Trying new things

My tins of gilder's paste arrived earlier this week and I managed to find some time to experiment with them a little. I dug out some cameo settings from my stash and rubbed on the paste to see how they would turn out. The results?

I coloured the settings in Violet, Patina, German Silver (bottom right), Copper (middle of pic) and Antique Gold (top left). I think the metallic colours work better - I had some trouble getting the Violet to stay on. Maybe I need to rough up the surface first to help the colour stick. 


I have to say that adding colour to the settings makes them a lot more interesting. And attractive. I sealed the settings with Mod-Podge (the only thing  I had on hand) btw, since I was afraid the colours might rub off. 


I also used gilder's paste on a clay heart I made. I found some air-dry clay in a local book cum stationery store and decided to get it since I couldn't wait for my Apoxie Sculpt to arrive. I'm impatient that way. I've never tried air-dry clay before but since a 500g pack only cost S$4, I figured I had nothing to lose. 


I very inexpertly shaped a heart and let it dry over 3 days. I then rubbed gilder's paste in Pinotage and Antique Gold over it. Finally I brushed on a couple of layers of Mod-Podge. 

The heart is cracked, and mis-shapened, and very amateur-ish to be honest. But there is a beauty in it I never thought I'd see. I guess it's like the hearts some of us bear - worn and torn but still beating. 

Selling on Etsy

If you look at the sidebar on the right, you'll notice that I've started selling my jewelry on Etsy. Yes, I finally got around to doing it. I hesitated for a long time before I took the plunge. It was partly the listing and transaction fees that put me off - what can I say? I'm cheap. But mostly it was because I'd saddled myself with a less than stellar name. I started the Etsy account mainly to buy items, not sell them, so I thought up a name quite hurriedly thinking that it was cool. How wrong I was. So you'll have to pardon the oddly embarrassing name of my Etsy store. I hope it won't put you off visiting. I'm going for a more classic, understated feel for this store - so you'll find a lot more sterling silver and gold-filled pieces than on my Artfire shop. The pieces I list will also be more of what I would personally wear....simple, pretty pieces that aren't too over-the-top. Of the 4 items I listed, I think my favourite would have to be this necklace. I'd wear it in a heartbeat. What about you?