I great collection of Ideas for Gifts for the Honeymooner! Click here to see the whole collection!
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How to make a twisted wire bracelet
Thanks to Dave Gilmore who shot this video when I was doing a demonstration at our local Artist gathering this month.
Arrowhead Feather necklace!
I have been thinking up new ideas and adding to my collection on Etsy and thought I would start sharing them here:
First is the Arrowhead necklace, I really like how this one turned out. Kinda speaks to a small part of my heritage, and would make my Gramma proud. Click on the image to visit my Etsy shop. 
Wood Ornament (part 2)
Yesterdays post described the supplies you might need. Today, you will paint your ornament .
Paint one side of the ornament with Gold Paint, let dry at least 2 hours. (if you add a star follow this technique for the star as well)
Paint the other side of the ornament with the Gold Paint, let dry 2 hours.
Once you are sure it is completely dry then coat one side with the Crackle medium. Let sit per crackle medium instructions. (I let mine site for about 20-25 minutes).
Paint over the crackle medium with Antique white, make one swipe strokes across the ornament, starting at an edge and ending at another edge. Do not go back over the same spot. Continue the one swipe painting technique until you have covered that side of the ornament. You will see it begin to crackle. Set it aside and let it dry overnight. When dry repeat the technique on the other side of the ornament, and let sit until completely dry on both sides.
Using a pigment pen draw dashes along the outside edge of the ornament.
Punch or drill two holes along the top of the ornament at least 1 1/2″ apart.
Cut a piece of wire about as long as the size of a round coaster.
Bend each end of the wire upwards halfway with pliers. Insert the end of the wire into the holes and use pliers to press the wire flat so that the back side of ornament has the end of the wire showing and flat against the ornament.
You may have to fiddle with the wire hanger take out any dents to make it more rounded.
If you wish to add a star to the top…. Tune in tomorrow….
yo yo’s, not the human kind…
I like to explore the shops when I visit the beach, usually the quilt store (used to do beads until it closed) although dangerous to the pocketbook the quilt store is not fattening… Thank god! I can always find a book there or a gadget (or yes fabric to fulfill my addiction). This last time, I found a gadget, I thought was pretty cool. Knowing me it has probably been around for a while, but it is new to me! It is from Clover and called the Quick Yo-Yo Maker and you can find it on the Clover website at http://www.clover-usa.com/product/453736/8702/_/Quick_Yo-yo_Maker_%28Extra_Small%29.
I bought the extra small one just to see how well it worked. They were so right, it whips up a small yo-yos, lickety split. I think that without this I would never have tried making one this small. Of course now I need to figure out what to do with them all. But that is always a separate endeavor. My first idea is to add sparkly beads to the center and then encase in resin and make something pretty to wear. If I had a light switch mold that might be another colorful idea for resin and tiny yo-yos. I will share whatever I come up with, whenever that might be. Here is an example of what they look like. Sideline quilts on Etsy makes them by the boatload.
Beachy Book Pages
I had some fun this weekend at the beach, playing with my book pages, paints and pencils. I had a vague idea of what I might want to work on, and since I only had a few days, I thought it would be perfect to start some drawing and maybe even color some in with paint.
Good thing I had my stuff, the weather ran quite the gamut over the weekend. First it rained (totally expected, as it is Oregon) then on Saturday the blessed sun came out, this pushed me outside to absorb the warmth and color! (the whole beach lights up with color when the sun comes out) Then on Sunday it snowed! I was greatly amused by the changes in the weather as they were so extreme. It fit me perfectly, as I never do anything in a logical to others order. You would think the weather would go in order of sun, rain, snow, not rain sun snow… oh well, chalk it up to the wonders of the world…
Before I left I had finished a drawing and painted it and applied it to my notebook. I used a page from an old book to draw and paint on and then applied it to my notebook using Golden Matte Medium. 
While I was there I drew and painted one for the other side. This page is also an old book page but you really cannot tell due to the amount of paint used.
I am seemingly obsessed with my little chickens and they seem to come out of the woodwork no matter where I go. Yes, I even draw in restaurants. On napkins, you question? Nope, I carry a tiny wallet type purse, and I have managed to always keep a set of white index cards and a pen in there. Very handy for when the order takes a while and your companion (read husband) runs out of conversation.
C’est la vie
.
Wearing your words….
