Creativity-Bead Lust 2 Summer Collection

I have already started my Summer/Fall collection with some of the color hues from Pantone's Color chart for 2010

Woodbine

Purple Orchid


Lipstick Red

Lagoon

Golden Glow

I am going international and earthy this summer. From recycled paper and glass beads to beach stone and slag.

I have my eye on these gorgeous recycled paper and glass beads are from Mzuribeads in Uganda-Here is a quote that explains who they are:

"Mzuribeads aim to generate a sustainable income by endeavoring to offer our customers ethical beads and the most fashionable and latest fashion accessory trends. This involves a large focus on quality control, design, and seasonable colours.In short, we aim to generate enough funds to develop a sustainable business structure.We have never received any funding. We are not a charity, because we believe our products are of standard to compete against the global market."-Mzuribeads.com


I purchased these beads today.......

Ceramic Beads by Beadfreaky

BeachStone from StoneMe

This gorgeous peacock feather will be used as a custom order project for a prom and some wedding events.


Can't wait to get started!

Thanks for visiting

Ashanti

Green Creativity - DIY Sock Gloves

Here is a quick tutorial on how I turned a pair of size 9 knee high socks into arm gloves for my daughter. These are a pair of cotton stretch socks that wore down at the toes and heals. The rest of the sock was in perfect shape and quality..why throw them away.Repurpose!


First: I washed the socks,then measured the length of my daughters arm from her elbow to the midsection of her hand.

Then, I cut off the toes section of the sock, and cut out the section of the heal that had worn down.




Next, I slid the sock up over the length of her arm to her fingers. With a permanent marker,I placed small marks on both sides of the sock material in between the fingers.


Next, I removed the sock , took a standard sewing needle and thread, pinched the clearly marked points together with my thumb and forefinger and carefully sew both pieces together to make a finger hole.

To make sure the holes fit properly, I slid the sock back to test the fit of each finger hole then proceeded to the next finger , repeating the sewing process until I reached the heal section-this is where the thumb section was saved for last. I didn't sew the thumb whole closed so the material around the thumb rests nicely.

That's it!


If you want the thumb hole to be tighter you can sew a little piece of the heel hole closed- I also I found it easier mark the fabric sections of one finger at a time to make sure each hole fit just right without bunching up.I am sure this can be done with a sewing machine but the pieces of fabric are so small I thought it would be a waste of electricity & much faster to complete by hand.


Let me know what you think. Have you done be before? Are you going to? Post share with me with a link to your blog, Flickr(if you posted them there)

Thanks for visiting.

Creativity -Bead Lust -Earth Day Collection

I have already started my Earth Day Collection with some simple hammered rings and Wood Kanji Earrings



but I came across these lampwork and ceramic handcrafted beads and drooled! These would make great additions to the Earth Element (glass & clay) of the collection. Every piece in the collection represents one of Earth many elements somehow- Fire-Metal-Water-Air-Earth-Wood.

I also bought some glass beads for bracelets




I haven't figured out how I am going to incorporate Air and Water...I'll think of something;-)..Fire is actually represented as a neccessary element to form and shape Wood & Metal &Earth( i.e heat patina, kiln heat and drilling/laser)

Water is represented through Sea glass through ocean tumbling and the hydration process.

Plus I love these Periwinkle Pillow Boxes made with plantable recycled paper. Created by Mariposa Paper Arts . I package all my small pieces in these boxes.




Thank for visiting;-)

Creativity:The Beauty of Nature's Irony

Harmony - Lavender Sea Glass Necklace

Lavender, Cobalt blue and Red Sea Glass are some of most beautiful pieces of sea glass I have ever seen. I truly enjoy working with them. The best part is the irony of sea glass- how something that was created from dumping glass in our oceans water that nature turned into a positive and created something to reuse and recycle.

Thanks for visiting

Creativity -Working with Pottery Shard

Happy Monday!


Wow, I look hilarious;-) Two weeks ago I made a video of me doing some basic smoothing and crafting with pottery. I have never worked with raw shard before so I was excited just to see if I could file it down without breaking or weakening it.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Then the crafting bug kicked in and I started wrapping it into a sample pendant just to see how it looked.


I also like to try new things that will expand my skills as well as show my authenticity as an indie crafter. I'm excited at the possibilities. Let me know what you think;-)Oh, if you have any ideas on how I can work with the shards better post your comment here;-)

Here is my Aquatic Pottery Shard Necklace..I broke a few piece of this gorgeous teal green shard to make a pair of earrings but I couldn't get a hole to drill through so I made a pendant instead..all smooth around and perfectly square.It's listed in my Etsy shop


I hope you enjoyed the video;-) Thanks for visiting;-)

Creativity-Making Paper

Teddy Bear Tags by PulpArt-Etsy.com

I saw this great tutorial link on Etsy's "The Storque Blog" How To -Tuesday Section: on how to make plantable paper: CutCardStock. featured the tutorial created by Martha Starke of PulpArt.etsy.com

Well, I am going to try out some paper making myself. I have wanted to try this for a long time but never got around to it. though I have purchased many recycled paper supplies on Etsy to package and ship my orders in.

So, right now I have a stack of used brown wrapping paper and old newspapers of all types....



A blender that I will devoted SOLELY to paper. You should never use the same blender for food that you craft with-even if it's been cleaned out.

This is a bouquet if flowers from Valentine's Day- I am going to incorporate them into the paper mixture and see what happens. I will probably make a half picture blog/half video blog making the paper. All I need is the paper screen and I'm ready.

Tune in next Friday to see what happens;-)

Thanks for visiting

Spontaneous Crafting

Hey Family, I honestly didn't intend to make anything today- really I wanted to just pack and ship my orders and stay in bed. HA!! I was actually packing an order of these beautiful vintage Japanese glass beads today when the craft bug took over.

As soon as I came back from shipping the destash order. I got busy..and just couldn't stop--well, more like didn't want to..I really didn't have any particular direction with the bracelet not to mention I remember how tedious it is to hand wire wrap each bead to chain. But I loved the color palette so much I just kept going.

and going......

added some verdigris patina charms..a nice patina dragonfly.......

I'm still not finished yet LOL..but I won't add too much more. I stopped posting beaded bracelets in my shop because frankly, it's not cheap labor - if you catch my drift. The time and effort that does into these type of bracelets can go for hours if it is a more intricate design, but most of the time goes to the careful wire wrapping, weighing and setting of the chain.

So we'll see what happens with this beauty. I will list her in my shop tonight.

These cute little cubes are a late night earring project I'll finish.

Andromeda-Swarovski Crystal Wire Wrapped Pendant

This pendant was the easiest and fastest idea I worked on. I saw this Swarovski cosmic ring sitting on my craft table all lonely from an unfinished project. I am trying out different " self bailing" techniques on my pendants to eliminate the worry of losing a pendant from a popped or loose jump ring. I think of moms when I make these type of pendant as I have had many test pendant pulled of my old chain by my son on purpose just to see how durable they are.

This type of bail can be worn closed or set apart to have that "crowned bail look while threading the chain or cord through it. Ok...back to crafting.. Let me know what you think so far..

Happy hump day.

Ny