Extra bracelet kits for sale - All GONE!

You can assemble your own bracelet shown in the post below with just a pair of pliers! All the components needed are shown above. $25.00 includes domestic mailing. Email me if you are interested. The Email Me button is in the right column. I only have a few extras. I won't be making more of these.

skybluepink.com sale for pendant swap

Just wanted pendant swap artists and jewelry fans in general to know that skybluepink.com is having a sale in honor of the Mixed Media Art Friends Yahoo Group pendant swap (I'm hostessing) and Cloth Paper Scissors Pendant Swap. Grab these great deals while you can. I shop here all the time. I buy from here just like you do. I just try to get you a great deal in the process because I want to make the swap as much fun as possible. I don't get a thing for doing this from skybluepink.com. 8-D

Here is the link: http://www.skybluepink.com/belinda.html

Here are some other things I like from their website while you are there looking:

2" canvas: http://www.skybluepink.com/alterables.html
If you don't have Dick Blick near you.

Scroll down a bit and they have board books (called Possibilities Board Books) that are blank and ready to be altered. That saves you a lot of time and effort sanding down board books if you are really into ABs. I am going to get a couple and see how they compare to regular board books. My kids are past the age where they read board books (my sources have dried up).

Teeny tiny buttons: http://www.skybluepink.com/beads.html

Scroll down a bit further and on the beads page and you will come to my favorite Chunky Ball Chain Bracelets. I so love these! I wear those all the time. You can cut the excess length with a pair of cutting pliers. You can't beat the price.

Flat hand charms and Chinese charms: http://www.skybluepink.com/beads.html

Wooden Bingo numbers: http://www.skybluepink.com/products5.html
makes great charms or part of jewelry

Diamond Glaze and Smooch:
http://www.skybluepink.com/media.html

Letter Tiles and teeny puzzle pieces: http://www.skybluepink.com/products3.html
Letter tiles are great as charms or part of jewelry
puzzle pieces great for collage or ABs

Punchinella: http://www.skybluepink.com/punchinella.html

You can see some of my artwork/jewelry in skybluepink's gallery:
http://www.skybluepink.com/gallery9.html
http://www.skybluepink.com/gallery3.html
http://www.skybluepink.com/gallery.html

Whew! I am going shopping now before all of you take the stock and I am left with nada.

Finished resin jewelry

Sorry, the picts are a bit blurry. They looked more clear on my iPhone but they don't transfer too well onto my blog. I like to do the double chains on my necklaces. I like the contrast esp with a little bit of dangle. The earrings are the leftover charms from Art Unraveled. The majority of them are going to be samples for Little Windows. There were two that were not perfect - the way I like them. I used a heat gun and blasted them and they look so cool - like kinda burnt and crackled. I think I will keep those two and put them up on etsy.com. I know that I will never wear them. Maybe someone else will like them and actually wear them instead of just letting them sit around and collect dust like I do. Initially, I made the pipe bezels at a Jane Wynn workshop - you have to take a workshop with her, if you ever get the chance. I have made several more since then. I added on the key on the back to make it easier to attach the chain/jump ring. Besides, I like the look. I use my Dremel to cut the end of the key off, if the key is too long.

Comments welcome

Wire jewelry

The top necklace was done with wire loopies and beads put together with the eye pins. I added a lobster clasp so I could make it a double choker, if I wanted to wear it short instead of long. The nice big beads you see on it is from other pieces. You will be surprised what you can do with old, unused pearls, beads, and stuff like that. I take stuff apart all the time so I can assemble new things. I often feel the need to assemble. It is amazing what I can do with some wire, jump rings and "s" connectors.

The second necklace is a bunch of squiggles put together with the beads that I put together with eye pins. I used some jump rings and little "s" connectors. I wrapped some contrasting colored wire some of my squiggles. I give a quick tutorial on how to make the squiggles in the post after this.

The third necklace was made for a friend at work. It is just a bunch of bits and pieces put together. You just need some jump rings. Look at the picture. You can click on it to see a larger pict. I put some chains side-by-side. It is a great look when it is on. You might want to put a couple of small charms on there. I have something like it that I use as my lanyard for my school ID. Except for the gear (Tim Holtz), a lot of the little pieces are from jewelry shows I go to and from Joann's. You don't need to buy expensive things to put together. You just need to find fun and funky pieces. The silver man face beads that I use for various pieces like my copper book necklace is now sold at Joann's by Blue Moon Beads. I originally bought them from Artchix and on the Internet. When you can find old pieces that might not have all the pieces or broken clasps, take it apart to make your own signature jewelry. I have a whole box of extra stuff, if anyone would like to buy some to give this a try. Awhile back, I got a lot of stuff from an estate sale.

