Trace around the Amate Studios pendant  and cut out a circle out of book paper to fit inside the pendant. Cut around the pumpkin and glue them together with gel medium. 
2. Glue the paper into the pendant with gel medium and let dry.
3. Apply a thick, even coat of crackle paint to the paper and allow it fully dry. It may take a few hours depending on the thickness.
4. Cut out a rough circle of burlap a little larger than the pendant. Coat the burlap front and back with gel medium to keep it from fraying. Once dry, glue it to the back of the pendant.
5. Glue each piece of paper into their appropriate pendant and allow the glue to dry.
6. Tie a frayed piece of raffia ribbon to the loop of the pendant.
7. Attach a decorative chain for an ornament or string it for a necklace.

Glow in the Dark Haunted House
By Susan Johnson

Supplies:

Amate Studios House Pendant
Sculpey Glow in the Dark, Black, Orange, and Green Clay
Craft Knife
Tissue Clay Blade
Toothpick
Pasta Machine dedicated to clay
Adirondack Silver Mixative by Ranger
Adirondack Alcohol Ink Applicator by Ranger
Ceramic Tile

Directions:

1. Condition 1/2 package each of glow in the dark and black clay and small pieces of orange and green clay.
2. Use pasta machine to flatten the glow in the dark clay, then do the same with the black. Set aside the black clay.
3. Use the Amate Studios House Pendant as a cookie cutter by turning the house upside down and pressing into the glow in the dark clay to cut out a house. Carefully remove glow in the dark clay from work surface and press gently into the house pendant.
4. Use the Amate Studios House Pendant again as a cookie cutter to cut out a house in the black clay.
5. Use the craft knife to cut out a door and windows.
6. Use the tissue clay blade to cut out thin long strips of black clay. Then cut the thin strips into small lenghts to make window pains on the wndows. You will be placing the small strips on the backside of the house.
7. Flip the house over and place gently into the Amate Studios House Pendant over the glow in the dark clay.
8. Use toothpick and craft knife to make lines for the roof and chimney and some stress marks on the house.
9. Use a small piece of black clay to make a door knob and place onto the glow in the dark clay.
10. Use the orange clay to make three small pumpkins, attach a small piece of green clay for the stem and they use the toothpick to make lines on the pumpkin. Attach the pumpkins to the house.
11. Bake Amate Studios House Pendant ontop of a ceramic tile according to package directions.
12. Once house is cooled down use silver mixative and ink applicator to color in the roof of house.
13. Enjoy wearing this pendant and show your Halloween spirit.

Tempus Fugit – Time Flies

By Patty Barnes

Cuff links come and go as items of adornment for both men and women. In this fast paced world with I-Pods, Blackberries and Evos, an old fashioned watch or time piece is nearly an anachronism. Our computers, cell phones and automobiles all have a clock telling us how far behind we are. I have chosen to incorporate the White Rabbit’s lost cause of “I’m late, I’m late” into a pair of cuff links which indicate the concept of shattered time and that it has flown – far beyond repair. And whoever wears these can enjoy the very fact that the demanding clock is dead and has become simply a talisman of days gone by and life can now afford a bit of whimsy because time has flown!

Supplies:

Amate Studios Silver Cuff Links

Printed copy of an old watch (face and inside back),

Clear packing tape

Miscellaneous watch parts (Steampunk items)

Holeless micro beads

Silver butterfly and firefly spacer

Sepia toned chalk,ink or colored pencils

Lisa Pavelka’s Magic Glos.

Tools:

Printer or copier

Circle template

Craft knife

Scissors

Wire cutter

Tweezers

Toothpick

UV light box

Scraps of packing foam/cardboard

Directions:

1. I chose to scan an image of an old fashioned pocket watch from an old (1897 Sears & Roebuck) catalog which showed both the face and inside mechanism and reduced them to the size I needed. However, similar images can be found from various online sources as well as from copy right free books such as Dover.

2. Once the images were reduced in size to only slightly larger than the circumference of the Amate St cuff link, they were tinted with chalk pastels.

3. The images were then sealed between two strips of clear packing tape.

4. Using the circle template at a 1” size, I cut around the inside to obtain an image that would fit into the cuff link. Any trimming needed was done with the scissors.

5. I used the craft knife to make a hole in the packing foam scrap and cardboard to support the cuff links so they would be stable and level while curing the resin.

6. The cuff links were pushed into the foam/cardboard support and the images placed into them being sure they fit snugly.

7. A thin layer of Magic Glos was poured over the images and spread to the sides with the toothpick.

           Curing with UV lamp: 

8. After the first curing, I applied another thin layer of the resin and placed various watch parts and micro beads over the surface and then cured again.

9. I repeated the applications of layers of resin and the insertion of watch parts and beads using the tweezers plus the addition of one half of a butterfly and firefly spacer bead (one for each cuff link). Using a pair of wire cutters the butterfly and firefly were cut along the side seams so only one half was used so they would not be so thick.  (Note: the firefly spacer looks more like a dragonfly.)

10. The cuff links were completed with additional layers of Magic Glos until it formed a dome over each link.

          How Time Flew while I created these cuff links which are appropriate for either a woman or man to wear proudly as they hurry through their day! Tempus Fugit, but not for long!!