Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

Like a beautiful pendant from my very good friend, Bonnie Lee Kreger!   

If you follow my Facebook Diva Designs page, you saw my post last week featuring some of the gorgeous faux pieces created by some of my customers who purchased my new tutorial, "Masterful Faux Made Easy."

Miss Bonnie created these beauties, and I just had to have the one on the top left.  She very generously mailed it to me, but because of the bad Winter weather we've been experiencing, it took awhile to get to my hot little hands.  I immediately knew what I wanted to do with it, and got out the beads and some of the faux turquoise disc beads I made a few months ago (a lesson on how to create the disc beads is included in the tutorial.)  

I bought a bunch of Regaliz Licorice Leather several months ago to create bracelets featuring polymer slides (how to create the slides is also included in the tutorial.)  I have a collection of leather pieces which are too short to use for bracelets, but I thought they would make pretty stations for a necklace.  I added Chartreuse Green o-rings, studded Copper rings, Green Chrysoprase rondelles framed in copper end caps, Copper Regaliz end clasps, Turquoise Howlite/Magnesite Rounds; aged, solid Copper round beads, and to top it off, a genuine, rough-cut Turquoise nugget which almost exactly matches Bonnie's gorgeous pendant.  

This is the result.  What do you think?  I love it, and this is just my style.  It is going into my personal collection.  I haven't made myself anything in ages!  

Check out my Diva Designs Facebook page to see some of the other fabulous creations made by some of my other customers. You will be amazed!  

Seeing my customers' creations is absolutely THE best part about writing tutorials!  Many of you are sending me photos of your faux creations, and I hope you will add them to my Flickr Customer Photo Gallery so I can show them off to everyone.  I am so proud of all of you!   

Thank you!

The new tutorial is getting great feedback from my customers, so I am breathing a big sigh of relief this morning.

I am always amazed at how many of you take the time to contact me and thank ME for writing the tutorials.

I am blown away by your encouragement and support.  

One lovely lady told me yesterday that that "not only is it concise and clear but it leaves room for my imagination to take over."  I almost cried.  That is exactly the feeling and excitement I hope you will have with my tutorials.  I want your imagination and creativity to take flight and soar!

There are a couple of things I wanted to mention from the feedback I have received so far.  

One customer did a search at polymerclayexpress.com for "chalk inks" and could not find any.  PCE's search engine is a little wonky, apparently.  The ColorSnap ColorBox Liquid Chalk inks are located here on their website.  Scroll down to the bottom for the re-fill bottles are at the bottom of the page, and are all in stock as of yesterday.  www.polymerclayexpress.com/products/inks/clearsnap/ink-pads If you cannot find the refill bottles, you may substitute the inked pads, but you won't get as much mileage out of them, and they do dry out quickly.

So, if you search for something from my source guide at PCE and cannot find it, please let me know and I will point you to the correct location.  I made sure before I published the tutorial that each component you need is available and in stock at the places I show in the source guide.  There is nothing more frustrating that not being able to put your hands on what you need when you want it.  

Second thing is, one customer asked whether I knew if the products used in my tutorial are tested on animals, or if they are cruelty-free.  I am sorry, but I do not know the answer to that important question.  If any of you have the same concern, I would direct you to the manufacturer's website.  I will check myself and see. I would hate to think any of them are, and if I do find out they are, I will try to find a suitable substitute.  

I am taking next week to get my tax information lined up, one more thing off my "to do" list, and then I am going back into the studio to see what new things I can come up with next!  

I hope all of you have a wonderful, joy-filled, healthy and prosperous new year in 2014!

The Wait Is Finally Over!

For awhile there, I was afraid I was never going to be able to say this, but... my new tutorial is finished and ready for publication!  Thank you to all my wonderful customers who waited so patiently for the debut of "Masterful Faux Made Easy", and to everyone who kept me going by sending me notes of encouragement and support.  I have the best friends and customers anyone could ask for, and I feel truly blessed.   Thank you so much, everyone!

I hope you all have a lot of fun with this technique.  In this tutorial, I teach you my method of creating veneers of realistic-looking turquoise similar to Carico Lake Turquoise, Fox Turquoise, African or Yellow Turquoise, Chinese Turquoise, Number 8 Turquoise, King Manassa turquoise, Kingman Turquoise, Pilot Mountain Turquoise, Purple Turquoise, Boulder Turquoise, Royston Turquoise, White Buffalo Turquoise, Dalmation Jasper, Orange Sponge Coral, Impression Jasper, African Jasper, Sonora Sunrise, Blue Lapis and Pink Rhodochrosite.  WHEW!  

