Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Social Networking Subway Art Printables

I don’t recall seeing this anywhere but I realize there are few truly original ideas! But with all the Subway Art and printables we see across the blogosphere, I thought it might be fun to have one that represents what we all do ( sometimes too much!). So here are some Social Networking inspired printables I thought I’d share. Not inclusive of every word but the main ones.

They should come to 8x10 when you click on them. Then right click to "Save As". Now I just have to repurpose a frame so I can hang one in my office!

Linking Up At: 
Catch a Glimpse Button
Beyond The Picket Fence



Monday, April 4, 2011

Chicos Inspired Necklace and Earrings

So I was at the mall last week wandering through several of my favorite stores. I don’t sew that well so I don’t knock off clothes. Trust me, people saying "Oh, you made that" about a clothing item would NOT be saying it in a tone conveying their awe at my dressmaking skills. More like "OMG, didn't anyone see you before you left the house?"  But jewelry I can  do.

I saw something like this at Chicos ( this is from their website) :
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The one I saw was  longer and $48. I’ve seen variations of these long chain necklaces, some with beads incorporated. I had a couple of styles of Bead Landing chain on hand from Michaels, along with leftover washers from my Washer Charm Bracelet and beads from my stash.

The fun thing about this is there is no right or wrong. I wasn’t going for symmetry so I threaded some beads on wire and made wrapped loops on either end and then joined them to different lengths of pieces of chain:
Metal Necklace and Earrings

Faceted Metal Beads

Metallic Bead

It was such a fast project I had time to make a pair of matching earrings!

Hammered Metal Clips

I can’t wear pierced earrings so these are clip-ons. Just glued the clip backs (I love Beadalon’s adhesive for this) to some findings and attached one loop from leftover chain to each earring using a jump ring. Added a bead and a small washer to complete.

Metal Madness Earrings
They look a lot heavier than they are. They’re actually really light. Nothing like making something in the morning to wear  for something you need to go to in the afternoon!
Linking Up At:
Anything Related

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Earth Day Printables

Or they could be for any time of year really. One of our best friends loved that her birthday was the same as Earth Day. She worked with pre-school kids and enjoyed all of the projects they did to learn about recycling, planting etc. She thought it was the best way to celebrate her birthday.  Sadly, we lost her  about 18 months ago.

Last year we mailed wildflower seeds to family and friends to plant in her memory on what we called her  Bearth Day. This year, I’d like to share this printable with all my blog friends. This is for Kris!

Keep Calm Recycle

Keep Calm Recycle White

And I know...printing something out while talking about recycling seems a little off right? But you could print on the other side of a piece of paper, or print on paper that's made from 100% recycled materials and then of course recyle it eventually!

Update...Jill from Envirocraftiness  says:
Other green ways to use the printable - set it as your desktop picture/profile or facebook picture, put as a button on a blog, or email it around to others! :) 

Click to enlarge to full res, then right click to Save As ( Windows Users).
Linking Up At: 
Anything Related




Visiting At The Scrap Shoppe Today!

Congrats to my friend Michelle from The Scrap Shoppe who exactly one week ago today, added a new little boy to her family! She's a great planner aheader so while she's out on her "BML" (Bloggy Maternity Leave) she lined up several of us to guest post. Today's my turn so if you want to see "eggsactly" what I'm sharing, come on over to:

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Dollar Tree Washer Charm Bracelet Tutorial


I thought I'd share a project I made for a guest post I did the other day at the blog


I was honored when Bella invited me over to guest post! One of the things I love most about blogging is how supportive and helpful bloggers are to each other.

oneprettything
Washer Charm Bracelet
Washer Charm Bracelet (2)

Like so many of us creative bloggers, I’d be lost without The Dollar Tree! I go there at least once a week just to walk the aisles and see what I might find. Last time I was there I found this pack of washers.

Dollar Tree Washers

I had some chain on hand in my jewelry making stash:
Blue Mountain Natural Elegance Chain
I got mine at JoAnn’s but you can get this or similar many places. I measured off two lengths bracelet size. I attached the two chains to either side of a toggle clasp using jump rings.
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Then I went to work on my  washer charms.