The bottom picture is of a bracelet I made myself this weekend. I took one of my squiggles and added some beads put on with the eye pins. There is a lobster clasp at one end. I wore it today and it looked fab on me.

I thought I would post these ideas for all of you creative people. We are all tightening our belts with this economy. If you have friends that you want to give a nice giftie to, you might want to consider making them a " __________" (put your name here) original piece of jewelry. You would be surprised how many people compliment me on the above pieces. So easy to make. The best part about it is that they are not symmetrical. They don't match! I got started on this wire binge because of a swap that is nearing its end. We are doing a private swap with 10 people where we create charms and part of the chain. We trade with each other and then put the chain together to make a necklace. You could also use the charm and piece of chain in separate pieces. The squiggles are for the chain part. They also would make great charms, if I added something at the end like beads or poly clay charms. It is so addictive when I am sitting there watching TV. Good thing I have a lot of wire on-hand.

BTW, if you want to start doing some wire wrapping, I recommend Creating Wire and Beaded Jewelry by Linda Jones. She has some great basic wiring techniques in there. Do not get this if you are an advanced wire artist. It is great for people starting out or want more ways to use wrapped wire.

Email me if you have any questions. Feel free to click on the picts for a larger view. Plz comment.

Quick wire tutorial

I love to use gun metal colored wire. I have found one place that carries it all the time. It is called Artistic Wire. I buy it in 18 ga and 20 ga. Most of the time, I use 20 gauge. I do not go higher than that because it gets too thin for what I want to do. The lower the number, the thicker the diameter of the wire.

If you look at the bottom pict, the left black wire is rebar/tie bar wire. It is about 14/16 gauge. It is harder to work with. I bought it at the hardware store. I think I got it at home depot. It came as a large coil. The middle copper wire is 18 gauge. The thinner silver wire is 20 gauge. I included the packaging for the 20 gauge wire. I buy 20 gauge and 16 gauge from Joann's with a coupon. The blue label you see above if from Joann's. I buy usually copper and silver colored.

If you look at the top pict, you will see an eye pin. You can find it in different lengths where they sell jewelry supplies. I get mine from places like Joann's or shows that I go to. I use those to piece together small beads, charm, etc...so I can add them to bracelets, necklaces, and stuff like that. Leave about 1-1.5" at the end so you can create another eye. I am kinda lazy. I just take my round nosed pliers, hold down the end and keep looping it around one of the jaws until I hit the bead or charm. That way, I have two eyes and I can put a jump ring or loop around that eye.

Okay. On to the middle picture of squiggles and loose wire wrapping. This is where you get the quick tutorial.

To make the squiggles, you need 14 or 16 gauge wire. Do not go thinner. You can go thicker but it will be hard to manipulate. I prefer 16 gauge. 20 gauge wire may crack off when you are hammering it flat. Cut off 4-6 inches of wire. You will get the feel of how long you want it to be based upon how long and how wide you will want your squiggles. Take your round nosed pliers and bend over one end to create a closed eye. You want the end closed so that a jump ring or wire loop will not go through any opening. Use your round nosed pliers and grip a spot on the wire. Use your other hand and bend the wire over to make a loop. Make loops of different sizes and lengths until you are near the end. Use the pliers and make an eye at the other end. Basically, all you are doing is using the round nosed pliers and looping the wire back and forth. Experiment with different squiggles. It is a great thing to do while watching TV.

It's hammering time. Be careful during this part so you don't accidentally bang your middle finger by the nail. Yes, I did it a few times and my middle finger raised itself up at me and swore at me. You know what I mean. It used some very colorful language after I did it to myself a couple of times. Start on one end and give it some hard bangs on the bench block. You can also do it on some hard solid surface. Just be careful to not crack something. I turned it around and started banging on it from the other end. You will know when to stop. The wire is not as shiny and it is a bit more flat with some texture/indentation marks from the hammer. If your eye opened up a bit, then use a pair of pliers and carefully close the end. Repeat until your finger swears at you, you get tired, or you are done with the batch. The flattening of the wire with the hammer and bench block is called work-hardening.

