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Item of the Week from DIY Kreators’ Guild!

The wonderful people of DIY Kreators Guild picked an Urban Construction pendant for their featured item of the week! Be sure to check it out, and send them a friend request as well. :)

http://www.myspace.com/diykreatorsguild

New Shop!

Now you can order directly from me without registering for Etsy!

New Styles in Etsy Shop!

I just uploaded two new styles into my shop! I am so proud of the beaded heart necklace, I can't take mine off!



http://www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

Punk Rock Drive In!

*POSTPONED* NEW DATE:

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND!
PUNK ROCK DRIVE IN! I will be vending along with mixed breed creations, and suzi boneshaker!

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/PUNKROCKDRIVEIN FOR MORE INFO

Reorganized Etsy Shop!

I have tons of styles that come in multiple colors. Since it is not easy to sort through so many listings, I reorganized the listings so for the styles above, you can see all of the colors available at once, and just pick which color you like the best.

www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

Crafters For Critters!

http://www.craftersforcritters.com/vendor.php?id=251




www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

Etsy Sexy & Wearable Treasury!

An Urban Construction pendant was featured in the Etsy Treasury titled "Sexy & Wearable"!

www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

FREE SHIPPING!

For all of my MySpace friends, I am offering free shipping through the end of September! (If you're not on my myspace, just sent a friend request to www.myspace.com/urbanconstruction) Just enter the code "myspaceship" in the message to seller at checkout, as well as the link to your myspace page, and I will email you an updated invoice. Tons of new styles in the shop as well!

www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

More New Styles in Etsy Shop!

www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

New Styles in Etsy Shop!

And more to come all week!

www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

New Styles in Etsy Shop!

These styles and many more just added! www.urbancontsruction.etsy.com

New Styles Fresh Out of the Oven!

I am working on a couple of new styles, and just baked them tonight! Here's a sneak preview....

I Wanna Rock!

I got an email today on Etsy that someone picked one of my bracelets for their treasury! Be sure to check it out.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=644

www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

New items posted in Etsy shop!

I just loaded a bunch of new items today, and will be loading more all week long! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

Long Beach Artwalk

I set up a table yesterday with Monika and Sandra from LB Stitch n' Beach at the Long Beach Artwalk. :) Here are some pictures!

Current News!

• One of my repurposed hardware necklaces was recently featured in the "Handpicked Items" section on Etsy. www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

• I am currently working on writing a tutorial on polymer clay technique that Sister Diane of Craftypod will be using. www.craftypod.com
  

• I am a current contributor for The Sampler for the June/July edition. Go to www.homeofthesampler.com
• Urban Construction is featured in the SHE Unlimited online magazine! http://www.sheunlimited.com/wp/?cat=10

Please be sure to check out my online shop! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

Polymer Clay

Anyone who has looked at my Etsy shop can see that I do a lot of work with polymer clay. (If you haven't - be sure to check it out! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com). In case anyone is interested in working with polymer clay,
I have a few tips and favorites after years of working with the stuff.

-Sculpey clay comes in three varieties. Sculpey I, Sculpey II, and Sculpey III. These three clays are kind of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears for me.
-Sculpey I is ok to use if you need to, but it tends to be a little too dry and crumbly for my taste.
-Sculpey III is the extreme opposite, and extremely soft. I have a hard time working with this one because it is too soft. It leaves fingerprints too easily, and is hard to shape without it sticking all over your hands. The more you knead it, the more sticky it gets.
-Sculpey II is my favorite by far since it is obviously in between the other two.
-I don't seem to get what the draw is on Premo Sculpey. When I've gotten it, it was way too hard and crumbly. They offer better colors, but I usually just use the reguarly colors and mix to get my desired color anyway.
-Fimo clay is similar to Sculpey III, and too soft. It also leaves a colored residue all over your hands and workspace! Not fun.
-The only color of the Sculpey that I have found to stain my hands temporarily is the red for some reason. Just use care when using this color, and be sure not to stain your surroundings.
-Sculpey glaze in the gloss finish is my favorite. I used to use the satin finish, until I recently discovered how beautiful the gloss finish comes out. It is super shiny and glossy. I am going to have to reglaze all of my inventory!

My latest completed project!

I'm on a little vacation from work this week, and one of the best things I can think of to do is to just relax at home, watch all the crafting shows on DIY network, and catch up on all of my projects! So I saw this cute project on DIY's jewelry making for a beaded bridal headband/tiara. It was really cute, except I'm not getting married any time in the near future, so I decided to adapt it for myself. :)

Here is the link on the DIY website for the full instructions. http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_jewelry/article/0,2025,DIY_13762_2838472,00.html
I don't know why, but the website says to clip off the headband teeth. On the show, they specifically were talking about how helpful those little teeth are in lining up your wire. I wanted to use a thicker plastic headband than the one they used on the show, and I happened to find one that I've had lying around since the 80's! Being that my headband is "vintage," it was missing a few of the teeth. I will say that it was much easier to wrap and line up the wire in the parts of the headband that have the teeth. So I would recommend ignoring that part of the instructions! I also skipped adding beads to the backside of the headband. Mine is obviously not going to be a tiara, so I just put the beads on the top, and skipped all of the obvious tiara parts.

In all, this was a really easy adapted project, and I completed it in one evening while watching a movie! I got a few tubes of mixed seed beads at my local craft store, used some silver tone 24 gauge wire, and I was all set! I of course used black beads since I wanted it to look nothing at all like a bridal tiara, and I think it will look perfect with a little black dress!

Please be sure to take a look at my Etsy shop and MySpace! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com and www.myspace.com/urbanconstruction

Fabric Clearance Sale!

For those of you that sew, knit, make jewelry, quilt, etc....you should definitely look online to see if there is a Hancock Fabrics near you. They are closing 140 stores, which is really sad. The mood was a little somber because all of these employees are loosing their jobs. I felt compelled to keep going back to offer moral support. :) The good news is I got some amazing deals! Everything is 40-60% off! I got spools of lace for like $0.40, etc. I got huge bags of fabric, trims, beads and more for around $100. I would definitely recommend checking it out! Even if it isn't right down the street from you, it is definitely worth a little drive to go stock up. Even if you won't use something right away, you know you eventually will use it!

Please be sure to take a look at my Etsy shop and MySpace! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com and www.myspace.com/urbanconstruction