Mod flower necklace.

I know I haven't been on in a while. Work yet again has been messing with my free time.

I made this MOD necklace to just wear with random darker outfits, such as my work clothes. Very basic project.

Supplies:
*2 strands of Mod flower pendants
*bead wire (.18mm in silver)
*Lobster claw
*jump rings (2)
*clamp beads (3) #1
*needle nose pliers
*clamp pliers
*wire cutters
*Measuring tape

*Tip 1- Plan It Out* As with all jewelry designs I laid out the design on my bead board before I started doing anything. Had to try out different style gem stones to see which one matched best, as I did not buy any of the beads at the same time. This also includes making sure the clasp and clamp beads match the color pallet.

*Tip 2- Measure* Always measure for each project to make sure the lengths that fit best are correct. This is important when making items for other people. Once you have done them enough times you will know the required lengths and can skip this step.

Steps:

- Measure out the length of bead wire you will need to fit around your neck comfortably and then give yourself about 2 inches to loop back through at the ends. Use wire cutters to cut correct length.

-Take a pair of need nose pliers and open a jump ring. Slide the jump ring onto the end of the clasp and close the jump ring.

- Take a clamp and thread it on the bead wire; then slide the bead wire through the jump ring attached to the clasp. Loop the bead wire back through the clamp bead and then use the clamp pliers to clamp it the bead in place. This should allow for a loop to hold the one end in place.

*Tip 3- Tight Loops* Try and keep the loop as tight as possible to keep from having a big gap. This can be done by holding one end of the bead wire with a needle nose pliers and then taking the other end of the wire and pulling it tighter. Keeping it tight keeps the wire from rubbing. This is also why using a jump ring to attach to the clasp is important, as the wire attached to the jump ring is not going to move around much if its pulled tight.

-Thread on the beads and gems in the order of the design you picked ahead of time (see *Tip 1* )

-Continue this until you have the length you determined earlier. (see *Tip 2* )

-Once you have finished your design for the length, slide on a clamp and use the clamp pliers to secure it in place. (see *Suggestion 1* and *Tip 4* )

*Suggestion 1* Doing one clamp bead at the end to make sure everything stays tight and then another to create the loop is NOT required. You can choose to use only one clamp bead, just be sure to keep the beads together tightly enough to not end up with large gaps when you wear it. I do it for both ease and strength. Beginners can do this until they get better at re-threading the closure clamp.

*Tip 4 - Consider Material and Purpose* You must always be aware of the type of give and strength your supplies have or you could end up with breaks, scrapping, and no flexibility. The heavier the wire the less bend and flexibility it has. String the beads too tightly together and some will rub together and break. String them too tightly and the beads will bunch and not bend well around your wrist. Some times you need to allow for "give room" with bracelets in order to get the bracelet to wrap.

-Take another clamp bead and thread it on first, then slide on the other jump ring, then thread the wire back through the clamp. Now tighten the wire until you have a small loop. Be sure that the jump ring stays in the loop you create. Use the clamp pliers to close the clamp when you have the loop the size you want. (see *Tip 3* )

-Take a wire cutters and clip off the extra wire as close as possible to the last clamp bead. If the wire is bend-able enough and the bead holes are big enough you can thread the extra wire back through the beads instead of cutting it.

-Take a needle nose pliers and open the jump ring on the end you just finished and slide on the other end of the clasp (Or length of chain if you want to use that instead. This will allow for different tightness around the wrist. This can be very helpful if you didn't follow *Tip 2* and its not long enough to go all the way around the wrist.) and close the jump ring with the needle nose pliers.

That will finish off the bracelet.


***The MOD flower strands listed in the supplies can be found at Michaels. ***

Christmas Wreath

 

This was last year's Christmas wicker wreath design. I reused the decorations in my window display this year and in the living room decorations.

I went with more traditional and natural decorations this year.

 It came out much better than I thought, so I was very thrilled. Plus the cats didn't try to kill it this year, so WOOHOO!

Need to figure out what to do for the "new year" look.....

Falling 2012

I have a wicker wreath that I redesign every season to hang in my room.

I get to enjoy the season in my room all the time this way. I don't like to do the same design as I did last year. I allows me to flex my design muscles. This year I didn't change up my fall design that much, but enough that I don't feel like its the same.

