Hello! I finally got around to ordering some stuff from online to try my hand at making strung necklaces. I've never made them before, and I made all these in one day!

All of these were made with 21 strand Accuflex, pewter toggle clasps, and sterling silver crimp tubes. One thing I did learn, crimp tubes can be TOO BIG. I ordered several sizes because I just wasn't sure which ones I needed. When I crimped on my first necklace it looked terrible. I thought I was being retarded with the pliers, but then I realised the crimp tubes were too big for the pliers I was using. Lesson learned-- I guess that's what destash is for.

This is the very first necklace I made. It reminds me of tomato plants! Or tomato soup. Anything tomato-like with a touch of cream, I suppose, due to the muted colours.

It's green and orange-red semiprecious stones (not sure what type, i really need to save packaging and pay attention, but I was excited).
A picture where you can better see the beading pattern:

I wanted something more visually interesting than alternating the beads 1 to 1, so I did a pattern involving three at first, then just alternated after that. the center stone actually came from the "Boss's Bead Bag" from Fire Mountain.

Another necklace with a three bead pattern for interest:

A close-up of the beads:

I really love how vibrant the colours are on this one!

A necklace and bracelet set:

They're made with the same beads, but have different patterns because I thought that would be more interesting. I actually remember what these ones are, too. The green beads were quartz, and the others are chalk turquoise. I actually have two green colourways that were very close so when mixed together I thought they just gave the green colour a little more depth.
Just the necklace:

It's pretty long so it can be doubled, and I prefer it that way because the beads are on the smaller side (or maybe I just like giant beads).
The bracelet:


A victorian inspired necklace:

Made with fresh water pearls, and yet again the center piece was from the bead bag! A pleasant surprise.
Close up of the toggle calsp:

I bought several different types of toggle clasps and I thought the heart one I got would be sweet with this necklace.

And the "pear" necklace:

The beads are pretty large on this one, I think I measured them around 10mm across both ways. I love the size! Also with a specialised toggle clasp:

The green beads were just so pretty and muted and reminded me of pears (not as bright as their apple cousins :p).

As I said, this was my first time and I made all of these in one day. I am so addicted! It was more fun than I thought stringing beads would be, and I even enjoy crimping. I find it rewarding. I had planned on just making a few of these, but I definitely need to order more supplies and make more, because I enjoy it much more than expected.

Whew, long post. Thanks for reading!

I have never embroidered anything in my life. Nor did I read up on how before doing this! However, yesterday I was inspired by some virus embroidery patterns I saw on the intarwebs. I get a pretty big kick out of biology. So my mind wandered and I was all, what about a heart?



I just used some white cotton from my fabric stash. I used embroidery floss, but I seperated the 6 strands into 2 parts, so I only embroidered with three strands.
I sketched on the heart pretty quickly, then outlined it in black. I think I used a backstitch? The blue I just did freeform, also backstitch. The red was just going through the same area twice, if that makes sense. So, I did a stitch, then came up and went back down through the same holes (roughly).
I then cut out the fabric around the heart, and framed it with some red tulle I had.

I want to do a brain next!

To preface this, I did search the forums and read the entire Resin sticky!

I want to create my own molds for resin. Now, I get how to do that with liquid silicone. However, I don't have preexisting objects I want to cast; I wanted to try making my own.

All I can find is the "lost wax" method which isn't entirely applicable because I want to make molds for resin, not metal.

Can I just carve jewelers wax and create a mold using the liquid silicone method? If so, which type (I know colour denotes hardness)? I also tried to research books on this subject, but not only do I need to know techniques and tools needed, I want one that specifically addresses things such as rings and bangles, because that seems like it would be different from a small piece meant more as a pendant.

Does anybody have any experience creating their own jewelry to create a mold (and then, more jewelry!)?