UV Resin, is it any good?

So I just started dabbling in UV resin.  It's cool.  It's really cool.  I have watched zillions of videos and knew I had to try this.  I generally use really nice 2 part resin, which, by the way, looks wonderful if done CORRECTLY.  But, it takes a full 12-24 hours to get hard and several days to get really hard and it has to be 75-85 degrees to cure nicely.  UV resin does not.  It takes, quite literally, 10 minutes or less to harden to a crystal clear, hard finish.  For antsy-pants people like me, it's a WIN!

To try it out, I had to buy a UV light and resin ($100).  You know I had to buy a really nice 54W UV light (with a large stage for multiple items) along with two large bottles of resin.  Because why?  I must own tools and things for my crafts-loving heart!  I bought mine at epoxyjewelry.com.  A word of warning though, I did NOT shop around, like a dummy, and paid $75 for the light.  I found the exact same light for $36 with free shipping on ebay...I am my own worst enemy!  I would also like to add that the only shipping choice at epoxyjewelry was 3-day priority at $21.  I received my items ONE WEEK LATER...  Yes.  I  bought it early on a Thursday, it did not ship to me until the following Monday, which is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE  for an item purchased at a priority shipping rate (as I said, they offered no other shipping options).  As a seller, holding an item for days when a customer has paid for priority/express shipping is essentially theft (of time).  Plain and simple.  Okay, rant over.

The resin seems to be pretty good.  I paid $12.50/2oz bottle and I bought 2.  They also offer an 8 oz bottle for $33 which is a really good price and comparable to the 2-part epoxy resin.  There are other brands of UV resin out there and I will list them below.

I specialize in shrink plastic jewelry www.fauxshowart.etsy.com  check me out!  So my items are printed using a standard inkjet printer.  Nothing fancy.  I have read where the resin does not work well on inkjet ink and some sellers offer a sealer of sorts that you apply before applying the resin.  I thought 'no thanks' to that.  But the tales of troublesome inkjet/UV resin combining may be somewhat true.  I was so excited to try this on some Christmas themed items I had recently made.  My first try was a cool retro-inspired candle.  I squeezed out some resin, moved it to the edges of the candle using a toothpick and placed it into the UV oven.  The top hardened, but the resin sitting on the surface of the candle stayed liquid.  It NEVER hardened, even after 30 minutes under the lights and after so long, even the ink started to get slimy :(    So the hardened shell would slide around across the top of the shrinky dink.  I was so utterly disappointed, the 'dink was ruined as the surface was permanently sticky and gross (after I took the hardened shell off).  I then did a test on a clear (semi-translucent) shrinky dink and it hardened in less than 3 minutes.  My conclusion was well, it doesn't work on the opaque shrinky dinks.  Also, I put the shrinky dink back under the light to see if the remaining slick of resin would harden up. It never did, it stayed gross.  This may have something to do with the ink after all.

Here is my blonde moment:  The UV light has mirrored panels throughout the inside of it for maximum reflection of the UV light.  The idea being that the more reflected UV light, the faster the cure, be it gel nails, or UV resin.  The surfaces of the oven/light were all covered in that clear blue protective plastic and I did NOT remove it first.  Duh, gurl!  Yeah, pretty bad!  In my defense, there were absolutely NO instructions or set up information that came with the light (another negative ding to epoxyjewelry.com).  To remove the plastic covering, I had to remove all six of the UV bulbs (easy pop outs/ins) and then wedge my fat little hand in and try to using my nails to scrape at the edges of the mirrored panels in order to get a bit of the edge loose in order to pull it off.  This task was daunting.  There were no pull tabs to make removal simple.  I cannot help but feel there should have been some sort of info that came with the UV light, but I received none from epoxyjewelry.com which I think is pretty shabby.

I decided to give it another go.  This time, I applied the UV resin to an item that was first 'sealed' using clear acrylic spray paint (this is how I seal/protect all of my shrinky dink jewelry).  In 5 minutes, the resin was hard, it was prefect.  Winner!  I have not had many more chances to use the resin as I am crazy-busy prepping items for the Christmas season.  I hope to soon add some more information with regards to the resin.

