TEMPUS FUGIT ~ Time Flies

Recently I finished a project for Amate Studios that really challenged my design skills: cuff links! Of all the jewelry findings I received from Amate, the cuff links seemed to be the ones that didn't cry out for polymer clay and I couldn't think of what to do with them. But as time passed I knew I needed to do something soon. Time! Of course! Time flies by so rapidly these days that I'm always up against a deadline so how can I show this in a piece of jewelry? Watches? Nah, too trite. Ah, broken watches... Steam Punk! I had just bought some Steam Punk bits that were lots of tiny watch pieces and then I had a small brainstorm: a broken watch. But how to show it was from a watch? Since the bezel on these cuff links was so nice and deep I planned on embedding the watch parts in multiple layers of UV resin along with a few hole less beads (micro beads) but what else? Then I remembered a reprint of the first ever Sears & Roebuck catalog published in 1897 which had some great images of old pocket watches with both the face and the inside workings! Eureka! Just what I needed. So, a quick scan and download to my computer, re-size and print. Then a touch of chalk pastels and colored pencils to give the look of age, trim and seal with clear packing tape and into the cuff link they went. Next came a layer of the UV Resin (LOVE that stuff, Lisa!), then I added the watch parts a few at a time in multiple layers of resin. Next was to find some wings...I remembered I had some sterling spacers in the shape of a butterfly and a dragon fly but they were a bit thick so I cut them in half with my wire cutters and added one to each cuff link. Now I had wings to fly my time! A couple more layers of resin to fill and dome the surface and there they were! Tempus Fugit ~ Time Flies!

Tell me what you think of these: old made new again.

आमटे स्टूडियो न्यू Findings

I've had these for a few days now and I'm thinking about what all I can fill these very cool findings with besides clay, images and steam punk. I'm sure I'll come up with something, but I'll welcome suggestions. I'll be adding their new resin to them, so that will be fun, too!