Also included are suggestions on how to use the veneers to create beads, earrings, a slide and a pendant, with lots of clear, color photos; tips to help you be more successful and enjoy the creative process even more; and a source guide for all the materials used in the tutorial.  

And, as always, I am an email away if you have any questions or need assistance.  I love talking to my customers.  Seeing your lovely creations is the best part of writing a tutorial!  

Thank you again, everyone, for sticking with me on this one.  Your loyalty and support are much appreciated!  

Lynda

Beauty for Sale

It really kills me to sell these, but I must. I am offering my collection of hand blown, etched, silver fumed, hollow, glass beads created by renowned glass artist, Aja Vaz of Wandering Spirit Designs. Five have a shiny finish, sixteen have a matte finish. The two largest have gorgeous, etched copper end caps. More photos are available upon request.

Most were created by Aja in 2009 and 2010 and all are one of a kind works of art. I am selling them on a first come, first serve basis in the lots shown.

Email me if you would like the price list and purchase details. 
Serious inquiries only, please. Thank you!

Lot #1

Lot #2

Lot #3

Lot #4

Lot #5

Lot #6

Going On A Walkabout

I wanted to give an update on the new tutorial for all you wonderful, patient people who have been waiting for it and checking in every week for a status report. 

Without any hemming and hawing around, as my Papa Moseley used to say, the plain truth is that it is just not coming together as I want it to, and I have decided to set it aside for awhile.  

I am sorry to disappoint everyone, but I am finally caving in to the stress. I have decided to take a break, and do not plan to publish it before the end of the year.  Instead, I am going on a walkabout or sorts, to try and get my mind on track again to finish it.

This faux tutorial is the hardest tutorial I have ever written, and I am not sure why.  It is a simple enough process.  It shouldn't be this complicated or take 8 months to write, but it has.  

If anything, I think the stress of not having the comfort of a consistent paycheck is behind it.  I am experiencing an insecurity and uncertainty that I have never before in my life had to face.  The result is that I may be headed back to the outside work force, if I can find a part-time job, that is.  As long as I had that cushion of employment comfort, my creativity was a free-flowing thing that never let me down.  That may be a poor excuse, but it's the only one I have.  

I am a perfectionist, have a Type A (to the max) personality; and on top of that, am OCD. I also have some other physical health issues that have been exacerbated by the mental stress.  Since I have other people to think about besides myself, I am going to give the tutorial a rest, after nine re-writes, until the first of the year. 

The holidays are not a time anyone wants to pile on more stress, right?  I planned for this tutorial to be published back in April, no later than June.  I had planned to start some new, non-polymer projects for my second Etsy shop my Mother and I started two years ago, which has been sitting sadly neglected all year, so I am going to devote the time until the end of the year helping her develop some items for it, and I am going to sit back and enjoy a no-stress holiday with my family.  

Thank you all for your patience, and your support and encouragement, my friends.  

Brass Embellished Halloween Jewelry

Tutorial Update:  The new faux tutorial is in re-write stage, but the end is in sight, I hope.   Stay tuned, and thanks again for your patience, everyone.

In the meantime, I took a mental break for a couple of days to list some of the more than 400 pieces I made while writing this gargantuan tutorial; and some new, brass and crystal embellished, mixed media Halloween pieces.   

I don't celebrate Halloween myself, but I hear it is the second biggest holiday in terms of sales, so I thought I would try a few pieces in the shop and see how it goes.  What do you think?  I aimed for whimsical but classy, if there is such a thing.  LOL

Notice how I worked in tartan patterns?  I couldn't resist!  I created the tartans especially for Halloween using TartanMaker.com in pumpkin orange, scaredy-cat black and ghostly white.  Hee Hee!

Thank You, Everyone!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who emailed me and commented on my last post about my meltdown.  I am continually amazed at the generosity and kindness of people I have never met in person, but I should not be.  Your support has been tremendous, and I am so grateful to have so many wonderful friends.  These friendships, and your encouragement and support, mean the world to me.  I really appreciate your concern, but please do not worry about me.  I go through this angst every time I write a tutorial.  It's part of my process to get to the best tutorial I can write.   I would not know how to act if everything went smoothly with no hiccups.  Is that the way it works for anyone?  

I appreciate the offers of pre-orders, but I don't think I will ever be able to do that.  I would feel even more pressure to get this thing done, but I really thank you for offering, and for caring so much!  

And it won't be too much longer on the new tutorial, I promise!