Panic Stations!

Its one week to Greazefest and two weeks to Rockabilly Riot and as such I have hit panic stations!

I have also developed the sick, probably due to lack of sunlight, stress and not enough sleep. 

Yes, I hear you say "Calm down Sheina, everything will work out fine" and whilst I'm confident everything will work out fine on the day, I'm a manic worry-wart, and completely unable to calm myself down. 

I have a very high expectation of myself and my work. And I wouldn't feel right standing there next Saturday morning and thinking, "If I had just pushed myself a bit more, I could have made 10 more of this or 10 more of that"

I also set myself the mammoth task of not only over-hauling and re-designing every element of my jewellery line but I also (rather ambitiously) began designing and making proto-types on a completely new range. I came to the realisation at 1am this morning after a quick evaluation that the range will not be entirely ready for debut at Greazefest like I had hoped but I will have some of it ready. You've probably seen the teaser roller doors on my website. 

And no, I'm not gonna tell you exactly what it is just yet. I think its such a great idea for a line I'm scared shit-less someone will pinch the idea and concept. But all will be revealed in good time. ;)

At the moment I'm taking comfort in the fact that there are lots of other equally stressed and tired people prepping for Greazefest too, and I'm not alone. 

So, get your glad rags out Brisbane people. NEXT WEEKEND, I shall see you there. 

Creative Process: Cooking up Resin Brains!

A lot of people have been asking me what the heck I'm talking about when I say I'm moving CC into a new more 'self-sufficient' direction, so I thought I'd put it up in a blog post.

My aim is to be able to create my key jewellery pieces in my home, which is where the self-sufficient part comes from. I also want to make my designs as original as can be, so crafting them completely from scratch is my plan. 

For an example I have chosen my new brain ring design. The first step is really to come up with the idea, but I can't photograph my brain thinkings so we'll start at step 2. 

STEP 2: Once I have an idea I then need to make a positive object. I make mine from polymer clay because its a very work-able product for me to use. This is my 'positive' brain.

STEP 3: Once the polymer clay has been baked, and sealed with a glaze (A process which takes about an hour and a half with baking, cooling, glazing and drying) I then need to make a mold of the positive. I use RTV2 Condensation cured silicone rubber. 

STEP 4: Cast the brain. I use epoxy resin suitable for jewellery castings (and its not too smelly for my little work-room) I tint it a brain-ey pink colour using resin pigment. The resin I use takes about 48 hours to fully set and harden. Its a long process considering I'm quite impatient. 

STEP 5: Is to pop it out of the mold, and then do some finishing touches. I paint the brain with a contrasting pink to bring out the full brainy detail. Once the paint has dried and I'm happy with it, I then sand off any rough edges, and seal the whole brain with two coats of resin finishing spray. (This also takes further drying time)

STEP 6: Is to attach the ring finding. The adhesive I use takes about 24 hours to fully bond, so this is another waiting process. 

 BUT once its dried I have a nice n pretty pink BRAIN ring! Even though I can get impatient with drying and setting times, its worth it in the end to be left with a piece that I have made from scratch to my original design. 

So there you have it! The creative process behind my brain rings. I hope this post shows you just how much work and time is involved in each piece of my new range. 

I'll be doing some more behind the scenes posts like this in the future so please check back if you're keen to see more. 

Sheina, 

The Crypt Keeper.

August Market Dates!

August is shaping up to be a huge month for me in terms of BIG markets. 

First up: We are doing Greazefest again. I had such a great time last year I absolutely had to go again. Big update to this years event is that it runs for TWO DAYS (Saturday 3/8 and Sunday 4/8) which means I will be one hell of an exhausted creeper that Sunday night!

For full event details see the Greazefest website: http://www.greazefest.com/

For full event details see the Rockabilly Riot website: http://www.rockabillyriot2013.com/

THEN the following weekend I have another huge 2 day event at Rockabilly Riot at the Brisbane Convention Centre, which is shaping up to be a massive event with some great exhibitors on board and some huge bands coming to play. 

