Ribbon and Jump Rings Necklace Part Deux: Cream and Amber

I had so much fun with the Ribbon and Jump Rings necklace I shared last week that when I found myself at Michaels again this weekend ( they really need to give me my own parking space) I went looking for another one of the ribbon necklaces I used.

No more black ( eeek! boo! it’s my signature color!) but they had the same one in cream so I decided to branch out! Hello , my name is Carol and I’m a neutral-holic.

I also picked up a package of these Trinkettes beads by Cousin (fear not colorful people they come in loads of colors) and while I was scrounging around in the clearance bin again, came across these gorgeous amber-crystal-cabochony thingies. $1.99. SCORE.

Similar to the black necklace I made, I strung large jump rings onto the ribbon necklace, over all of the layers.

Total number of jump rings: 11 It made sense to  me to have 5 on each side and one in the middle. No reason other than that's what felt right. You could use more. You could use less.

Then I put some of the Trinkettes beads on some of the large jump rings and the amber cabochony thingies on other jump rings and used smaller jump rings to attach everything together. I’m very technical! Seriously. This is super super easy and there are several different types of ribbon necklaces avail even if you don’t find this exact one by Bead Landing because I bought them all.

Cabochony thingy, Trinkettes beads, cabochony thingy Trinkettes etc.

Look Mom, I didn’t even use the black beads ( YET!). And yes I did drive to another Michaels looking for another black ribbon necklace. No luck. There’s another Michaels I’m checking out this weekend. Sssssshhhhhh.

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BFF Open House Link Party #66: Wrap Up and Features

Thanks for another wonderful party! Every week I am excited to see what gets linked up and every week, you don’t disappoint! Here are just a few of the fabulous ideas that were shared.

If you have a Superhero or comic lover in your life, then you NEED to check out this adorable inivte from Michele at The Scrap Shoppe:

Love Ikea? Love washi tape? See how Jess from Cox’s Corner brings the two together:

Bev from Flamingo Toes is also known as the Anthropologie Queen for her amazing ability to knock-off jewelry that costs a fortune at Anthropologie for a fraction of the cost. I also always love her interpretation more. This necklace did not disappoint and make sure and check out her entire series:

Got paint chips? Head over to The Single Nester for the how to on this fab idea how to use them:

And finally, want to feel less guilty about indulging in some brownies? Head over to Mommy’s Sweet Confessions for the recipe for these:

I’m pretty sure the zucchini nullifies the calories!

Hope to see you all again on Friday. Make it a creative week!

BFF Open House Link Party #66: Hot Flash Edition

At least our weather is making me feel like I’m having one! The PNW is not known for its blistering hot Summer days and the rest of you think we’re wimps. Guilty as charged!

So what’s everyone been up to this week? College boy is on his way back to school and I know lots of you are getting your little and not so little ones off too. Let’s see what wonderful creations everyone’s made since last week!

Ribbon and Jump Rings Necklace

Sometimes the idea for something comes when you aren’t trying so hard to think of one. At least that’s true for me. I am one of those people who likes scrounging around in the clearance section of places like Michaels which is what prompted this project. I found this pre-made ribbon and cord necklace by Bead Landing for $1.99!

The Darice beads and jump rings I already had in my stash from one of those previous scroungy trips. This was super super easy to make.

I strung some of the biggest jump rings onto the necklace ( over all of the ribbons/cord). Added as many as I felt like which ended up being eleven.

Then I put some of the Darice beads on a large jump ring and attached to some of the rings already on the ribbon.  In my stash, I found some leftover washers from a Washer Charm Bracelet I made last year with washers from The Dollar Tree, and put those on a couple of the large jump rings, and then added one more bead/ring combo to the middle jump ring on the ribbon. Added a toggle clasp to each end.

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Daycation: Seattle Great Wheel

Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz was right. Sometimes what you’re looking for is right in your own backyard or words to that effect.


We had what I call a “Daycation” last week where we spent the day doing fun touristy things in our own city, Seattle. We started the day with a nice brunch at a locally owned restaurant and then headed to the Seattle waterfront.  June saw the opening of a fun new  attraction, The Seattle Great Wheel. If you’ve been watching the Olympics and have seen the London Eye, ours is similar but smaller.

The “wheel” sits on the end of Pier 57 and goes out over the waters of Puget Sound. It’s 175 feet high and has 42 climate controlled gondolas including one “VIP” car which at $50 per ticket we did NOT ride in! We stuck to the regular tickets of approx $14 per adult.

