Teacher Thank You Gifts

I'm still alive and crafting a little bit, here and there.  A new job has really taken up my time and I haven't had the energy to do too much.  But I'm trying to get myself back into the swing of my crafting life - because it does my soul good!

My boys just finished school a week ago.  With both my husband and I having been classroom teachers for quite a few years, we try hard to give teacher gifts that can actually be used and are things that teachers will like - - - and more often than not, that means gift cards!  It may not be super crafty or cute-sy, but teachers can only take so many mugs or cute little gifts.  Gift cards are where it's at!  For the end of school, we do try to also add in something homemade from the boys, usually something "rock" related.  This year that was necklaces with beautiful stones for each of the lady teachers. 

I found these really cute printables for Amazon gift cards at Fabulessly Frugal.  I love when people are willing to share their talents and creativity with us, for free!  I simply printed them out on some 5x7" photo paper I had laying around and used some glue dots to attach the gift cards.  

Super easy and really cute.  But most important - hopefully personal and yet useable and appreciated by those hard working teachers that spent the year teaching and working with my boys.  

I have a pile of mending sitting in front of my sewing machine waiting for me to get to.  And then I have a few projects in mind.  More to come, soon, I hope!

Earrings and More Earrings

Hi, My name is "T" and I'm addicted . . . . to jewelry!  I just can't stop!  Making the jewelry is probably even more fun that having the finished pieces. 
Anyway - here are a few of my latest creations:

Bezel set, faceted gems from my local Gem Fair that I simply had to pop onto some earring findings. 

 I love these Turquoise earrings but they're large and I haven't worn them yet. 

And of course, pearls . . . pearls, pearls, everywhere.  Pearls are probably among my most favorite. 

Now I'm off to finish some bigger projects, hopefully - fingers crossed!

A Few New Earrings

Ok - I officially have a problem - a jewelry problem.  But I guess that's not the worst problem in the world to have.  I like to make jewelry - and I'm ok with that. 

I really haven't ventured too much into making earrings.  But I decided to whip some out this week and am pleased with the results. 

First - I LOVE pearls!  Always have - always will!  This is a giant white shell pearl and I just simply popped them on to a head pin, and attached them to a sterling silver earring finding.  Love them!

 This is turquoise and a silver bead.  Simple yet cute.  Gotta love the Sundance Outlet catalog for inspiration!

And finally, at least for now, some simple colored pearls formed into a loop.  More inspiration from Sundance. 

More to come, I'm sure.  Lots of ideas floating around in my head.  Now I just need to make some time for more crafting!

More Chunky Jewelry

I've got some sewing projects in the wings - trying to finish up some projects that have been sitting around part way done.  But they're not ready to "unveil" yet.  So in the mean time, the Gem Faire was in town this weekend and since I hadn't been in a while, we went over for a few hours and I ended up with some very cute beads.  They were calling to me so I came right home and starting creating.

Up first - I have been wanting a long solid red coral necklace forever.  These beads are about 7/8" long each making the necklace about 28 inches long total.  I can't wait to wear it this week!

 Next - a purchase on a whim, but it may turn out to be my favorite creation of the bunch.  These are dyed tree nuts and I just couldn't resist the color.  Total length - about 24 inches.  This necklace is going to work with me tomorrow! 

Third - this is part sterling silver, part pewter beads.  But I had been wanting to add another simple silver tone bracelet to my collection for awhile. 

And this bracelet is made up of smokey quartz, citrine, amethyst, and rose quartz beads.  I feel some pastel days coming along this spring and this is a nice addition for me. 

I still have quite a few other purchases to put together but I need a quick trip to the craft store to pick up more findings - up next, some huge pearl drop earrings that I have been wanting to make forever! And them a chunky yellow jade necklace.  I wear mustard/yellow quite a bit and it will be a perfect match! 

Bold, Chunky Bracelets

I've had a couple of strands of miscellaneous beads sitting around for awhile. You've seen them at the craft stores - a strand of coordinating beads that you can make whatever you want out of.  I bought them thinking they would make great necklaces or bracelets.  I finally decided to sit down the other night and play with them.  Both sets of beads decided they wanted to be bracelets. 

Here is #1 - Black and sparkles.  The focal bead right in the middle is large and beautiful. 

 I don't know why I am so dang symmetrical.  But I just can't help myself.  I do love how it turned out.

I had two strands of white/clear/sparkly beads and they decided to become a multi strand bracelet, along with a strand of thick silver chain.  I was a little worried about this bracelet being "too bulky, too big", but . . . .

. . . . I wore it to work on Friday and loved it!  Super bold and chunky!  And a nice mix of coordinated beads all put together for you.  I'm really going to have to branch out of my comfort zone and make a non-symmetrical necklace with these coordinated strands in the future.

Handmade Christmas Gifts

Now I can finally post some of the items I've been working on for Christmas gifts for this year.  There are always more things that I had hoped to get to, but I'm happy with these - and I hope my friends and family are as well.  I did have one giant handmade gift flop this year, but more to come on that one later (maybe - if I can still pull it out of the flop pile and re-work it).

