10.27.10
Posted in Look What I Can Do Wednesday, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 3:46 pm by carrie
I guess I should say… look at the mess I can make!
Beads make a mess… they roll around, they get into things, the boxes get dropped and frantically get scooped back together in no particular order… it’s really gotten out of hand over the last 18 (!!) years.
So… here is what I’m starting with…
There is SO much to clean up (And there is actually about 12 more boxes I’m not showing here… eek!!) … I should just sell it all on ebay and start over ;) hehe
I did manage to get some jewelry made, though (and yes, I hung it on the chandelier again)!
This gold/fall color necklace can be found here.
This silver/gray/red/peach necklace can be found here.
And I’m still working on more earrings to match these guys ;)
So… it’s a jewelry-centric sort of day! And outside, it’s windy and tropical and unseasonably warm… The two counties north and west of us are on a “tornado watch”. This translates into… “stock up on beer” for most folks :/ I think I’ll just organize baubles! :)
18 years of beads… wow.
Permalink
10.21.10
Posted in Main, Sharing the Handmade Love, Thrifty Thursday! at 3:18 pm by carrie
I mentioned this 1920′s vanity in yesterday’s post… I’ve had it for over a year and just now finally painted it.
I got it on Craigslist… not in the best shape, but it still cleaned up pretty well :) I only paid $60.00. In California I would have paid well over $100+ for it :) So, I’m feeling pretty good about this purchase ;)
It had some veneer coming up in places. Most of it I just painted over, but in one place I smooshed in some wood glue in-between the veneer and the underlying wood. I then put down a piece of wax paper with a piece of wood over it and clamped it. I let that dry overnight before painting.
To get it into paint-ready shape and evict a few spiders… I hosed it off and then promptly got distracted, which led to a few warped drawer bottoms :/ So, I wouldn’t recommend hosing it off unless you have towels at the ready. A damp toweling off will do if you don’t trust yourself ;) I then lightly sanded it and wiped off the sanding residue. Then, I used a spray paint primer in a can. You’ll need 2 cans to get the job done. Then I used 2 cans of this black spraypaint over the primer. Very easy!
I was reaallllyyyy sloppy about painting the mirror. First, I sanded the frame lightly. I then literally got a few pieces of cardstock paper and slid it in-between the wood frame and the mirror and sprayed the frame with black paint and moved the paper as I sprayed. I had to change paper as it got saturated with paint. It was the quickest way to get the job done, but I won’t lie… it made a mess! I had to scrub my hands and nails and had to scrape the excess paint off the mirror. But, it was still a lot quicker to do it this way than to prime it and paint it or paint it by hand. Super lazy and quick.
All-in-all it looks pretty good, it’s sturdy, the wheels roll well and the large mirror is super cool. The silver in the mirror is starting tarnish a bit and it’s crackling, too, but I find that very charming :)
Because I don’t know when to stop… I may cover the vanity with hand-painted flowers. Oh, and it needs some knobs, too… maybe I’ll get to that in the next 18 months… but at least it’s painted and in a room other than the garage :)
Permalink
10.20.10
Posted in Interior Design, Look What I Can Do Wednesday, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 3:01 pm by carrie
Those around-the-house projects that are backing up on the conveyor belt of project shame… they get a much needed power-up when people are coming to stay with you… usually 24-48 hours before said guests arrive.
It started out small… cleaning the house, moving some stuff into the basement…
Put out clean washcloths, tiny shampoos and soaps…
Clean the sheets, put out clean towels…
Then… it got out of hand… (which is totally normal for me)
Paint a vanity/dressing table…
before…
after…
Finish painting the hallway…
before…
after…
And then finally… the room was put together…
Given more time, I’m sure I would have done (obsessed) more… the guest bathroom needs painting and some art… and the bedroom needs new curtains aanndd art, too… aaannnd… (will it ever end??)
So ask many of our guests… they will tell you that the smells of fresh paint will surround you as you drift off to sleep or perhaps it will stick to your luggage and you’ll take a chip of it home as a souvenir… (I apologize in advance…)
But at least the house dog will keep you company :) (When guests are here… Meg completely ignores us… )
Sweet dreams! :)
Permalink
10.14.10
Posted in Digital Download Art Projects, giveaways!, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love, Thrifty Thursday! at 5:54 pm by carrie
So… what’s more thrifty than FREE? :)
I finished the “CURIOUS” Halloween pennant banner, and you can make one, too! :) The floral designs on each little triangle were originally hand-painted by me and were inspired by vintage fabric and wallpaper designs.
