Ice Ice Baby!

I love this time of year. The pace really picks up in anticipation of the upcoming holidays and working in the studio is no exception! The shop is being filled up with artful pendants and inspirational pieces. As of late, I have been using resin in my work, and I have to say Ice Resin® is my favorite. It is a non yellowing, crystal clear, jeweler's grade two part epoxy resin.  Now, I'll be honest, I haven't used a lot of different brands, but one big reason I love Ice Resin® is because it's actually very forgiving as far as resins go. It is hard after a day, so you are able to handle and work with it. And at this point you can fix little mistakes, like pour overs by peeling them off or sanding. It takes a fews days to fully cure and once it's cured it is rock hard! And smooth as glass. Love it!

A great book to have in your creative library if you can get it is Explore, Create, Resinate: Mixed Media Techniques Using Ice Resin® by Jen Cushman. It has step by step tutorials, tips and tricks, and shows you how to fix mistakes (love that part!).

Another book that would be a must have, especially if you would like to take your mixed media resin creations to the next level, is Resin Alchemy: Innovative Techniques for Mixed Media and Jewelry Artists by Susan Lenart Kazmer. I do not have this book yet, oh but I will ... oh yes, I will!

If you use resin, what is your favorite brand to use and why?

Keep creating and try something new! Blessings!

Bead Chat Magazine

One of my pieces has been featured in the July issue of Bead Chat Magazine from Melinda Or and her crew at Artisan Whimsy! Woo hoo!  My Bloom Chatelaine Necklace can be seen on page 43, along with other amazing jewelry artists from B'sue Boutiques Creative Group (pgs. 43-44).

The magazine is chock full of wonderful designs from many different artisans and styles and follows the trends seen around the internet. An amazing source of inspiration!!

Bloom Chatelaine Necklace by Janet Wilson of ChickieGirlCreations

Celebrating Summer

Summer vacation officially starts, for us, this Friday! Woo hoo!! Very excited, it is going to be fun! So to celebrate, I'm having a sale! Come on over! 

CHICKIEGIRLCREATIONS - Etsy Shop

Sale is going on now and expires June 23rd.

Let the fun begin!!

Art Journaling

I hadn't been art journaling as often as I should or would have liked. Just as I was giving myself a little push to get back into it, I found Daisy Yellow's Index-Card-A-Day Challenge (ICAD). Perfect! Just what I needed to get back into that creative mode again. It runs from June 1 to July 31, but I came into it late and that's a-ok according to the official ICAD FAQ ... it says:

"Create something on a 3x5" index card every day for 61 days. If you start after June 1 you do not need to catch up, really, seriously, just start. You can do more at the end if you wish. But get going, that is what is important."

Works for me! So I've jumped right in and have made six index cards so far. (happy dance!)

Here are some of the most recent cards I've completed:

If you have been out of your creative groove, or are in some sort of emotional type rut, perhaps consider doing something like this ... quick, easy and just what the muse and soul ordered.

SALE!!!

Just a quick post today to let you all know that I'm having a weekend sale!!! 

***Sale is from  February 1 - February 3***

 *** 15% OFF WEEKEND SALE!!!!! ***

Use coupon code - WK15END

  ChickieGirlCreations Etsy Shop

Hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing and safe weekend! x

Giveaway!!

What a wonderful Monday! I popped onto my Facebook Page to see that I have 50 likes!! Yes! Thank you to everyone who has stopped by to share some love and leave a comment. <3 To celebrate I think there should be a giveaway. This will be for one custom **Inspiration Pendant** of your choice including a ball chain. Look around my page or my Etsy Shop for ideas. ChickieGirlCreation - Inspiration Pendants

So, like my page (if you haven't already) and leave a comment there about what you are doing today. Have a project? Working? Nothing? Doesn't matter! Just leave a comment. :) Janet Wilson's Mixed Media Art - Facebook Page I will pick a winner tomorrow and announce it here and on my Facebook Page. Whoooo hooo! Love you all!! x

Art Journal Inspired

I've been art journaling for a while now, and it has been such a help to me personally and creatively. So I've been tossing around some ideas how to incorporate some of the art journaling techniques I've learned into my pendants. I decided on one of the black tree pendants to be part of my experiment. I used a mix of colors on the background with small script stamping on top.

I like the effect a lot and can see more experiments in the near future. And here is another finished pendant of my usual style.

Only 20 more days till Christmas! Woo hoo! Awww ... but who's countin'. ;)

More Pendants!

