Down the Rabbit Hole

Alice in Wonderland has inspired many creations from art to jewelry to fashion. I decided to try my hand at something inspired from that crazy story.

It helped that in my last box of beads, I found cute little chair charms! 

The first thing I had to do was think of the essence of Alice in Wonderland. I figured that the movie was made of locks and keys and "drink me" drinks and "eat me" cookies, flowers and cards!

So, I searched through my stash and looked for items that would match these elements.

FALLING



             DOWN



                               THE

                             
                                               RABBIT


                                                                   HOLE!

I came up with red beads for the Red Queen, mushrooms (because lets face it, this story was made by someone who was obviously on these), a lock, a chair, flowers and some pearls for the innocence of Alice.
All of these items come from the awesome Blue Moon Bead line!

A little taste of Industrial

If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I absolutely love Steampunk! It's the coolest style of jewelry in my opinion. Industrial jewelry is so unique and nothing comes out looking the same, I think that is why I like it so much.

Whenever I'm at craft fairs, it always amazes me who buys my Steampunk items. It's usually not who I thought would buy it. I even have cute little old ladies say they absolutely have to have it!

In July of 2014 I plan on having a booth at the Steamfest in Ogden and I'm so excited! I've been making tons of Steampunk items.

But just because it's industrial doesn't mean that it had to be huge and chunky and weigh a million pounds. In fact, I am on a mission to prove that stereotype wrong. I want to create a line where you can wear a little bit of steampunk with your outfit daily! 

Here is one of my newest earrings. I made these with fun Blue Moon Beads from a bead tin. All I added was silver gears and Viola, a perfect Steampunk creation that doesn't weigh a ton and will not kill your ears by the end of the day.

I like them because they are simple enough to wear with any outfit, but still make a statement.

Layer those Bracelets!

If you haven't noticed, layered bracelets are in style right now. I've tried my hand at a few different styles of them, but I've found that by far, the easiest ones to make are the stretchy kind. 

If you're a lazy person like me, than this project is for you!

Grab a bunch of fun beads that coordinate well and some stretch cord.

 

I set them up on my bracelet pallet, which has three rows, and I moved the beads around until I had three fun bracelets to string together. (Honestly, choosing them takes longer than actually putting all three bracelets together)

     

                          

String them. Then layer them. I made a few bracelets with the same basic color scheme so I could mix and match.

The cool thing about this, is you could just wear one, or all three, or even four! Let your imagination run wild.

The Gift of Creativity!

Like a lot of people now-a-days, money is tight in my household as well.

With Christmas less than a month away, it's time to search the couch, inside out all pockets and scrounge for money to buy Christmas gifts.

But what happens when all of that searching comes up empty? That just means it's time to get creative!

I don't know about you, but for me, everyone kind of expects jewelry from me now...I mean, it is my hobby. So, this year, I'm throwing them a fast one. I won't be making jewelry, but instead, gifting creativity!

I've seen jar gifts all over Pinterest and I always thought that was a good idea. People can use Jars for so much, so it's like two gifts in one!

With a $3 jar from Walmart, I began to weed through my stash of beads (and a crazy stash it is) and other artsy things to put in this "Creative Jar".

I tried to add in a little bit of everything. For example: Buttons, Beads (glass, ceramic, fabric, wood), pendants (Glass, wood, stone), Charms, Velcro, Glue, Gears, Hair accessory, findings, etc...

Basically, anything that I thought could be used in a project, went into the jar.

It looks like a jumbled mess (it kinda is), the idea is to inspire creativity in the recipient. 

The person that I'm gifting this to, is a craft junkie and so I think that at least a few things in this jar will be used. If anything, it will be fun to look through and discover what is in the jar.

I slapped on some ribbon and a cute tag and there you have it. A perfectly presentable and cost manageable gift.

The great thing about the Creative Jar is that you can make them with pretty much any craft.

If you scrapbook, cut up some fun shapes and strips from your scraps and put them in there. 

If you sew, gather your scraps and make a "Scrap Quilt Kit".

The list goes on and on. 

Side note: Making this jar is a great way to de-clutter some of your craft supplies. It's also a way to give something a second chance at actually being made into something. I don't know about you, but my collection has grown so great that there is no way that I could make all the things I originally planned on making. 

There you have it. I hope that helps some of you who were wondering what to gift someone.

If you make a Creative Jar, I would love to hear about it!

No Chain, No gain

Chain is an awesome addition to any jewelry piece. If you add an extra layer of chain to a necklace, it can completely transform the style.

Want a simple necklace? Slap a pendant on a thin chain!

In my workings with chain, I've learned which style, size and colors I like best. I use chain a lot!

So, what do you do with all those small scraps of chain left over from all your projects? You know what I'm talking about, the five or six links that were left of a certain chain that you couldn't bring yourself to throw away. Don't deny it!

Well, here's a project that can help clean up all those baby scraps.

Gather your scraps of similar color (or you can do complete opposite colors for a more spunky necklace) and link them together.

Doesnt matter the size link or length, put them all together in a way that makes you happy. Then add a fun strand of beads to pull it all together. 

With this necklace, I added a fun leaf pendant from Blue Moon Beads Stone Age collection as well as a metal backing from their Urban Warrior line.

I made a fun pattern with beads and spacers to complete my bead strand. All in all, this necklace is different from anything you see out there! Another fun fact, even if you made more than one, no two would come out the same.

So dig through your scraps and let your creativity soar!

It would be just as simple to make a bracelet with chain scraps. Experiment.

I'd love to see what you make!

Strands and Ribbon

I found the prettiest blue beads and knew I had to make a necklace worthy of them! 

I used some natural stone from the Stone Age line from Blue Moon Beads and a few fun colors of seed beads. 