Last year I used two leaf ropes from Michaels.

This year I wanted to do leaves, but with more pops of color and other season items.

I took down my Spring wreath.

I wrapped the wreath in the fall leaf ropes  (new ones from Michaels. Used the old ones outside).

I then added a pumpkin feature and several flower mums.

I had intended to stop at this point. I liked seeing the wicker through the leaves, but it felt bottom heavy this way, so I went all out.

This is my completed wreath. I have my pops of orange and still have features of the season. You can't tell from my pictures, but the leaf ropes have different colors and some are velvet. Gives it a different texture look in-person.

Pastel Bird

One of the other projects that I wanted to add to my bathroom design was actual birds. (not live ones) The same time I found the bird houses at Michaels I also found wooden birds. I'm going to put them on the counter and shelves, as well as hang them.

I had wanted to paint them like real birds, but real birds are not in pastel colors. They would stand out in darker colors, as would be required if I painted them more like actual birds. I found this out AFTER having done two in more realistic views.

Now the yellow bird can probably still work, as not all of its body is dark. The next one I did will work much better though. Its a very pretty light blue. I thought it seemed a little dull, so I added a few copper dots on its wings. Still works really well.

Retro is New

Some things can be so easy that you don't even have to try to make it better. Like take this retro bracelet I made for my Mom.

I found it at Michaels as just a chain. This was beyond easy to make into a bracelet. I just added a clasp to one end and then measured it. I took out a length of chain at the end and attached a jump ring at the end. That was it!

Tutorials on 'Bracket' Bracelets

Once I figured out how to make the bracket bracelets work... I started going a little nuts with them. I made several more for myself. I also wanted to make one from the same purple bracket that I made for Mom. I figured I would make mine with pearls instead of glass beads.

I also found a few more butterfly brackets in blue and purple.

I also found a few longer bracket designs that I like.

They are incredibly easy to make too. Let me tell you how:

Supplies:
-Bracket designs (make sure to pick up as many as you will need)
-wire
-wire cutters
-clamps
-clamp pliers
-glass beads
-seed beads
-closure
-needle nose pliers

*Measure your wrist and cut wire about 5 inches longer than needed; then do it again.
*Then find a clasp you like (in my case the two ring clasp).
*Thread a clamp onto the wire; then the wire through the loop on the clasp and back through the clamp. (use the needle nose pliers to pull the loop tight)
*Press the clamp tight.
*Repeat the clamp steps if you have a second loop (like I did).
*Then thread the beads in the design order that you picked. I did two or three before sliding a bracket on. This allows for a little movement and doesn't push the bracket up onto the clasp. (especially if you used a regular one loop clasp)
*Thread about 5 glass beads and 4 seed beads in between each glass bead. That allows for a decent amount of space between the brackets and shows a visual pattern. 
*Once you have gotten the length you need you need to slide on a clamp onto the wire and then wrap it around the loop of the clasp and finally back through the clamp.
*Squeeze the clamp closed.
*Repeat those steps if you have a second loop on your closure.

Birdcage Decorations

When I had my own place *sigh...* I was just starting to work on decorating the bathroom. I had almost completely finished decorating my bedroom and kitchen, so I moved on to something else. I have this lovely shower curtain (that ironically my mom found at the ARC store) that looks like a pastel waterfall.

I was going to do a nature/garden design. I want to hang bird cut outs and cages around the bathroom and put flowers around or in the cages. Luckily I just happened to find some bird and birdcage cut outs at Michaels.

I painted them in light pastel colors to go with the ribbon colors. I painted both sides, so that when I hang it from the ceiling I can look at both sides.

I painted the cage cut outs in silver glitter. Once I had painted them it looked just bland, so I decided that I would paint the bird inside the cage a pastel color too.

These will have to hang near the mirror, I think, but relatively low to really be visible.

Now if I just had a bathroom of my own to decorate!

Wreath summer 2012

In a few entries I have posted pictures of changes I make to the wreath in my room. I first got it last summer, then changed it for fall and then Christmas, and just updated it for the summer. (I was being rather lazy and skipped doing it for spring.)

Since my mother wanted to do the room in a blue and white cottage look I have been trying to keep it that way ever since I moved into the room. Hence why I have done the summer version to match the room.

