Wiiiillllmaaaaa!!!!

A few weeks ago I went to the Gem Faire show/exhibit/bead buying heaven with some friends in the Salt Lake area.  We had a blast perusing and purchasing fun beads and trinkets.  

I went with a small budget (since I have tons from the last gem faire that I haven’t touched yet) and didn’t buy tons, but I DID find some fabulous-out-of-this-world-must-have-them red coral CHUNKY beads. 

I’ve wanted to make a Wilma necklace for a while now

but hadn’t found the “just right” beads until this trip.  I am in serious love with these red coral beads.  They look like carved stones and are very heavy.  The beads are a lot deeper red and less “pinky” than they appear.  I’ve had a doozy of a time getting color and lighting right lately. :(

I strung them onto three strands of tiger wire and capped the ends with an antique silver bead cap and created a chain from silver jump rings.  I wanted to do a special clasp since I have very short hair on my neck and didn’t want a lobster or traditional toggle type clasp.  I had one extra bead left and wrapped it in bead caps and decided to use it for the “toggle” for the clasp. I LOVE how it turned out and it’s become a conversation started. I’ve been stopped a couple of times in stores when people have asked about the clasp. LOL!

Thanks for popping by!  Inky Smiles!

PS.. I do have some fun paper crafts to share in the near future… I haven’t completely stopped paper crafting… lol!

Lime Twist Necklace

So my sister, Elizabeth, called me this weekend and asked me to make a necklace for her sister in law’s wedding… which is in two weeks… yikes!  Cara’s (the bride) colors are lime green, teal, and the bridesmaids are wearing black dresses.

These are the shoes and the dress Liz gets to wear.  They are SOOOOOOO darling! I wish I could wear heels like this without falling over and breaking my ankle.. or leg… or hip… hehe!

                                

Liz wanted a lime green necklace to go with the outfit so I went shopping and picked up a ton of beads and sat down to play… I had a lot of fun and ended up making a fun twist style necklace.

Here’s what I came up with…

I restrung all the seed beads and tube beads on to tiger wire and connected them all to one jump ring to create a “twist”/wrap effect.  I reallly love how it shimmers in real life.  There are a few mixed in teal seed beads and they are awesome.   Today I went back to the store and picked up more beads to make this necklace for myself.. lol!

The clasp is my favorite part. I love that you will be able to see the clasp because she has short hair.. not as short as mine, but short.

I’ve got to  pop this in the mail for here tomorrow am. I hope she loves it!

Inky Smiles!

PS… sometimes you have to go through a few clasps … ergh..

Creative University Recap #2 – Cluster Necklace – My Class

Sorry for the delay – I got a little distracted by some things at home.  Back today with another Creative University Recap.

Tresa asked me to be a teacher for C.U. waaaaay back in the fall of last year.  I was so excited and nervous and had a trillion ideas going through my head and then she specified that I would be teaching a Jewelry class. Oh boy… more ideas started swirling around… and then I settled on one idea. 

Here is the cluster necklace/junklace that we made for my CU Jewelry class.

                   

I went to a few gem fairs and jewelry shows with my friend, Valerie, and started collecting goodies that I could incorporate into my project and started making a prototype. I spent a couple of weeks hemming and hawing over the last couple of elements for it.  I had a budget but I liked the rolo style chain better than the “gangsta style” curb chains and I had an idea for a fabulous “souvenir” style charm that I just HAD to squeak into the budget.  Well, I threw the budget out the window and spent a little extra on my project. It was so fun and so worth it. 

Packages of goodies in my studio.. It was like Christmas.. a big, fat, blingy Christmas!

 

 

Here I am adding the first sneak peek to the CU students facebook page. Buwahahaha. I loved being just a little sneaky!

I pre made 120 charms for the necklaces.  First, I did 61 (I broke my first one, which is why I premade them) crystal drop charms shown below tied together like a chandelier.

