Resin jewelry and my new Resin Obsession

Seriously.  I'm not making that up.  My new resin obsession is the business, Resin Obsession.

Hmm.  Like didn't you have enough to do lady?  Why would you want to do this??

I would counter that statement with why wouldn't I want to do this.

I've been making jewelry since 2001 and started making resin jewelry in 2006.  I found that working with resin allowed me to take care of my 'color' obsession with jewelry.  I no longer had to find stones and minerals with colors I liked, I could make my own.  After doing some experimenting, I found a way to make jewelry I liked (and customers liked too). 

Along the way, you meet other resin artists.  Cindy Carter happened to be one of them.  I always enjoyed reading her blog and had bought a few of the Resin Obsession products.  She was incredibly helpful and very easy to work with.

As luck would have it, when she posted that she was looking to sell the business, I was ready to do "something else".  Now mind you, I didn't have my mind made up that this was the perfect opportunity for me, but it was the perfect opportunity to explore.

I'm a big believer in Karma.  (Yes, that's where my cat's name came from)  Cindy sent me information and we started talking.  It was a good talk.  A good, we must have been friends in another life, honest sharing, immediate good feeling talk. Once the business side of me got done analyzing the business and decided it would work, the personal side of me already knew it would.  That was mid October 2011.

We started the transfer of the business in mid November.  The thing I remember the most was when the 30 or so boxes showed up and I immediately thought, "What was I thinking????  Like seriously, where am I going to put all these resin materials????"  (Pause the business for a few days while I tell hubby that we have to move all three boys into one bedroom so I can have the other.)

Trying to reopen a business during my normal busy time (art shows and holiday gifts anyone?) would not have been my first choice, but it's the way it happened.  Since there were only so many hours in the day, the blog got put on hold.  (Now you know why I didn't post for 6 weeks.)

Things are going well and I am touched by how many people have sent well wishes.  Cindy truly built a resin community and I will do everything I can to love and nurture it the way she has. 

(And by the way, you can stop and see the newly reopened Resin Obsession at www.resinobsession.com)

Happy Birthday Karma

Okay, so it's been a while since I've posted (that will get discussed in tomorrow's post), but I wanted to share what I got for Christmas. This year, I put something on my list that I would never buy myself, but thought maybe my Secret Santa would. Luckily, I guessed right.

I wanted a cake pan in the shape of a bread slice.

Uh, really? Like why would you want something like that? 

Maybe because my kids have taught me that you can never have too much fun with your food.

Every January 1, we celebrate Kitty Karma's birthday.  What better than to use the new cake pan to make a pumpernickel and mayonnaise look alike sandwich?


 I completely cheated and used a box cake mix.  (and remembered why I quit using them to begin with -- they taste like the box they came in)












The finished cake will come out looking like a slice of bread.












Finished chocolate cake:  very poofy in the middle.  It also took about twice as long to cook as a regular round or sheet cake pan.









I used a long serrated edge knife to cut off the poof and slice the cake in half.











And here's the best part:  the cream cheese icing.  (I did make that.  My icing beats anything in a can.)

So three little boys sang Kitty Karma 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' and I think she thought she was going to get whacked with a beater.  I tried to tell her she had nothing to worry about as long as there was still icing on them.  (No little boys were going to waste icing.)

In case you're curious, Karma turned six.  She asks that you do not send gifts, but instead make a donation to your favorite charity (or buy some of her mom's jewelry)