In addition I bought, for $14 from Amazon, a pair of the UV light protective goggles that came bundled with a TaoTronics TT-FL002 UV flashlight (it has a big light area). You can use these to quickly harden the resin with your flashlight.  This does work!  I put the goggles/glasses on whenever I look at the UV light.  Protect your eyes!

Oh, and also, I have two big, hairy dogs.  Hair and resin DO NOT WORK WELL TOGETHER.  This UV resin is nice in that you can use a heat source to heat out the bubbles like you would regular resin, but do NOT use any type of fan and stay out of a drafty area if you have animals.  I ruined a couple of other pieces because lint/animal fuzz found it's way onto the surface of a couple of my other items and in a very short time.

Some other brands of UV resin are as follows:

Solarez on Amazon -- It says it is UV curable resin and the price is amazing good.

 
 
 
• 
  

"UV Resin" in a bottle with a green leaf covered label, there is no brand name listed, but I see it everywhere.  This

particular sample was listed on Etsy

10g  $5.28

15g

25g

60g

100g

200g  $30.36

Lisa Pavelka--found in most crafts stores.  Very expensive but quickly accessible.

1oz=$9.74

And others.  The Solarez seems like such an amazing deal.  a quart for $35.05 seems crazy.  I'd have to start with

the smallest size and try it to see if it is as good.

Tools O' The Trade

This is a biggie!  Tools matter and you can NEVER have too many of them.  I have tons and tons of tools, from electric to manual, all of them matter.

From the name of my blog, I am sure by now you know I specialize in shrink plastic, AKA Shrinky Dink jewelry.  99% of it is cut on an electric die-cutting machine.  The other 1% is cut with scissors using my chubby little hands.  Yes, some cuts are so fine, that I have to follow up using ultra fine tipped scissors or an X-acto knife.  See? So far you have three tools!  There are quite literally a 100 more in my possession. 

• Multiple Dremels; A chargeable multi-speed with LCD light (expensive), it's rival, bought at Wal-Mart for 75% less!.  Three, yes, three Dremels with cords, one of them having a much smaller 'pen' device on the end of a long hose-type extension.
• Dremel drill press (where one of the corded Dremels stays)
• Dremel router (where another of the corded Dremels stays)
• Tons of awls for poking out fine cut work or for holding down my shrinkies as I heat them up.
• A nice crafting heat gun with two heat-proof mats
• Multiple resin doming trays (I love resin work)
• Multiple bead augers/reamers (for making bigger holes)
• 15 hole punches for punching holes pre-shrink
• 100 paint brushes, some of them silicone, which make some of the best I've owned
• Tape dispensers big and small
• Staplers
• Markers, pencils
• 10 wire mandrels for wire work
• beading tools, oh boy, this one is HUGE.  10+ pairs of chain nose pliers, 6 round nose pliers, 5 flush cut snippers
• Multiple brayers
• Wire jigs
• Bead working anvil
• Round nose hammer
• Steel doming block
• Steel plate for hammering
• Multiple lazy susans (vintage of course!) for holding stacks of bead holders, paint bottles, brushes, and pens.
• Ultra-fine set of files (in love with these)
• Multiple tweezers, some with LCD lights
• Die cutting machine (vintage Cricut that cuts like nothing I've ever seen, and it was used and cheap).
• Printer Multiple Canon and Lexmark inkjets
• Two Ott lights
• Multiple sets of reading glasses for intricate work (I am over 50 and my eyes ain't what they used to be).  Don't strain your beautiful eyes, let the glasses do the work!
• Jeweler/watch maker goggles.  You can find inexpensive plastic ones that work great!
• Computer
• Camera
• Photography lights
• Tripod
• Mannequin

If I think of more I'll post them.

Wish I could put up images of all of it, but you get the idea.  All of these items were purchased over years and years.  As stated in the first bullet-point, I found a Dremel brand equivalent at Wal-Mart that cost me $25 as opposed to the $100 Dremel and Menard's.  Shop around!  Save coupons when buying tools at Michaels, Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's.  Wait and use the 40, 50 and 60% off coupons; tools are almost NEVER on sale and 60% is a huge savings.

I haven't posted lately because I've been staying very busy between my real job and my other real job (Etsy)  LOL

-Stay cool and Love one another!

Antiquing Silver, Silver Plate, and Raw Brass

I'm not generally too fond of bright silver and bright gold findings.  Especially when it comes to making my vintage-inspired jewelry.  Yes, there are times when I like the bright gold and silver, because it works with the piece I am currently working on, but that is rarely.

