September Pinterest Inspired Craftiness

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that cross stitch is not the only crafty pastime that I enjoy.  Lately, doing beadwork has become something I've been doing a lot more of.  I think it's because of all of the new types (for me) of beads on the market.  Superduos, Tilas, drop beads, and others have all caught my eye, making me wonder:  What can I make with this?  I've found that I particularly like to work with Superduos.  I found this Youtube video on Pinterest and knew that I had to make the bracelet.

I chose all bronze tones for the three types of beads used in this project.  Beads required were Superduos, 15/0 seed beads and just a few 8/0 seed beads.

Something I learned: when choosing colors for a bracelet (or for a necklace for that matter), figure out what kind of fastener looks best with it BEFORE starting your project.  I found that bronze closures are not easy to find.  Maybe there are multitudes of them, and I just was lax in my research.  Could happen.

I did find this magnetic fastener at my local bead store and I like it.  But it was the only one they had that would be suitable for this bracelet.  And this is a very well-stocked bead store!  So what do you think?  The video shows that you can make this really long to go around your wrist a couple of times, but I chose the single version.  The only teeny tiny change that I made was to add an extra 8/0 near the fastener.

This was a fun project to do and I would say that it's a good beginner to intermediate bracelet to make.  The instructions are excellent and it came together very quickly.  If you really wanted to, you could complete this in an afternoon.  Oh, and you can make this bracelet in wider widths by using more beads across.  That's explained in the video.

My visit to the bead store netted me two more tubes of Superduos in really cool colors, plus some beading necessities.  Don't be surprised if you see more of these bracelets on my blog!

One more thing.  My sister, Sheila, asked me if I wanted to take a painting class with her.  It was offered locally in conjunction with Colors of Fall Art Exhibition and Sale sponsored by the Sawnee Association of the Arts.  It was conveniently scheduled on my day off so I happily accepted.  So we went today not knowing what to expect.  Sheila is definitely the better artist/drawer/painter of the two of us, but I had a lot of fun.  Thanks to the instructor (who is obviously very talented and very patient), I successfully painted a pear and I also learned a lot.  OK OK, I got a little help, but I think everyone else in the class did too.  Don't laugh.

I had the distinction of being the messiest and most disorganized class member.  Go me!  I left the class with the most paint on my hands.  We will be taking another class in a couple of weeks called Color Theory.  I don't know exactly what that is, but I like colors so I'll probably like it.

So that's my craftiness for the week.  I hope you enjoyed seeing the fruits of my labors.  Ha ha, "fruits".  Get it?  I am such a jokester.  Thanks for visiting and come back soon.

July Pinterest Project

For my July Pinterest-inspired project, I chose to do some beading.  I currently have 217 beading projects pinned, which is the most pins I have on any of my boards.  So my choice was based on that bit of data, along with the fact that I needed to make a small ornament for a gift.

I found this cute little beaded star that I made in one afternoon.  It's called Starlight and it was designed by Deborah Roberti at AroundTheBeadingTable.com.  Once again, I found everything I needed in my bead stash and you know how happy that makes me.

All that this project needed were:  Superduo beads, 11/0 seed beads, some 3mm round beads, and some 4mm beads for the center.  I chose the combination of silver, crystal and seed beads in purple, blue and green.  All I had to do was add some silver ribbon for a hanger and I was done!

This is a good beginner/intermediate beading project.  Around The Beading Table has such good illustrated instructions that someone who has minimal beading experience could make this pretty star.  Check them out.  They have lots of different free tutorials for all kinds of things - bracelets, necklaces, earrings and more.  Have some fun looking through all they have to offer!

Imagine all of the different color combinations you could do!  I will definitely make more of these.  I declare this Pinterest-inspired project a success!

A Case of Vacation Brain

I'm still here, even though it might look like I've abandoned my blog.  The month of June pretty much meant minimal crafting of any kind.  Our normal vacation schedule in any given year is usually just one, but not this year.  Oh no, this year we (mainly me) crammed in three vacations, and all were in June.  First to Boston to see our son, Matt.  Included in our trip was a tour of the Samuel Adams brewery.  And a necessary feature of that tour was a tasting.