And then I premade 60 of the custom designed mother of pearl CU “souvenir” charms. I designed the artwork in Photoshop Elements and then brought it over to Valerie’s office and she laser engraved them for me.  BUT, laser engraving was not the last step before they became charms.  I hand filled them with silver paint and then cleaned each individual charm and set them to dry. My fingers were painted in silver splotches for a couple of days.  Here are a couple of snap shots of my CU souvenir charms.

Once my two premade charms were completed and ready to go I set out to sort out parts for 60 kits.  Holy moly… this was a LOT of sorting of teeny weeny pieces. 

And then I packaged them all up into neat little bags and topped them off with cute little cardstock “toppers”.

Ready to go to Creative University!

I taught two classes at CU.  One Friday night after dinner and one bright and early Saturday morning.  Here are some snapshots of the two classes.  We had so much fun and everyone finished their projects before they left class!

Teaching wire wrapped loops with Erin’s Pipe Cleaner-Noodle Method.  Not sure WHAT I was saying or thinking or cheesing with that crazy look on my face but I love the sexay apron that Tresa made for us teachers!

I had four FABULOUS teacher’s assistants/Charm Fairies (two for each class) who were amazing and helped keep us all on track with our charms and necklaces.  My Fairies were Kari Seals, Tamara Werderber, Melody Pugh, and Michelle Johns.  I made each of them a special charm as a thank you gift.

 

Here is a pic of me and three of my Fairies… I’m not sure why Tamara isn’t with us but I went back through my pics and found one of me goofing around with Tamara and Kimberly.

And here are some random fun shots of my classes.

I had such a fun time teaching this class!  I think everybody learned something new or sharpened their skills or opened the doors to a new hobby.  

Inky Smiles!

 
PS.. If you’ve read through this entire post, thank you!  Leave me a comment on this post and tell me why you need a new pair of earrings  (be creative) and I will draw a winner for a pair that match this necklace!   Winner will be posted on Thursday night after 8 pm mountain time. Winner will have 2 days (claim by Sat 8pm) to claim the prize before another winner is drawn. Please email me your contact info once your name is drawn.

 

Digital Art: More Charming Images

Busy in the studio on the computer still… I’ve been LOVING playing with digital images and and creating fun little doo-dahs.  I’m in charge of the Charm Swap at Creative University and have been having so much fun with my charms.  I can’t show you my charms just yet but I wanted to share with you the image I am using on one of them (the Victorian Vintage Charm Swap)… 

This image is MUCH bigger than what the charm image is.  Think very small… under the size of a quarter…   Don’t worry, you can still see all the fabulous detail in the finished project. Something like this:

I created the image in Photoshop Elements using images from Itkupilli’s free test sheet. I created the word art using rectangles that I colored, aged, and snipped.  The text is made up of individual letters from the Portable Remington font that I manipulated individually (same as the charm cards I shared previously). 

The finished product is glittery and sparkly. I can’t wait to share!

I also made some new charm cards in a blue tone. I was trying to use the CU “colors” for the last set of charm cards… I like these better but the first set of charms was already packaged so they’re staying on red cards. LOL.. .the Under the Sea charm swap will get these blue toned cards.

Chinese Crystal Jewelry Set

I know it’s been a while since I promised to show you the necklace I made at my jewelry class earlier this month.  This month sure has gotten away from me as I am sure it has for most of us.  Today we got the last of our Christmas gifts wrapped and under the tree and tackled some household chores before Christmas arrives including Mt Grotegut, the ever growing mountain of laundry.  We’ve been somewhat “lax” on it this past week with all the Christmas festivities and preparations… anyway… it’s nearly done… for now… haha.
So I have had so much fun wearing this jewelry set.  I’ve worn it nearly every chance I get.  It matches EVERYTHING, almost literally, with all the fun colors in it. It’s been particularly festive to wear to various Christmas parties and gatherings.

