Just signed up for another swap. Three tiny movie things. Here are my "favorite" five movies.
1. 500 days of summer
2. kill bill vol 1 and 2
3. ghost world
4. lion king
5. magnolia (not steel magnolias, just "magnolia")
I used a few videos on YouTube to refresh on my ole' square knot (for hemp bracelets).
I know it's not perfect but for less than a dollar in materials, I'm happy with it.
Waxed Linen: $2 for a huge spool (used about ~14 feet?), thinner is better. you can experiment with other string options.
Silver square beads: $2 (22 pc, used 12 here), bigger holes are better. The bead will need to go through two carrier strings.
Next round, I'm going to try pink embroidery floss and metal beads. I want a whole stack of 'em.
Instructions:
1. Make a loop by tying a knot in two equal length pieces of waxed linen, about 3-4' each, halved to 18"-2'. Do a square knot to start the bracelet.
2. Then place your first bead on the carrier strings. square knot it to secure it.
3. Leave about 3" empty space (no knots) then make a regular OH knot. This is where your 10 beads will start.
4. Square knot, bead, square knot, bead til you get your 10 beads threaded. Finish the 10 beads with a square knot.
5. Leave another 3" with no knots to match the beginning of the bracelet. This is the end of the bracelet and the beginning of your slider closure.
6. After the 3" blank area, leave another 2-3". This is where your adjustable area will be (it needs to be bigger than your wrist in order to get the bracelet on/off).
7. Thread your final bead into your last square knot. Trim edges.
To make the slider closure, view the Slider Knot closure tutorial. You can use a contrasting color or stick with the same color. Either way! I left the ends a little straggly on the slider closure.
I just haven't been feelin' crafty. But I saw something about the Shashi bracelets, along with the simple, woven/beaded look of these bracelets, I thought, "I could make that..."
We'll see how it goes. I've not done much jewelrymaking in a long time and I'm not sure I've done bracelets anytime recently. I'm excited! Why spend $20 on something you could make?
Some things I have going on in the back of my brain.
I saw this AweSoME(!) video from EnKore Makeup on YouTube re: making your own (Hello Kitty) MAC palette so I got some board from Michael's, some pink sparkle foam and some really cute embellishing paper. I have no idea how to cut the board. I thought I could do it with an x-acto knife, but not so much. After cutting the board, it should be all downhill.
I have been thinking about making bath bombs for the holidays to give out and share. I think you make them with Citric Acid and baking soda. And whatever fragrance oil you would like to add. I have been LOVING LUSH. I dropped about $80 there and was dreaming all week about a super soft, super relaxing bath with a Vanilla Fountain. I had the roughest week at work and couldn't wait to get that bag o' goodies home to the tub.
Anyway, it'd be nice to share that joy with others. It made the water feel like liquid velvet. Soooo smooth, sooooo soft. Not sticky or greasy though.
I'm also still wrapping up my Jack's Mannequin swap package. I made a tshirt that says
"big hearts
are for breaking" with a rainbow/gradient(?) piano. It was a new technique for me. I made a bookmark (talked about that already) and a piano bamboo tile bracelet. I've probably made 4 of those for swaps, and counting. I also decoupaged a vintage LA postcard to say, "Fuck Yeah! We could live like this!" with a bunch of other little quotes and colorful additions. I'm thinking of mounting it on a canvas but I'm probably not that motivated.
My tiny book made it to it's home. I was sad to see that go. I loved the leafy sea dragon page.
Okay, here's my "final" product. I might do a little more doodling, coloring before I send it out tomorrow.
I'm hard at work on a "tiny book". It's about strange/adorable sea creatures. "Sea" is used loosely. "Weird" is used loosely. Some creatures are completely normal except for how they ambulate, look, act. I'm not done yet, but I had a big push tonight. I feel like I have a clear idea of where I'm going now, too, so that's helpful.
I signed up for another swap (because I'm an addict).
It's one tiny thing. This edition is a book. So I'm making a tiny book for my partner. She listed tentacles as one of her interests so I think I might make a little science book of tentacles. Did you know: tentacles are only classifiable if the suckers are only at the tip and on the underside? So an elephants trunk: tentacle. An octopus' arm: not a tentacle, merely an arm.
Finnnnallllllystarted.
Made a few more today. I have a partner who's interested in "tunnel books" (I never knew they had a specific term until now.) So I made her a tunnel book-"o"-marks. This was what inspired the "book". :)
The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.
The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.
To be loved, be lovable.
Black holes are what happened when God divided by zero.
And this is a fancy magnetic bookmark.
