Cosmos Jewelry part 2: The Spaceship of the Imagination

When I saw Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, I knew I wanted to sculpt the Spaceship of the Imagination.  If you haven't seen either of the series, the spaceship is a magical creation that can travel anywhere, from distant stars to subatomic particles.  In Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, the ship appears as a ball of light or we see the bridge.  This time, Ryan Church designed a beautiful, sleek oblong ship that ushers us along our journey with Tyson.

My original inspiration was an amazing steampunk choker that I picked up at SoonerCon from C.C. Guice of A Wench in the Gear.  I loved the cascade of chains from the bottom and the large focal point and the buckle closure in the back.  It's one of my favorite pieces to wear... I get compliments on it all the time!

This project hasn't gone as well as I hoped it would.  My original intention was to cast this piece, but my molds have all been consistently crappy.  It's been 15 years since I made a mold using sillicone, and despite all the YouTubing, I've been unable to get something that works using homemade soloutions.  I broke down and bought some mold putty, which will hopefully allow me to cast this in resin like I want to.  I may need to phone a friend.  (the link contains nudes and may be NSFW)

Since I wanted this project to be ready by the time I publish the blog, I tried to turn "Frusturating failure" into "happy accident".

Cosmos Jewlery part one: Galaxy Choker

This is part one of a more intricate piece coming up next week for a piece inspired by the miniseries Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.  I'm a science fangirl and was eagerly anticipating the new show, which didn't disappoint.  It was a good follow-up to the original series by Carl Sagan.  Both filled me with a sense of childlike wonder at the amazing complexity of the world and universe we find ourselves in.

It inspired me to sculpt the Spaceship of the Imagination.  I began with sculpey and a marble, but sculpey is soft enough after baking that I don't trust it as a jewelry piece.  Plastic should be much more sturdy, so this little guy is currently sitting in a homemade silicone mold that's curing.

I wanted a statement piece to go along with this and so to go along with the theme of the show.  At SoonerCon, I found and bought an amazing steampunk choker that was made from an old belt.  I thought that was a great idea and went on a shopping spree a nearby Goodwill.

Supplies

• Skinny belt
• Scissors
• Acrylic paint in black, white, blue, purple, red, and yellow
• sponge (I'm using a latex makeup sponge)
• small (size 0) paintbrush or a toothbrush, toothbpick, or dotting tool
• Leather Punch or awl
• Mod Podge or other sealant
• Chain, jump rings, and jewelry clasp (if not keeping the belt buckle)

The brand of paint you use isn't important, nor are the colors.  If you look at images from the Hubble telescope, you'll see just about every color imaginable in there.  

(yes, the images are enhanced and show details not visible to the human eye.)