So essentially I will not be sleeping for the last two weeks of July and first two weeks of August trying to cook up enough stock to cover these two great events. 

I am hyper excited though its going to be great fun. 

If anyone in Australia wanted an excuse to travel to Brisbane, First two weeks of August would deifnitely be the time to do it!

A week in the Crypt

Well it has been a busy week for me! With the opening of the webstore, I have had a flood of custom orders and sales come through and I'm loving every minute of it!

I still have a full time 40 hour a week job doing accounts for a large textile hire company in Brisbane. Its a stressful and demanding role, and I'm sure most people would think I'm mad when I say I go home at night to work on my own business!

I say that my day really begins at 4:30pm when I get home from my day job. I usually come home, have a quick snack and then dive into work in my craft room (or Crypt as I like to think of it)


I'm lucky that Mr Crypt is very supportive of me and he puts up with me running out at various stages of the night with half done projects in my hands saying "Does this look nice?" Or "What about this colour combo?"

For Xmas he bought me a framed Frankenstein film cell plaque which I have hanging in my craft room (Crypt) I like to think that I am my own version of Dr Frankenstein creating things late into the night. Except y'know my creations are bows, and not big men.

(Remember the creature in the story Frankenstein had no name, the true monster in that story was Dr Frankenstein for trying to re-create man. The creature Boris Karloff played is referred to as Frankensteins monster, or the monster)

Its one of my favourites I just had to jam that literary reference in there. :)

Crypt Creations Webstore now open

My website is now open!

 Took me ages but it's very gratifying to go look at it and think "Sheina, you did this all by yourself" And considering I'm not too great with techhy stuff, I am mighty proud of myself. :)

I still have a lot more stock to list but that's what this weekend will be devoted to!

Now Mr Baroque Bat has a place to live on the webstore:

Have a lurk here:  http://www.cryptcreations.com.au/

Cleaning the Crypt

With the Holiday period upon us I decided to tackle a dreadful task, cleaning up my craft room! I knew it would be a dreadful chore, but because I want to start 2013 fresh and focused on my crafting, it was a necessary evil. 

My Crypt heard me talking about it for some time and did the favour of picking up the storage drawers for me, (I don't drive so taking these on the bus would be quite impossible) 

ASSEMBLING THESE THINGS KILLED ME!

My craft room is a spare room at the back of the house, we have a home gym and drum kit in there so its a bit tight, I really needed to maximise the space. I'm super proud of myself for remembering to take before and after shots.

BEFORE:

Yes, it was a total dump, and I decided to move the furniture mid-cleaning. Cos I'm super smart. 

Chris' father made me this fabulous chest of small drawers, its the best thing to store all my fiddly little bits in, I have lots of fiddly little bits. :)

 AFTER: How fabulous is it now, I can actually walk around and easily find things!

 My storage units came up beautifully. And I now have a designated area for my resin pieces to set.

 The natural light I get at the desk now is perfect for crafting. Not to mention the view of my backyard is quite nice.

 I am so beyond happy with my room now, I feel totally ready to tackle 2013 head on. I shall be spending many happy hours at my desk crafting away. 

For anyone else scared of the thought of cleaning out, do it now! You won't regret the end result!

Sheina.

Excitement Birthday News!

Today is not only Chris's birthday, but I just found out moments ago that two of my favourite 'teenage' bands are coming to play their Brisbane show ON MY BIRTHDAY next year!

Squeals of excitement were unleashed. I've been a fan of Bastard Squad (VIC) for yeeeeearrrs, but I've never seen them play. I missed a chance last year when they played on the Gold Coast but I became so violently ill at the gig I had to leave hours before they played.


And English Dogs (UK) are a band that I never thought I'd see in Brisbane, they've been on my 'bands I'm going to have to travel to the UK to see list' for ages. 

So I'm chirpin this Saturday morning