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.

Today I posted the first one on Etsy.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

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

.

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….

He doesn’t just take a photo and leave it at that (although sometimes he does).  He takes them a step further, he explores the possibilities and turns his photography into art.   A great example is this lovely photo of one of our local parks.

The first thing I really like is that it is a panorama which gives it such a great depth of field. Secondly that he did this by using a program to stitch several photo’s together.  Then there is the richness of color and line that this photo has.

Dave tells me that he used http://ipiccy.com/ to play with this photo, primarily he used the Hugin program and the HDR in Effect function.  He describes this program as easy to use and best of all free.

Enjoy this beautiful photo of Snyder Park in Sherwood Oregon, courtesy of David Bryan Gilmore.

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!!!

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.

Split  rings -  These are just like key chain rings only much smaller.   You will want one of these for each charm, and 2 extra potentially for the ends of your chain and I always get 2 more than that to lose in the carpet…

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.