These tickets are perfect for scrapbooking right? Wrong…this pic is as close as that’s going to get since you have to surrender them to board. Boo.

Each car holds 6 adults and is air conditioned for Summer and heated for the rest of the year.  The VIP gondola is black and has a see thru bottom and did I mention the $50 per person ticket?  You do get some other perks for the price but we were very content with our ride for the not $50 per person price!

You get to spend about 12 min on the ride and get a fantastic view Puget Sound:

The weekend we went was our big Seafair celebration which brings lots of Navy ships and the Blue Angels to town. In the pic above is one of the Navy ships in front of Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pearl ship getting ready to depart for Alaska.

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect and it was a fun family outing we got to do before College Boy heads back to school. If you get to Seattle, I highly recommend doing this if you can!  See? We do get some awesome weather!

BFF Open House Link Party #65 Wrap Up and Features

Thanks for another great party! As always , lots of great ideas so if you haven’t visited the other links. I hope you will. Here are just a few to get you started.

Jess, from Cox’s Corner, shared a new twist on the idea of an interchageable wreath. Go check out her wonderful tutorial.

Need a great way to store those Summer Vacation memories? Malia from Yesterday on Tuesday has one. It’s small, portable, and uses something I’ll bet you have on hand.

Is there anything you can’t cover with washi tape? Rhetorical question! Julie from White Lights on Wednesdays made a super cute washi tape bangle that even used an old painter’s tape roll.

And finally, you know I have to show off something chocolate. These Double Decker Coconut Cream Brownies from Back for Seconds just had me swooning:

Again, thanks everyone who linked up and hope to see you again on Friday. Make it a creative week!

BFF Open House Link Party #65

Eeeek! Happy Friday Eve everyone…popped into Michaels last Sunday and it was a collision of Halloween and Christmas. OVERLOAD! College Boy is getting ready to head back to school so I will be a hot mess next week. Laying in an appropriate supply of chocolate!

Let’s see what everyone’s been up  to this week!

Party On!

Core Cards Creative Frenzy DT Call

I love it when an unplanned plan comes together. Core’dinations is having a design team call and it so happens they asked for three cards. It also so happens I needed to make three cards and so VOILA.

If you’ve seen any of my card posts, you know I already love their stuff and use their papers a lot so naturally already had some in my stash. I also have a thing for neutrals so I coordinated my Core’dinations cards using a neutral palette.

I chose a Core Essentials paper in Weathered Tin and a Gemstone paper in Pearl. Also used a floral print paper from my stash:

You can see the textures in the two solid papers which are fun on their own, but I love running this through an embossing folder to really bring out the texture.

I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder (Damask) and ran through my Cuttlebug. TIP: Cut your panel slightly larger than your embossing folder and then trim to size after you emboss. The Core’essentials paper is great for sanding or tearing. I used a sponge-sander-thingy leftover from a pedicure. TMI?

Speaking of Tim Holtz, I also used one of his dies to cut out some layered flowers for my cards. Some of these I cut from the damask paper. Others I used pieces of my Core’dinations papers.

For the patterned paper flowers, I scrunched them up before I layered / glued them together. For the Core’dinations flowers I used the end of a small paintbrush to curl the edges. I just couldn’t leave them flat ya know?

This card uses a handmade Japanese paper for the main layer; the embossed Core’dinations panel; “molded” Core’dinations flower with a rhinestone center. I tied black and white baker’s twine around the panel and finished off with a floral charm.

For this card, the first layer is Core’dinations Gemstone Pearl; embossed Weathered Tin panel, handmade Japanese paper strip and “scrunched” dlowers. Trimmed with rhinestone strip, a chipboard die cut, and “smiles” sticker.

For the last card, I used a Weathered Tin panel as the first layer; embossed Gemstone layer rubbed with Rub N Buff and Ranger Distress ink; a suede paper strip; scrunched floral flower and baker’s twine.

Wish me luck!

BFF Open House Link Party #64 Wrap Up and Features

I still can’t believe it’s August. July was definitely a blur. It was great seeing what everyone’s been up to so here are a few features from last week’s party. Thanks to everyone who linked up!

If you’re looking for a cool, stylish look for these hot Summer days, visit Bev at Flamingo Toes for the how-to on this sandal re-fashion!