I made sets of small, medium, and large based on the size of the washers, putting a jump ring on each:
Washer Charms
On the small ones, I put one of the smallest washers on either side. Then I just started adding these to the chain, eyeballing the spacing but not being overly precise.

It doesn’t matter which of the chains you attach your washer charms to. It all kinda blends.

If you haven’t ever made jewelry, don’t be intimidated. Working with chain is very forgiving and there are tons of  instructions out there. Here’s a video on how to open / close a jump ring and once you do that, you can open / close the links of chain…same principle.
Washer Charm Bracelet (2)

Linking Up At:


UndertheTableandDreaming






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I’ve Been Challenged to A Duel!

Mich in LA slapped my face! Sure she looks all innocent in that pic!

OK she didn’t actually, physically, smack my face…she’s way too cool for that. But she did challenge me! YIKES. Have you seen her creativity and her series on “Guess The Mystery Thing”? I hid under my bed.

When I emerged wearing my big girl pants, I agreed. I can take the public humiliation! That’s why there’s chocolate right?! This was actually the brainchild of another fun blogger, Michele from Michele Made Me ( there’s a theme!) . It’s called “Make It Good”

a two person, recycling craft challenge. The challenge rules can be found here but basically, you are issued a theme and a required element and the rest is up to you! Our theme was Industrial Architecture and the required element was…………bread tags! You know, those plastic square tags that keep your bread bags closed?

After almost giving in to chickening out, I started looking around at images of Industrial Architecture and kept coming back to old abandoned factories. So I found an image in my PrintShop Deluxe program that I thought I’d use. I also looked around my craft room and my eyes landed on an empty container in my stash along with some aluminum tape from the electrical aisle at the HW store.
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I covered my bread tags in the aluminum tape because in my head they became “bricks” to go on my “building”.
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For the box itself, I covered it first w/ white contact paper and I roughed it up a bit with an emery board to make it more Industrial. I went around the bottom half with some decorative tape I’ve used on other projects.

I applied some of the aluminum tape to a scrap piece of cardboard ( cereal box) and ran that through my Cuttlebug using Tim Holtz’ Texture Fades ( Dot Matrix and Gridlock) embossing folder. Tore pieces of that up and applied to the box.
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This is the top of the box with a closeup of the grunged aluminum strip. Covered the top of the box with the aluminum tape. I went around the top edge of the box w/ a K&Co adhesive scrapbook border.
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I took the image from my PrintShop program and made it a negative and aged it. Printed it out, covered it with clear packing tape, added photo corners, and adhered to the container.

So there’s my Industrial Architecture Bread Tag Using challenge submission! And now for the scariest part.....I link here to Michelle's project and invite you to go visit.  We’ll now await her, and your judgment! 

Friday, April 1, 2011

BFF# 14: The Tattered Tag

Happy Friday and welcome to another :
BFF Button
This week’s featured blogger is Christina from her blog The Tattered Tag:
The Tattered Tag
 I love how she describes her blog so I’m going to let her do it:
The Tattered Tag is my reverie, allowing me to share my homespun charms (crafts) and reclaimed treasures (great junk) with the world because my husband will not allow me to keep it all to myself, stashed in our garage.
I can relate! She’s a busy lady, making and showing her own projects, running an Etsy shop, promoting other bloggers, hosting a weekly link party
The Tattered Tag
She’s so supportive and leaves the nicest comments for those who link up. But her own creations are also creative and equally thoughtful. Like this gift “basket” she put together from recycled coffee bottles and the container they came in:
Complete with seed packets and soil from her own garden. Oh yes, she gardens too!
Or this adorable upcycled cookie tin, transformed for Easter:
I share her love for taking simple found objects, transforming and incorporating them into her décor. Like this Autumn display she did:
for which I have to show two pictures. The daytime version which is lovely on its own and the nighttime version :
which is so quietly elegant. She’s also got a whole section of her blog devoted to baking and cooking where she blends her craftiness with delicious concoctions like:

this “making me hungry” cinnamon sugar bread. You will not guess what it’s baked in, so you’ll have to go visit Christina to find out!