Long Live Cameos

I absolutely love cameos in jewelry. I love cameos in general really. I adore things that have any hint of Victorian-ness and I think that a nice piece of jewelry that has a hint of Victorian in it can really boost the elegance of any outfit.

So I made a couple of pieces this morning, one that I am particularly fond of. Sometimes it can be hard selling this stuff because I adore it so much! I have a serious thing for pearls, and I love that you can buy glass pearls in all kinds of colors. I recently got some black ones that I think are amazing.

                     

A better view of the resin cameo charm. It is one of the smaller ones from the package I brought. I love the rose and I think that the onyx charm adds to the over all piece.

I just adore this necklace. It's a little longer than a choker, about 15 inches long.

Yes, that is me, and my tattoo haha. I think the necklace actually goes great with the tattoo.

This necklace will be one of the items I intend on selling in my shop. Something like this would run about $10-$15 depending on the cost of the materials used.

Happy Crafting!

Beads, Beads, Beads

So I never got around to posting those pictures last night. I had been up for a long time, and crashed early. So instead here are some pictures of stuff I've made in the past, a couple of things will be going up for sale once my Etsy stop is all set up and what not.

Alright, I obviously need to do some photo editing but still not bad, haha. This is one example of something I've sold in the past. I really enjoy mixing colored beads and silver. I don't really like working with gold. I usually stick to bracelets but now and then I throw a necklace into the mix. I've actually been working on a few necklaces lately.

 One of my favorites, this one hasn't been sold yet.

Someone had requested some peace bracelets made, but never paid for them, so I was left with the bracelets. I like the way the turned out for the most part.

Since classes will be starting soon I am going to start a blog schedule. I will post mostly on weekends and possibly on Wednesdays and Mondays. It honestly depends on my workload for my courses.

Happy Crafting folks.

A Day Of Crafting

So, I recently made a trip to the craft store, and of course ended up spending almost $60 in beads and other items. I just can't help myself when I see the word SALE. Nothing is better than getting twice the amount of beads for half the price.


So I have begun experimenting with bamboo string. It's like hemp but bamboo, haha. I like that I can take embroidery thread and do the same thing I did with the headphones and make jewelry. I also have been wanting to experiment with multi-strand clasps and what not. I have always found multi-strand jewelry beautiful so why not try it?

I'll post some pictures of what I am working on later.

Happy Crafting!

Super Awesome Headphones!

While engaging in one of my favorite online activities known as the ever amazing stumbleupon I cam across an interesting project and of course just had to try it out myself and put my own spin on it.

Not only was the blog absolutely adorable, but also kind enough to let me share this with everyone! And so I give you the original link to Gwyneth's blog so that you can behold the wonders of wrapped headphones yourself! Hey you, click here!

So tell me folks, are you sick of boring headphones? Can't find a funky enough color to match your style? Well BAM check out these babies!

 

I actually did things a little differently than yourstrulyg's tutorial. I used embroidery thread instead of hemp, since I have a ton on hand because I make friendship bracelets.

 

As you can plainly see, LOTS of it. And yes, I do organize them by color.

I also didn't wrap but I make a series of loops and knots like you do when making friendship bracelets, so I got the effect of tiny little knots going down the sides but I didn't mind it, I actually really liked how it worked out for me on the top part of the headphones where they split into two different sides.

 

See? Cool spiral effect on that part. I had to kind of keep turning things to continue it, but I didn't mind. 

I think that any way you decide to try this out will work greatly. I really loved the original idea and thank Gwyneth for the permission to link back to her. Be sure to check out her blog as well, I am telling you, she has some pretty awesome stuff on there!

Starting Out

        Well, things are starting to look really great so far! I am so happy that I finally came up with a name and logo and everything. The logo, as well as my blog background, was created by me. Normally I would do this kind of stuff in MS paint, but a friend of mine informed me on this program called Inkscape and now I can create graphics that look like I paid someone to make them. It's actually really fun to play around with it. Just another creative thing I can become obsessed with, haha.

        For all you computer literate crafters, and those graphic obsessed, Inkscape can be downloaded HERE

The program is 100% free and you can export bitmap files and they look JUST as good as the normal Inkscape files. If you aren't the type of person to learn while doing like I am, there are tutorials available that clearly explain how to use the program.

        So other than spending the wee hours of the morning working on Inkscape I am slowly but surely setting up things to get my small handmade business going. There is still a lot of stuff to be done, but I hope to be open within a couple months if not sooner. Money constraints can be a huge pain when setting up something like this, and of course I am always coming up with new ideas for products or things I just want to try in general (like making my own pendants from wood). That being said, I am so happy to be starting up a business and showcasing my creativity as well as offering free tutorials, recipes, and other random bits and pieces to all of my readers.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!