Loose wire wrapping. This is a tremendously simple thing to do that adds a great look to your jewelry. You can do a variation of this with beads, charms and other embellishments. I do this with the end of a paintbrush or just round nosed pliers. The idea is to do it loosely and not perfectly to give it a funky, fine look. You can use one of those wire winders to get a perfect spring looking wrap. That is not the look that I am going for here. If you are using a paintbrush, then leave a little bit at the one end so you can do an eye loop when you are done. Wrap the wire around the paintbrush. Do not do it perfectly. Leave a little gap. Overlap a couple of rows. When you are done, leave a bit at the other end for an eye loop. Use round nosed pliers and create eye loops at each end. You are done! I would start off with several inches of wire. Adjust the size of the loops and the length according to what you want to do. You can do this with 20-16 gauge wire. If you are just using round nosed pliers, start with the eye loop and wrap the wire around one rounded jaw a few turns. Take it off and put the jaws through the other end. Keep wrapping the wire around the end of the jaws. The end that you have already done should be falling off the ends of the plier jaws you are using. Don't forget to not be perfect and let some rows overlap with each other. Finish the end with an eye loop. You can see a small silver and copper loopies in the middle pict.

Email me if you have any questions.

Trinkets from Bead Show

There was a Bead Show in Naperville by my house last Sunday. I popped in, browsed quickly, and left. I did not buy much but I got some cool stuff while I was there. I put the cards in the scan so I don't have to do the links. Just click on the pict for a larger view.

Last nite, I felt the need to assemble. So, I put together a little found glass bracelet and bottle cap choker. The puffy bottly caps are a little pricey so I only bought a few. I can probably do it for myself but thought about where I would really do it or not. The answer was a resounding "NO!". They are pretty cool. The choker is put together with some beads, black rubber cord, and some basic wire wrapping.

I really like the bracelet. I just used some black rubber cord with some beads. I love those little glass beads. They were just the right. I could fit both parts of the cord into the bead hole. I also stuck in some of the loose beads that I have not used yet. I went on ckoopbeads.com and they did not show the little beads on there except for the little tube ones. If you are interested in them, then email her and link to my pict. She will know what you are talking about. The glass garden site had the bottle cap beads on there.

I get my rubber cord from eBay: http://stores.ebay.com/WallyWorld-Emporium

I also have gotten some bead chain and silicone cord necklaces from there. The silicone cord necklaces were for my daughter's cheerleading. They are great. They have snap enclosures so you don't have to attach anything. Don't forget the connectors or crimps for the other stuff! This seller is really reasonable and ships quickly. If you teach (like I do), the silicone cords are great as rewards or as part of a craft project for the holidays/birthday/rewards.

Finished Plexiglas necklaces

Figured I might as well do them while I have the inclination to do so. I finished them this morning. They are already spoken for. I will let you know when I make more. Next time, if I emboss, I might put something darker in back so the gold embossing comes back more. I might have to go and buy some black embossing powder instead.

Plexiglas Experiments

I recently got Plexi Class - a book about creating plexiglas jewelry. Well, I have a plastic cutter already and some plexiglass. I have sheets of it. They are about 1/8" thick or about 3 mm. Do not get it too thin or it might be too sharp to wear unless you use more than one layer. Thin might be okay for earrings. You will see in the pict that I did some simple ones. I will play more later when I am not so tired and don't have a killer migraine. I have not had one of these since before my sinus surgery. I hope that this migraine is more the exception than the rule.

Cutting plexiglas is a lot like cutting glass or tile. You need to have a plastic scorer. I have a scorer like the one in the book. It is the Fletcher brand. I recommend that you put something underneath your cutting mat to catch the little bits of plexiglas that comes off when you score it. BTW, The tool is very sharp and it really digs into the mat. You might want to use one that you don't care if you have gauges in it. Do as the book says and score the plexiglas at least 5 times to get a deep groove. I used a towel and put it over the piece I was taking off the larger sheet. It gets easy to break off the pieces once you do it a few times. There is also a tool that does it. It looks like a wide mouth pliers that has a rectangular grip. I don't have one of those and don't need to have one. BTW, the little bits and shards are very similar to glass. You can hurt your feet if you step on one. I got a little plexi sliver in my hand and had to dig that out. Just warning you, if you want to play with this. I vaccuumed the area where I was working after I was done so my kids would not accidentally step on anything sharp. I cut several smaller pieces from the large sheet.

First, I tried to smooth out the edges with the grinding attachment on my Dremel. It ended up melting part of the edge. No matter what the speed, it melted part of my edge. I tried it also with the fine sanding attachment and it did not give me a smooth edge. I ended up using fine grit sandpaper. You might want to use a sanding block if you have any problems with your hands. Do this in an area that you can easily clean up or over a big garbage can. The fine grit sandpaper also was able to round out my corners a bit. I got nice, rounded corners. I sanded the surface of the plexiglas piece to get that frosted look.

