#craft tips

i have friends who are far more experienced fibre artists than me who will not touch chenille yarn because it is not worth the headache. the best thing you can do for practicing is start with a nice cotton or possibly a wool/acrylic blend thats compatible with a pretty universal size like a 5mm hook/needles.

✨GARLIC✨

We’ve all heard the folklore that garlic can protect against blood sucking vampires, but it can really pack a protective punch against energy vampires as well.

Element: Water Deities: Hecate Zodiacs: Cancer Planet: Moon Crystals: Moon Stone, Rose Quartz, Citrine Good For: Protection, Cleansing, Connection, Stimulation, & more! Protects Against: Negaforces, watchers, & curses.

For more tips, tricks, tonics, and tintures check out the Wicked Witch's Web! 🌛🖤🌜

✨The Water Element✨

Direction: West

Correspondences: Clarity, intuitioin, fluidity, emotions

Through the element of water we are able to access emotions and flexibility. Water is crucial to our survival as humans, as staying properly hydrated can greatly improve one’s quality of life, but as witches, we rely on water to help us connect with our emotions, and therefore, our energetic frequency.

Water is closely related to the emotional realm as emotions are the only thing as fluid and constantly moving as water. Water is also deeply connected with the Moon, which is such an important player in the Craft.

Visit the Wicked Witche's Web 🌛🖤🌜

Always with an action!!

I personally don't believe in telling people there are wrong ways to do a thing, but I will describe what I personally think is best for the opening scene of a new story/novel.

A really common pitfall, in my opinion, for any fictional narrative is getting caught up in exposition. It makes sense that we get the urge to do things this way, because it's how we tell stories to friends about things that have happened to us.

"Okay, so let me give you background so you know who is who or whatever..." or "Okay, so for context..." are how I start a lot of tea spilling sessions, and its great for colloquial storytelling, but not a great way to get readers engaged from the start.

Whenever I start a book, I think of it less as a historical account and more of myself as the writer arriving to the character's life at a specific point in time, and leaving it at a specific point in time. Because of this, I think the best way to start a story is in the middle of something in their day. Here are some of the first paragraphs from my vampire story:

I scraped another jagged line in the already-worn paint on the wall, marking another tick among the other tidy rows of carved lines in the wall. I relished the feeling of old paint and soft, decaying wood sliding beneath my too-long fingernail. It hurt, but at least I was feeling something.  The first thing they did to me when I arrived at The Tower was glamour my name away.   One moment I was a person, and the next I wasn’t. All I was left with was the milk-warm feeling of the glamour on me dissipating too quickly, leaving me cold and without a sense of self. I could remember everything about my life—everything that had led me to this horrific moment, but not the core of my being. Not the most basic of identifiers. Not my name. 

And another from my Unseelie Court Meets Peaky Blinders WIP:

I pressed my back against the cold, damp brick outside the public house on Main and Besom. My heart raced so fast that I could feel the steady thump of it painfully in my neck. I didn’t know how far I’d run, but I knew I’d done it faster than I ever had before.   How many days late was I now? Five? No wonder Thomas had two others in tow.    I panted, my ribcage straining against my corset, even with it only loosely laced. I felt like I could hardly get a breath in at all. Closing my eyes and forcing myself to slow, I looked down the alleyway behind the pub. If I dodged down that way, I’d have to walk through some of the dodgier areas of The Strid, but it would be better than risking running into the Half-Blind Barber’s men.    I’d heard about Thomas’s proclivities from my friends in the Rose Garden, and I knew that he would relish the chance to carve me up like a roasted pheasant. 

I like starting stories this way because 1) it's way more fun to write for me than to spend hours trying to come up with an engaging, yet exposition-y opening and b) I get to lead with character instead of trying to find some way to shoehorn them into the lore.

The thing that's really awesome about your reader? They usually read a lot and can fill in a lot of the blanks. I found when I was first writing I always panicked about the reader seeing my story EXACTLY how I saw it in my mind. But at the end of the day, that's not actually that important and over-explaining anything can actually ruin reader immersion.

I try to never write two thousand words of description where a well-placed metaphor or comparison will do. Let your reader's mind do the heavy lifting.

Could I describe a castle in thousands of words talking about the period of architecture and the way that the buttresses look? Yes. I can. You know what's faster and more entertaining to read?

"The castle has the austere elegance of a sacred temple, and was nearly as quiet as you would expect one to be, too."