I've finished up a few more tree pendants. These pendants were created from a mold I made from a few of my tree designs. Then I added more details to the molded piece and almost reshaped it a bit with some sculpting, to give each pendant a unique feel and look. It is fun to play and see how I can change each one just a little with reshaping, color and of course a little sparkle and shimmer if it calls for it.

Finally my photos are looking better. I've tweaked the settings and experimented until I got to a place where I didn't cringe every time I took a photo. What do you think?

We Are Live!

Shop is now open and here is my first listing, Storybook Tree Pendant:

This was a little tricky to photograph. I had great lighting with my light box, but the pendant has a lot of shimmer from the mica powders and glitter so my photos did not turn out the way I had hoped. I am going to play around with the lighting and such and see if the photos turn out a bit better. This pic is one I took outside and shows a bit more detail than some of the others I took.

New Pendants

Just a quick post today! Will be opening my shop in a few days!! Here's a sneak peek of some goodies...

Dusting Off this Ole Journal

I am finally back after taking some time off. Life, well, life is what it is I suppose. :-)




My stock is low, but I will be adding a few items to my shop. I don't believe I can stock up the way I had originally wanted, unfortunately, but I will be taking custom orders. I will not charge extra for custom orders at this time and I will make these special purchases my priority, before stocking up my store. So be sure to take advantage of this now. If you want something for the holidays, place your order(s) now. :-) Since it was featured in PolymerCafe Magazine this past June, I've been getting quite a few requests for my tree pendants. I plan on continuing with those as well as my whimsical holiday beads. Don't be shy ... pop over to the shop and see what's there.

To see more of my work, please check out ...

My Flickr
My Sold Items

See anything you like? Contact me! :-)

Bloom Tree Pendant

Bloom Tree Pendant
Originally uploaded by chickiegirlcreations

Two posts in one day! Wow! :-P

I was playing around with making the tree pendants have a spring look and experimenting with the textures. I really liked how this one turned out. And I think can open some fun possibilities for color combinations!

Well, this one has sold already (yeah!), but I have a few flower tree pendants in the making so hopefully I can have them listed next week.

Computer Troubles

Aren't computers supposed to make life easier? Hmmmm ... yes, until they don't work anymore, lol! Well, they say that bad things happen in three's ... it started with out car breaking down in the middle of a city a few weeks ago. Then my inkjet printer just stopped printing. The last one is my computer's hard drive just died on me. When we went to have it diagnosed, it was confirmed that the drive was gone (and did I back up? Umm, not everything!). We asked if we could get another drive installed. We were gently informed that our computer is considered "vintage". Gah! Well, such is life. And I firmly believe these things happen for a reason. :-)



To be thankful, we have a laptop, so I was able to continue with my Etsy Shop and Flickr. Even so, I still had another challenge I had to overcome .... I had my only photo editing program on the computer that crashed. After a bit of sulking and cruising the net, I found Picnik and fell in to relief and happiness. I am still playing around with it, but I am able to edit my photos the way I like. It is free with the option to upgrade. I decided to upgrade because I wanted to use some of the features offered with it. I figure that I will be using this online photo editing site for quite a while. I can also post right to my Flickr once I am done playing with my photos which is a huge convenience. You can also upload and transfer to Photobucket, Picassa, Webshots, Facebook .... I am so thrilled I found it! Go check it out.



The pics are just some of my latest work using Picnik. I am still making the tree pendants (having a lot of fun making these!) and I've been recently been making some dangle earrings and hairsticks or shawl pins.

Now to get my printer working ....

Challenge Time Again!

I can hardly believe it has been about a month since I posted here .... shame on me!

Well, it is time for another challenge! This months PCAGOE Challenge theme is 'Love'. I'm a little late blogging about this ... better late than never I suppose ... the voting started Friday, February 1st and ends midnight (Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday, February 3rd. The winners will be announced on Monday, February 4th and you can view the results at the PCAGOE website.

So stop by the site .... http://pcagoe.com ..... and vote for the one you LoVe. :-) We've got a lot to choose from and the talent in this group is inspiring and amazing! Here's a few to look at now ...



And here's my entry which is also available in my Etsy Shop ....