It's pink/green paisley paper, with ribbon laced into it. The magnets are super thin, super strong and super neat! I want to keep this for myself. . .I might. I suppose.
I'm also participating in a JM/Something Corporate/Andrew McMahon ("All Things Andrew McMahon") swap.
I'm gonna do something with a California postcard I bought in a vintage shop. And I'm gonna try to make a zipper pouch, I think. And I'll probably stencil a tote or a shirt or something.
I've been organizing a bookmark swap that is RUNNING MY LIFE. Ha.
It's got 66 swappers (that's a huge swap, usually they cap at around 25.) and we're about halfway through the crafting period, nearing send-outs, on Sept 5.
Here's what I've made so far.
For a partner who likes vintage, antique stuff (it's elastic and awesome!):
For a partner who listed "sky" as a theme...it's magnetic and buffly so, I tested it on cardstock! Anyway here it is:
For a partner who listed "mice" as a theme:
Note that the blue bead has felt ears glued on to enhance the bead's mouse-like properties :)
For someone who loves robots and listed this on their wist, I went for my own spin, using this robot as my template:
It'll be laminated.
And here's one for someone who also likes vintage/steampunk stuff and yellow/green. I like the simplicity of bookmarks. I don't like a lot of extra stuff or having something that my book won't even close around.
It's elastic and has yellow/green ribbon that leads to a vintage, awesome, old skeleton key that I found in a vintage store.
I'm having a lot of fun doing the bookmarks. I think it's easy for me because I love reading. I want these to be used for years.
I'm swapping with 5 partners (6 in my group) and doing an unofficial swap with about 8 people, so I'll end up with about 13 bookmarks, altogether.
I was at Michael's today and wanted to share a great deal I found!
I have oogled over Small Things designs for...ever. They're so cute, petite, chic, simple and timeless.
I found a pendant today at Michael's for $3.99.
But I just haven't been crafting or swapping. I signed up on a lark for a swap. This one is all about Cupcakes!
What else is new...I've starting riding lessons (horses) and I'm about to be promoted at work. It's just been a busy stretch of six months or so. I'll keep posting whenever I do crafts.
So I just discovered this "Craft a Day" blog. It's pretty neat. Anyway, you can check out her projects here.
I was browsing the Paper Craft section of Craftster and stumbled on the idea of making my own rubber stamps. I saw some Suuuuuuupppppper cute stamps done up in the Image Reproduction Technique section. It's like stenciling but BETTER! Ha.
So I think I'm going to try my hand at stamp-making.
Here are the cute stamps that inspired me.
And here's one flickr tutorial for creating stamps with rubber erasers...it gives a basic idea of how to create a stamp. Of course you could change out the medium, the image, the tools...it's all very personal. You decide what you like!
I haven't been feeling too crafty lately. So I joined a supply swap. Maybe this will motivate me to make something, getting out and shopping for supplies and receiving a bucket of supplies. Something's gotta invigorate me. The swap is an altered paper swap. You fill a 8.5"x11"-ish envelope with scraps and whimsies.
I haven't posted in awhile. But I haven't swapped in awhile either. I haven't been doing much of anything except working.
I set a few hefty resolutions so I've been chipping away at those. Did anyone else make resolutions? My two big ones were
1. Read the Bible, cover to cover, in a year.
2. (Keep) training for a half marathon in October and December.
So most days, I work out and read.
I received this awesome Twilight charm bracelet in a swap that uses shrinkydinks, so I've been thinking about trying my hand at that. There are also some cool bead stores I've been wanting to check out, but haven't. So maybe this week(end) will finally be the time I do it. My other craft wishes for learning are metalsmithing and resin casting. I don't see those happening anytime too soon. But they're out there, in my imagination. I do look at Craftster on Facebook and see updates with new projects but I just haven't seen anything that cried out to me.
Looking forward, I will probably be posting for some Valentine's romantic/friendly gift ideas. And my anniversary is in March, so I might try some new stencils. I was *pretty* inspired by some of the stencils I saw on stencilry on other folks' blogs. I believe there was a stencil for Danny Effing Tanner?! Here's John Stamos.
http://www.stencilry.org/stencils/famous%20people/john%20stamos/
I'm also a big fan of the peacock feathers.
http://www.stencilry.org/stencils/nature/feathers/peacock-feathers-2.gif
I see the feathers in a rainbow stencil. It could be awesome. It would take a long time to cut out each quill thingy but it could be awesome. Then you need some funny feather pun. Anyway, that's my craft update. I'm still here. I'm just uninspired.
Colorful hands after an evening of creating. :)