For a long time, I bought black findings.  As time went on, it seems, the black findings got harder and harder to come by.  Joann's sells few black findings, and Michaels continues to thin the black finding options.  From there, I moved onto hematite or gun metal colored findings.  For those who do not know, it is the really dark silver tone.  Pretty, shiny, dark, lots of options.  The downside, I guess to either the black or the hematite/gun metal, is that they are coated in paint.  This means that if you buy head pins, or lever back earring wires, there is a good chance the coating will eventually flake off.  I have not witnessed it with the ear wires, but I have seen it on the head pins.  I'll start twisting the wire to make a nice neat loop and 'pop', the paint will peel away from the wire!  On the ear wire side of things, you will see lever backs that are painted shut or stiff to move because they have been painted in place.  The result is a lever back that does not snap back closed, or doesn't open without being bent because it is painted closed.  Thus, a worthless ear wire!

My solution for this is Liver of Sulfur, Sulfur, Sulfur....  Yep!  It stinks to high Heaven, but it does an awesome job of taking sterling silver, silver plate, and raw brass to my favorite realm, VINTAGE!  The great news is, you can find silver-plated and raw brass findings for not much more than regular findings.  Places like Etsy, Amazon, and eBay offer many options, and if you buy in bulk, you save big.  Michael's sells a ton of their metal beading bits in silver plate and at a reasonable cost.

Liver of Sulfur, what is it?

From the WWW:  Liver of sulfur is mainly used in metalworking to form a patina, turning copper alloys brown or black. Typically liver of sulfur comes in a dry rock form which must be broken into smaller pieces and dissolved in hot water for use.

It stinks!

You can buy it in the dry rock form, or buy pre-mixed gel (which is my preferred type).  You mix according to package directions, in my case, 1T with 1C of tepid/warm water.  Make sure the dish you use is used ONLY for your antiquing (I used an old ceramic soup crock that has a rubber lid). 

After I had made a couple of batches, I came up with the brilliant idea of using my old 4 cup coffee maker's pre-fab nylon mesh coffee filter screen.  I put my findings in it and then submerge into the solution making it very easy to remove all pieces and to dunk and stir as needed.  It also makes an awesome rinsing vessel before dumping my findings onto paper towel to dry.  Hey!  you can even use one of those hand-held nylon fine mesh strainers.  I don't think a metal filter would be good because of possible chemical reaction, but who knows?

You have to keep an eye on whatever it is you antique as no two plated items antique at the same speed.  This is where that nylon screen works great, easy in, easy out.

I made the mistake one time of leaving items in the solution over night.  They were encrusted with thick black tarnish!  Mega rustic, but not suitable for jewelry!!!

The trick is to get all of the items you wish to patina lined up and ready so that you get the most out of your liver of sulfur.  One $12 bottle makes three batches, so use your chemical wisely.  I can get a lot done from one cup of the solution.  I have read that once the solution becomes murky, it's time to make a fresh batch.  Overnight, mine will turn murky and so I just dump it after antiquing everything that I am going to antique.

The results are amazing!  The patina on silver plate (my choice of finding) is absolutely wow!  The tone is warm, dark and shiny.  The lever backs are gorgeous, they open easily, and they are silver plated, not painted.  You can easily take 1000 jump rings and antique them in a matter of minutes.  100 ft of silver plated necklace chain (fine) and antique in a matter of minutes.  Why would I ever want to buy hematite-tone findings again?  The image below is from wires I antiqued.  They started out with a bright sterling silver plated finish and sat in the solution for less than 5 minutes!

Antiquing your findings also opens up the ability to a broader range of findings.  Almost everything comes in a bright silver plated finish.  You cannot say the same for black or gun metal colored findings.

I have yet to use it on raw brass as I have tons of antiqued brass findings already, but I have the itch and will soon be giving that a go!

Happy antiquing!

If You Love Making Jewelry, Don't Go To Joann's

So.  It's been a good 3 weeks since I've been inside a Joann's or Michael's.  Usually, I'm in those places one to two times a week for this and that.