Thank You!! :-)

New Years Resolutions

Ah, yes that time of year. Time to think about all the things we need to change ... it is overwhelming. Another person in the Etsy Polymer Clay Guild (PCAGOE) posted this article by Christine Kane (click here). I thought it was very interesting, so I'm posting a link here. It gives a different twist on resolutions and has helped me think about how I'd like to go about my resolutions for this year. I'd never heard of Christine Kane, so I took a listen to her music and I like it very much! Hmmm, I may be a new fan. :-)

While on the subject of resolutions, I participated in this months PCAGOE Monthly Challenge, which was focused on New Years Resolutions. Here's my entry:




And here's what I wrote about my entry:

"This is my entry for this month's PCAGOE Challenge, New Year's Resolution. I've always loved trees ... the textures, the colors, their strength, and even the sound they make when the wind blows through their leaves and branches. This particular tree, to me, represents a resilience that I'd like to develop in the upcoming year; to be stronger and healthier physically, emotionally, spiritually and to always remember who I am. I hope that this will spill into my creative works as well."

There are a lot of great entries, so please take a moment to stop by the guild website and vote. Plus, if you vote you will be entered to win a prize pack valuing over $150.00. Not too shabby!! :-)

Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy Website




Here is another tree pendant I've done. I had listed another one earlier, but it sold. However, I am making more of these as time allows. So if you are interested in something like this, stop by the shop every so often. I'd like to make these tree pendants a regular item in my store. And if you see something you'd like, but maybe you'd prefer a different color or shape, feel free to contact me about a custom order. :-)

Thanks so much and Happy New Year everyone!!

Holiday Promotion!!

I'm offering 10% OFF the entire shop for the month of December. If you have a return coupon or newsletter coupon code, you will get that additional percent off as well. Just enter your codes in the 'notes to seller' section when you check out, then wait for a new updated invoice from me. Can't beat that!! Definitely stop by the shop and do some holiday shopping ... hope to see you there!


ChickieGirlCreations Etsy Shop


Happy Holidays Everyone!! :-)

Made Etsy Front Page!!

Here's the pic of the Etsy Front Page with my Birch Song Necklace, whoo hoo! And I am right next to a fellow pcagoe'er that I admire, blockpartypress. Boy am I flying high now! :-)

Holiday Hairsticks or Shawl Pins!!

I couldn't resist making these! I love snowmen! :-)

I recently found out that my sticks can also be used as shawl pins. I'm so excited about this! I've made sure that the points on my sticks are more rounded so they don't poke and hurt. And the sticks are smooth, but because of the texture it makes them grip. Perfect for hair and knitting. I think I am going to make a shawl for myself now! I loved ponchos when they were a huge trend a few years back, but I love the idea of wrapping a yummy textured shawl around my shoulders and weaving in a fun or funky shawl pin. Well, I'm going on and on here .... did I say I was excited about the shawl pin idea?

Moving on ... So just to mention to those that read my blog ... I only have one more of these guys to list in my shop. Be young and have a little joy and fun this Christmas and winter season with these sticks. :-)

Hill Tribes Silver Hairsticks with Earrings!

My daughter has just started dance classes. She's been telling me for a while now that she wanted to go, but I wasn't sure how serious she was. She tries to emulate her current ballet idols, Zoey (from Sesame Street) and Angelina Ballerina (books and PBS series). Usually you have to be three years old to take a dance class, but DD is almost three, so they let her in. She is having a blast! All the girls wear pink and purple. I have to admit, I am gushing with all the adorableness, lol. So, I decided to make these gorgeous, magical, winter like hairsticks and earrings, inspired by The Nutcracker Suite, my favorite ballet. Lots of sparkle and movement, very girly and pretty!

I only had three Hill Tribes Hairsticks, so that is all that is listed. With the sale that is currently going on, it will be a quite a deal, so do not pass this up!

Don't have long hair, but you have fallen in love with these sticks anyway? Don't fret, these will make wonderful shawl pins! In fact, I wish I had one of these for myself. I'd use one on a shawl for Christmas Day. :-)

Well, that's my news ... thanks for taking a peek at my wares! :-)

It's Christmas Time!!! and Sales!!!

Whew! I've barely had time to breath! Thanksgiving was wonderful and now thoughts have turned toward Christmas gift giving. My favorite time of the year! :-)

First some store info ...

Current Sale Offer:
Please inter the correct code(s) in your notes to seller when you check out and I will send you a new updated invoice.

10% Off Entire Store - Code = 10Chickie10

Free Shipping with orders totaling $40.00 or more - Code = 40Free

** Offer ends Sunday, November 25th, midnight EST **


I will be running different sales throughout this month. So take advantage of the savings!


Custom Orders:

I love to do custom orders! If you have something special in mind for yourself or for a gift, do not hesitate to contact me. :-)

I will be taking polymer clay custom orders until December 10th.

I will take any jewelry custom orders until the 15th.

This will ensure that I have enough time to complete the order and that it can be shipped well before Christmas.

And as always .... feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you! :-)