You have an image in your mind, reading that, right? See, in my head, I see a mormon temple; not because I am mormon, but because I have been to a mormon temple and I find their structures beautiful but also incredibly, deeply haunting.

Someone else may think of the time they visited the Sistine Chapel. Or of the Wayfarer Chapel in Palos Verdes, because they had an aunt who got married there. Yet another person may thing of their local jewish temple. Another person may think of Wyrm's Crossing in Baldur's Gate. At the end of the day, it doesn't truly matter what they see in their heads or understand is going on based on the text--what matters is that they can glean what this place looks, sounds, and maybe even smells like because they have linked it to a place that they have ALREADY experienced IN REAL LIFE)

All of those tangents to say--I don't worry about backstory until I need it. I like to try to make the reader feel like they're getting to know the characters at the same time they're getting to know each other.

I’m working on another shell-piece table top today. Here’s a picture of the first one, while it was still in the works.

This is the largest type of project I do, so it always brings various points of equipment/materials and technique to mind. Maybe I’ve posted some of these before, but no matter. Let’s go.

These chemicals are nasty. They’re not “forever chemicals” (if they were I would find another craft) but the components are hardly benign either. Worse, their effects - both contact dermatitis and respiratory problems - are cumulative. That means you might not notice or mind too much for a while, then suddenly you’re so sensitive that you just can’t do resin work any more. I use a 3M respirator with NIOSH “organic vapor / acid gas” cartridges - olive color, make sure you get the right ones - and of course gloves. For sanding work you should probably switch in some particulate cartridges (magenta). Safety first and always.

Also, try to minimize waste and dispose of leftovers or contaminated PPE properly. Neither the components nor the cured resin are recyclable. The components are actually considered hazardous waste and should be disposed of as such according to your town’s or city’s rules. Absolutely do not put any resin material (including powders and dyes) down the sink.

OK, enough safety stuff. On to the craft side.

Powders, including those suspended in liquid, will settle. Many products will claim otherwise. They’re lying, and you should avoid any product from companies that make such claims. Instead of hoping that your additives will remain suspended evenly throughout the resin, pour extra layers.

Alcohol dyes, by contrast, will tend to float on the top. Some of my favorite effects are even based on working with this fact instead of against it. Again, layers - as tedious as they can be - are your friend.

Pieces - like the shell pieces I’m using now - present their own challenges. They don’t always lie flat, so thickness varies and unless you want to waste a lot of resin you have to pick out the pieces that sit highest. I use angled rubber-tipped tweezers (make sure you clean them carefully after each use) and a lot of patience. A headband with a built-in lamp and magnifying lenses helps too.

Get a good heat gun to remove bubbles. A cheap one can not only mar your work but actually pose a danger. My first was a cheapo from Amazon. After only a few uses it started to melt its own housing, risking a short and/or fire. So I got a much better one. Worth it.

Get a variety of heat-gun tips. The round ones that usually come with guns aren’t that great for most work. My current favorite is a flat tip about an inch wide, which is easier to control around edges and such.

Weatherproofing tape is much cheaper than the edge-sealing tape marketed specifically toward resin artists, and IMX is better too. A lot of the “resin tape” doesn’t stick worth shit, and that’s important.

The pour is the easy part. I can’t emphasize this enough. I typically spend twice as much time leveling (do get and use a level for tables etc.), taping, de-bubbling, sanding, polishing, and of course cleaning up as mixing and pouring. This is where your energy should go if you want a good result. This is true even when you’re pouring lots of layers. It kind of sucks TBH, but it’s the job.

Sanding in particular is a pain. Super-fine sandpaper is not easy to find (protip: most of it is sold for auto detailing) and clogs up or wears out quickly. Orbital sanders (the kind you want) have a strong tendency to leave characteristic spiral patterns unless you’re very careful. Polishes never work as well as promised. I’ve used up to 10K-grit sandpaper and a bunch of different polishes, and never been able to get a result as good as the natural surface from a good pour. And the dust. OMG, the dust. It gets everywhere, it’s hard to clean up, it can ruin future pieces, and you really don’t want anyone breathing it in. If anything ever makes me quit this craft, it’ll be the dust.

Drip edges are also a pain. Even with a good IR thermometer and such, judging when to take the tape off and let it drip is more art than science. I consider myself a fairly experienced resin artist at this point, and I’m still working on that skill. I do it, though, because sanding is even worse. At least this way the sanding is limited to the bottom where nobody sees so I can just do one or two passes with standard paper instead of a dozen with the specialized stuff.