Last night I get a special request from a customer, but I don't have the finding they need (a very large metal ring), so I head to Joann's after work knowing they had many styles of plain Jane key chains, clasps, etc.  What do I find?  I find a jewelry 'findings' department that has been completely ransacked and one entire wall of an aisle is nothing but pre-made jewelry!

Say what?  Apparently this new findings/jewelry maker called "hildie & jo" is now giving Blue Moon a run for their money.  The real shocker, though, is that they are peddling pre-made items.  Hair bands, bracelets, rings, necklaces, you name it.  Like they are some Forever 21 store!

Now, I know there are a lot of crafts people who like using the pre-made pendants and what-not, and that is perfectly fine.  But, finished pre-made jewelry and hair decorations in a store where they are supposed to be selling you the items so that you can make your own?  What the heck Joann's?  To make matters worse, the bags of earring posts, ear wires, butterfly backs for posts, key chains, pin/brooch backs, head pins, are all gone.  Yes, they do still have the Blue Moon selection of these, but not the Joann's brand of these items, which I relied on for some of my items and which was sold in larger quantities. :(

I also noticed hildie & jo being mixed into the Blue Moon section.  So, if you have some findings that you always get made by Blue Moon, run, don't walk to your local Joann's and stock up while you still can!  Blue Moon will probably disappear next.

Look, I still whine about the loss of the Plaid brand of jewelry findings, which were superior to what you are offered nowadays...

And this on top of them almost completely phasing out all of their Swarovski crystals.  Oh, that reminds me, the only Swarovski crystals they still had were white, light siam, black, and light blue in the flatbacks and still a great selection of biconal crystals.  Well, guess what?  Those are gone now too!  Again, what in the heck are you thinking Joann's?????

I don't believe there is much left at Joanns' for me.  Maybe some of the beads and some wire, but that is all there is.

In swoops Michael's, to deliver a knock-out punch to Joann's.  Not only does Michael's still sell all of the jewelry findings, but they recently increased their bead section.  And, they have greatly expanded their offerings in the Swarovski crystal department.  I went gaga there about six weeks ago dropping nearly $200 on all of their newest offerings.  Then, today, I take a gander and they have added even more!  Super-tiny sets of crystals in the 105 quantity range.  These are used for nail art, but I like using them on my shrinky dink creations.

So, yeah, Michael's it is for me.

Selling Your Masterpieces Online

Where to begin?  Today there are so many different places for a maker to sell their wares.  I did not go 'live' until almost three years ago.  Up until that time, I had stuck to selling to people I knew or acquaintances or theirs.  This pretty much equaled making a few bucks here and there...sometimes.

Of course my first online shop was on Etsy.  My store, Faux Show Art, opened in September 2014.  In the first 48 hours, I made a sale!  I was hooked! and thus began my addiction to selling my stuff online!  This also meant having very little personal time outside of work because all I did was design, make and market my items.  Seriously, even today, I spend as much time out of work on my tiny side-business as I do at my regular day job!  For me, it's not just the money as I don't depend on sales to pay my bills.  It's about the enjoyment of making and spending time at a hobby I love.

If you are planning on selling whatever you create online, you need to have a plan.  There are zillions of places you can build a store, zillions of places to get advice, and zillions of places that will charge you money for both.  But it doesn't have to be that way.  It pays to shop around, start small, and map out your course.  Read and learn all you can about social media and marketing through it.

Most online selling venues offer a free 14 day trial period.  Use these 14 days to their fullest !  Remember though, if you sign up, be prepared to dig in and really give them a try.  I learned the hard way by signing up for a few only to sit back and let the trial period expire.  Take notes on your experience at each, and then decide which one is the one for you.

If you are a seller who does not dabble in any computer intensive stuff, venues like Shopify and Volusion may not be the best answer.  They do require that you be somewhat computer savvy.  If you have a wordpress blog, you know what I'm talking about.  You get a template, but you need to know enough to manipulate it and make additions and subtractions to tailor it to your needs.  Sometimes you need to include applets and even lines of code into specific areas of your store's template.  You also need to be able to build images for your store in the correct proportions in order to fill the image boxes, etc.  For a person who is not familiar with it, it can be overwhelming and you can end up with a hot mess on your hands.  These places DO offer help, but sometimes there is a price tag with it depending on how much help you need.  Venues like Etsy, Aftcra and ArtFire are good for those who do not have tons of time or computer experience to get a store up and running.  You can even go to places like Canva to set up a store banner for free and in the right proportions for your store.

