How to drill those lovely Hong Kong composite plastic flowers (or anything else plastic that doesn't want to be drilled)
1. Have a hand drill you are comfortable using (it's lightweight, it has variable speeds and doesn't go too fast, you can manipulate it without drilling your fingers)
2. Have eye protection, of course. These composite flowers are notorious for snapping off in various directions. While we're trying to prevent that, there's no guarantee in love and war.
3. Lubricate Lubricate and Lubricate. Ok, go ahead, laugh. I use a particular preparation made up for me by Kimberquinn.etsy.com. I had been going for a vegan ren-wax alternative, but the slightly softer mix of plant based waxes I got from her are, in fact, the ideal drill bit lubricant. In lieu of that, I'd try vaseline or burt's bees or any kind of med-hard balm item. Again, the nice part about Kimber's product is the lack of allergens and non-vegan thingies. Ask her for "jewelry balm."
If you do not lubricate your drill bit, this will not work. Trust me.
3. Dip your drill bit in the lubricating stuff of choice. I use this great little ryobi drill in neon green. It has long bits, and I stick mine into the goo about 1/3 of the way.
4.Place your drill on the site of the hole you want. Unlike drilling wood or brass, you want to exert no pressure, virtually. You almost want to feel as though you are pulling back slightly from the hole. Go SLOWLY. Exert MINIMAL pressure. Take your time. It takes at least 20-30 seconds for me to drill a clean hole in one of these flowers, but by using this process I've cut my waste/rejects/costs down a lot.
MAJOR POINT: re-lubricate your drill bit for EACH NEW HOLE. Shortcut this and you will be sorry.
The shavings will be pulled up along the drill bit (make sure if you have a short bit you stop and clean it, so the shavings don't get pulled into your mechanism.)
5. Wash your item with soap and water carefully. Oil + plastic = bad, deterioration, bad, no.
I've been skimming Etsy today. These great items all have a pleasing graphic quality.
1. apak, Shroom Party, limited ed. print $15. So cute - this is a mere detail, go look at the whole.
2.elastico, Google News Top Searches in 2007 cushion, $120 - more conceptual art than anything , I love this piece.
3.LovelyMPLS, Chocolate Bird print, $13 - hometown shout out to this great NE minneapolis press. Cute as can be, also available on the front of a journal.
4. redrubyrose, house plans clutch, $75, this is again so pretty, love that salmon pink fabric and the graphic nature of the print
5. Seasprayblue, Living Community, $19 - again a detail of a print, a herd of reindeer, very sweet and chic.
Gouache on expensive Italian cotton rag.
I'm going to make prints with a local guy. I tried this once before to zero interest in the image, but I'm going to keep trying.
I couldn't take it anymore - it was really bugging me. I've face-lifted it now to the point where I'm happy pointing people there. I've got my own art on it, it's not horribly terribly boxy and old-school looking, and if/when I get to the point of a stronger cart than bigcartel I can integrate, I imagine.
The kicker is that now, I've actually got a few people asking me to do web work for them. And it's a killer yearend now, between the Craftaculars in madison AND NYC, respectively. No blood relation between the Madison and BUST ones, it's just kinda funny.
Everyone - I give you - SHOPBOMBALURINA.COM
I'm really looking forward to going to Madison. It's one of my favorite places. I'm not as elated about NYC yet, it's really feeling more like a giant stressful schlep at this point, and probably will continue to feel like one till I've counted the last buck from the show and put the last doo-dad away.
Getting stressful, here!
Isn't this lovely?
Sometimes the front page looks really nice like that. I'm not on it or anything, it just looked good to me this morning.
I've got to walk to the PO today, for myriad reasons. Health and sanity are the happy byproducts. I think I may take my camera along with me.
Wonder if Hunt and Gather would let me blog with photos about the shop? If you've never been there, it's 50th and Xerxes in Minneapolis, and honestly it is the greatest in-person treasure trove of kitsch for those too lazy to stand around for estate sales. I love vintage, but just not as much as the people who sell it - I'm the consummate end buyer of precious junk.
That's the title of this necklace, in homage to the Hold Steady.
The sentiment can also be applied to wayward bloggers.Really wayward bloggers.
But guilt is a useless sentiment, so I'm not going to do too much with it.
You know you still have electoral smack tainting your brain when your celebrity crushes are David Gergen and economist Paul Krugman. Fortunately I think I'm putting down the CNN needle long enough to do some work again, ha!
In other news, what do people use for motivational soundtrack? Now that the
election is over I am in love with TV on the Radio more and more by the minute.
I've been enjoying playlist.com. I wonder how many other crafters use it, and it would be fun to see one anothers' lists. Here's mine.
Who's going?
At the Ballentine uptown VFW, lake and lyndale - 10 - 5.
The VFW. That means a full cash bar and indie craft shopping.
Nirvana!
I'm sure looking forward to it. I've been running on fumes since voltage and I've been slammed with orders, I'm first catching up.
It's a bad late night photo, but it's a glimpse of a special order I did, a flock of Gillian lockets.
Sadly, I'm down to just a couple of those coppery centers, so I'm going to have to alter the design a little if I keep going forward with it.
Been really busy! I went to a wholesale show with Larissa of Lefthandoriginals. It was really fun and I think we're good bead hunting partners- not too bad an influence on one another and different enough jewels that we're not treading too much in one another's territory.
Finally, and there'll be more about this - my higher end items are going to be on the catwalk at Voltage Fashion Amplified on April 16th! Get your tickets now!
