Square Knot Bracelet .. Try One .. Will it Work?

So when things go wrong .. like sitting in a Michael's parking lot .. with the smart phone being very dumb .. and not working .. I can't access my coupons!  Major dilemma!!  Hmmmm .. so call ATT and they say there is an outage .. and reset my phone for me .. in the meantime I've gone in the store and found a few things I need (right .. need) .. and the gal says she will honor the text I can't get to .. LOL .. yippee!!  Extra 15% off even when the stuff is on sale!!

Back out to the car .. and I have some string with me .. and rerunning youtube's through my head as I'm calling ATT again .. hmmm .. I'll try making a bracelet with the findings I just bought .. and the string I have ... no scissors .. fingernail clippers .. that'll do the trick!

No way to measure .. no way to make the string longer .. so here goes:

I don't think I got it quite right and I know it's not going to fit around a lot of people's wrists but it does fit around mine .. so I'm good with rejects ;o)  Actually quite a quick project and fun to learn!  Think I better try another with with the sailor bracelet string .. and maybe add some bling .. where is the bling department .. (sigh)

NOW - my phone is fixed .. ;o)  All is good ;o)))

There's A New Store in Town ~ O'Fallon IL ~ Goodies Galore

New Store?  Goodies Galore?  How Can I NOT Go?

OK, so it's the online newspapers that are causing me to go ~ they found it and had to put it in a spot where I could find it!  Said there are all kinds of things to see .. nothing consignment .. easy to find .. and actually I'm really glad to see another store in O'Fallon ~ beats the heck out of empty storefronts!  BUT REALLY .. does it have to have Goodies .. and not just goodies .. but Goodies Galore?  LOL .. ok .. it's my fault .. I saw the write up yesterday and went there right after work .. did I bother to read that they are closed on Monday .. NOPE .. did I peek in the windows .. YEP!

Soooooooooo, today after work I headed straight there - and wandered around looking at all the neat 'stuff' .. lots of things really thought they needed to come home with me - but I had to behave .. a strange concept I know ..

Hmmm .. what did I see .. furniture, jewelry, toys, children's things, clothing, tools, knick knacks, shoes, purses, luggage, books, dvd's, vhs movies etc. etc.,  (not doing justice here) and .. I had to laugh .. BEANIES!!!  Attic Treasures!!  Back in the day this store would be flooded with people snatching the beanies!  Gotta admit I didn't really check prices except on things that I thought for sure would follow me home - and everything seemed reasonably priced! 

Best of all was meeting Annette - very nice and fun to chat with.  (Not that I'd babble .. nope, not me)  I hope this store starts blogging so I can see what they get in as things start to go out!  And ............ tada ............. needed to get myself motivated to blog more ... such a slacker .. but the weather is really nice, this was a great adventure .. and really hope the success fairy helps this store along the way ...

Should have gotten more pics .. argh!  Ok .. so now to practice my mystery braiding ... or should I go get ice cream ..

Is this Ladder Stitch .. Stretch Magic .. ?

Well here I went again .. wanted to try doing 'ladder stitch' and create something fun .. but didn't want to use anything expensive to practice on .. so hmmm . let's see .. find some purty beads .. and Stretch Magic .. not sure what size either the beads or the stretch magic is .. but another adventure!

Seemed easy, other than puzzling out how to do the clasps .. added some earrings .. and VOILA!  Still don't know if this is a 'real' ladder stitch or if it's just something I made up .. but it works!! 

Memory Wire - Where Have I Been?

Where in the world have I been?  How come nobody told me that this stuff existed and all the potential for neat and interesting creations?  Thanks once again to April .. Three Sisters Crafts .. and her generous (to a fault, yep .. to a fault) outpouring of support to the local community .. I attended her most recent gala last weekend!  She not only raised beaucoup money toward stomping out Breast Cancer (all donation!!) but she even managed to serve up some make and take adventures to all of the stragglers (that would be me) who popped in.