I made this in a few easy steps… and if you like this idea, the pattern is available to download for FREE! :)
Here’s how you do it!
First, you’ll need…
1. a printer and a computer (and they should talk to each other… hehe)
2. cardstock to print the pennant on
3. Scissors
4. 3 different colors of glitter (I used one silver German glass glitter and 2 Martha Stewart mylar glitters in black and orange)
5. 7 large rhinestones & 7 medium rhinestones (I used clear)
6. a hole punch
7. A grommet punch-clamp thing
8. 14 grommets (1/8″ is ideal)
9. Hot glue gun
10. A thin ribbon in black, gray or orange
Let’s get started!
1. Download the free pennant art by clicking here, adding the item to your cart, checking out and clicking on the “download” button after you check out (You’ll need to create an account, but the pennant pattern really is free). There are instructions on the listing on how to open your art (if you don’t know how to do that already).
2. Print your 2 art sheets… they will look like this:
2. Cut out your little triangles, leaving an 1/8″ border around them.
Optional: Cut out the C-U-R-I-O-U-S letters, too, also leaving an 1/8″ border around the edges. You don’t have to cut them out, but I did so in this demonstration because I wanted the letters to look 3 dimensional. I added the “Curious” letters on each triangle, too, in case you wanted to decorate them directly on the triangles instead of having an extra layer and an extra step.
3. We’re getting ready to add the grommets. You don’t have to add grommets, but I did :) I punched holes first (and you can stick to this step if you want to keep it easy and string your ribbon through punched grommet-less holes). Punch two holes at the top, about 1/2″ from each side and 1/2″ from the top.
4. This is what the grommets and the grommet punch thing looks like. You can get them at Michaels or AC Moore or another craft or sewing supply store. I used the cheapie silver but they come in every color you can think of :)
5. I then added the grommets…
6. Then, I added silver glass glitter to the borders of all the pennants… Make sure to tap off any excess glitter really well. The glass glitter is heavy and sparkly and looks sort of old-timey. I think they sell it at Michaels, but I got mine online at www.artglitter.com. (Be careful, it’s addicting!!!)
7. Next, I added glitter and one rhinestone to the inside outlined area of each letter… Make sure to tap off any excess glitter really well.
8. I then added large rhinestones to the bottom of each triangle. Then all the little triangles got a break to dry for about 30 minutes.
9. I then came in with the black glitter on the letters, outlining the silver that I did earlier. I used Martha Stewart’s mylar glitter from Michaels for this. This stuff is really lightweight and gets everywhere, so be careful! It was so much easier dumping the glitter in these little plastic dishes (see below). That way, any glue over spill didn’t stick to the table or anything I was working on, all wet glue touched glitter becoming not-wet glue AND it’s easier to clean up because it’s in a dish with a deep lip. I left the letters in the glitter for a bit to dry. About 30-45 minutes later, I fished them out and used a small paintbrush to gently brush off the excess glitter back into the dish.
10. The final glitter step is in the orange glitter. Again, this is Martha Stewart’s mylar glitter. I used the orange to add a thin outline around all the letters… it sort of finished off the whole look :)
11. These guys sat in the glitter overnight… but I think you would only need to leave them for about an hour. I wanted to make sure they were good and dry!
12. So, here they are… ready to be assembled!
13. Plug in your glue gun…
14. While that’s heating up, I strung some thin black and white polka-dot ribbon through the grommets… like so…
15. Then, I put little gobs of hot glue on each little arm or area of each letter… and glued it down to each triangle. You could use regular white glue, but the hot glue added some bulk so the letters “popped” up a little bit.
And voila… you have a little Halloween pennant garland :)
This is our first download… so if you decide to do it, please let me know how it went :) And if you send me pictures of your finished project, I will post them on here for all the world to see ;) (If you want!) :)
And… the other news-of-the-day….
We’re having a giveaway!!
I’m giving away the following:
1. That little set of three Halloween guys I glittered up the other day:
2. A black ruffled scarf:
3. A hand-glittered Halloween cupcake rosette:
Here’s how this works…
Leave a comment on this blog post and you will be put in the drawing. One entry per person, please :) I will draw three names using our random number generator next week on Tuesday, October 19th at 3pm EST. Winners will be notified via email that they have won, so please be sure to add your current email into the “E-mail” field in your comment.
GOOD LUCK! :)
Permalink
10.07.10
Posted in Main, Sale!, Sharing the Handmade Love, Thrifty Thursday! at 3:20 pm by carrie
Lots of markdowns over at ebay (See below for the list).