Then I was lucky enough to go with Mark to Amelia Island, FL, where he had to attend a conference and I got to loll around all day. 

A sunset cruise was an added bonus to this trip.

Finally, my sister, Sheila, her daughters, and I did a girls' vacation to Daytona Beach, FL.  Lots of fun and we didn't get lost!

Those two little dots in the ocean are my nieces, Emily and Grace. 

So, all and all, a wonderful June, but I didn't get much time to stitch, sew, or bead.  Now I'm finding myself itching to pick up needle and thread and search the beading videos on Youtube for new projects!

I did have a finish that I haven't blogged about yet.  I found a store on Etsy that sells patterns for beaded pen covers.  Having seen some of these on Facebook, I knew that I wanted to give one a try.

Basically, I followed a very easy to read pattern to make this rectangle.  It's done in the even Peyote stitch.

Then I zipped it up by sewing through the interlocking ends forming a tube.

The finished tube fits perfectly on a Pilot G2 pen. 

The finished product (above).  I enjoyed this beading project so much that I made one for my niece, Emily.

You can find these patterns and more like them on Etsy at Fun Pattern Designs. You might find it difficult to choose just one! 

Valentine Project Revealed

I recently took part in a Valentine's exchange where the rules were that, well, there were no rules.  Just stitch something, and if we wanted to turn it into something, we could.  I took this as a challenge.  I knew that I wanted to stitch something Valentine-inspired, and found a cute heart freebie online.  Then an idea popped into my head.  I could stitch a few hearts and incorporate this into one of my little fabric project bags. 

I

The stitching was done with DMC 115 - variegated red - on a slightly off white evenweave.  On a visit to my local Joann's I found an amazingly perfect fabric to use for the outside of the bag and also a cute contrasting fabric for the lining.

A peek at the lining fabric during construction.

Insetting the stitched piece into the bag was a little bit of a challenge because I had to be sure to get everything even and straight.  But I think this is very good for a first try.  I would definitely make another one of these.  And FYI, I used Luann Kessi's quilted bag tutorial which can be found here.  I just used her general instructions for this type of bag, not the quilting part.

Now it's time for "Other People's Creations", simply because I'm not the only awesome crafter in the world.  My sister, Sheila, just finished some lovely beaded lanyards for her girls' teachers.

Just look at these.  Aren't they beautiful?  No boring lanyards for these teachers!  And each one features a swivel clasp where they can add their school IDs.  What a nice thing to do for teachers who do so much for kids.  I'm sure they'll appreciate these!

If you're a new follower, welcome!  If you've been following for a while, thank you!  I appreciate all of my followers and love hearing from you in the way of comments.  I had so much fun at the Grow Your Blog party and with my giveaway.  So much so that I'm going to be having another giveaway very soon.  So please come back and visit!

My January Pinterest Project

A couple of posts ago, I made some crafting resolutions.  One of them was to actually make something I've seen on Pinterest.  I have a whole board called "Crafty Stuff" and it's full of cute ideas, photos and tutorials.  Collecting these ideas is fun, but come on!  They're there for a reason!

As part of the Grow Your Blog party, I am having a giveaway.  More about how you can sign up later.  My prize is one of my fabric mini project bags and a beaded bracelet.  And I need a pat on the back because the bracelet is an idea I got off of Pinterest.  Yay! 

The pattern is called "Linda's Tweaked Stacker" and it's from Around the Beading Table.  I love this website -- so many cool beading patterns.  You can find the pattern and tutorial here.  This bracelet was easy to make and required a total of three different kinds of beads. 

So for a chance to win this giveaway, just go to my Grow Your Blog post and leave a comment.  That's all you have to do.  The comment has to be made on that post, and be sure that there is a way I can get in touch with you.  Leave your comment by 9:00 p.m. EST on February 14th, and I'll draw a name on the 15th and announce the winner in a post right here on my blog.

I've also made a lot of progress on Just Nan's "Jasmine Mix".  More resolution progress!  This has been in the WIP stack for a while.

Not too much more to go on this one, mostly a few specialty stitches and some beads. 

