A non-jewelry project
Posted by Administrator on May 8, 2008
My son has been wanting to take naps in my lap lately, so I decided to start a small knitting project that I could work on while he sleeps. I found a cute scarf pattern with ruffled edges in One-Skein Wonders
I made the scarf pretty much as the pattern described, but substituted Blue Sky Alpacas organic cotton yarn for the one in the example, and measured the length by trying it on periodically until it was a length I liked (rather than trying to make it exactly the length recommended).
I had about half a skein left once I was finished, so I crocheted some flowers and sewed them on to the scarf. I think it turned out to be a really pretty scarf! It was nice before I added the flowers too, which made me think making the flowers into little brooches by attaching them to safety pins or other pin backs would make it easy to dress up scarves whenever I want to. They might also be a cute addition to my etsy store….
Crochet Flowers
Posted by Administrator on Apr 17, 2008
I just saw this book on Amazon that looks like it would be a lot of fun: Crochet Bouquet: Easy Designs for Dozens of Flowers
Crocheted flowers are a great way to use up a little bit of leftover yarn if you are a fiber artist, and they can easily be made into accessories like pins, or sewn onto hats, scarves, sweaters, etc as a cute embellishment. The jewelry maker in me wants to crochet up a whole bunch of flowers and stitch them together into a fun necklace, or dangle a couple from earwires. I even have some very thin yarn and tiny crochet hooks so that I could make appropriate sized flowers….so I think I would have fun with the patterns in this book.
If you’ve seen this book please leave a comment and let me know if it’s any good.
Felt Bead Earring Tutorial
Posted by Administrator on Mar 20, 2008
I wrote a guest tutorial for Jewelry and Beading on using felt beads to make an easy, cute pair of earrings. You can make the felt beads yourself if you know how to felt wool, or buy them if you want more of an instant gratification project. I sell the ones I make in my etsy store. Here’s a link to the felt bead earring tutorial.
Book on making jewelry with Swarovski crystal and seed beads
Posted by Administrator on Feb 27, 2008
Creating Crystal Jewelry with Swarovski: 65 Sparkling Designs with Crystal Beads and Stones
If you’ve seen Laura’s beadwork and are familiar with her style, what she’s done with Swarovski crystal will be no surprise - her signature style definitely comes through in the projects. Lots of Swarovski crystals designed to look like flatback rhinestones, set behind intricately beaded bezels, and her excellent eye for color and texture. My friend Marilyn brought this book to a get-together a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed looking at all the pictures, despite the fact that I rarely use seed beads in my own work.
If you like working with seed beads, you would probably enjoy this book. The techniques could easily be adapted to work with cabochons, rhinestones, and other non-Swarovski focal stones, although I imagine that the Swarovski centerpieces really sparkle.
Felt Beads
Posted by Administrator on Jan 30, 2008
I’ve been making a bunch of felt “beads”. I put beads in quotes because they don’t actually have a hole in them, so really they are felt balls - but they can be used just as beads. All you have to do is poke a needle through them to string into necklaces, bracelets, etc. They can be strung on something thicker, like wire, by poking a needle through & immediately following that with the wire. I’ve made earrings and pendants this way, and they are really fun.
These are fun to make. Working with loose wool fiber is really different from working with metal, so I think of them as something completely different from most of the jewelry I make and sell, but they give me a chance to just play with color and experiment with new techniques. I’m gradually incorporating some felt into finished jewelry, but mostly I just like making the beads.
I love this picture of some of my newest felt beads:
If you are interested in learning how to make jewelry using felt beads, I have a tutorial coming out in a month or two and I will be sure to post a link to it from here. In the meantime, if you’d like to own some of my felt beads to play around with, check out my etsy store.
New Bead Embroidery Book
Posted by Administrator on Jan 23, 2008
The Art of Bead Embroidery: Techniques, Designs & Inspirations
If you’ve never tried bead embroidery, be prepared to spend a LOT of time on this craft. Each tiny little bead has to be stitched on individually, so even small projects can be time consuming. But, like knitting, the repetitive action of stitching each bead onto a piece can be a meditative experience for a lot of people, and there is definitely potential to make some absolutely beautiful things with bead embroidery techniques.
Thing-a-day
Posted by Administrator on Jan 17, 2008
This looks like a fun project - I’m tempted to participate, but with a baby due sometime during the month of February, I expect I will be a little bit distracted.
Handmade Holiday Gift Ideas
Posted by Administrator on Nov 5, 2007
I’m lucky to be a member of a group of etsy stores called Designing Swanky Moms which is full of talented moms making just about everything imaginable. If you are looking for inspiration for holiday gifts, check out some of the shops listed below. You can also search etsy for “dsm” to find the latest items added to stores run by members of this group. It’s like an online mall filled with handmade products!
For jewelry:
My etsy store (Michon)
Cindy’s Creative Crochet - Jewelry Crocheted from Wire
The Empty Nest - fabulous jewelry & accessories
Hope Renewed - jewelry & paper goods
Michelle’s Jewelry Designs
Morning Sky Jewelry - beadwork and chainmaille
Handbags and accessories:
Just Add Charm - lots of accessories
Carissa Black - great purses
Crafty Bags etc. handbags and accessories
MJD Boutique - a little of everything, purses, jewelry, and other accessories
Domestic Goddess Creations - crocheted accessories and clothing
Bath and Body products:
Fireside Soaps - Handmade soaps, and also quilts
Cozy Moments - bath and body
Vintage Body Spa - bath and body
Ivory Magnolia
Two Rivers Soap Company - made with fair trade shea butter
Home decor, gifts for kids, and much more:
B Inspired Boutique (brag books, photo albums, etc)
CraftMom - paper products, scrapbooking supplies
Valerie’s shop - felted “pottery” - you’ve never seen anything like it
Nikki’s Nacs - home decor, including nursery/children’s room decor
New England Quilter - quilts, hand sewn gifts for kids
Chamberry Cherry - stockings, sewn gifts, and more
Tada Designs - home decor including handpainted signs
Klymyshyn Design - handknit baby & kid apparel
Suzanne’s Special Kids - gifts for kids w/ special needs
Mona’s quilts & gifts - handsewn gifts including baby blankets and bibs
Candyragz - cards, altered art journals, and more
Berry Creek Candles - candles, home accents
Good Crochet Book
Posted by Administrator on Jul 17, 2007
Donna Kooler’s Encyclopedia of Crochet
It includes basic instructions, project patterns, stitch patterns, and for jewelry makers, a section on wire crochet which includes a necklace project by Arline Fisch. Since I’ve been learning some new crafts recently & knitting/crocheting some jewelry, garments, and handbags for myself, I started reading craft books that aren’t as jewelry specific. So far, this is the best book on crochet that I’ve read, and I love that it includes information about using crochet techniques in jewelry. There is also information on all kinds of other crochet techniques, and quite a few patterns for things to make using the techniques. The patterns range from very easy to very complex, as do the techniques covered.
Crocheted Purse and a WIP
Posted by Administrator on Jun 29, 2007
I know it isn’t jewelry, but I made this cute crocheted purse while following along with the learn to crochet lessons at Crafty Daisies. There was a link to a purse pattern in lesson #4, which I altered slightly, mostly by making it bigger and winging it on the ruffle part since I didn’t write it down (but ruffles are easy enough to crochet without a pattern).
And since this is supposed to be a jewelry blog, here’s a picture of my latest in-progress resin piece, using the top of an altoid tin as a bezel:
