Enchanting Halloween Jewelry Charms
My favorite time of year, Fall is finally here! Cooler weather, plant-life changing colors and the promise of my favorite holiday of the year, Halloween just right around the corner. Now that I have a little more free time I am trying to find ways to use up a lot of my older art supplies mixed with new and interesting items. Scouring stores for Halloween decos, supplies, fabrics and ideas is favorite and seemingly a family tradition in our household.
I found at JoAnn Fabric Stores a wonderful line of Halloween charms by hildie & jo. The charms are sturdy, have a great finish and there is a great variety of carded charms. My only problem was most JoAnn Fabric Stores were selling out of the charms quickly and these were the only sets I could find. Each set had different themes and assortment of styles. I didn’t use all the charms yet but several I immediately knew what I wanted to create using up some of my older jewelry supplies.
The large two skull pendant set while advertised as Halloween charms I felt fit a Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) theme better. Noticing the skulls had a warm golden honey color rhinestone set in them along with a black enamel antiquing, I picked black and honey tone crystals from Fiona Accessories, silver flower and leaf beads to accompany the skull.
The rather adorable silver fang charm was just perfect as is, and I felt if I added any of the other charms to it, the piece would get lost. I matched the red enamel on the fangs to small red Swarovski crystal beads and silver-lined translucent red Miyuki magatama (oval) beads. By spacing the beads on the chain in irregular intervals, it created the look of crystallized blood flowing down the chain and past the fangs.
The tiny witch craft charms were so sweet and well crafted I felt adding them to silver earring hoops with purple Swarovski crystals was the best way to create a delicate but magical cascade.
The more tongue-in-cheek witch charms I turned into a bracelet, using black, green and pink Czech fire polished beads. The playful movement of the charms and drops added to the fun everyday style.
After having such a fun time creating these pieces I can’t help but want to haunt the stores for more!
What might inspire you to make some fashionably ghoulish accessories this season?
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
#Cre8time Jewelry Creations Inspired by Art History
Hello! With Spring in full swing I have been cleaning the plethora of crafting supplies I seem to always have. While I destash I can’t help but notice I seem to add to the collection without noticing! So this time I set myself the goal of using my more coveted supplies to create jewelry on a more regular basis. Today I wanted to show with you some of those jewelry creations inspired by Art History.
“Imhotep’s Gift”, vintage gold plated beads, Lapis Lazuli beads and vintage gold plated findings.
I have a serious love of Lapis Lazuli; the tiny highlights of naturally occurring Iron Pyrite always gives it a wonderful sparkle. Taking my inspiration from ancient Egypt, a matching set of chandler earrings and necklace was born.
“Roman villa”, gold foil and turquoise colored lamp-worked beads, Bead Gallery® gold rondelle beads, vintage gold plated findings and Blue Moon Beads® gold lantern focals from JoAnns.
The gold foil lamp-worked beads immediately reminded me of how ancient Roman glass looks when unearthed at archaeology digs. Using surviving Roman necklaces as a guide I used a link and drop design to create this necklace. I felt using the same beads would look a bit much for earrings so I went with lantern focal drops instead.
“Nepal Spring”, Sterling Silver Fair Trade beads from Nepal, vintage Sterling Silver spacer beads, Fiona Accessories black glass beads, Bead Gallery® turquoise tone Magnesite beads and vintage Sterling Silver findings.
I had bought the Nepal Fair Trade beads some years ago but could never think of what to do with them. I realized putting all the beads on one strand would be too heavy, so using only one bead as my focal I created a simple but stylish layout. The two additional beads from Nepal had their intricate details highlighted as earrings.
“Uranium Ball”, Neon green crystal beads (a discontinued line of crystals from Bead Gallery®?), vintage crystal and gold plated links, vintage gold plated spacer beads and vintage gold plated findings.
Once again the beads were my starting point of the design, the odd, almost glowing hue of the crystal beads made me think of Uranium glass. Uranium glass (also known as Vaseline glass), was glass tinted with Uranium to striking tones of green, was made into tableware and household items in the 1800 and early 1900s. Taking inspiration from the jewelry styles of the 1910-20s I created this set using mostly broken vintage jewelry pieces I have collected over the years.What type of wearable art could you create with a Spring destash of supplies?
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
Trade Bead #Cre8time and Destash!
Lately I have been in a craft and art supply de-stash mode. Sorting, organizing, giving away and even having art supply swaps with friends and family. Getting all of my supplies in order and finding long forgotten items always gets me in a creative mode.
