So . . . ‘Bout that Project . . . .

Note: originally posted here on November 4, 2019.

Alright! I keep talking about a project I’m working on that allows me to practice some things more without having to figure out what to do with the things after.

So, here’s what I’m doing: I have this kind of love of cheap costume jewelry. Not, like, the hokey plastic stuff. The stuff that looks kind of like it could be nice stuff, except the part where it isn’t. But that latter part is the reason that a lot of it isn’t wearable at this point. So I’m going through it and repairing what I can, replacing parts as needed, and generally trying to make things look nice.

Step one in this process, though, was to organize it all. Because, my little fae darlings, my jewelry box was a MESS.

Full disclosure: that’s not really what it looked like. That’s what it looked like AFTER I got all the spread-out bits of jewelry all over my bedstand gathered together into the drawers, plus a couple jewelry boxes, and got them all onto my kitchen table. The middle black section there is the row that all the drawers go in when they’re where they belong.

This is a bit more indicative of what it was actually like. That’s at least 3 necklaces, one of which is a 3-tier necklace, all tangled together.

It took most of one evening just sorting everything out, but I FINALLY ended up with:
*all functional necklaces hanging up
*a drawer of regular stud earrings
*a drawer of regular dangle earrings
*a drawer of seasonal earrings (studs and dangles)
*a drawer of bracelets
*a drawer of chains that will require repairs
*a small jewelry box of earrings that require repairs or are missing their match
*a small jewelry box of necklaces or charms that require repairs (and a chain)

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Which was probably worth this whole mess of sorting everything. Right? Pretty sure right.

So! Last night I decided to tackle the first necklace in need of major repair, my Evenstar (Lord of the Rings) necklace. It’s lost most of its gems as well as its chain, and a fair amount of its luster (having been merely covered in silver leaf). So I wanted to restore the silver leaf effect, and replace the chain, and try my hand at resin by pouring it into the wells where the gems had once resided.

The two lower “wings” have gems still but the top “wings” as well as the top and bottom center points do not.

I started by creating a new silver leaf with an oil-based silver pen. It won’t be any more “permanent” than the original silver leaf, but I can restore it on my own when needed.

Looking better already!

Then I mixed up this resin:

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Sorry, no pictures of mixing or pouring the resin because, frankly, it was really hard to take those pictures while also having gloves on my hands and trying to work fast enough with the resin and all.

…and poured it into the four empty wells of the necklace.

See the difference?

Yeah, that’s not just the camera. I could barely see the difference in person. AND while it set . . . it sort of ran everywhere as it “settled” (well the bottles DO say that it’s self-leveling) and ended up . . . not left in the wells at all. I guess they weren’t deep enough.

Still! My necklace looks better than it has in a long time, and I don’t think it suffers much for not having the gems. I added a new chain and clasp, and I’m rather pleased with it and eager to wear it again sometime soon.

Honestly, I made this chain rather short and the necklace still hits the desk when I put it on the display stand. I think I need a bigger display stand.

So I’m looking forward to working with resin again, making my own designs in molds and things rather than trying to just repair jewelry with it. I want to get some pigments for it first. Should be a good time!

And of course I’ll continue repairing my jewelry. Obviously you all don’t need to see every little earring hook replacement or chain replacement, but for any more significant repairs I’ll try to get pictures to show you. I don’t have a lot of other really huge repairs though – most of them really are just earring hook replacements or chain replacements. But I’m hoping to start practicing some soldering skills a bit more with some of the repairs (especially of stud earrings) too.

Meanwhile, yes, I’m continuing to work on my modules. And on that note: I hate statistics. I don’t think I would hate statistics if I were in a regular statistics class, but as a module that’s just reading and reading and reading, and then take a test on it . . . I hate statistics.

So anyway! Go out there and be the awesome pixie I know you are, okay? Have a great one or make a great one, whatever* you need to do!

*within legal and moral limits. Yes, I insist.