The positive part of Etsy is the amount of referential help, and the little inside marketplace family feel to it.  They are always adding new functionality and things to help you be a success, which I admire.  The only drawback to these marketplaces, is you share the limelight with so many others.  To be frank; I am a shrink plastic artist.  It's my thing, I am absolutely addicted to it (can't imagine doing anything else I like as much).  And I've done it for EVER!  That being said, there are 1000's of other shrink plastic makers, the competition is fierce and sometimes ruthless, as I've learned.  Also, they are ALL on Etsy, or Amazon, or ArtFire, vying for top spot and dying to be noticed and seen by buyers. Because of this, these marketplaces offer ad buys, either in Etsy or Google, that you can pay for to place ahead of others when buyers perform searches.  This is how places like Etsy make a ton of extra money, and it can cost you dearly, especially if you are small-time, like me.  Etsy even offers an outside storefront (your own domain name and address), that is connected to your Etsy store; it is called Etsy Pattern.  In my opinion, it's kind of redundant and therefore, nonsense.  However, since it's inception, they have made tweaks to it that make more sense.  In the end, though, it costs a flat $15/month, my domain registry costs me $15/year, and it's just not different enough from my Etsy store.  I have stuck with it for over a year and generated ONE sale.  Yes, one sale.  So for my annual output of $195, I made about $33.  Not good.

This is what you get for paid ads within Etsy and Pattern:

I can pay from $1-$10/per day for in-Etsy ads.  I can pay from $1-$10/day for Google Shop ads outside of Etsy on Google (although this is only offered if you have an Etsy Pattern site).  You get to set your parameter of spending from $1/day to a maximum of $10/day.  Now, these are charged to you by the number of 'clicks' you get.  So, if on day one I got 8 clicks, the charge to me might be $0.79.  The next day, if I only get 30 clicks, I might pay $3.00.  You are shown, in Etsy stats, how much the clicks cost you and how much revenue was generated by those clicks.  In truth, there have only been a couple of months where I've lost money on the in-Etsy ads.  So it has paid off.
Wish I could say the same for Etsy Pattern.

Since Etsy has been my only online experience it is the only one I can talk about in depth.  There have been lots of growing pains and many changes, some good, some bad.  For me, Etsy lost a lot of their heart when they decided that it was okay for people to sell things manufactured by others.  It completely did the opposite of what they were all about at their core when they first began.  A marketplace for the handmade makers.  Everything was handmade.  Mass-produced 'handmade' sweatshop items were not welcome.  Well, no more.  Etsy has decided that their bottom line profit is more important and in doing so have completely alienated their base.  Handmade crafters have left in droves.

Because of this I am out in the field, looking for other avenues apart from a sprawling marketplace where sadly, the small-time cottage-based hand-crafters are pitted against big business mass production.  It kind of makes me wish I had taken the time to develop my own independent web-based shop a long time ago, free from any interference.

I'll finish by saying there is no perfect platform.  There just isn't.  What sets skyrocketing sales for one specialty, may have the opposite effect on another.  It really is a game of trial and error.  But there is one thing for sure.

NEVER put all of your eggs into one basket.  Open your store in more than one venue, maybe even three.

Good luck!

Creative Ways of Finding 'Findings' :)

Findings can be expensive.  Findings can be cheap.  A particular size of finding, in the color/tone you want, may escape you.  However, there are other ways to get what you need.

When I first really dug into jewelry making, there weren't a zillion choices at the crafts stores.  Most still clung largely to the scrap booking segment of the market with large areas dedicated to die-cutting, paper stock, and scrap booking classes.  It wasn't until about 10-12 years ago they dug deeper into jewelry.  Findings, beads, classes.  Initially, it seemed the quality of these items was incredible.  The jump rings were sturdy and well-made, the chains, many made by the company Plaid, were flat-out gorgeous.  As time has passed, these items have become more and more cheap (not price, quality).  Michael's and JoAnn no longer sell anything made by Plaid with regard to jewelry which was a dark day for me.  Many of my designs included those items and because I am not a large-scale seller (meaning I make all of my own items, by myself, on top of a full-time non-Etsy job), I relied heavily on local crafts stores to buy inventory as needed.