I need to eat more cheese. What does that have to do with this ab fab birthday banner in a box? You’ll have to pop over to visit Keri at Shaken Together to find out!

Were you as excited by the first week of the Olympics as we were? I love watching the athletes realize their dreams. Celebrate week two and the closing ceremonies with these gold medal worthy cake pops from Karyn at Pint Sized Baker:

Finally, do you have any of those battery operated candles and do you want to transform them?

Mary over at Sweetwater Style has a great tutorial showing how she upscaled these.

Hope you’ll go and visit these ladies as well as the other wonderful links. Make it a creative week!

BFF Open House Link Party #64...The Let's Get Back to Partying Edition

Hope you didn’t forget that I have a party! Wouldn’t blame you since I bailed abruptly last week. Glad to be back home. Glad the Mumster’s doing well. Trying to get caught up on my day job and back to some crafty time. So since I’ve made almost nothing in the last three weeks, let’s see what everyone’s been up to!!!

Party on and thanks for keeping the fun going while I was away!

Olympics Charm Bracelet and oh I'm Baaaacccckkkkk.

I haven’t written a blog post in 3 weeks, so I hope I remember how! First, for those of you who’ve asked about my mom, she’s doing great and I’m now back home. I appreciate all your positive thoughts and energy!

So have you been watching the Olympics? We love to watch them and even when text alerts spoil the events we’ve yet to watch, it’s still as thrilling when we see the actual event.

While I was in AZ with the Mumster, I did have a chance to pop into Hobby Lobby as well as one of my fave places in Tempe, Beads Galore. I picked up the British flag charm at HL and the crown charm at BG. The red white and blue crystal beads I had back home in my stash.

For whatever reason, I had this notion that “stretchy cord” was more for kids projects. Then I was on the Nordstrom website and saw these:

which are, you guessed it, stretchy cord bracelets with nice beads and charms but they’re $58 each. Um no thank you. I actually whipped up a couple using some stone beads before I was gone but used the same idea for my Olympics bracelet.

Measure your stretchy cord longer than the size of your bracelet. I cut about 12 inches for a 7-8 inch bracelet. Sting your beads, charms etc.

When you are happy with the size, knot your cord. I knot, double knot add a dab of jewelry glue and then knot again. Trim close to the ends of the knot and then off you go to have a spot of tea.

With the British and American flag colors the same, this was perfect since I could honor both countries in one project!

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Mommy's Sweet Confessions

SORRY...No Party This Week

Hopefully things will be back to normal next week . Have a great weekend!

Workshop Wednesday: Dry Erase Christmas Countdown Printable

Welcome to the last Workshop Wednesday of July. It's been so much fun sharing ideas to get ready for the holidays with creative geniuses Michele from The Scrap Shoppe, Bev from Flamingo Toes, Kara from Mine for the Making, and Tracey from My CreativiT. We hope you've gotten some ideas an inspiration to get a head start on the holidays.

I'd planned an easy gift idea to share with you this week but life is what happens when you're busy making other plans and I've extended my time away from my little Santa's Workshop to be w/ my mom another week.

But I do have a fun ( I think) and easy thing to share today that's fitting since ahem, Christmas is exactly 5 MONTHS, 22 Weeks, and 153 Days from the date of this post people! I am one of those annoying people who will announce on the 25th of every month exactly how many months are left. (Although I will probably not start the week / day thing until a lot later)  I know I'm not the only one. Right??? For other compulsive counter-downers, you can print this puppy, slap it in a frame and then change the numbers accordingly as we count down.

I made this using PicMonkey which will definitely be a key part of my holiday planning because it's so easy and they keep adding functionality! 

Now, off to The Scrap Shoppe to see what Michele's cooked up this week!

Click on to bring to full resolution, then Right Click to Save As. Size to your frame of choice, print, frame, and done! Happy countdown! 

Pick Your Plum Giveaway Winner!

Hi all,
Thanks to everyone who entered my recent giveaway from Pick Your Plum. The lucky winner is: Shannon, entry #164 and Shannon has been notified!

Hope you all signed up for notifications from PYP so you don't miss out on their ongoing goodies! Thanks again!!

BFF Open House Link Party #63

Hi all, another straight and to the point party this week. Still with the Mumster while she recovers from part two of her no go horrible surgical adventure that could have been so much worse. Have fun and visit each other!