I tried one piece where I layered it and joined the two pieces with small 1/16 screws and nuts. That was okay. I liked the embossing better. I am going to try it with a hole through the plexiglas and wire wrapping small objects in the hole. Lots to try, but when I am more coherent. I think I might do this for my charm necklace swap. I plan on finishing these plexi chams - turning them into necklaces/chokers. I will post when I do that. Trying to get some sleep now. Big day later on today. Bead show and then meeting up with some fab artists.

Wire Formed bead bracelet

Harriet recently made one of her own, so Sandy and I had to do it, too. Mine turned out great. The fit is adjustable. I found out that I liked wearing it without a clasp better than with one. The pictures do not do it justice.

Have to tell you something very funny. Sandy had some liver of sulfur chunks to color the wire/metal. Well, some of the wire must have had some good coating because they would not change colors. Being the way I am, I took off one of my silver rings and dropped it in. Sandy gasped very loudly. I thought something awful happened. She was amazed that I would do it to my ring. No big. I dropped in my other one. They both now have the best patina on them. It is starting to wear off a little since it is sterling silver. She was sooo funny. She is the bestest hostess. She made a spaghetti lunch with salad.

Have to tell you that it took the longest time for me to spell spaghetti correctly. Now, I just have to remember how broccoli is spelled. I don't know how I got along before spell check and Google.

We had a lot of fun. They are good friends.

Trinket bracelet and necklace for sale

They are in my etsy shop. I figured that since I was not going to wear them - that someone else might like them. You can find them here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=74651

Click on the pict for a larger view.

Tim's Trinkets for swap

Made up some more trinkets while watching TV with the kids. I am waiting for my ball chain to show up to make them into necklaces. They are part of the Trinket pendants for the Ask Suze Yahoo group swap.

Finished Trinket

Here is one that I finished. I used the swirl grungeboard. I painted a thin coat of the acrylic pesto paint that Adirondack used to call their 3D paint. It is their metallic acrylic paint with a tip at the end of a squeeze bottle. Let dry. Sand swirly raised part. Use frayed burlap or vintage photo Distress Inks and swipe across raised areas. Used black StazOn and stamped randomly on grungeboard with text stamp. Add text from book with glue - distressed first with Distress Inks. Put on a painted copper strip with eyelets. Added a bottom piece. The lower right thing is a fuse lamp. Much fun doing that last night. Fuse held to grungeboard with a little glue and wire. The metal part of the pendant is attached only at the top with a jump ring through the grungeboard. Much fun, much fun. Did not take very long.

Comments welcome.

WIP pendants

This is what I have done so far for the Tim's Trinkets Pendant Swap. I was watching the new Friday nite cartoons with my kids and had to do this so my head would not melt. I still have to do the background and wait for the ball chain to show up. I ordered some from Suze and I am waiting for it.

My newest choker

I was making samples pendants for my Tim's Trinkets Pendants Swap when I decided to make this last night. I had 3 small pieces that I got from Zoa Art that I wanted to use. I have a couple of bracelets like this and I decided that I did not need another. I thought it looked best as a choker instead of a hanging necklace. Yes, I have a small neck. Even my dh liked this. He gave me a more elaborate comment than "that's nice!". You will also see some Tim's Trinkets in there. Tim's trinkets are Tim Holtz Idea-ology pieces. Suze Weinberg called them trinkets so that kinda stuck with me.

You can click on the pict for a bigger view. Comments welcome

My newest bracelets

Not feeling too well today. So, I just rested and did some assembling. I recently got some of the new Tim Holtz Idea-ology sprockets, swivel clasps, and trinket pins. It is amazing what can be done with some black cord, wire, and jump rings. I have very small wrists - that is why the bracelets look small - because they are! I did the one on the right a couple of days ago and have been wearing it. People have been commenting about it when I am out. A group of volleyball players wanted me to teach them how to make it! The one on the left was done while I was watching reruns of CSI after dinner. The swivel clasps and trinket pins are great as clasps.

Click on the pict if you want to see a larger, more detailed view. Comments are welcome. BTW, Suze Weinberg just announced that she is selling them. While you are there, take a look at the bezels she carries. I think they are great for UTEE or resin. I am waiting for the copper ring bezels to show up.

Suze's site is http://www.schmoozewithsuze.com/index.php

Comments always welcome.

Weekend Assemblages

I took the weekend off from any heavy artwork. I cleaned, hung out, and basically tried to recharged my internal batteries. I was exhausted from going 3-4 weeks non-stop. I watched TV with the kids. We went out and did things. They got to play in the pool. We spent some quality time together. While we were watching TV, I set up some stuff so I could assemble some jewelry. I had gotten some really fun pieces and wanted to put them together.

