Saturday, December 6, 2014

2nd Annual Bead Hoarders Blog Hop

                           Lots and lots of beads in my craft room'' oh ''my god.

I love beads and when I buy them its for that special jewelry piece but sometimes that special piece will take a long time for it to be designed. I have precious beads ,semi-precious and the very inexpensive but pretty beads.I don't a problem mixing them all  because it makes the piece unusual .I also have a collection of buttons ,zippers and fabric that I also incorporate in my designs. About two months ago  I took out my bead organizer and decided to make something with those forgotten beads, enjoy.







 



Friday, May 9, 2014

My designs for the 8th Anual Bead Soup Blog Party 2014

    

Finally the day has arrived The 8th Bead Soup Blog Party 2014.Thank You Lori Mc Daniel Anderson for making it possible. This year my bead partner is Donna Conklin. owner of The Mandrel in Harbor City ,California you can view some of her work at or you can visit  http://primadonnabeads.com/  . .Donna send me some of her beautiful handmade glass beads which gave me a chance to push my creative boundaries.  To my designs I added chains, leather, charms and some of my semi- precious beads .I love to play with different techniques and materials if we don't experiment then we are not looking for other possibilities .



          

This Big and Bold piece has energy  and intensity. Big glass pendant and blue and purple glass beads made by Donna .


                                                             

Focal   with a spray of charms and beads .

 


Sterling Silver toggle send by Donna.

 
 
A wire wrapped   spray of faux  glass pearl and seed beads  with mother of pearl  necklace.




 
 
 
 
 


Knotted pearls on silk cord with a big wired wrapped pendant. and some  small mother of pearls.
 I want to thank her for sending me lovely beads.
 






Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Paper Bag Journal and Hardcover Book Bag ....



I love to recycle and reuse and whenever I have the time or moment I craft with my found  treasures.You don't have to know how to draw ,paint or even sew its all about using something you already have and just personalize and make it fabulous.Below is a pictures of my paper bag journal made from paper shopping bag and a handbag made from a very old hardcover book.






Paper bag journal
 
Some of the materials used for my journal

 

Inside my recycled paper bag journal



A spray of beads hang from center




 Romantic Book bag -Handbag




 
The romantic book bag  was made with a very old hardcover book .I removed the pages  and left the book with only the cover .I  had some leftover scrapbooking paper left from previous project and decided to use it .Everything used to make the bag is repurposed ,the pearl handle was made with a strand of pearl that was repurposed from a necklace.The pendant was adorning a mason jar but the jar broke , the fabric bow was a small piece fabric left from a previous project. I  only reuse things that could be given a second chance .Remember any imperfection ,and scratches make your design more vintage inspired .You could also mix old and new for a more unique look.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Lets use Slidders ,Spikes ,and Glass Beads







I was sent a stash  of some very pretty sliders, spikes and glass beads by Molly Schaller from Halcraft USA. She challenged me to see what I could design with them. I  did some fashion research and came up with fun ideas, some came straight from my closet and  things that I own and bought .With the help of my stylist  and muse my daughter Elizabeth, I had a great time embellishing a t-shirt, a vest, a belt, earrings, necklaces, and shoes and  I forgot to mention handbags. At first I was like "oh my what did I get myself into?", but the more I looked at the stash the more ideas that began to flow. In this post I will share some of the designs then follow with more designs next  week.

                                 Spikes and beads T-Shirt                      
 
                                                               Basic Cotton T-Shirt


Materials:

Cotton white t-shirt
Halcraft plated plastic multi color 9mm  flat round beads  MSKU#10168550
Halcraft  multi plated metal  small spikes    MSKU#10290815
White cotton thread
Very fine needle that could fit into hole of beads several times

Direction:

Place the flat beads and pikes on t-shirt and arrange them in pattern of your choice.
Play around with several patterns until you find the one you like.
Thread the needle with enough thread to sew several beads and spike, be careful when sewing thread might tangle.
When sewing, pass the needle thru beads several times because you don't want beads or spikes to fall off .
Hand wash and hang to dry, never place the t-shirt in dryer since spikes are plastic.
If you need to iron do place a towel over it or iron around the design.









