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Cupcake Kitty Ring Holder

Earlier this year, at a beautiful Shinto shrine in Koyasan, Japan my boyfriend of 5 years asked me to marry him. We were on a two week trip to Japan, and the whole moment was perfect and magical. From that moment on I was faced with something I wasn't quite prepared for - taking care of exceptionally nice and expensive jewelry! During the rest of our trip to Japan I was paranoid every day that I'd lose it. We had to add a bandaid wrapped around the band because the ring was a bit too big for me. It made it safe and sound back to America, but I've felt terrible leaving my ring in various places around the apartment while I wash dishes, shower or play with clay and resin. And so I created a Cupcake Kitty Ring Holder, inspired by my fat and lazy cat, Björk. She our furry baby and we wished she could have been the ring bearer at our wedding. (Yeah, we're weird like that!) Björk seemed the perfect character to take center stage for the ring holder.

I must admit, I'm still not amazing at polymer clay but I'm definitely improving. I did a Björk piece last year when I first started using polymer clay and I can say I've definitely come a long way since then. With this project I learned just how hard it is to make a cute mouth using clay. Her mouth came out a little wobbly so it kind of looks like a mustache!  Ah well, mustache graphics are so totally in right now, right? What I am happy about is the rest of her face and the kitty paws! I think this is a piece I will be attempting again as I need a ring holder in the bathroom too.

This post wouldn't be complete without some pics from the engagement! I will write the full story at some point – I just love sharing the pictures. As a life-long lover of all these Japan, I couldn't have dreamed up a more perfect spot to start the next chapter of our lives.

Outgoing Mail

Several weeks ago, when I first started crafting with resin I made a few pieces with stickers I found at the dollar store. The first batch of resin I mixed up I stirred WAY TOO FAST so I ended up with lots of tiny bubbles. From this experiment I learned two things: 1. Stir your resin S-L-O-W-L-Y! and 2. Paper stickers should be coated in some way to prevent warping and watermarks. I found lots of tutorials on YouTube for sealing paper stickers and I found this method to be the best.

When I first popped out the resin piece from its mold I was a bit disappointed with how many bubbles there were and that the kitty sticker moved. I realized however that the way it moved made it look like it was angry at the butterfly. Inspiration struck and I decided to make lemonade out of lemons and paint the piece as you see it now. I'm happy with results. My friend Melissa saw my NO! Kitty piece on Instagram and requested it. Since August is her birthday month and to be honest, I thought of her when I painted this piece, I was happy to send it to her.

For this mail package I used the watercolor piece I made yesterday and glued it down. In the future I think I will scan my watercolors and print them on sticker paper so that I have my own personalized washi-style decorations that I can just print more of. I was happy I could reuse the string I received from an Etsy order. And finally, here is a closeup of NO! Kitty. He looks so grumpy!!

Watercolor and Resin

Yesterday I spent the day playing with watercolors. I've been making my own washi tape-like patterns with a watercolor base and drawing over them with marker.

I also domed a few resin pieces. These were made with heart-shaped cupcake baking molds, resin, kawaii food stickers, acrylic paint and glitter.

Hello!

Hello, my name is Heather. The Japanese version of my name is Heza or ヘザー  which I find to be much cuter and more "me" than Heather. I am a web designer by day (my company is Love Local Design) and a crafter by night. I am an avid fan of all things Japan, and Japanese art and culture in general influences my work.

This blog is where I will document my work and post craft projects, vegan recipes and even some of my web work. And I will post a few stories related to my travels abroad.

Love and happy crafting,