Supplies: Gilders Paste

I've had my eye on Baroque Art's Gilders Paste for some time but only purchased a pot recently from Artbeads. It comes in a 1.5oz tin and sort of looks and smells like shoe polish. But what is it actually? It's a waxy tinted adhesive that you can use to add color or highlights to a variety of materials such as metal, wood, resin, ceramics, etc.

I got a pot of Guilders Paste in Patina because I love that turquoise oxidized look. You can use a rag or a brush or your fingers to apply it. I opted for a dried-up wet wipe.

I used a sweater guard I made a while back for this experiment. Ok time to try this stuff on the bee brass stampings. Just a light smudge...

I was supposed to put some on just the wings but eager fingers weren't so careful. I ended up getting it all over. :(

The bee on the right is my second attempt. Now that's better. I'm really liking Gilders Paste. Just a little goes a loooong way. It takes just a few minutes to become dry to the touch and 12 hours to completely cure. Beautiful effect too. The finish adds more interest to the stampings, like I unearthed this sweater guard from my grandma's chest of vintage goodies. Will definitely be trying out some other colors of this product too.

My first attempt at Pullip fashion

I'm working on my long dormant sewing skills.

Yesterday I was attempting to make a dress for Candice using a Blythe dress pattern and fabric from my sister's scrap pile. The fit was fine, it was my sewing that wasn't. It's not so obvious from this picture how horror movie and asylum-ish this dress is.

After that I picked up a few beads and a ball of crochet thread and made a quick necklace.

The finished product looks like seaweeds. 

Oh well. Try again tomorrow...

Last minute activities

Been pretty busy this Christmas season despite being out of work. With what you ask? Mall-hopping and bazaar combing, meeting and greeting, mini-toy shopping. Not that I have any presents left to buy. I just want to get into the Christmas frenzy.

I spent last night making a tiny Christmas tree and a garland of sparkly stars for a Lalaloopsy Christmas photo. I used strung 4mm czech rounds as decor for the tree - quick and easy!

making the tree and garland

Setting up the scene was trickier, with lots of teeny tiny parts to assemble.

setting up the Christmas scene

And a little one always checking out what I'm up to.

taking a peek

Finished Piece: Tin's Wrap Bracelet

Another sort of productive week for me. I finally finished the wrap bracelet I was working on here for my friend Tin. Hooray!

It's about 24 inches long, made with czech fire polished rounds and czech druks, greek leather and a mega-watt Swarovski crystal button.

Too cute

I just recently discovered that a new Saizen branch has opened in Market! Market! Beware, it will suck you right into a timewarp! I swear that store will be the death of me and my wallet. Since all of the stuff is about P85 each, it is tempting to just dump anything I want into a basket and end up with a big bag full of potential junk. That brings me to my useless but absolutely adorable find of the day ...

{ self-explanatory.. or maybe not. yes, you put milk teeth in there! }

This branch not as big and spacious as the one in Galleria, and the shelves are a bit cramped together. That is probably why I came out of the store with a bit of sensory overload from gawking at all the Japanese goodies at a very close range.

But of course, the real reason I went into the store is - glue. Really.

{ craft loot justifies everything }

Sneak Peek: Wrap Bracelet

What to do on a rainy day

It was raining last weekend and so our plans of a Sunday spent playing outdoors was foiled yet again. We settled for our usual weekend fare - a trip to the mall. My loot proves how much of a sucker I am for anything colorful. Who needs more bottles of polish? Certainly none of the girls in our house.

 {happily ever after, for audrey, bon bon}

To add to my ever growing collection of colorful craft pretties, I got a bunch of embroidery thread. I will most probably be making bracelets out of these soon. 

{DMC embroidery thread. so pretty, right?}

I got some tools as well.

I've been interested in Kumihimo, a Japanese form of braiding, for some time now so I was happy to find a small loom in a local craft store. I gave it a go last night, and all I can say is that it's very tedious and not simple at all. After 15 minutes of systematic braiding, all I had was a jumble of thread.

{small kumihimo loom}

I did learn how to knit back in school, but I'm not about to pick up knitting any time soon. I got this pair of needles for a future wirework project.

 {knitting needles}

Wally picked up this set of plants from his favorite shop. Here are they are striking a pose in my makeshift desktop photo studio.

{plants vs. zombies. Wally is obsessed with this game!}

Well, it was a fun weekend in spite of the rain.

DIY Weekend

New stash

A bunch of supplies arrived before I left for vacation. They're mostly stringing material, as you can see. I haven't been able to play with them yet. I'm probably going to make a few hemp bracelets soon, keeping the beach holiday vibe of my recent vacation.