Riding the Fox

Riding the Fox is a showplace and work in progress space for my etsy shop. I make handmade polymer clay beads and jewelry that are infused with dried flower petals, bags and purses, and hand embroidery. www.etsy.com/shop/ridingthefox

[taoleiune]

Finally got a chance to sew today. I made a mini fox purse that still needs the face embroidered, and a mini stocking. I think I’ll embroider the stocking too.

The fox purse was more difficult to sew than I expected. Lots of challenging curves and small parts. I don’t know if I’m a good enough sewist to put it in the shop. I have another one with the pieces cut out and ready to sew, so that will give me more practice. My bigger fox purse in the shop is popular, so maybe I should post this one?

I have plenty of fabric for more stockings and they’re much easier to sew. I just need to decide what I want to embroider on them.

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Stitching on the rabbit is finally done! I'm leaning towards iron-on patch.

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Progress pics of the rabbit embroidery, plus a bonus pic of the embroidery I’m currently using as a coaster. I really like the Dickens quote with the bonsai tree, and should make one for the shop. 

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New pendants in the shop today! Show your Welcome to Night Vale love with a glow in the dark Glow Cloud pendant! Or choose an adorable bird or fox resin covered paper pendant. More coming soon! 

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There are also some adorable witch’s hats waiting to cast their spell on you in the shop.

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I love fall and especially Halloween! In the shop are 4 tiny pumpkin charms waiting to be picked. 

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A productive absence

Wow, it’s been a while. I have been working, both on the shop and at my day job. It’s been very busy at the funeral home so I haven’t had time to both create and post. 

I’ve been playing with resin with some success and lots of failures. Resin has quite a learning curve, I’ve discovered, but I think I’m zeroing in on what works for me. I’m switching into Halloween mode, and will post some delightful little charms in the next few days. I’ve made witch’s hats and pumpkins out of Sculpey, and am working on some resin covered paper pendants, key chains, and bracelets with a spooky theme. 

I’ve also been working on an embroidered rabbit that’s taking forever to finish, but it is a beautiful bunny and I’ll have a hard time putting it in the shop. 

My next post will be a picture dump of all the happy little things I’m posting in the shop next. 

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Today’s experiment involves wire wrapping and resin leaves and gems. I am for the most part happy with how the leaf turned out, even though I need a lot more practice to make it sell-able. This is my first wire wrapping adventure, and at least it’s holding together. 

The resin turned out beautifully and I couldn’t be happier. It’s nice and clear, smooth and the flower petals kept their color. The only downside to resin is it needs to be put in a mold. I’m going to have to invest in silicone molding materials so I can have my own designs. While I’m liking the molds available, I always like to do my own thing. 

I wonder what the resin would be like with polymer clay inside it? I could do some interesting things with polymer clay, flower petals, and resin. Hmmmm. Future experiments await. 

Since these are experimental pieces, they most likely won’t be in the shop, unless someone has a dire need to own one. If one (or more) calls out to you, send me a message and we can work something out. As I get better, I’m sure resin pieces will have a place of honor in my shop. 

The fox pin is also something that won’t be listed in the shop, but I won’t be heartbroken if someone wanted to buy it. The beading is really rough, being a first attempt experiment. 

[ridingthefox]

Experiments with embroidery, resin, and beads. I discovered that Instamorph isn't compatible with resin. But it is fantastic for making molds for polymer clay and I highly recommend it. Thankfully I only had the Instamorph affecting the back side of the embroidery and can probably find a way to trim it back. I don't want to lose the fox. It might make a decent magnet. The beaded fox was fun to make and I need to take a pic of the finished product. I turned it into a pin. I need more practice with beading, but it's a good potential option for new jewelry.

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It's finally finished! I turned it into a rather big coin pouch or small purse. I ended up giving it to a friend at her daughter's graduation party. (It's kind of scary when your friend's kids start to graduate) It​ was a good thread painting experiment and I'm definitely going to make smaller embroideries for the shop. This size took too long to really make it affordable to sell.