The Grow Your Blog Party was a lot of fun.  I visited so many new blogs and really enjoyed seeing the kinds of things that people make.  I also added more followers and received some kind comments!  And I'm still going through the blogs.  I think there were about 400 signed up.  You can visit the party too - just click on the Grow Your Blog sign on the right sidebar of this blog.  There are some great blogs out there, plus many of them are also having giveaways.  So go on and check it out.  You don't have to be a blogger to follow blogs, leave comments or enter in many of these giveaways.

I'd like to welcome all of my new followers and thank everyone for their comments!  Please come back and visit my blog.  You never know what I'll feature, and you never know when there will be giveaways!

Stitch Day And Some Cool Beading

It was a happy day at the Sisters In Stitches stitch day last Saturday.  All eight of us were there!  I don't know when that happened last.  We had a wonderful time catching up and laughing at silly things.  Peggy brought a delicious dessert for us -- icebox key lime dessert.  Oh, and whipped cream which she made by hand.  With a whisk.  She is one talented baker.

You're probably noticing the lack of photos from stitch day.  I did not have my camera, but plan to take it next month.  Hopefully I can get Thea to bring her finish and completion again and also get photos of the Sisters' work.  I have a picture of mine.

I'm getting to the end of this one.  Part 3 is about halfway done.  I have some Christmas projects to start, but they're for gifts and you know what that means.  No posting until they're received.  And then there's a Halloween completion that I REALLY want to show you, but I haven't even sent that one out yet.  I just love that Halloween one so much.

On to the "cool" bead project that I did yesterday.

Ha ha, "cool", get it?  It's a snowflake!  I found this pattern online and was excited to use Super Duos for the first time.  Wow, what a quick and easy project!  You're supposed to make earrings out of them, but I probably wouldn't .  However, a pendant might be nice.  Or a really small ornament?  On the end of a scissor fob?  An interesting list of possibilities.  I will be making more of these.

And let's go to Other People's Creations, where I show you the talented craftiness of other creative people.  This week, it's a beaded lanyard made by Sheila.  She created this for a teacher at her daughters' school. 

How pretty is this?  No more boring lanyards for this teacher!  I have a funny feeling that Sheila may get some requests for these.

Thank you again for all of your comments.  I read blogs to get inspired and to get ideas for new projects and techniques.  I hope that you come here to get a little inspiration too.  Or to have a few laughs.  Either way, please come back and visit often!

A Week Of Beads AND Threads

Last week I happily split my creative time between my two favorite pastimes -- beading and cross stitch.  For my new bead project, I decided on a bracelet using gemstone beads, crystals and seed beads.

I made a few changes, as I often do, and switched the pearls that the bracelet pattern called for with some beautiful 4mm lapis beads.  Another change I made was using oval crystals in place of bicones.  Just look at the amazing blue color of the lapis beads.

I often forget how pretty the gemstone beads are and I think that the natural gemstones complement the glass beads very well.  The classic combination of blue and silver is one of my favorites.  I need to use gemstones more often in my jewelry-making!  I found these lapis beads online at Auntie's Beads.  And you can click here to see the full line of lovely gemstone beads that Auntie's Beads offers.

I also found the cool magnetic clasp at Auntie's Beads. Looks really good with the silver seed beads, right?

Lately my stitching time as been taken up with the completion of gifts, and I finished two of them in the past couple of weeks.  Because they haven't been given to the recipients yet, I can't post them yet.  But I will share them once they're sent and received.  I have unearthed my largest WIP,  LHN's Song of the Seasons.  But, you're saying, didn't you start that like a year ago?  Why, yes. Yes, I did.  This piece will be for me, so it always went to the bottom of the WIP pile when something else came up.  So now I'm making this one a priority.  It will be framed, and I already have a place in mind to hang it.

See?  I have the majority of it done, and am currently working on part 3 of it.  Remember, it's a mystery sampler.  Well, not so mysterious anymore.  Side story about this piece:  There was a Facebook group for stitching this that I joined.  One day I unintentionally mentioned the tree and was told to zip my lip.  In a nice way, of course.  Apparently, there were some people who hadn't seen part 2 yet.  Yeah, I guess they told me.  Heh heh.