                                           Bejeweled Vest

                                                                Updated Vintage Vest




This could the perfect weekend vest or you go to work vest. I was cleaning my over stuffed closet and came across this vest. The vest still looks new, but it needed to be updated and it hit me... why not use sliders to give it that "new" look? This was my finished look; I call it a little high fashion and street inspired. Think of wearing it with a blouse or a t-shirt and with your favorite jeans or comfy pants and don't forget to drape a favorite scarf. Have fun and put your personal spin on it!

        Materials
  • Vest
  • Halcraft slider MSKU#10231080 silver plated blue resin 20x28mm one strand
  • Thread the color to match you vest color
  • Large thin needle
       Direction
  • Place sliders on area that you vest and make you pattern
  • Sew then into place.
                                              

                                   Lets add Some Glitz to the Shoes

 
 
      

  
  
Do you have shoes that need a little glitz or just a drop of drama? In in this design I used the same sliders as the ones used in the vest. My daughter's shoes got a little makeover (nothing major just a little glitz). These could go from daytime to night time.

        Materials
  • Halcraft slider MSKU#10231080
  • E-6000 glue
  • Tooth pick to apply glue
        Direction
  • Place slider on shoes, make sure slider fits on strap .
  • Take tooth pick and apply E-6000 glue on back of slider
  • Place slider on strap and let dry for a day.
      

                                                          

                           DIY Upcycled Leather Belt



 

I had this leather belt for several years, and love it because of its rich dark color. The buckle broke and I did not want to throw it in the trash, then it hit me why not cut the buckle and restyle it with sliders. Well I loved the results and so did my daughter. This design could also be done with wide elastic or wide piece of fabric. Think outside the box .

Materials
  • Halcraft  Sliders MSKU# 10231056 Brass plated with
  • E-6000 glue
  • Toggle clasp  of your choice
  •  3- 6 mm opened jump rings
  •  3- 8  mm opened jump rings 
  • 5 to 6 beads of your choice for chain dangles
  • 6 head pins to attach charms on chain dangles.
  • Chain length of you choice
 Tools
  • 2 Chain nose pliers
  • Round nose pliers to attach charms
  • Wire cutters to nip head pins 
  • Scissors
  • Hole puncher
  • ruler
  • White pencil for marking holes on leather
Directions
  • Cut buckle and shape
  • Place slider on top of leather and mark with white pencil  the legs of sliders this will help with placement. Leave about about 1/4 in space .
  • With a hole puncher punch holes on all four  markings, by doing this sliders will fall into leather and fit flushed .
                                   
       
  • Turn over and place glue on slider and press on to the leather
  • Make hole for closure and add 8 mm jump ring before you close it add one 6mm jump ring then a 8mm and one 6mm. Open the 6mm jump ring and add closure and close. Do the same on other side and add hanging  chain drop  with charms.


                        
 
 



                                    

                                     Blazer /Jacket Clip
Blazer /Jacket clips make great fashion statement and they could be used on sweaters, blazers, jackets tops to give them a more fashion forward  look. For this design I used an old elastic suspender which I cut and  used the clips and elastic and added sliders. This is a great way to recycle those old suspenders that are hiding in the closet.

                                        

                     
Materials
  • Elastic or suspenders with clips
  • Glue sticks
  • Halcraft MSKU#10241047 


Tools
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun
Directions
  • Cut elastic to desire length
  • Pass elastic strand thru clips and run the hot glue and press. Do both sides and let the it cool down .
  • Turn over and hot glue the slider piece or you can also sew down. I added some sliders  that I had from a previous project on each side. You could add beads or whatever looks good.


                                                  

        
 
Bows and Clips     

 
 
 
 
 
    Materials
  • Material of your choice
  • hair clip like the one in picture
  • Halcraft MSKU#10217188 slider antique plated
  • E-6000 glue
        Directions
  • Make the bow
  • Place clip into bow
  • Turn over and place some E6000 glue on slider and place on center
  • Let dry for a day

           More great styles and ideas coming later this week