I was thinking today about my friend Adam. I have known him for a few years now and have always been impressed with his artistic sense. He is a pretty down to earth kind of guy, no pretense and generally a pretty happy dude. I met him at the Art Gallery, he is a really wonderful photographer, that despite being so young, photographs in a very old school way. However, it wasn’t his photography that I was thinking about today, it was his screen printing.
Adam has dabbled in screen printing for a long time.. He has always had T-shirts with messages up by the collar or the pocket or the front or the back… you get the point I am sure. Whenever I asked him; hey where did you get that shirt? His answer was always, I made it! I love that! The making of things when you need them, when there just isn’t anything out there just like how you want it.
I was not surprised when he kicked off his screen printing business, nor was I surprised to see that it reflects the different parts of his personality. Just the name Serigraph Monotone. Meaning of serigraph being an “original silk-screen color print” and monotone meaning “a succession of syllables, words, or sentences in one unvaried key or pitch”. One of his prints is “I produce top notch free hugs” and one of the others is “Hug your local mail carrier” now not all of his shirts are about hugs he has many other sayings as well. The best part is that he prints on each shirt by hand and with care to make it just right. You gotta love that!
You can find him on facebook where he models some of his shirts and shows off some photo’s of equipment. You can reach him directly via email at Serigraphmonotone@gmail.com.
If you have words you want to wear, talk to Adam….
Stitching up some jewelry….
Once upon a time I would have thought I would never have the patience to learn the different stitches for making jewelry from seed beads. But, just recently I stepped forward and gave it a try. Wow, I really like the result! Now I didn’t just use seed beads, because it finally dawned on my that I was limiting myself (MEANING NOT TRYING IT) by just using the standard size 11 seed beads. So I stitched my first panel using herringbone stitch and glass square beads. I loved the look! Since then I have stitched up quite a few of these, practicing the herringbone, learning the even count peyote stitch. I will share when I finally get them made into proper bracelets!
Die Cut Fabric easy
Are you a scrapbooker that has invested in one of the die cutting systems like Sizzix or one of the others? Are you looking to stretch how you use this equipment? Wow, I am starting to sound like a company rep!
Ok, I have a couple of these die cut pieces of equipment and I love them. I found out recently that the quilting world has one as well for cutting fabric. This made me wonder if the one I have for paper would cut fabric. It does. It opened a whole new world for me, it made me think about how I could use fabric instead of paper for projects.
Now here is the disclaimer, that I do this at my own risk to damage to my dies. If you choose to do this and it results in damage to your dies etc, I am not liable. It is your choice to do so.
First iron a sewable fusible on the back of your fabric. Cut the fabric into pieces the size of your die. Run it through your machine. VIOLA! you now have a pre-cut fusible that you can iron onto any other fabric.
I used sewable fusible because I wanted to be able to sew through the applique after it was applied, without gumming up my machine needle.
With some of the letter embroidery sewing machines out there, you could embroider the fabric, apply the fusible, then die cut out any shape you have on hand.
Too much fun!!!
Easy Charm Bracelet for the holidays
Easy charm bracelet that you can make as a gift or bedazzle it for your own holiday attire. All you need is a chain that you like with links big enough for fit a lobster clasp in the links. Here are some sources for the supplies (its also a good way to see what each item is):
Lobster Clasps – These Open and close and you will attach to your chain
Hanging charms – 5-12 charms that you will attached a split ring to.
Chain – This is the base of your bracelet to which you will attach the open part of the lobster clasps.
How to:
Now that you have all of your supplies.
Put one charm on each Split ring.
Attach the split ring to the round portion of the lobster clasp.
Attach the open portion of the lobster clasp to a link on the bracelet chain.
(if your bracelet chain is not already equipped with a closure to hold it on your wrist. You can attach a split ring to one end of the bracelet and then attach that split ring to a lobster clasp. )
The open end of that lobster clasp can then be opened and attached to the other end of the chain when you wear the bracelet.
The great thing about this type of bracelet is that you can switch out the charms as easily as you can undo a clasp.
Give it a try!!
Happy Holidays!!
Sharon
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SharonOrella
If you would rather have someone make it for you, then send me a convo on Etsy with 2 week lead time and I can make you a custom bracelet or a bracelet kit. I will just need to know what theme you want and the size of your wrist.
