PRETTY IN PINK NECKLACE

Here is my new necklace I made for my friend Doug Alves over at Play Create Grow. March is National Craft Month and he invited me to create something for him - hope you like it. I used old jewelry and some felt plus a few interesting pieces of chain. 

Here it is.....

Here are a few more pictures of steps.  It's really easy and can have so many different looks by just changing jewelry and felt.  Hope you have fun.

Here is everything taken apart, the hardest part is deciding what parts to use.

Use embroidery floss to attach the rounds together. The stitching adds some detail and dimension.

I folded the round just past half and added a few stitches in back to hold in place.  I created a charm and sewed in place.

My jewel had shanks on the back to make it easy to sew in place.  It can also be glued if needed, making sure to use a jewel glue.

I chose the chains I wanted, determined the length then used floss to sew ends into place just in from edges. Attach closure to ends and enjoy!

This is a very easy project to do and if you would like printable instructions please go here...I would love to see what your projects look like - just send me a picture.

Fun With Paint!

Here is a child's rocker I painted for our Annual Historical Society Auction.  They had an old one that someone refinished and asked me to paint. It was so fun to get out the paints and brushes again.  I just love the feel of paint on wood......I haven't painted in a long time - I've been sewing so much lately -  that it was fun to use a different medium. 

 Here is the finished chair -  real easy flowers, leaves and a bow.  I think the colors really pop on the black.

 Sorry -  this is a fuzzy close-up of seat design.  For some reason I can't get away from red and turquoise.  Hope someone likes it enough to buy it.....I'll let you know.

While I had my paints out - I thought I would paint these S&P shakers.  I got them on sale years ago - unfinished.  I really like how they turned out....will just match my kitchen.  Painting these really got me back in the mood....I have plenty of surfaces to paint on....maybe some Christmas presents......Hope you like them.

A Facelift for Mickey

When I got a new car I took off my cute license plate surround.  I had it for many years and it looked tired.  Most of the color had worn off.  I had put it in a bag and forgot about it - then with all the organizing we have been doing I found it again.  I decided it needed some help - out came the fingernail polish I use for crafting and starting in. 

 You can see how things looked on the first Mickey.  The other two have had the ears, nose and eyes painted.  Quite a difference.  Fingernail polish is lacquer which will not wash off and lasts a long time.  With a built-in brush - painting is a breeze.

 I used a bright red for the words.  It may take two coats but be sure to let the coat first dry - which is actually rather quick.

Here is my finished surround.  I was lucky and found yellow nail polish with a striping brush - really thin and long - which helped when painting around the letters.  After adding a few dots around edge I was done.  I just love how it looks - so cute.  After I put it on my car I will have to head to Disneyland to show it off. 

Ready for Fall....

Fall has finally come to Fresno....time for pumpkins and acorns. I have been seeing these on felting blogs where they used a felt ball for the acorn.....so cute, I just love them.

I didn't have any felt balls ( I wanted to give up) so I decided to create something different. I wadded up a small piece of tissue paper then wrapped it with pearl cotton or embroidery floss - they both come in so many colors - some even variegated - the choices are endless. I don't have any oak trees around but I did find these eucalyptus caps...I liked the color and they work just as well - something a little different ....... My friend Alexa at The Swell Life took these pictures for me - I just love the natural light. Thanks so much. I think these would be so cute just lying in a bowl or plate - the natural wood really enhances the colors.

I decided to create little pumpkins with some. After wrapping with orange, I took wrapped a single strand of brown to create sections. Everything was glued in place with Fast Grab Tacky Glue - it dries clear and fast. Before I glued the cap on, I drilled two small holes, inserted thin cording creating a hanger for the necklace. Small felt leaves were glued on for color. I just think these are so cute and could be worn all fall.

Here is a different necklace, plain pumpkins but with a larger felt oak leaf added to the necklace lacing. I like how it turned out. Hope you like these and will try them - please let me know if you do - I would love to see them.

Wool Debit Card Holder

I love this cute holder. I had to make it because my wallet keeps de-magnetizing my card - this is my third in two years....so I decided to make a separate case for it....and of course it had to be red wool with felt details. It only took about 30 minutes to make and by using Fabric Fusion to glue on the details on I know they won't come off.