The third pict is from mostly Tim Holtz stuff that I bought from skybluepink.com. If you click on any of the picts, you will get a larger view. The Tim bracelet looks great on my wrist. I got the idea from his idea-ology make 'n take necklaces from CHA. I am so groovin' on the piece of leather strap made into loops with some wire wound around it. The little jump rings that I added really makes the look.

Just thought I would share. I still have some of the copper book necklaces for sale on my etsy.

Copper Book Necklace kits for sale

These are samples from the mini-workshop I taught last Tuesday. People had no problem making them within the hour and a half timeframe. The copper may look different on each pendant. That is because the patina/oxidizing solution does that depending on how long I leave it in. I used Jax this time and like it much better than other solutions that I have used in the past.

I had so many people ask me if I had any kits left over from my workshop, that I made some more up today. This is it. I don't have enough supplies left to make any more complete kits. Once they are gone, I am done, done, done.

You can get the kit here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13704437

DIY Bangles in lastest CPS newsletter

The newsletter came out on Monday. I have not had time to write about it. Other people actually told me about it at some workshops that I was teaching this week. It is in issue #93 of their email newsletter. It is not archived yet, so I cannot give you a link to it. Email me and I will forward it to you, if you would like. Some people have asked about the bangles.

Here is their site: http://www.diybangles.com/shop/

Here is Robin Beam's blog - she has some great samples of bangles that she did using Streuter's glue foil (which I really need to try, anyone have a sample?):

http://pearlesq.blogspot.com/2008/07/gaggle-of-bangles.html

If you are interested in the glue foil, here is the Streuter website:

http://www.streuter.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=82&Itemid=307

Scroll down to the bottom and they have a demonstration video -we all love those technique demos, don't we? There is also a link to buy some of the glue foil at the bottom. It says "purchase here" in red. Glue foil is foil sheets that already have the adhesive on the back. You can easily emboss on this and just stick it on whatever you want. If you work with metal sheet, then you know how hard it can be sometimes to keep the metal glued onto a surface. I am going to get the copper glue foil. Hmmm. I bet their regular glue film would work great with my copper sheet. Okay, need to go and play now.

Thanks so everyone who emailed me and told me about my bangles being in the CPS newsletter. I am also in the latest issue of Quilting Arts magazine, which I do not have yet. Others have received their copy and have emailed me to tell me. Thanks for letting me know. I just need it to show up now.

My two mini-worshops last nite

I am so tired and sore from teaching and hauling yesterday. They were both went over very well. Before I tell you about it, I have to give a huge, huge "thank you!" to my friend, Sandy. She helped me with both classes. She was a tremendous help. I could not have done it without her.

I first helped out in someone else's class. Deb taught metal etching. It was only an hour and a half class, so the etching was not very deep. I have the stuff, so I will have to take the time and try it for myself. I could create some great looking copper pieces.

My first class was the copper book necklace class. I had oxidized the copper sheet, cut it up, and did a class kit with all the materials in it except for the chain. The class went really smoothly. One of my crop-a-diles broke, so I will have to work on getting a new one. The crop-a-dile went over so well that people were swapping Joann's coupons to get one. Some women could not punch through the copper sheet with the regular punch but had no problems with the crop-a-dile. Everyone got to finish theirs, even the ones who showed up late. I did not have time to take pictures - wish I had. They all came out fantastic. It was very satisfying to see how great they turned out. People came up to me and told me what a great class it was. They turned out a great piece of jewelry in just an hour and a half. I thought that the wire wrapping would be the hardest part. The punching and setting of the eyelets was the hardest. It was very nice to see all those women leaving with smiles on their faces - happy that they did something like that themselves. A lot of them commented on how organized I was and how well the class went. They loved the kit. I sold off all my extra ones. Yeah, I am feeling pretty good right now. Sandy was a huge help. She gave a private lesson to people who showed up late. There was a bus tour and they ended up coming back really late. It sucks to be late and flustered to a workshop.

The second workshop was mainly using Color Wash and Radiant Rain with some masks. We did the polymer gloss and mica technique. We dyed VIVA paper towels. We did the Color Wash and Radiant Rain on wrapping paper. We finished off with the masks. This class also went really well. Sandy had the chance to play in this class. There were less people in this class. It was a bit slower and more mellow. Some of the plastic gloves seeped through. I was surprised about that. Mine were fine. Sorry, ladies.

Today is a Dremel lunch and birthday stuff.

Last of the Dremel Earrings

Okay, this is the last of them. I finished them up this morning. I have 4 WIP projects all packed up and ready to go!