Free DIY Kit! Jewelry Making Fun :)

Hello everyone!  I have bounced back from when you last heard from me and am my bubbly self again.  I will probably right away it later but what I thought had gone wrong is all better now and my tears/belly aches were misspent.  It has all worked out but to make a long story short I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do my Honor Flight Etsy shop but it turns out that I can and I was really worked up about something that turned out to be fine.  :)

Moving on to what I wanted to talk about….

I have been planning on making & selling DIY polystyrene necklace kits on Etsy for a long time now.  I have sold some to several friends but just have not had the time to sell the kits on Etsy yet.   I have also had a lot of requests on how to make my water color wash pendants and the process that I use to make them is literally one that has taken me years to perfect AND it is a long process.  I use a variety of heating/cooling tools when layering the paints and I use a belt sander a handful of times to texture the polystyrene in a way that it picks up the water color paint and maintains that unique look that you can only get with water colors.   It would be pretty much impossible for me to teach anyone how to do that as a DIY project however I can complete the watercolor wash part of it and then sell that.  Finishing the pendant after that point really requires no artist ability or knowledge….it is just a great DIY craft.   I am putting together 3 or 4 kits and will give them out for free just to get some feedback on the product before actually selling it to buyers on Etsy.  Anyone who is interested in making a few water color wash pendants, I’m giving away a few away so email me.  If you just pay the couple of dollars for shipping, I will send a pack out to you for free.  It will include all the instructions that you would need and it will surprise you with just how simple it is when the background is painted for you. 

SoooO yeah email me if you want one!  It will be first come, first serve.  And the kit has ever thing you need in it to make several pendants that you can put on chains and sell on your own Etsy shop!  Yey :) My email is JesseAnneDesigns@gmail.com

More Products I Love

Here are a few random supplies that I most strongly recommend, not just because of the product itself but because the companies have integrity and stand behind what they make. 

Prismacolor Colored Pencils:  The best you can find, hands down.  I have never heard any artist say anything bad about this brand and you won't find one here.  Awesome product every time.

Da Vinci Harbin Kolinsky Brushes:  Most consistent brushes if you ask me.  I don't know how they do it, but you really do get the same brush every time.  Buy one of these brushes once and then once more, and you will get exactly what I am trying to say.  And their "spin" brushes will change your life...seriously I'm not the same person anymore. 

Holbein Oil Pastels: These really make me wish I was better with oil pastels.  I'm too much of a mess to work with pastels most the time but when I do, this is the brand I have found to really be the most solid.

PolyShrink by Lucky Squirrel: This is a brand that has just about saved my life.  I'm beyond happy with this shrink plastic and they have amazing customer service.  I honestly have only been using this brand for a short while but in that short time they have just knocked my previous supplier out of the water.  If you buy shrink plastic, buy PolyShrink.

Royal Super Sponge Pack: I'm not actually sure who makes this but you can buy it from blick, maybe they make it?  I know I should know this....I will update this soon but anyways, you can use these for so many kinds of paints, they won't let you down.

Lava Hand Soap: If you can get it on your skin, this can get it off.

Strathmore 500 Series Charcoal: Anything Strathmore is good, but this is a standout product for artists that work with charcoal.

Brands I Love: Water Color Paints

I have used everything under the sun when it comes to watercolor paints and these are the brands I use and I only have good things to say about these few paints so let me speak of nice things....

Winsor & Newton:
I use these more than anything else and I wish I had some sort of disclaimer or warning as I would with any other paint but I just don't....Winsor & Newton are the bees knees.  Seriously, the bees knees, you can't beat the prices, you get more than you pay for.

"Since 1832, when Henry Newton and William Winsor introduced the first moist watercolors to the world, much of Winsor & Newton’s reputation for supreme quality has stemmed from the Artists’ Watercolor range. More than 170 years later, the original Winsor & Newton moist watercolor continues to be formulated and manufactured according to the company’s founding principles — to create an unparalleled watercolor range that offers artists the widest and most balanced choice of pigments with the greatest possible permanence.

Through strict adherence to these founding principles, Winsor & Newton has achieved brilliance, transparency, and purity of color unparalleled by any other watercolor. For the 21st century, these key qualities are achieved through a combination of choice of raw materials, custom-made machinery, and expert formulation by experienced chemists and artists who have spent their working lifetimes formulating Artists’ Watercolor.

Today, the Winsor & Newton Artists’ Watercolor range benefits from continued advancements in pigment technology and production methods, building on the company’s already high standards to produce even brighter, more transparent, and more stable colors. Equally important, many of the formulations remain the same — proving that they cannot be bettered!"

Holbein Irodori-Antique Artist Watercolors:

Looking for the best ultra-marine around? Try Holbein Irodori-Antique Artist Watercolors...Once again, these are paints I am impressed with all the time.  They are most perfect for Chinese techniques.

"Ancient oriental watercolors are characterized by their delicate hues. Now today's artist can journey back into time to create with the same timeless palette used by Japanese and Chinese artists 15 centuries ago.
Delicate and harmonious, the 48 Irodori colors are created using pure pigment in gum arabic for clean, crisp results that won't darken or muddy. Highly saturated, they granulate very freely, and are more opaque in the true Asian fashion. Available in 15 ml (0.5 oz) tubes."

Schmincke Hordam Aquarell Artist Watercolors:
Just bought the set of 12, and couldn't be more happy with my purchase.  More German than I am...? Perhaps.

"Schmincke has been developing and manufacturing its Horadam line of watercolors since 1881, and the company is now owned by the fourth generation of the original family. Today the Horadam line includes 110 colors, 70 of them formulated with a single pigment. Each color has its own individually optimized formula.
Schmincke has a reputation for using only the highest-quality natural gums, water-soluble resins, and pigments. For example, the company uses only Kordofan Gum Arabic from the southern Sahara region, and distinguishes between good and bad harvests or "vintages" of this natural resin as it selects its raw materials."