It was super easy - just sew a pouch from wool or felt, sew a button to a felt round, cut out some leaves then glue everything in place. I like the added touch of stitching around the opening. So easy and so cute....Hope you like it.

My Purse on a Magazine Cover!!!!!!!

How exciting is this? A purse I made as a designer for iLoveToCreate was chosen for the cover of Haute Handbags. There are alot of really cool purses in the magazine so I'm very porund that they chose mine for the cover. I found the jewlery at Forever 21 and in my own stash of "retro" jewelry that I wore in high school. I was reallly happy with the final results. I want to thank everyone at the magazine for the honor. Hope you like it too.

Wrapped Up Wreaths for Christmas

Wanted to show you what I have been up to lately. I just love both of these Christmas wreathes. Old sweaters were cut up and wrapped around foam wreaths. On one I added wool fabric leaves and rolled sweater berries. On the other I used the ribbing from the sweater and felt snowflakes I picked up in the $1 section of Joann's. Felt holly ribbon was cut apart for the leaves. Everything was glued with Fabric Fusion adhesive and once dry were ready to hang. These were for a local store - I just hope I have time to create some for myself. Let me know what you think and if you would like more detailed instructions.

A Guest Designer on Favecraft Blog!

I want to give a big "THANKS" to favecrafts for asking me to be a Guest Designer on their blog, spotlighting my sweater pillow. You can check it out here and here. How exciting to be included with all the other talented designers. If you haven't seen their site, please take a look, they have great designs and lots of useful information and ideas. Thanks again for including me, we'll have to do it again soon.

Warm and Cozy Pumpkin Pillow

Here's my warm and cozy pumpkin pillow. I made it for my sister - her birthday is this month and she likes to decorate for the season. I found this sweater at our local thrift shop - I was lucky to find orange - it a hard color to come by.....I basically cut out a pumpkin shape , sewed it together then stuffed it. The leaves are made from a sweater and blazer that I also found at the thrift shop. Hope she likes it.......
Here's a close-up of the top of the pillow. The sewn leaves are glued in place with Fabric Fusion. I lightly stuffed the stem before sewing into place. The stitching on the pumpkin is embroidery floss just slightly darker than the sweater.

Here is a close-up of the bottom of the pillow. I sewed on an oval base to the ribbing of the pillow then glued the sewn leaf in place. Let me know what you think.

M-I-C-K-E-Y Coasters

Aren't these great? My sister and I went to Disneyland last weekend - had a great time on all the rides - but the best part is going through all the stores.....I found a box of dominoes and just had to have them - I don't even play dominoes so had to come with another reason to get them....I decided to make coasters. I just happen to have the perfect glass to accompany them....don't you think?

Here they are out of the box - so cute! Now I have to figure out what to do with the box.....any ideas? Here's how I made them.....

Place pieces on a non-stick sheet or shiny side of freezer paper for easy release, just in case some glue may seep through. Assemble pieces as desired - I used eight for each coaster - with amount of dominoes in the case I could make three large ones with 8 pieces or four smaller with 6 each. I opted for the larger size - with three left over for future use.

Place sections together. Lift up one domino then apply a very thin bead of Liquid Fusion Glue only along edges where it touches another. Press together. Repeat with remaining pieces. Any glue that shows can be carefully wiped off with a damp paper towel. Let dry overnight.

Now that the coasters have dried overnight, cut a piece of black felt slightly smaller then use Liquid Fusion to glue in place. Let dry then they are ready for action.

Hope you like them as much as I.....

Here's what I purchased at the Bead and Button show - these are "vintage" Lucite beads. I was thinking vintage as being 40's or 50's - but then the seller said that these were from the 70's - I think I have alot of "vintage" beads, shoes, clothes, fabric etc hanging around my house. Yikes!
I liked the cording -it's not vintage - liked the combinations of colors. Now it just have to use them in something right away so they won't become part of "vintage" stash not to be used for 20 more years. I feel that if I use them then I won't have them so I don't use them - you know what I mean.......