Know this:  The daily items you use in your designs will change, this is not a maybe, they will change.  Be prepared for this by stocking up if possible, or, finding another seller with the same/similar item that is not a big-box store (who changes inventory rather quickly by trend).  I have found many substitutes on Etsy, Ebay and Amazon.  If you use a particular style/size of chain or bead, take a picture on your phone and upload it to Flickr or Google Photo or whatever for easy reference when shopping (do not forget to include the measurements for the item) so that a replacement is as close as possible.

If you have an item that sells with regularity, as most of us makers would hope, buy the supplies to make this item(s) in bulk.  It saves you money, which means more profit, you will have to take fewer pictures as the looks of the items won't vary, and the outcome is predictable.

Okay, off on a tangent...back on track!

This post is not about the every day, run-of-the-mill jump rings.  This is about other ways of finding and using findings.

One of the best resources for 'different' findings is necklaces and/or neck chain.  I can remember once being in a pinch because I needed a specific size/shape of jump ring or connector and couldn't find anything that would work in either the shape or the color metal I was using.  One trip to the crafts store and boom!  I found exactly what I was looking for in a pre-made neck chain, and it was on clearance!

It pays to look outside the box and it's perfectly okay to cannibalize other necklaces in order to make your own :)

Another resource is second-hand stores.  Lots of old jewelry, just waiting for you, and me.  Older unique beads can be found in these places along with old crafting supplies from people cleaning out their old unused stock.  I have hit many jackpots in these places.

And to finish, unless I think of something else, garage/yard sales.  Tons of old crafts stuff just waiting.  Grandma liked to make jewelry and now she doesn't have the time or interest in it so she is getting rid of what she had.  Score!

I hope this helps at least a little.  Try to be creative with what you find and think of other ways to make what you need.

Oh, and as another idea you can always buy wire, any gauge and color.  Learn how to use a mandrel to make jump rings.  It's much easier than you would think and if you need just a few of a certain size, this is an easy and cheap alternative.

Caio!

The Downside of Crafts Shows

First the positives:

1. I have always done well at crafts shows
2.  I have only been in three (all good)
3. Almost never hear nasty things from shoppers
4.  Many transactions are cash, allowing you to avoid excessive credit card processing fees!
5.  Lots of great opportunity to network and meet others in the crafts show circuit
6.  Even if you break even, or show little profit, there is ALWAYS benefit to crafts shows.  You  network, you hone your set-up / take-down skills, you see how others set up their booths.

Now the negatives.

1. Weather can kill it.
2. Be prepared to spend a good 8 hours setting up, selling, tearing down.
3. If you are not prepared, it will not be a good experience.
4. Don't start by selling at over-priced venues!
5. People can try to pass off counterfeit money.
6. There ARE shoplifters at crafts shows, BEWARE!
7. f you go it alone, you leave yourself vulnerable (how to go to the bathroom?  how to look at other booths?)
8. Pay attention to your vicinty/area.  If you are in a farming community or urban community, will your type of item have any appeal to the locals?  For example:  Selling kitsch-y and oftentimes bizarre shrink plastic jewelry may not appeal to farmer Brown, or his wife.

So what really sparked this post was the realization that one of my items that I had listed on my ETSY account was purchased, but I no longer had it and had to refund then cancel the sale.  Wow!  That is the FIRST time that has ever happened to me and man was that embarrassing!

I keep very careful records when at crafts show as to what was sold and for how much so that I am sure to make another identical item and/or remove the active listing on ETSY.

Sure I have noticed suspicious shoppers.  They pick up many items in rapid succession, never putting them back in the correct place, they move around a lot, and sometimes, they'll take your item(s) out of the booth to supposedly see how it looks under daylight (as opposed to your canopy), which is flooded with daylight!

Really there is little you can do.  I have literally 100's of items in my booth and it's impossible to know what item(s) may have been purloined.  I always go with 1 or 2 other people, my daughter is a great sales woman and is in the booth, showing items to potential buyers, which helps.  However, if the thief is good at what he/she does, you'll never catch it.  Even while tending to a sale, a shopper of ill repute can take something because you are not paying attention to them.

So that's it.  It's of little help, I know.  I guess this is just a heads-up.  Know that theft can happen and because these are crafts shows, I think it happens quite a bit.