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The Spring embroidery turned into a slightly lopsided largish coin purse. I discovered I really don’t like sewing on that kind of clasp. I probably won’t do another one like that, but it was a good learning experience. The finished pouch was given to a good friend at her daughter’s graduation party. (It’s really scary when your friends have kids who are graduating high school already) I’m happy with how it turned out, but it wasn’t quite good enough with the clasp to justify listing it in the shop. I would have had to price it way too high just for the time spent working on it. Instead, it went to someone who will love it and use it and show off my work. 

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So, I’ve been busy with the shop. I have a whole bunch of new stuff listed. I also created Instagram and Facebook accounts. You can find me pretty much everywhere social media wise as RidingtheFox. 

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The stitching is finally finished. I just need to wash it and fish out the last bits of tracing paper so I can see if I need to fill in any color gaps.

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Remember Me Project

One of my day jobs is a funeral director assistant. This is a job I absolutely love and is a constant inspiration. I truly enjoy helping create a unique celebration of life and watching families and friends come together to remember a loved one. It fulfills a major personal work requirement for me. I am determined to do work that matters, even if it only matters to me. 

Since I started making rosaries and other prayer beads, I have had a growing project at the back of my mind. I call it “Remember Me”. I want to use funeral flowers with polymer clay to give families a tangible, long lasting reminder of their celebration of a life.  I have been talking with my funeral directors and I am working on building a sample case of prayer beads and photo transfers. What I’m wondering is if I should bring the Remember Me Project to Etsy. 

The logistics of shipping flowers is very intimidating, and makes me want to have this a local area project only, but I also believe there is a market for this kind of memento mori. 

[taoleiune]

The end is in sight. It took forever for me to decide how to stitch the hair. Hopefully the swirls come through enough when I get all of the colors in. I’m contemplating adding in some yellows into the hair to lighten it a bit, but I do like the orange and browns it’s worked in so far.

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The perils of posting via phone app. I was supposed to post this to Riding the Fox, not my personal blog. C’est la vie. 

[taoleiune]

The Purple Swirl Easter Egg Necklace is another new item on Riding the Fox on Etsy. It’s swirled purple, white and translucent Sculpey pendants in egg shapes. Perfect for Easter, or spring, or for those who just like the color purple (like me!) There are 9 pendants, approximately 2″ long and 1/2″ wide each. Together they measure approximately 5″ wide.

I’ve been trying to figure out what I wanted to do with these pendant beads for a while now. I was originally going to use purple flower beads (that kind of look like mini foxgloves or snowdrops) between the eggs, but it was way too busy. I’ll have to use the flowers for another project. Maybe a necklace all of their own? 

The translucent Sculpey really adds depth and interest to the egg pendants. I’m really fond of the effect here and will have to remember to use it in the future. I can see it doing interesting things with dried flowers. There are no dried flowers in this piece. It was purely playing with Sculpey. 

[ridingthefox]

Mixed Bouquet Fidget Ring is now in the shop. I have 2 more fidget rings to list in the shop tomorrow. Yay for productivity!

I have a fidget ring similar to this one that I wear on a daily basis. I made it partly to test out the strength of the beads and partly because I need something to fidget with to keep myself from picking at my fingers. Dermatillomania is not fun to deal with. So far it has lasted a few months of near constant use, frequent fidgeting, high powered dish sprayers at one of my jobs, and general day to day banging up. I also made one for my son that he gets complimented on at school. This thing has taken a beating and I haven’t had to repair it once. 

I am happy to do special orders and size requests. I have a ring mandrel finally so I can do accurate sizes. Just shoot me a message on Etsy and I’ll get to work on your very own fidget ring. I’m also experimenting with fidget rings that incorporate wire and metal work, which is a new and strange frontier for me.