Posts tagged ‘jewelry’

I have written before about how handy and crafty my friends are. Seriously, I’m lucky to have such a creative bunch of friends. I feel like I am constantly receiving handmade goodness, either in the form of jewelry, gifts, or food. Like how my friend, Jennifer, gave me three jars she canned last fall- diced tomatoes, apple sauce, and peaches. Or the natural cleaning supplies my friend, Hilary, made. She even put them in labeled spray bottles.

But, this necklace here is my all time favorite handmade gift. My dear friend, Ellie, bought the nest pendant for me at a fair local to her in South Carolina (do you have the contact for the artist, Ellie?). She said she thought it was fitting, since it had the nest and all. And she was right. I wear this necklace all the time. I love the details like the tiny bird charm and the wire wrapped clasp with tiny turquoise beads (not pictured).

Then along came the three little stamped silver initials. My other friend, Megan (why don’t you have a website?!) made these for me for my birthday. Each disk has one of my children’s initials on it. I had to put them on my nest necklace. Now I have one necklace that is sort of symbolic of who I am. I’m a mom and a maker, these things are close to my heart.

medicine viles used for bead storage

Awhile back I posted some nontraditional bead storage ideas.  Here’s another idea…old medicine viles.  It’s not my idea.  A friend gave these to me with the bead supplies already in them.  I wonder what else I can do with the viles though!  They’re so unique.  Have any good ideas?

I am simplifying my palette for my Templeton line and Crafty Mart this year. Trial and error has convinced me that I had overshot what I make and mostly left buyers confused as to what it is I offer at my booth. So this year I am making many of the same items, but only using men’s clothing fabrics that I have upcycled.

I have made flower pins many times in the past, and even made a tutorial on it. But this time I did box pleating and cinched it in the center, which I think makes a fabulous flower shape I hadn’t achieved before. I also have some other broach shapes I’m experimenting with. I haven’t decided if they are turning out or not, so no pictures at this time.

I have some other ideas brewing, this week is a big making week, so you’ll see how they’re turning out in a few more days.

I made this necklace from pearls, fire polished crystals, and fabric from a thrift store dress.  Plus the chain is recycled from a clearance necklace from Target…I just removed all the metal charms with my pliers.

To make the flower, cut a bunch of fabric circles, hand-sew them together, then sew on the three little pearls.  I sewed it to a flat metal charm & covered the back of the charm with a small circle of fabric (using fabric glue) to give it a finished look.  The charm is then hung to the chain with a jump ring.  I also intend on using fray check on the perimeter of the flower layers because this fabric weave is really loose.

back of flower

After our Book Swap on Saturday, my family went to Art on the Square with Colleen and her family. There were quite a few craft vendors there, some food vendors (we had yummy wasabi sliders from somewhere, but I forgot the name. Sorry!) and live music on mulitple stages.

We were walking down the street, enjoying the weather, when I saw one of my favorite local Makers: Toony Jewelry. I keep running into Barbara and her wares ever since my first time vending at Oddmall where she was my booth neighbor. I have picked up, put down, and picked up and put down, etc. her jewelry a thousand times but had never been able to make a choice. But this time I was looking out for something craft-related and that made it so much simpler to decide. This necklace came home with me, and I must say, it love it.

I made these beads from pages of an old poetry book.  My inspiration is from a similar project in Playing with Books-The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book.  The only difference was that they rolled up triangles & I rolled up rectangles, so my finished beads have more of a tube shape.  With either shape, the basic idea is to roll up a long strip of paper (leaving a hole for beading wire to go through), use adhesive to secure it closed (I used decoupage glue), cover the outside of the bead with glue (for a protective finish), & let it dry.

This beautiful vintage button belonged to my grandmother.  There’s only one, and I’ve been painfully particular about how to use it.  When guest blogger, Erica, wrote about making a vintage brooch into a necklace, I immediately thought about my button.  But since I’m on a hair-accessories kick, I thought I’d try it within a flower instead.

I used recycled shirt fabric & a vintage button for this flower.  It’s just like this orange flower one I made a while back.  The original pattern & idea came from a fabric flowers tutorial at Wise Craft.

I recently bought this thrift store skirt & needed a necklace to match.  I made this necklace without buying anything new, just finding things already in my stash.  Here’s how I made it:

I used a beading needle & strung tons of beads onto the string (while keeping the string in one long piece on the roll so I wouldn’t have to guess how long to cut it).  Then I crocheted the string, catching a few beads with each single crochet.  When the necklace was long enough I attached a clasp with crimps.

I just finished making bridesmaids jewelry for a friend’s wedding.  This is the second wedding I’ve designed for, and I’d thought I’d share the process in case you’re considering doing custom work.

1.  I talked to the bride about her vision for the jewelry.  We discussed colors, materials, necklace shape, earrings, budget, etc.   She gave me a fabric swatch & photo of the dress.

I also asked her to bring anything else specific to give me the most accurate idea of what she wanted and didn’t want.  I suggested bringing: a few bead strands (to understand size, shape, colors, materials) and sketches, photos or actual jewelry (to understand shape, size, and perhaps pattern desired).  This meeting took about an hour.

The bridesmaids dress, but in a different color. Image from Eden Bridals.

2.  A few weeks later I showed her pictures of necklace ideas, shapes, and patterns I liked & my ideas for beads.  For this dress, I worked to make sure the beautiful dress embroidery was the main focus.  I wanted the necklace to compliment it but not take spotlight.  And for the earrings, I thought there was enough going on with the embroidery & necklace, so I suggested something very simple looking. Read more »

I had a terribly difficult time figuring out how to get six chains perfectly aligned on the necklace Devona & I collaborated on.  I tried sewing them in place where I estimated they’d look good, but was never happy with the final placements.  I tried safety pins, but they moved too much.  I finally used thin gauged wire & wired them in place until they were perfect & ready for the final sewing in place.  FYI, this photo is the back of the bib necklace (necktie flower part) before sewing on a black piece of fabric to hide all the stitches.