Coming up later this week:  Stitch Day!  I can't wait to see my Sisters In Stitches.  And I intend to have a lot more of Song of the Seasons to show you soon.

Thank you for all of your comments and for following my blog.  Please continue to comment and visit often.  I appreciate it!

Bitten By The Beading Bug

I don't know when it started.  Maybe it was when I did my epic cleaning and organizing of the bead cabinet.  Or when I bought a bead magazine recently and discovered beads I had never heard of.  But I've been bitten by the beading bug.  The cross stitch hasn't exactly been put away.  It's more like I've been dividing my time between stitching and beading.  Or looking at beads and bead creations online.  I even took a little trip to my local bead store.  It's not that far away.  Why don't I visit it more often?

So during my online searching I found the pattern for the "Tila Temptation Bracelet".  The weave of this bracelet just appealed to me - simple yet pretty. 

I'll probably make more of this pattern because I like it so much.  It requires only three types of beads, some Fireline and a clasp.  I'd call this an intermediate/beginner project.  It can be completed in an evening.  If you feel inspired to make one, you can find the tutorial for this bracelet here.  Even though we haven't had a hint of autumn here in Georgia, I'm starting to think "fall" when choosing colors.  Look for more of my beaded projects in the coming months.

Now let's move on to a little segment I like to call "Other People's Creations".  If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you've seen this feature before.  I like to show you what other people create because I am not the only crafty person I know. 

First, here is my sister Sheila's Peyote Stitch project. 

Look how pretty that is.  Sheila has a knack for choosing good color combinations and it really shows in this bracelet.  I may have to make one of these.

And for a dose of crochet cuteness, here is our friend Sherry's recent creation.

How adorable is this?  Makes you want to go out and crochet some owls, doesn't it?  Of course, I'd have to learn how first because if you recall, my crochet skills are limited to rectangles and squares.  And maybe an occasional heart.  My plan is to increase my crochet knowledge in the near future.

We'll just have to put the cross stitch on the back burner for a while.  Both of the projects I'm working on are gifts, so no showing them off yet.  Thanks for stopping by!  Keep leaving the comments.  I appreciate each one!

All Kinds Of Craftiness, But No Stitching

This week stitching took a backseat to other crafty endeavors.  First of all, remember that lamp that Mark made for me?  A while back I was mildly complaining about how I couldn't find a cute lampshade for it.  I had bought one that was OK, but was definitely not in the cool category.  Then someone commented that I should decorate that boring shade.  Great idea.  So, some ribbon and double sided tape later, here it is!  Just a few lengths of different kinds of ribbon completely transformed it.  Well, pretty much.

I showed you Sheila's necklace in my last post, and finally got to see it in person yesterday.  How beautiful!  We bought the materials for our necklaces at the Intergalactic Bead Show, which we attended last month.  The instructions, however, had to be e-mailed to us by the designer, Tin Tin.  Kind of mysterious, right?  I took all of my beads and stuff over to Sheila's and we spent part of the day visiting and making lovely jewelry.  I actually completed mine in that time!  It's made of pearl beads in shades of green with some pink, clear seed beads and Swarovski crystals in clear and amethyst.  And it may look complicated to make, but it was so easy! 

I just had to show you this picture of Moxie who seems to have appropriated my new necklace for herself.  She thinks it's divine!  Note the paw, like she's Vanna White or someone.

I also finished something new:  designing a cross stitch pattern.  My friend Patty had her first grandchild and said that she wanted to stitch a birth sampler.  The nursery decor is done in Scotty dogs.  A very cute idea, but also impossible to find a sampler with the little doggies.  My solution was to design one for her.  I've finished it and will soon be sending it to her for her approval and any changes that she wants to make.  I will be posting a photo of it in a future blog, and hopefully after Patty stitches it!
 
Are you ready for some good Cosmo news?  No more insulin shots!  He had a fructosamine test yesterday and was in the normal range, so all we have to do is keep giving the kitties the low carb food.  He goes back for testing in 3 months.  That sounds pretty good to me!

So, all in all, not a bad week for craftiness and for Cosmo!