But first… I want to focus on making an ordinary little terra cotta figure something a little more fun and special…
Take these guys for example…
Cute on their own… but they can be transformed! You’ll need a “canvas” (I’m using these little cuties) glue, rhinestones, glitter and to channel your inner child…
The glue will dry clear… not white :)
Voila! They’ve gone through the glitter assembly line ;)
These would make fun little teacher, neighbor or co-worker gifts… and you can say you made them :) Break the set up and add a little candle, a tiny pumpkin or a small pot of your favorite fall flowers and it’s really something they’ll remember… especially for those people you want to get a little something for, but want to stay away from sweets.
The above set of 3 is normally $7.99 + $6.00 shipping, but they have been marked down to $4.99 +$6.00 shipping ($6.00 flat shipping for 1 set or 10 sets!) on violetcottage.com only. There is also a set of cute little ghosts, larger ghosts on pumpkins and a set of 3 trick-or-treating kids!
All of the spooky decor over at Violet Cottage is 38% off! :)
Over at ebay, I’ve marked down the following this week:
ALL cupcake themed items are 15% off
Select lampwork jewelry is 35% off
Select fashion Jewelry is 45% off
All Christmas/Holiday is up to 60% off
And there are other sales scattered around the Violet Cottage ebay store :)
Hope everyone is having a great day!!! I suggest putting glitter on something… it makes you happy (just can’t help it!).
Permalink
10.06.10
Posted in Look What I Can Do Wednesday, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 1:59 pm by carrie
The month of July was spent making over 50 pieces of jewelry. The month of August was spent looking at them and then the month of September was spent listing them. I need a better system ;)
But now, here they are in all their glory! Click on the picture to see the description at violetcottage.com :)
Most of the necklaces are 41″ which is a length I really like. You can wear it long or double it up. And I went heavy on the gemstones this go ’round. Lots of sapphires (cha-ching) and other high-quality gemstones. Extra sparkle and extra special :) I’ll be making more pieces in the next week seeing as I purchased THREE showcase spots on etsy for next week (eek!). Gotta have a plan when you pay to promote ;)
The other thing I did recently is frost the side window by our front door…
Instead of just frosting it solid, I put round stickers on the window and then used the glass frosting spray-in-a-can over it. It’s a playful design which casts really fun shadows outside at night (I really need to get a pic of that up… it’s dreamy!). And, we can still see stuff outside. I made the dots more dense towards the bottom so Meg can still keep an eye out for squirrels and other intruders.
Polka! ;) (What a great word!)
Permalink
08.17.10
Posted in Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 4:20 pm by wordpress
Here’s the chandelier covered with jewelry… (yes… again!)
It’s been a lot of fun having this hanging over my workspace. In the early afternoon, the sun would stream in and light up each piece… the amount of sparkle was incredible! I’m a little sad to see it all go… but sort of excited to try and fill it up again! Almost 60 jewelry pieces in just over 3 weeks… wow! I think that’s a personal best ;)
I’m in the process of cataloging, picture taking etc etc… will hopefully list each of these pieces, soon :) Will post links when I do!
Phew! That was a lot of wire wrapping! :)
Happy Tuesday everyone! :)
Permalink
07.28.10
Posted in Main, outings, Sharing the Handmade Love at 10:16 am by carrie
Nathan and I have this new ritual where after work, we hop in the car and start driving in a random direction. The goal is to explore our surroundings… which are quite rural and green.
I say “random”, but I usually steer us towards Jordan lake because we didn’t grow up near water, so lakes are awesome! We take one windy country “church” road to another… passing churches from the 1800′s, ponds, donkeys, geese, deer and lots of tractors. But we usually end up at the lake :)
Here’s yesterday’s sunset over Jordan lake…
It had been raining and storming ALL day and the air was so thick, humid and steamy… I half-expected to see sparkling vampires and werewolves burst out of the bushes to duel while wearing lots of hair product and Abercrombie.
We also stumbled across this uber cool old general store. It’s called Bynum Front Porch where they play live local music every Friday. Pretty neat-o :)
I’ve been making jewelry to fill up this chandelier… alllmost time to reveal my masterpiece… but not quite yet ;) I’ve done new things with wire that I’ve never tried before… lots of twisting and wrapping…
And Meg… in a chair… because it’s adorable :)
Permalink
« Previous Page — « Previous entries « Previous Page · Next Page » Next entries » — Next Page »