After seeing the opportunities .. free beads .. free card making .. free entertainment .. free food and yes, FREE COOKIES .. where do you spose I spent the day ;o)

Ok, so bracelet size memory wire .. never tried it .. and PINK beads everywhere .. all sizes from seed beads to some pretty wild, large beads ... and I'm told it couldn't be simpler .. guess what .. it is simple!!  This is my very first bracelet using no rhyme or reason to create .. just stringing along and listening to varied conversations all around me as other ladies played too ;o)

The ease of completing this still astounds me .. even though the wire is brutal tuff stuff it's that way on purpose to maintain the shape .. so once the end loops are done the beads can't escape .. almost looks like a pretty slinky ;o)

 Well .. I couldn't believe how quickly this one went!  C'mon .. ask me if I want to try another project .. LOL .. yep .. I sure did!  How bout I pass on making the card .. and try making the 'other' kind of bracelet using the 'stretchy stuff' .. another project I've never tried! 

 This was fun too!  I think I made it too big and still I"m ok with it because I see the way it's done from start to finish as well as tying it of .. gotta get some of that GS Hypo Cement .. note to self!!

 Now this one was my "all by myself" trial .. using tiny green and blue beads alternating with blue and irridescent teardrop beads .. I love the color combination .. gotta get busy and make some earrings to match!

 Ho Hum .. why stop at the bracelet size .. Hey April .. do you have any of this stuff in ring size?  Yep, of course she does!!  Yeehah!  Soooooooooooooo .. although I don't have the slightest idea how or what possessed me to try a ring .. here it is anyway!  I didn't do a very good job of wire wrapping, and the size of the loop is almost big enough for both thumbs at the same time .. I still had fun attempting this and will have to kind of regroup on size .. or find someone who has extremely large toes or something to test it out for durability.

Close up of ring ~ still haven't tried the necklace/choker size .. but I'm sure I will!


Thanks April for all your generosity - I know the tremendous effort you put into all the adventures you do and can't wait for the next 'play day' .. pencil it in, ok?

Instamorph & Friendly Plastic - Adventures in Melting and Creating

Friendly Plastic - a retro craft that I never tried but one day in Hobby Lobby I saw some of the neatest colors .. and of course they jumped in my basket .. then home to see what kind of videos are out there - and it seems like there aren't really a lot - but enough to get me started.  I bought some pellets from Amazon called 'Insta Morph' and with the help of a very friendly Instamorph guru (Brian) (http://www.instamorph.com/) I decided to play with both these products together.

The Friendly Plastic is really fun - and I can see lots more projects in my future .. the Instamorph is great too!  I found the friendly plastic too 'thin' for making pendants and used the white Instamorph pellets .. they melt totally clear .. to create a very stable backing for what I wanted.  I'm hooked - have to find more time to play!

Different selections of Friendly Plastic melted over thin layer of Instamorph / then applied to bamboo piece and wire wrapped for pendant.



Friendly Plastic leftovers in many colors melted together and sprinkled with tiny glass beads, mounted on thin metal backing and wire wrapped.

 

Friendly Plastic melted over Instamorph / shaped with small cookie cutter

The other thing I tried was really fun .. took a heart shaped cookie cutter and melted Instamorph .. then used an irridescent white slab of Friendly Plastic as a top cover ~ that part came out extremely well.  My thought was to use the shape 'upside down' and make a bunny .. problem is I can't draw and the face didn't come out the way I wanted it to .. PLUS how will I do the ears .. ho hum .. this is a blooper //


Bunny Flop .. melting was fine .. shape perfect .. but can't draw .. seems like the ink 'ran' using black Sharpie

The next two are mixing products again - and what I really love about these is the variations that are possible by accident or on purpose if I'm lucky enough ;o)

Mini Cookie Cutter shape with Instamorph layer / covered with scraps for color .. wrapped with lightweight metal sheet / black color .. edges punched with paper punch.

