Spring Break -The Doorway to Inspiration - Vintaj

My "Spring Break" started today! Usually I have to wake up early to get my children ready for school, but for the next ten days I can sleep in. My favorite time to design is at night, so "Spring Break" for me means late nights on the couch designing fabulous jewelry. I was beyond thrilled with the package that arrived in the mail yesterday from Jess and the girls at Vintaj Natural Brass Company. I believe that I am Vintaj's number one fan. I designed eight necklaces for "Bead Star" this year. Seven of the designs are made from Vintaj. It is my favorite medium to work with. Every finding can be used in unlimited ways. You can twist, turn, link, wrap - the possibilities are endless. The pictures posted today are the "goodies" which arrived in my package.

The new Vintaj Jewelry Technique Book is amazing! The contents of this book include a "How To" section on 1) filigree wrapping 2) Focals - texturing, wrapping, reliefing and Alcohol Inks 3) Altered Blanks - dapping, letter imprinting, texturing, riveting, brads, eyelets, rub-ons, embossing powder, Alcohol Inks, Cuttlebug embossing 4) Bezels - Magic-Glos Resin, Polymer clay, crackle accents, paint dabbers 5)Findings - basic linking, clustering beads & charms, creative toggle clasp, embellished hook clasp. The book has 28 projects with step by step pictures making learning the 24 unique techniques fun and easy.

Vintaj also has a brand new metal line called "Arte Metal". The finish on the decorivets, ribbon slides & hardware is a matte black. The "Arte Metal" line can be used for embellishing papercrafts, fabric, leather and much more. You can layer them onto metal, acrylic, chipboard, filigree and altered blank canvases. Hammer into wood boxes and decor. Use as fasteners for various art projects. I plan to use the "Arte Metal" as findings in my jewelry designs.

The Vintaj Fastenables can add dimension to any

project. You can fasten with brads onto paper crafts, rivet onto metal, acrylic, chipboard, altered blank canvases and blanks. Other ideas include sewing onto fabrics, stacking multiple pieces together or use them as dangles on jewelery projects.

Altered blanks can be decorated with rivets, texturing, painting, inking, imprinting, embossing, etching, glossing, dapping. I am currently designing jewelry for my meeting in mid May with Beth Livesay, editor of "Jewelry Affaire". One design I created is a beautiful necklace using altered blanks

and alcohol inks.

I love these over-sized charms and embellishments. As you can see, I have already been playing with them. My plan for tonight is to make bracelets after my son's baseball ball game.