Dragon Eye Sculpture and painting tutorial

I ran across Klaire De Lys and her makeup artistry some time ago on  YouTube.  She's a remarkable artist from England who does a lot of fantasy and horror transformations in makeup that are really cool.  Back in 2013, she did a dragon eye jar out of terracotta clay that was glued onto a glass jar.  I loved the scale technique and wanted to do a wearable piece.  I also wanted to play around with doing some sort of iridescent scale without the metallic paints because I don't have any on hand right now.

This is one of the resin cast and painted pieces.  The camera doesn't do it justice and I wasn't able to pick up the fine detail of the painting, which does look iridescent in the light.  I think they turned out great!  I know I'm turning the larger size into a necklace, but I'm still planning out how I want to do that.  The only things I'm sure about are there will be chains and beads, but beyond that, I'm a little stumped.  I'm thinking a short necklace, but it depends on whether or not this piece will overwhelm at that length.

This is a great October project.  The unblinking cats eye is a little creepy and perfect for this time of the year.  I want to wear this to work but I'm worried that the dogs that I work with won't be as excited about this piece as I am.

I can see it now. "Hey! It's Nice Daycare Lady!  She's up front and OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT THING STARING AT ME ON YOUR CHEST??"  

There are both painted and unpainted versions of the eye available for sale.

Sculpting the eye

Metallic Lace Manicure Tutorial

I'm in the middle of working on a pair of decoupage shoes using images from one of my favorite comics when I was a child.  Since they're not done yet, it's nail art time!

This was the manicure that I had for SoonerCon, so since I was doing the steampunk thing, I thought I'd go with a nice metallic nail and I'm a sucker for "complicated" nail designs.

This one is a pretty easy one once it's broken down step-by-step.  It looks best with contrast between the colors.  You could do a contrast with light and dark, or even actual contrasting colors on the color wheel.  If you're not familiar with the color wheel or color theory, it's a very useful tool for helping to pick out colors for many arts and crafts.  

This technique isn't mine.  I can't remember where I ran across it the first time as it was several months ago. It's a variation on the no-tools cloud manicure, which is also an adorable look without all the extra dots.

However, dots make your nail art look much more complicated than it actually is.  

Tools 

• Base coat
• Nail polish colors:  Shown here is Pure Ice in "Silver Mercedes", "Magic", and "Bite Me" and Maybelline Color Show in "Bold Gold"
• Dotting tool: I used both a large and small diameter dotting tool.  If you don't have this particular tool, a toothpick will make the small dots and an old ballpoint pen will do for the larger dots.
• Palette
• Top coat

Steampunk Mini Top Hat Tutorial

I love the steampunk aesthetic of layered leather, lace, and metal. I am also developing an unhealthy obsession with mini hats and fascinators, even though I rarely wear them because I don't often have an excuse to get that dolled up.  I think they're all amazing works of art.  Crafty bonus: they're pretty easy!. I learned how to make them from Bev Hale over at Otherwhen Oddities at Octopodicon in 2013. Bev's class used an 8 oz plastic cup and felt to make the hats, but here I'm using craft foam because it's what I happen to have at hand. If you don't happen to have all of these materials, get creative with what you have around. All of the dimensions for this project are directly proportional to the craft foam size I had, which was 5.5"x8". You can scale up or down as you need to.

　
You'll notice that I did not glue a single gear on it. Gears are totally steampunk, but steampunk is not always gears.
　


Difficulty: Beginner. This project will take 1-4 hours depending on drying times and how much stuff you put on the hat.

Wire Elf Ears Tutorial

This unique ear cuff (no piercing required) looks like a pointed ear when worn.  There is a wire in the back that goes around the back of your ear, similar to how glasses fit your head.  

I am focusing more on the general technique of how to make them than how to make this specific pair.  Feel free to riff on my instructions here to make pieces for your own personal use or to sell.

You can create your own template by tracing your ear and then drawing your template on paper before "tracing" it with the wire. If you want two perfectly symmetrical ears, you'll need to design it on paper first. After you have your basic ear template, draw your desired shape so that you can use it as your guide. Don't forget the curls (or some other design) at the wire ends or the wire will scratch your face and behind your ear.  

I personally like a more organic approach and enjoy making "siblings" rather than "twins".  Neither approach is better than the other, it's a matter of taste.

Skill level: Advanced beginner-intermediate. Project will take 1-6 hours, depending on your comfort level with making wire jewelry and the complexity of your final cuff. Measurements do not need to be exact for this project.  This set took me about 4 hours from start to finish, including designing the interior elements.