Material girl

Recently, I've been buying fabric like crazy! I always liked the idea of incorporating fabric into my Jewelry. There are so many wonderful fabrics out there to choose from that you can end up going a little overboard :) But a girl can never have too much fabric.. right? I usually but about a quarter of a yard to see if it's going to work before i buy more. As one of my wonderful twitter friends pointed out to me (who happens to be fabric queen) it's better to buy the fabric in bolts if you absolutely love it. This is because they often discontinue a lot of prints, so keep an eye on that beauty you like!

My favorite place to find fabric include thrift stores, the market and fabric outlets. Online stores will sometimes offer you exclusive prints but there's nothing like being able to feel the product you are buying, so keep that in mind.

Summer is the perfect time to accessorize with colorful fabrics, so I'm going to get creating...

Fancy buttons and bows

This is a necklace I started working on recently. I grabbed different materials that I liked the look of and then just put them together. I tried out a few different ways of arranging everything until I was convinced that the last 242 ways were not right :) This is what I used: Copper plated chain, mottled Turquoise beads, faceted Blue acrylic drops, vintage buttons, Offray ribbon and one huge rockin' curtain tassel... Just keeping it classy.

I made this rosette from the ribbon. There was a bit of sewing and intricacy involved to make it look a like a rosette. I also had to sew two jump rings to the back so I could attach it to the chain. A mix of some 80's music was called for, which made for a nice sunny afternoon of good times.

I attached the tassel to the Turquoise bead and placed a cream heart button on top. I later changed this to a gold one.

And this is what it looks like now. I love the color combination. Now i am off to make some fabulous rings!!

Take a stand...

So... I've been looking for Jewelry stands to display my stuff in a creative and avant-garde way. There are quite a few options to choose from but the thing is anyone could own the same piece so where's the originality. I think I am going to go thrifting and see what inspires me to make my own and use that with a combinations of ones that I have seen that I like :)

Here are some of the ones I've seen out and about.

This one is available from Urban Outfitters and comes with a price tag of $68, obviously for it's ingenious design.

I am a lover of all things whimsical and vintage so of course I had to pick this one as one of my favorites. The bird theme is a plus :)

At 17 inches and $32 dollars this stand outweighs it's boring structure with its functionality. It would hold quite a few necklaces and bangles, leaving space for smaller pieces elsewhere. Although this one is made of iron, a wooden one wouldn't be too hard to make :)

I like the idea of teacups, they are great to organize different types of Jewelry. Rings sit beautifully around the saucer while the teacup overflows with tempting treats!

Liberties of London have this cake stand from one of their collections and I love the floral print and color combination, this would complement my Jewelry.

Well it's off to the thrift store to source out some fun stuff and get some ideas!

Before I go, here's one stand I can't stand.

Polka dot cuffs

I love these bracelets that I made :) I am a fan of wide bracelets and cuff type jewelry for the wrist. Everything was made from scratch!! The cuff is made from felt and faux leather, finished with a snap closure. This was relatively easy to make but the gluing process was a bit tricky, I used a glue gun for the final pieces. I am definitely going to expand on this fabric jewelry idea, it's so versatile and the possibilities are endless. I feel a 80's piece coming on... :)

Clay time!

So I need to broaden my horizons a little and go back to basics. Good old fashioned do it yourself. A lot of times there are beads/findings that I am looking for and can never find, so I thought... right I'm going to make it. I was bloody surprised at the end product and the fact that I had made it with my bare hands...nice.

I haven't worked with clay for a long time.. but it's not brain science right? The stuff that I used was Sculpey Oven-Bake Clay in Vanilla. I've tried using air dry clays but they can get crumbly and dry. The Clay was a little tough to begin with but became more pliably when it was worked.

I used an Exacto Knife to cut and a toothpick to make the holes for the jump rings. I also used some random stuff to make an impression (print) on some of the beads. The rest I did freehand. I knew I wanted a few hearts and from there I just went with the flow.

The flower was actually really simple. Just smalls balls of clay, flattened and then wrapped and arranged around each other. There is no wrong or right way to do it. My fav is the heart with the flowers on it :)

So... a few hours and a few cups of tea later I had about 20 piece. Now it was time to stick them in the oven! The instructions said 15 mins for every 6mm of thickness. I ended up leaving them in a little longer because they were still a bit soft.

They turned out really well and I would use this clay again, it didn't crack or loose any of it's original appearance.. I like :)

The next step will be to finish them off, I'm thinking some writing, Patina, Gold Leaf and maybe some texture. It's playtime!

Mish Mash

Sometimes I just make it and not think about it too much, this is Mish Mash. A bit of this, a bit of that. That's my style.. I'm not sure about that big blue acrylic bead though it might come off. I love the oxidized metal charms and chains. Haha... I just realized that a bead fell off where the gap is. I'm just going to stick something right back in it's place. This is out of balance though.. so I need to add a few more things to even it out.

Vintage mintage

Old is gold, I got these vintage lockets and charm to join the vintage gang for a short vacation. I think I am going to put some sort of a finish on them. I read an article on Rub 'N' Buff... lets see where this goes. They are pretty scratched up and I love it. I don't know what it is but I am in love with hearts right now. Arty farty pics courtesy of the sun.