It was simple to string them and then twist them, I used brown ribbon to accent the cool colors.

I like it!

Halloween is coming!

Halloween is right around the corner and I was hit with a streak of inspiration. I decided that the colors alone made for an awesome combination.

Basic Halloween colors: Orange (of course), purple, black and green!

Staying true to my sudden obsession with all things lanyards, I decided to make a Halloween LANYARD! Complete with eyeballs and skulls. It is so cute, if I do say so myself.

Are any of you guys dressing up this year? Well, I am like a little kid at heart and I absolutely love to dress up, even when it's not Halloween. 

This year, I decided to pull off the cute witch look, complete with mini witch hat!

My friend and I stayed up to the wee hours of the morning making the coolest mini witch hats from scratch. Taking a slab of thin cardboard, we shaped and struggled with hot glue guns to make these, but they were totally worth it. 

I love the peacock feather! What am I saying, I love the whole thing!

What do you think? 

Styling for Work

At my job, I have to wear a lanyard and photo ID. The lanyard that was provided was...lets just say, leaving much to be desired.

This week, as I was cleaning, I came upon the treasure trove of seed beads. I had so many that I was beginning to feel overwhelmed, then I put two and two together. 

Why don't I make some cute lanyards for work?

I have posted how to make lanyards before, but these two projects are even more simple than that one. Single strand of seed beads, make a pattern that will catch the eye and be sure to make it long. Slap on a lobster claw or some kind of clasp to hold your ID and there you have it, completely unique and personalized lanyard.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to go to work to show these off.

Take a minute to debulk your seed beads and make something practical for your everyday life.

Let your creativity soar!

What to do?

So, I had this problem...I pulled out a lot of beads, and they all match color-scheme-wise; however, I had no idea what to make with them!

The great thing about beading and crafting is that you never have to make just ONE piece.

Therefore, I concluded to create numerous pieces, all the same color scheme. One can never have to much jewelry, right?

I didn't use all the beads, but this is what I came up with.

I love these flowers. Reminds me of Hawaii (though I've never been there. A girl can imagine)

All these lovely beads were brought to you by the lovely Blue Moon Beads. They offer a wide variety of beads and colors. 

I added rose stained jade, ceramic beads and small black beads, which all came on only a few strands of beads.

Who doesn't love a good pair of dangle earrings? I know I do! All three of these are perfect for any occasion and the cool thing is they are completely unique. 

Take three or four strands of different beads and let your creativity soar!

What kind of earrings can you come up with?

Swimming in Pearls

I was cleaning/looking through my beads and noticed that I really had a lot of pretty pearls just hanging around that I haven't used. And just like that, BAM, Inspiration hit me!

And of course, I couldn't just make one project...

I know that stack-able jewelry is in, and so I wanted to try to make something similar. I think it turned out rather well.

 I only used three strands, though I think this would look very beautiful with more layers.
It is easy to chain the pearls together and it gives them a nice flexible feel to them.
I added a beautiful Blue Moon Beads clasp, and Viola!

For my second project, I went for the not so flexible look. This one has many layers and I added a champagne colored strand to give it depth. A simple braid and you have an amazingly striking bracelet.

I encourage you to try your hand at some pearl projects. Don't like white pearls? Try some fun colored pearls!

Let your creativity fly!

Lend Me a Hand

So the other day, I had my friend over and we were going through the chaos that is my craft supplies. I convinced her to help me use up some of my stock.

We made a HUGE mess, but we had a BLAST!

  

 Using some awesome Blue Moon Beads and metal connectors, we came up with two very fun necklaces. I absolutely love the color scheme too. This is definitely a favorite on my pallet.

We experimented with layers and texture. Connecting things was easy. Add a few layers of seed beads and you got yourself a gorgeous piece!

For the next necklace, we used just a single strand of mixed seed beads of a few sizes and then stuck on a fun pendant. The single strand of beads doesn't take away from the pendant, the trick is to compliment both.

Here's my challenge to you. Find a crafty friend and then have a fun night where you raid your stash, because you know you have one, and see what you come up with!

Practical Beads

Just because they are made from beads, doesn't mean you can't make something pretty and absolutely practical!

So, I decided to try my hand at eyeglass beads. I'm not sure what they are called, but basically, they keep your glasses where you can reach them.

Grabbing some fun matching seed beads, slightly larger beads and then spacer beads, It took literally five minutes to string this together.

I added some glasses holders at the ends so that it would complete the look. They came out great!

And the best part, is they do their job. This could easily be made into another color, or all colors if you want one that would match any outfit. 

Be completely creative with this. The possibilities are endless!

                                            

Jasper

This lovely layered necklace is made from awesome Blue Moon Bead connectors and Jasper stones from their Stone Age line. 

Jasper is considered a protective stone. It helps to foster intuition and artistic creativity.

What more could you ask for from jewelry?

I made some earrings out of extra connectors I had, drooping chain from them to make fun dangles.

Putting it together was very simple. I added some black chain to give it more dimension. Remember, everything that went in to this is a product of the Blue Moon Beads line. They have loads of cute beads and I love receiving a box of goodies from them every month.

What can you make with metal connectors?

African Vibes

My friend loves Giraffes, so when I found the cutest Giraffe pendant in my box of goodies, I knew I had to make something unique with it. 

I absolutely love the coloring of the Giraffe, therefore I used that as a theme.

I used some fun strung beads from the main Blue Moon line. I also used some metal beads from Urban Warrior line. Then I weaved in some metal spacers and seed beads to complete this look.

The Giraffe has the perfect setting! 

The look reminds me of Africa, though I've never been. I would like to someday. 

This piece will definitely draw the eye.

What do you think?