Isn't this a cool necklace? I found it at a Forever 21 store. Unfortunately is was entirely in the gold color. I loved the dimension of it - but me being me - needed color - so I used fingernail polish. Here is the necklace while I was working on it. Several coats of polish can be layered for depth of color. I used the Opaque paint pen because I couldn't find yellow polish in my little hometown. It worked fine. It's amazing what colors of nail polish are out there. I found most of my colors in a dollar store - but keep your eyes open when shopping - you'll be surprised how many different colors there are.

Here is the finished necklace - Looks good! Not too bad for a $12.00 necklace. Now I have to make a bracelet - will show you when I finish.

I had a great time talking with everyone at Inspired at Home Radio this Sunday. It was great to hear everyone's voice especially Aleene's - what a lady - still going after all these years... a real pioneer of the craft scene. I checked in alittle late - but still had time to talk with all of them....check it out here. Hope you like it - they are a very creative and inspirational family. Hope we can all get together again to do something special soon.

Isn't this cute? I just love the colors.....I drilled through each ball and added a post and looped the top. I then thread them onto an elastic cording and added a few bright colored bead to the mix and there you go -a cute summer necklace. Larger holes could be drilled then the balls could be threaded directly onto thin elastic cording for a different look......hummmmm I have a few balls left over - I'll have to try that...... Let me know what you think.

In my attempt to post something new everyday (or so) - I wanted to show you these cute pincuhshions I made.

I found these great thick felt placemats with die cut flowers at Joann's this Easter. They came in three colors and there were only three in the store so I snagged them.

To create the pincushions, I cut off one of the flower shapes and glued it to a base of cardboard between fabric then sew around the edge. Add layered with another piece of felt and added the poof for pins. The leaves are cut from an old blazer I picked up the the Goodwill store. I added a few stitches for dimension - glued everything together - and there you go. I love them both - I made them to sell at a craft show but I think I may need to keep the turquoise and red for myself - those are so my colors.

I will add a tutorial when I make the next round - then you can see how easy they are.

Let me know what you think.

Here are some of the felted purses I embellished and bottle covers made from the sleeves of shirts.

Here is an apron I made with some of my favorite fabric. The cowboy fabric in the center I have had for about 15 hears. I just love it. I could never figure out what to make with it and never made anything with it because I couldn't bear to cut it cut - then I wouldn't have it anymore - so I have kept it folded up in my stash. Well, I decided to actually sew something with it and I think it turned out very cute.

I loved this fabric - Paso Robles has a allot of cowboy's and made this for them. I thought the fabric looked like a retro bedspread my Grandma had on one of her beds. Really liked how it turned out.

Here are some of the totes I covered with fabric - I liked them all and wanted one for myself. The record purse in front was one I made when Joan Fee and I (a.k.a. Still Crafty After 50) were on our local TV show. We created lots of cute things with records - I will show at a later date. Got lots of comments. Plan to make more.

I created the aprons on the left by cutting dish towels in half and sewing onto toille fabric. I made removable pins from the remaining fabric - the one next to it is a cute Christmas apron. I like to use lots of rickrack - it really makes it look retro.

Here is how I hung the aprons at the show - they looked so cute and were great to keep the sun out too. I sold all but one that day.

Hello -

Haven't adding anything in a while - been busy getting ready for a show. When to Paso Robles for the Olive Oil Festival in the town park. Had a lot of fun and sold allot of aprons. Here are a few pictures. This shows my sweater glass cases, cherry pins, glass magnets and other assorted things.

Hello - Sorry I haven't adding in a while - I have been busy making things for a Craft Sale I did in Paso Robles, Ca. Located on the Central Coast. My sister lives there so we had a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures from the show. The weather was great and I actually sold some things - everyone thought everything looked cute. Plan to do another one in August - will keep you posted. I made this cute apron and she was so excited to have it - she looks so cute in it.....I also made some eyeglass cases from sleeves of sweaters - just added a button to the cuff and I was done. I also had pincushions, cherry pins and felt purses. Plan to make more and different things for the next show - will show you as I get them done......