Very mixed 'media' on this one and I love it!  Melted Instamorph then 'painted' with random colors of nail polish.  Remelted and added in scraps of Friendly Plastic around the edges .. still need to finish these pieces and either wire wrap or add to the back for hanging pendant.

This is a great craft!!!  Would love to see more information, postings, ideas, feedback!!  Let's play!!!!!



Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Can't hardly grasp that it's already time for turkey and fixin's!  A beautiful fall arrangement just arrived at my desk - and what a nice surprise!  Yellow rose buds nested in fall colors with tiny mums and others complementing the buds!  The crock / mug vase is something I haven't seen before and I just love the whole thing!  Reminds me of romps in the back lot through sticks (yes, even branches are in this), pine cones, and tons of leaves .. where oh where are the squirrels and acorns though?  Oh yeah, still in Essex .. wonder what these fall lily looking flowers are .. will a sneaky raccoon pop out .. hmmmm ...

So, it's true .. Thanksgiving is right around the corner .. so many to be thankful for - so many changes again this year .. losses and blessings .. Thank You Chuck for the flowers and all you have done and continue to do for us.   

Happy Thanksgiving to all - and very special thank you's to my boys for being who they are and all they have done throughout the years .. Chris and Doug .. my inspirations for all that I need and hope to accomplish. 

Argh, ok, enough .. I'll get started and not be able to stop ..

Spiders, Pendants, Christmas Story, and FUN!

What a fun day I had yesterday!  Early voting (whew, glad that's done) made me get out and about early .. and off to a fairly good sized craft show - ideas galore and yeah, cookies too!  Then off to do errands .. but .. umm . . one more side trip to The Bead Place in Swansea IL .. for an adventure in spider making! 

Late as usual, I got lucky finding out it was 2 hours of drop in lessons .. FREE mind you ... and it was all I could do to sit still waiting for a chair ;o)  What to choose?  Should I do a sparkly spider ornament ... or should I make earrings ... or should I go for a pendant? 

Sparkle .. yep, that's what I'll do first .. and yippee .. a chair!!  Help me find the right supplies .. ack .. so many and I have to pick colors too?  Yipes!!  Ok, got it .. off to the sparkly spider creation .. and oh what fun it was .. you've GOT to be kidding me .. this floppy tangle is going to turn into a purty spider?  LOL!  YES!!  It did .. and in the process, I learned of a legend (Thanks Abbi) ~ The Christmas Spider ~ and if you don't know the story look it up ~ it's awesome!!

So, I've named my spider .. IMP .. for a few reasons .. full of pep, won't stay still, cute of course .. and lots of fun!  Here he is ..

I even learned some new tricks!  Debatable if I'll ever remember them but .. ummmm .. that's why shout outs were created, right?

Well, I couldn't just stop here .. so off to the other table .. and I decided to make a pendant spider web .. mainly because I have never tried a pendant before .. and it looked so awesome on a beaded chain .. ready?  Here we go!     First question .. how is your wrist today?  Uh Oh .. my wrist?     How come?

The wire!  Never used this kind of wire before and it was great to play with!  The web is done!  Learning more new tricks!!  Make a spider now?  Are you kidding me?  How many legs do spiders have anyway?  Oh yeah .. I know that already .. just learned it .. they have 8 .. 4 on each side .. yep, that's my story!

I want a blue spider .. no particular reason .. I'm sure there is such a thing somewhere .. cool beans!  Slight problem though .. the head won't fit the body .. oops .. ok, black head with blue body .. ;o)  Had to break and see the other ladies earrings .. totally incredible .. and I hope they post them too!  Ready .. set .. go .. trim the spider legs .. sure .. lol .. like I know how long a spider's legs are?  Snip, snip, snip .. and voila!!

Hopefully more days like this will happen throughout the year!  Now I think I'm off to make another spider .. for Christmas ~ ;o)