A Tale of Two Sealers

What I wanted:
1. To put words onto my art charms and jewelry.
2. To create jewelry that will stand up to the weather of the Pacific Northwest.

What I had to work with:
- images from my ink jet printer, sealed on front & back with JudiKins MicroGlaze
- 4 Scrabble tile art charms - 2 sealed with JudiKins Diamond Glaze and 2 sealed with clear acrylic spray sealant (either Rust-Oleum American Accents Clear Top Coat Matte or DecoArt Plastercraft Acrylic Matte Spray Finish)
- water


What I did:
- I took one of the Diamond Glaze-sealed Scrabble tile art charms and one of the clear acrylic spray-sealed art charms and put them outside in a driving rainstorm and left it overnight. (the outside art charms)
- I took the two remaining art charms, and got a drop of water on my finger and touched it to the center of the image on each art charm, placed the charms on a saucer on my kitchen table and allowed them to dry. (the inside art charms)

I'd heard that if Diamond Glaze turns milky if it gets a drop of water on it, but once the two inside art charms were dry, I couldn't see any difference on either from their original appearance.

Decided to REALLY get the inside art charms wet, so I ran them both under the kitchen tap and then placed them on the saucer on the table and allowed them to dry overnight.

The results:
The outside art charms were pretty much annihilated by the rain.

The image on the acrylic spray-sealed art charm didn't even want to stay attached to the Scrabble tile.

The image under the Diamond Glaze fared little better, even though it did (kind of) stay affixed to the Scrabble tile.

 As you can see, the image really bled and distorted (looks like the Diamond Glaze turned a bit milky as well), and you can tell it's lifting from the Scrabble tile along the right edge.

The inside art charms did much better.
The image on the acrylic spray-sealed art charm bled and distorted a little bit, most noticeably in the top left & right corners, and in the bottom left corner.

As you can see the Diamond Glaze-sealed art charm did the best - while the Diamond Glaze around the hole has risen up a bit, the image itself exhibits no bleeding of ink or distortion, and it is still firmly affixed to the Scrabble tile.

UPDATE: Mixed Media Art Charm Princess Necklace

Just realized I haven't posted here the results of the auction...we raised $98.77 to help Gulf oil spill victims! Many thanks to everyone who helped get the word out, and who bid on this piece - it feels GREAT to work together to make good things happen for people in need!


My best wishes to all, for a peaceful, healthy, and happy 2011!

eBay benefit auction for victims of Gulf oil spill disaster

Your help in promoting this benefit auction is most appreciated!!!

During September and October of 2010, artist Patsy Croft organized the Jewelers for the Gulf project, an online auction of contemporary art jewelry, of which the proceeds were donated to Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Gulf Oil Spill Disaster Fund, to benefit the many victims of the Gulf oil disaster.

I and my writing partner, Peggy Krzyzewski, decided we’d like to donate the Princess Necklace featured in our book, Making Mixed Media Art Charms & Jewelry, to this exciting endeavour.

Sadly, this project coincided with the sudden and untimely demise of my computer’s hard drive...so we missed the project’s deadline.

We still want to do what we can to help, so I am listing this necklace in a 7-day auction, with 100% of the proceeds going to Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Gulf Oil Spill Disaster Fund.

This necklace measures 17 inches long and features eight limited edition mixed media art charms by Christine Hansen and Peggy Krzyzewski, on a silvertone base metal chain with a lobster clasp.

Shipping is free.

Here's the link to the eBay listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180600657153

Celebrations: A Life Remembered

Grandma Olive, 1913-2010

This is a difficult topic for me. My gran passed earlier this year, the day after my birthday. For the first 45 years of my life, all of our celebrations were centered around my mother’s mom. It’s painful to imagine any sort of family gathering without her sparkling blue eyes, bright white hair, and merry smile. To me, the word “celebration” is synonymous with my Grandma Olive.

Detail shot of 2008 Mother's Day necklace for Gran

My gran was a remarkable person. Born in 1913, she survived two world wars, the great depression, two bouts of breast cancer, and bore five children to my Grandpa Ted. Gran was a registered nurse, and worked as a nurse and director of nursing for many years. After Grandpa Ted died in 1965, Gran went to war-torn Nigeria in the late 1960’s, as a Red Cross nurse. She played piano and organ, and was the church organist for decades, as well as the pianist for the local theater troupe. In 1984, she married Grandpa Don, and enjoyed a wonderful life with him until he passed in 2006.

My mom sent me the silver portion of this necklace, hoping I could make it so Gran could wear it. I added the sterling silver cones and clasp, and the luscious silk ribbons in Gran's favorite colors.

Gran was pivotal in steering me towards words and music – as a young girl, I often tagged along with her to church so she could practice the music for the next day’s service. Gran taught me how to play (or rather, lose, at) Scrabble, and amazed me with her ability to do the New York Times crossword puzzle in ink. Gran and I loved to sit together and watch Wheel of Fortune and Name That Tune...of course, she always knew the answers.

In addition to her accomplishments and talents, Gran was a warm and compassionate soul, kind to humans and animals alike. She loved nothing more than to be surrounded by her friends and family – Sunday dinners at Gran’s, complete with aunts, uncles, and cousins were a regular event. If someone in the family had a birthday, or an anniversary, or a graduation, or maybe it was a holiday, ANY holiday, a potluck barbeque at Gran’s was the customary celebration. Christmas Eve parties at Gran’s and Grandpa Don’s home were an annual favorite – Grandpa Don mixed wicked strong hot buttered rums, while Gran supervised the decorations, food, and music.

At every event, Gran delighted in wearing lovely bright clothes, always accessorized by just the right jewelry. Leading off this post is a picture of a necklace I created for her a few years ago, featuring a bunch of my lampwork beads in Gran’s favorite oceany blue and green colors. Also pictured in this post are three pieces my mom sent to me to re-work for Gran, so that she might continue to enjoy them. The faux pearls and blue stone necklaces just needed to be restrung, while the silver bib required a little more planning and forethought.

Gran, I love you so much and miss you every day. Thank you for all you taught me, and for being my grandma. You will always be in my heart, and you will always inspire me. Be well.

Another view of Gran's Mother's Day necklace.

A New Adventure

Evidently November is Art Every Day Month...my co-author Peg has adjusted the theme of the month to "Create Every Day." Peg wrote about her commitment issues in today's blog post, and here's my knee-jerk response:

Peg...I have commitment issues too, LOL...but somehow, partnering up with a friend to write a book made the whole thing less daunting, and more of an adventure.

I'm inspired by the concept of "Create Every Day" - and would like to join you on this adventure.

Like you, I don't know if I'll actually manage to do a blog post every day on top of creating every day, but then again, it's "Create Every Day" not "Write A Blog Post About What You Created Every Day."

Let's see where this path takes us, shall we? And who else would like to join us on this adventure?