OniOniOniArt

  I just finished making these coral snake earrings for my shop and got to thinking about the confusion surrounding coral snake ID (the earrings could represent the eastern or Texas species) v. their harmless mimics. Rather than re-invent the wheel (much too lazy for that!) I found this wonderful blog post to share about coral snakes and their mimics here: Red and Yellow Kills a Fellow? Your Identification Guide to Tri-color snakes. | Snake Buddies Thank you Snake Buddies for an excellent post!

I'm falling a bit behind here! This leaf beetle is for making more earrings, but I haven't had the time to get them done yet. I'll update the post once I've completed them. [February 27, 2020] Update: They are completed and can be viewed in my shop HERE

Making earrings is usually a two-day process due to the drying time for the varnish, so I'm combining my bug days here and making two pairs! The first is a tropical stinkbug from the Amazon (above), and the second is a lovely blue weevil from Papua New Guinea (below). This post is a photo summary of how I make them... I start with a drawing... Frequently I will make mirror versions using the computer, so they appear to face the same direction when being worn, but these are fairly symmetrical and shouldn't make a difference*. I will also re-size them if necessary. Then I choose the colored pencils I will use... Using a sharpie marker, I outline the drawing onto the shrink plastic sheet: Then I color them with colored pencils: I punch holes for the jump rings and then cut them out with scissors. Besides making the design, the cutting can be the most time-consuming part of the whole process: Here they are cut out and ...

I really like the bees so I turned them into earrings today. They are listed in my shop  HERE Other projects using this design: Creative Sprint 2015 Day 24 Day 48 [February 22, 2020]

I saw a luna moth float by like a ghost in the evening last night and wanted to make these earrings.  I utilized an old drawing I had on hand - I used this as a transfer previously to paint a moth on a book I made Here are the moths colored and cut out on shrink plastic before baking them And here they are after baking and assembly! They can be viewed on my shop here . [February 14, 2020]

"Create something you can wear on your body.  Bonus: get a picture of yourself wearing it in public" I feel the same way as this frilled lizard about the public . Perhaps the pin will encourage folks to bugger off? Pin made from shrink plastic, sharpie marker, colored pencils,  glue, pinback, and a wee bit of hostility (yay!) (October 26, 2016)

Assassin bug earrings Today I made a new earring design for my shop. It's a red bull assassin bug (and therefore also counts for bug-a-day! Hoorah multi-taking!). Made from shrink plastic, colored pencils, sharpie marker, silver earrings, metal findings and crystal beads. Here's an overview of the process: It starts with a sketch Next I make a prototype in shrink plastic to see where its center of gravity is, and how I want it to hang on the earrings. Using the computer, I flip the image and then it is traced onto the shrink plastic with sharpie marker, which is the best type to use for most shrink plastic applications. Then I punch holes where needed. I then color them in with colored pencils and cut them out. Next they go in the oven and bake for a few minutes, shrinking to about a third of their original size. Here they are after baking.  Next I apply three coats of polyurethane varnish which dries and sets overnight. Next I as...

Day 30 (Made it!) Make a trophy and award it to yourself. The Golden Mantispid Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Creative Sprintery I humbly accept. This is the final #CreativeSprint project, and I thought what better way to end it than with the same insect I started with? This pose (which I've seen on the interwebs) seemed a perfectly triumphant fit for a trophy. I sketched the mantispid and then traced and colored it onto shrink plastic. It took some minor engineering to glue it on the wood bead. (And there's the first mantispid in the background) Materials: shrink plastic, colored pencils, brown micron pen, gold ink, wood bead, paperboard, Bristol paper, glue