 The white roses are rather full, but I thought it felt very summery. The blue hydrangeas seem to fit well with the roses. They make them pop more.

 

From Plain to Classic!

Ever have a shirt, sweater, pants, socks, anything that just seem BLAND? I have from time to time. Most of the cloths I own either have a pattern, design, or some thing extra that just makes it MORE.

BLAND... DULL.... BORING... are not words you want to have associated with your wardrobe. And why should you??? Nothing can hold you back from being more than those life less words!

Case in point:

I have only one plain boring black hoodie. Comfy as hell, but just drab. I wanted to spice it up.

One trip to Hobby Lobby and I had all the supplies I needed.

One bottle of fabric color ink and one stamp. I wanted to have a more shaded/shadowly look, so I picked a lighter color.

I washed and dryed the hoodie just to be sure it was clean. Then I ironed the spot that I wanted to stamp my image. I used a paper plate and squeezed out a decent amount of the fabric ink onto the plate. I pushed the stamp into the ink on the plate and moved it around to make sure it was fully coated. Took the stamp and position it in the correct spot before putting it on the fabric, then firmly pressed down on the stamp, let it sit for about 5/10 seconds and removed the stamp.

You have to let the image sit flat for 4 hours to let it dry completely. It can't be washed for 72 hours. When I did end up washing it, I flipped it inside out. Protects the ink better, but its not required.

The image didn't come out absolutely perfect, but it came out pretty damn good. I am MORE than happy with it. I got my shadowy, romantic look and thats all I wanted. going to sew on some ribbon to the sleeves, but haven't found the right color yet. Will update when that happens.

Purple classic

I spent last weekend cleaning and organzing a few things and I noticed that I still had some left over purple pearls from the bracelet I made my friend earlier. I liked how the bracelet came out, so I wanted to do another one, but give it a different look at the same time. I wanted some thing more timeless and classy.

Supplies:
*purple pearls (in various sizes)
*bead wire (.45mm)
*lobster clasp (I used a figure 8 clip closure)
*jump rings
*one head pin
*clamp beads
*diamond jump rings
*needle nose pliers
*clamp pliers
*round nose pliers
*wire cutters

*tip 1* As with all jewerly designs I make I planned out the design before I started doing anything. I wanted to use the purple pearls and not just one size, so like before I used both the big and medium sized pearls. I will be putting diamond jump rings in between each pearl to create a more classy look.

*tip 2* Always measure for each project to make sure the lengths are correct. Once you have done them enough times you will know the required lengths and can skip this step.

- Measure out the length of bead wire you will need to fit around your wrist and then give yourself about 2 inches to loop back through at the end.

- Take a clamp and thread it on the bead wire; then take one end of the lobster clip and loop the bead wire through it and the clamp. This should allow for a loop to hold the one end in place.
-Use the clamp pliers to clamp everything in place.

-Thread the pearls and diamond jump rings on in the order of the design you picked ahead of time (see *tip 1* )
-Continue this until you have the length you determined earlier. (see *tip 2* )

-Once you have finished your design for the length slide on a clamp and use the clamp pliers to secure it in place.

*suggestion 1* I like to do one clamp bead at the end to make sure everything stays tight and then another to create the loop, this is NOT required. You can choose to use only one clamp bead, just be sure to keep the beads tight or you will end up with gaps when you wear it.

-Take another clamp bead and thread it on first, then slide on the other end of the lobster clip (normally its just a jump ring), then thread the wire back through the clamp you did first and tighten the wire until you have a small loop.
-Use the clamp pliers to close the clamp.

-Take a wire cutters and clip off the extra wire as close as possible to the clast clamp bead.

That will finish off the bracelet.

I wanted to add a dangler pearl for a little extra appeal.

-Take a head pin and put on a pearl.

-Use a  round nose pliers to round of the other end of the head pin to create an loop.

-Attach the loop to one end of the bracelet's loop. (In my case I used a figure 8 clip for a closure piece on the bracelet, so I attached my dangle pearl to one end of the 8 clip.)

Finished product looks darn good if I do say so. I wore it the other day to an interview. It came out much nicer than I thought. I especially like the medium and large pearls together. At first I thought that would make it look wierd, but I like it.

What do you think? Let me know. I love feed back.

Hope you try it out and show me your own finished products!