May/June 2024 Challenge - Peacock

[violetmoonnl]

I haven't even started yet.

[DawninCal]

Glad to have you join us, Carina!

My piece is a total fail, but I will post it in the next day or two anyway. It may have failed, but I learned a thing or two.



Dawn

[violetmoonnl]

I made a few stencils Peacock related.

Looking at the opening of the challenge I saw I used 1 of the images from it.
I only made the cut files for now, who knows when I get the energy to dig out my cutting machine to actually cut them.

btw this is a new hobby that I developed after buying a Brother Scan 'n Cut machine.

[caeterle]

Beautiful, Carina! You can never have enough hobbies

[violetmoonnl]

Thank you Cat.

[Sophy]

Gorgeous, Carina! I am a big peacock fan. How do you like the Brother Scan N Cut? My friends with Cricut say it has a steep learning curve, and I know Julie Balzer has a Scan N Cut support group, so I'm wondering if it also is hard to learn.

[caeterle]

I moved the replies to Carole's question regarding the Brother Scan N Cut to a different board (Carina quoted the question in her reply, so it's still understandable), so the info won't get lost in the challenge thread

[DawninCal]

Love those, Carina! They are great designs for whenever you feel like using them.

Good idea, Cat.



Dawn

[DawninCal]

Terribly late, but better late than never, I suppose.

This has been finished for a couple of weeks, but I am just now getting around to taking photos. Part of that is due to the upstairs remodel and part of it is because I lost my motivation after seeing how this turned out.

My original plan was to do something with alcohol inks, but as time went by, I could see there wasn't going to be time for that. I had some peacock feathers in my stash and decided to preserve one in resin. Because I didn't want to mix up a batch of resin for just one pendant, I decided to use a product called Glossy Accents. Glossy Accents is sort of like pre-mixed resin in a bottle and is used mainly by scrap bookers. I like it because it's convenient, dries quickly and the finish is very glossy.

However, it is meant to be used on paper and sometimes will have a chemical reaction to natural materials such as leaves, and apparently, feathers. What it does is to change to color, usually darkening it to tones in the gold/brown family. That is what happened with my feather - the beautiful rich blue turned brown and the iridescent green center turned gold leaving a kind of muddy looking mess behind.

I knew that Glossy Accents will react with leaves and flowers, but it did not occur to me that the same thing would happen with feathers. The way to prevent this is to apply a coat of watered down white glue, such as Elmers, to the piece and letting it dry before putting on the Glossy Accents. I briefly thought about doing that but did not bother as I thought a feather would be ok. Lessen learned.

Here is the pendant; after the fail, I didn't bother to make it into a necklace. It's pretty in its own way, but much too dark to be made into jewelry because it is hard to see what it even is.



Even though this piece didn't turn out as I had in mind, I can't call it a complete fail as it did teach me a few things. And, that's what challenging ourselves is all about, is it not? It's wonderful when we challenge ourselves and are successful, but failure is a building block to success and I'm about 99% sure that the next time I preserve a feather, I will be successful. I have also learned the limitations of Glossy Accents and how to deal with those limits. Paper is fine, anything else needs to be sealed first. Got it.



Dawn

[violetmoonnl]

Gorgeous pendant, Dawn. Even if the color got darker.
btw I never knew that about glossy accents.

I always used Diamond Glaze to give pendants a gloss finish.
Now with card making I also discovered embossing powders, especially the "Ultra High Clear" gives the same results.
But you have to use it with a heat gun, not sure if a feather would survive heat.

Now that I think of it, I will have to give the embossing powders a try metal components.
I have a mini wafel maker that I could use for that.

[caeterle]

I get that you are disappointed, Dawn, because it didn't come out the way you wanted it to, but I would definitely not call it a total fail and I don't agree on not seeing what it is. I think it's lovely and it made me think of the female peacocks' colors right away.
Maybe I wouldn't offer it for sale, just because I would not be sure if there will be more change with time, but not because of the colors.

[DawninCal]

Thank you both, I really appreciate your thoughtful comments. Perhaps, I will go ahead and make something with the pendant. I'll give it some thought.

I should add that in my earlier post I said that Glossy Accents works on paper, but there are also a few other things it works on. It leaves a beautiful finish on any sort of ink or paint. I've used it on several of my painted pendants and have been very happy with the product. It's just on natural materials that it seems to darken the colors.



Dawn

[michelle]

So, so, late in checking up on these challenges! My apologies! Carina, your stencils are wonderful. And Dawn, I could tell that your pendant is a peacock feather even though it is not as bright as intended. I appreciate your discussion of the process, because now we all know more. So do you have a mold that you use for your resin pendants?

[DawninCal]

Michelle, I use old jewelry for my pendants. There used to be a place called the Olde Curiosity Shoppe in my area and the guy had a collection of antique/vintage jewelry to die for. I bought bags full of old earrings and pendants from him that could be cleaned up and repurposed into bezels (for lack of a better word) to use for resin projects. I love using them because they are so unique and interesting.

While I now have a lifetime supply, I still keep my eyes open when I'm at the thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales, etc.



Dawn

[michelle]

Another peacock related entry: Peacock ore





I’ve had this piece of peacock ore for several years (along with one other), and have never been able to figure out what to do with them. I finally tried this simple wrap. It’s not fancy, but it does leave the ore the star of the show. The wire is stainless steel.