Carey Burns

So last week I was on a "vacation" where I was house and dog sitting for friends. I didn't want to fall behind on the blog and didn't want to just watch television the whole time so I took writing materials and a bag full of craft goodies to keep me busy. Today's WIP Wednesday is a product of a week of tinkering and trying new things. It still needs a little something, like a pop of dismal red or pink and I'm not sure if it is a stand-alone piece or if I might attach it to something else. It all started months ago with a metal tart pan shaped like a heart. I bought a few of these, not really sure what to do with them. Next I bought an antique iron rest that had some lovely rust on it. After going through the photos from the old album a friend gave me, I knew these two were perfect for this project. I traced the heart around their photo and cut away.    I wasn't sure what colors I was going for with this piece so I started off wit...

Well, it's Maker's Monday once again! I was on vacation all last week so today's project was thrown together at the very last minute. I've linked supplies to where I have purchased them but you may buy them elsewhere. Supplies: 2 natural brass headpins (2 inches long) 3 4mm Swarovski crystals in Light Turquoise 1 natural brass connector/pendant 28 inches of brass-toned chain 3 brass-toned open jump rings (3mm) 1 brass-toned lobster clasp (not in photo) Tools: Jeweler's pliers (one or two pairs, depending on your preference) Flush cutters Instructions: 1.  Slide a crystal onto a headpin. With the tips of your pliers, make a 90 degree bend in the headpin just above the bead. 2.  Cut the excess tail from your headpin so that it measures just under 1/2 an inch long.  3.  Here's a quick tip for cutting headpins so they are all the same size: when you have trimmed your headpin to the desired size, take your scrap end and line it up...

Today's WIP Wednesday is tinkering with a project I put on the back burner. You may or may not remember " The Remains of Love " from May. This piece has sat on my desk, tormenting me with its colors. I finally decided to fiddle with it again. I dry brushed on some gesso to the wood and hit the high points of the arrows and the crown of the heart. Cupid was too blah-looking so I added a bit to his wings and face and body. This is when I got a little crazy. I added some to the photo and then the pile of bones. With the gesso dry, I added some Tim Holtz ® Distress Stain in Mowed Lawn to the wood, arrows, and crown. The green and red roses was too much for my tastes so I added some Broken China which helped, but still wasn't great. After that dried, I added Walnut and then blended with a paper towel. The end result is a lovely verdigris that I can live with. I applied the same color technique to the photo and pile of bones, sans the paper towel blending. ...

It's Maker's Monday! Today’s project is a pair of natural brass and Swarovski pearl earrings with a simple loop cold connection. Some people have sensitive ears so they may not be able to wear brass ear wires. Please substitute accordingly. I've linked supplies to where I have purchased them but you may buy them elsewhere. Supplies: 2 natural brass fishhook ear wires 2 8mm Swarovski pearls in Night Blue 2 Vintaj Wandering Pathway embellishments 2 lengths of Vintaj 20 gauge Artisan Copper wire (about 5 inches each) Tools: Jeweler's pliers (one or two pairs, depending on your preference) Flush cutters Instructions: 1.  With the tips of your pliers, make a 90 degree bend in the end of one wire, roughly 1/2 inch from the end.  2.  Line the very end of that 90 degree bend up with the mark on your pliers. Make sure the mark is facing up and clamp the pliers around the end of the headpin—hold the rest of the wire tightly with your other hand.   Line th...

For WIP Wednesday, I've made some progress on "By the Light of the Moon" and started another assemblage. The toughest part for the assemblage for me was connecting the wolf head to the action figure body. I knew Aves Apoxie was what I needed to use, but I'm not the most skilled at using clay. I blended the Apoxie and added bit by bit, building up a "neck" to connect the two pieces. Now that it is cured, I will go back and sand everything down to make it look (hopefully) like it was always one piece. The connection looks rough right now  I had a bunch of Apoxie left over and rather than make yet another pumpkin or skull with it, I decided to make my own full moon. I rolled it and flattened it into a disk and added "craters" by pressing the pad of my pinkie finger into the Apoxie. Next step for that piece is to paint it. Looking at the assemblage, there was a big empty spot below where the moon would be. It bothered me so to distract myself...