In the process of cleaning my jewelry supplies I found collections of wire snippets. Whenever working with jewelry wire I always end up with snips of random length, size and style. I collect these pieces in hopes that I can do something creative with these scraps, however they just generally end up in little bags and boxes and forgotten about. This time I wasn’t going to let that happen.
Along with all the wire scraps I started to unearth glass trade beads I had collected over the years. This is just one of many of the storage containers of trade bead I found, mostly containing beads from Africa, Asia and Europe. Using an oh so expensive egg carton I started to sort the beads by shape and color hue.
Using the scraps of wire, needle nose pliers and wire snips I looped the pieces of wire to create eyepin wires for all of the sorted trade beads. I created as many as I could using up all the wire, taking a little bit of time every night for a week to create these beaded links.
In the end I had piles of different colored beads on gold and silver wire, perfect to make beaded link necklaces. So many, in fact, I was able to create 5 necklaces, 18 inch long, perfect to give as gifts to friends and family!
By doing a little bit of crafting de-stash what wonderful crafts will you create?
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
Crafty Recuperating Recap!
Hello! I am finally back after having to take a unwanted break thanks to getting the flu, then pneumonia which caused a partial lung collapse. Now that I am in better health it’s time to share all the projects I have been making for Amazing Casting Products while I have been recuperating and getting back on track with arts and crafting goodness!
Starting with the photo above I tried my hand at Resin Paper Jewelry, using imported papers from India. They were simple to make, highlighted the beautifully textured paper and became rather sturdy with the coating of resin.
My next project was born out of necessity. I have a collection of polyurethane Cabochon molds my mother had bought and used 45+ years ago. I now use them regularly to create many of my cabochon pieces. However when the molds get old and used a lot they can slowly become brittle. Well, brittle molds don’t take too well to being flexed and I shattered two of my best cabochon molds. See how I created new Cabochon Molds!
Since I have a fondness for Southwestern art and Celestial patterns, I wanted to try making my own Sun Disk Wall Plaques for my garden.
I had fun with a Tree Bark Texture Plate I made years ago but this time I created polymer clay pendants coated in resin and embellished with crystals in this Tree Bark Jewels Necklace.
Seeing the new home decor trend of blue and white country tiles and pottery, I wondered if I could attempt my own version with everyday craft supplies and without the need of a kiln! My Faux Delft Tile Decor ended up being a fun and new way to use acrylic paint, polymer clay and resin.
I spend a lot of time working out ideas and testing out craft supplies to see what might be possible with future projects. Some don’t work out, some are happy accidents and others a success. Here is a few of my Resin Tips and Tricks.
In the process of sorting my beads recently I noticed the hard plastic containers many small beads come in have perfectly smooth and glossy lids. I was able to make new resin pendant molds and create a selection of Springtime Pendants with dried plants, stickers and resin!
I hope these projects keep you inspired and Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
A December Crafting Recap!
December has come and gone so quickly! The holidays have been a whirlwind of making gifts, food, festive events and cold windy weather. With many shows and special events not only in December, but upcoming in 2016 it has been an ongoing artistic adventure. While some of the art projects I have been working on have yet to be displayed, I wanted to share some of my projects already showcased before the New Year started.
As I have noted in the past I have a serious love for Fiona Accessories beads. Along with their jewelry supplies they also make hand painted beaded bracelets for many holidays and seasons. I had gotten a few of their cute Winter holiday themed bracelets just for fun. While the bracelets are beautiful as is, I got the idea to turn them into earrings.
With the addition of silver spacer beads, earring wires and decorative head pins I was able to create festive earring sets and still have many beads left over for other projects.
With the help of using Amazing Casting Products Clear Cast Resin, Fiona Accessories beads and papercrafting supplies I created a series of handmade jewelry. You can check out the tutorial to make your own HERE.
A local SoCal High Desert historic site, The Antelope Valley Indian Museum, held a Holidays on the Homestead event in December. The historic grounds were decorated in vintage holiday style with live acoustic music around a campfire, a chili cook-off, tours of the grounds, and a handcrafted country craft boutique! With all the jewelry I had been making it made perfect sense to get a booth in the craft boutique. Even though it was a chilly night, I sold many pieces of jewelry and loved being in a hall surrounded by art.
Hope you take Amber’s suggestion of staying warm and happy this Winter. Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
Ancient and Contemporary Inspired Artistry