I purchased these strands of mixed crystals at a gem fair that came through here this summer for a ridiculously low price and can’t wait to see if the gem show folks bring more back this spring. I just love these beads!

Here’s the necklace.  It’s made with silver plated 26 gauge wire and closes with a silver plated toggle clasp.

A closer view of the strands.

I did a very simple strung beads bracelet to go with it. Actually, I made this bracelet about a month prior to making the necklace.  I was anxious to make a necklace to go with it but got busy doing other things again.  The bracelet is strung on tiger wire and closes with a silver plated toggle clasp.
 
I am most excited about this piece… a handmade ring..  I used 14 gauge silver plated wire with a mandrel to create this 4 wire wrapped ring (say that 4 times fast). I “sewed” the beads on with silver plated wire and secured with “knots”.  I LOVE this ring.  it is fun to wear and catches the light nicely… I love when it catches the sunlight when I’m driving and I am surrounded by hundreds of sparkly dots reflecting on the car surfaces.  It’s magical!



 
{Pardon my wrinkly grandma hands.  I’ve always had
wrinkly hands…I attribute it to using them a lot. HAHA!}

I’ve had so much fun making jewelry lately and have scheduled a couple more classes for January outside of my home.  Want a class?  Just ask me and I’ll send you the details.

Thanks for stopping by today! Leave me a comment and let me know what you find most challenging about jewelry making… I'm dreaming up some technique posts...

Have a marvelous week!

Inky Smiles!

Wine/Bubbly Beverage Charms Gift

{This is a scheduled post while I am enjoying time away from the computer with my family – parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. I will be back with Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesdays in a couple of weeks.}
Ok so you just got invited to a big summer party… and you think maybe you should bring a hostess gift, but what do you bring?  A treat? A bubbly beverage? Flowers? A plant? A card? Hrmmm..  How about a treat, a “card” and some BLING?
I have always liked the idea of wine charms… they’re such lovely bling.. and how can you go wrong adding sparkle to something already sparkly?  Brent and I don’t drink alcohol, but we do enjoy a nice sparkly glass of something bubbly like Martinelli’s Sparkling cider so for today’s purposes, this little giftie will be modeled on a non-alcoholic sparkly beverage.  Feel free to attach yours to your favorite sparkly beverage.
For this giftie I used the Skipping Stones Design stamp set Margarita Birthday.  Again, being a non drinker I wanted to find a fun way to use this delightful stamp set.  {I do love celebrating good times with good friends AND a good virgin strawberry daquiri or margarita!}
Here’s a full view of the gift set: 

You can choose to give glasses or not.. I’m just showing for demo purposes.  The charms fit neatly in the hanging “box” on the bottle which is made as you would make a door hanger or similar “hanging box”.


These wine charms are made by attaching various 2 mm glass seed beads and 8 mm fiber optic beads from Rings N Things {I picked these out at the warehouse with my sweet friend Stacey Flores when I visited her in WA last February… so much fun!!} to some hoop earring bases that I picked up at Michael’s. I folded the ends of the ear wires over to make  a “hook” to close on itself.
                        
For the packaging I cut out and layered up circles of cardstock with my Nesties and Cuttlebug, added a scalloped edge to the box with a FIskars border punch and popped up some sentiments.  The daquiri glass is colored in with a mix of colored pencils, odorless mineral spirits, and a grey Copic marker.  I added a touch of bling to the glass with a Sakura clear glitter pen and sugared up the glass edge with some glass beads attached with Liquid Glass.  I love all the sparkle on this project!

The white circle and glass are one piece of cardstock.  I traced the Nestie circle around the stamped image, cut a rough circle around the nestie circle , cut out the glass up to the circle line and then placed the Nestie circle die on the image, popped the cut pieces of the image out of the die’s cutting area and ran it through the cuttlebug.  *Whew*  Did that make sense to you?  LOL! Perhaps I will to do a tutorial. Hrmm.
Anyway… Hope you enjoyed this little giftie project!
~Inky Smiles!!