New Products: Hemp, Spray Fabric Paint and UTEE

I was finally able to add a couple new product lines that I've had my eye on since CHA this summer.

  
First off is a selection of hemp twine and hemp jewelry making books. The panel of teens and 'tweens I had the pleasure of listening to tell us old folks what was cool with Generation Z were all about the hemp jewelry. I have large balls of twine for big projects of for those of you who want a budget friendly way to make lots of pieces for gifts. I also have variety packs that include colored hemp for special projects or for those of you who would like to try your hand at the old/new craft without investing in a lot of materials.

This seems like a good time and place to insert a little story and warning. A few years back my daughters got into making friendship bracelets out of embroidery floss and eventually, hemp twine. They had one of these big balls in a bag along with some beads in their bedroom. After a while after they had moved on to other creative pursuits (the eclectic crafter thing is hereditary!) the hemp was forgotten. Fast forward a few months when I take the dogs in for their annual exams. Heidi, the Bernese Mt. Dog, needs her teeth cleaned. I make an appointment, take her in on the appointed day and nervously wait for the vet's call. Any time a big dog like her is sedated it is scary. A few hours later I get a call from my vet. It seems that when they began the teeth cleaning she discovered a string wrapped around one of Heidi's back teeth. When she went to pull it out it wouldn't budge and fearing doing great damage she x-rayed her. Turns out the string continued down into her stomach where on the x-ray there appeared a large mass. With my okay they performed emergency abdominal surgery to remove the mass which appeared to be a large "mop-head" like clump of string. Yep, you guessed it, it was the long forgotten ball of hemp twine. Had it not gotten wrapped around her tooth it probably would have continued through her digestive system and cause irreparable damage. This episode earned Heidi the nickname, Bernese Mountain Goat and is still Dr. Dodd's favorite vet story. So if you decide to get into hemp jewelry making and have a large canine with goat-like eating habits be warned!

The next cool product I just got in is Spray Fabric Paint. I haven't had time yet this week to test it out but it looks so cool. Watch a demo video HERE Imagine being able to make fabulous looking Tie-Dye shirts without worrying about the chemicals, messy rinsing process, and time! I have individually packaged colors plus party packs that will make up to 24 T-shirts.

The last new product line that I've been looking forward to for months is UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) and EasyCast Resin. Both of these products can be used to make one of a kind jewelry along with lots of other cool craft projects.
  
The UTEE is a coarse powder that can be melted, poured, cut (when still warm) and used to coat paper, cardboard, metal and many other things. Suze Weinberg is the goddess of all things UTEE.
 
I made this gorgeous pendant using clear, violet and platinum UTEE by following the directions on the Amate Studios website I will be ordering more pewter jewelry blanks from Amate soon. Right now I do have the large rectangle as shown here.
 

The EasyCast resin is also really neat. It can be used to make faux glass and beads as well as used to coat or fill metal, wood or chip board findings. I have a nice selection of reusable molds that can be used with either the UTEE or the resin to make one of a kind jewelry pieces or decorative elements for collage. I haven't had time to play with these yet either but did find some awesome online tutorials:
Resin and Silver Jewelry
Cute Resin Coated Dominoes
Jennifer Perkins Video Tutorial (And hey! unlike her you won't have to go to two Big Box craft stores for your supplies, I have it all right here!)

I would love to give demos of any of these new products so if you are interested and just want to see how it's done stop in and I'll have show and tell!