First - yet another ric rack baby blanket.  This one was for my friend to give to her new grandson expected to arrive in a few weeks.  I just don't seem to tire of making these - they're easy and really adorable. 

This pack-n-play fabric doll (think paper dolls made out of fabric) set was made for another of my friends to give to her granddaughter.  I don't have any little girls in my life - but I was dying to make this.  So she is the lucky winner!  The fabric is from the Happy Ever After line by Riley Blake.  This pattern is included with the large pack-n-play set I hope to make 'en mass' this spring with my sister.  This really is such a cute line of fabric - hard to resist!
Here are all the pieces - dolls, clothes, hats, a crown, and of course, the "pack".

And the pieces all fit inside the little holder.

And it folds up all nice and neat.  Adorable.  Now - looking at this picture, I wish I would have sewn a cute pink button on the outside flap over the velcro stitching.  Oh well.

And this is an eyeglass lanyard for my mom.  I was looking at these trying to find one that I liked to order for her.  Then I slept on it, woke up the next morning and went "duh".  I can make one of these myself.  So there you have it - a long silver chain with a little embellishment and a metal circle at the end for the glasses to slide in.

Everything looks better with a few pearls and a silver bead added to it. 
Simple but just enough detail to "cute-i-fy" it!

And finally - a tote bag for a friend.  I had seen this pattern for a fat quarter tote bag from the Cottage Home and had wanted to make one.  Super easy and really fast to work up - which was good since I waited until the last second to whip it out. 

Here is the inside.  And really, can you ever have too many tote bags?  I say no!

Happy holidays.

Red Coral and Black Agate Jewelry

I seem to be on a jewelry making kick lately - so enjoy another new necklace/bracelet set.

 

This one is made with red coral rounds and rondels and gray/black agate oval beads.  Love the color combination!

 For the bracelet, I went with three strands - one gray/black agate, one red coral linked with chain, and the third just a simple silver chain. 

 

I'm loving the agate trend - I have a couple of new types of agate beads on order so you'll be seeing more in the next few weeks.  In the meantime - I have been working on a brand new sewing project - it's been cut out and sitting on my sewing table waiting for attention for a few months.  I've been dreading it for some reason, but it is actually turning out to be more fun that I anticipated.  Hopefully next weekend I'll have pictures.

Making Necklaces

I got on a jewelry making kick the other day - some came out the way the picture in my brain looked.  A couple didn't quite turn out the way I imagined.  But that's the great thing about jewelry - you can recycle it and try again.  Here are the ones that made the cut.

This one is long and you can't really tell from the picture, but the beads are a beautiful coral color.

Then I made a slightly shorter one with turquoise beads.  I love it - made a matching bracelet for it too.

Then I found another really cute crystal pendant.  I've made a couple of necklaces like this before, but this one will be sent off as a gift.  Again, bad picture but imagine a clear crystal - the flash makes it look yellow but it really is pretty.

And here is a close up with the charms I added.  

More Jewelry

So much to do . . . so little time! But I have managed to crank out a few cute pieces of jewelry. I can't believe Christmas will be here in less than 2 weeks. I'm not ready!!!

First up - my sister was in town last week and so we made this cute chain and pearl multi-strand bracelet (thanks to Bev from Flamingo Toes for the tutorial). Of course, I had to have one of my own. Love it!!!I also absolutely LoVe my Anthropologie inspired Gumball necklace and have had lots of comments on it when I wear it. So I thought I would throw together another one in different colors. You really have to see this one on a real person to appreciate it.
And I needed a Christmas present for someone (who shall remain nameless). As I was pawing through a bag of beads I came across these beautifully colored shell pearls. A few chains later and we have this great bracelet to give.
Ok - after I catch up on some sleep tonight, I have a few more projects in the works . . . and I have made a decision - a big one! I vow to myself to start on Christmas projects for next year right away! There really was so much I wanted to do for this year - if I get started now, maybe I'll be ready for next year. Think it will actually happen?

I did put up my hand-painted Precious Moments inspired Nativity set tonight. I've had it for years and years - and never once put it out. There are just a few animal pieces left to paint and a few of the painted pieces still needs their eyes painted. But I put them up anyway - and I love them. Pictures to come!

Some Anthropolgie Inspiration - Necklaces

Finally, I took some time to sit down and be crafty this weekend. It felt good!!!

I had spied these necklaces over on the Anthropologie website a few months back and have been looking for just the right beads to make my own. I'm totally amazed by the prices for these - I do know that it is difficult to find beads that I like as much as theirs, but I think my inspiration pieces work just fine.

First up - Anthropologie's Long Link necklace - original price $298.

And here is my version - yes, it is a really, really bad picture. And I switched the metal from silver up to antique brass. But I thought it went well with the bronzite beads that I chose. (And a quick "true confession" - I am wearing my ever-so-lovely house cleaning shirt for these pictures. It goes just wonderfully with jewelry, doesn't it!) I decided to add some additional short strands of chain just to help set the bottom half of the necklace off, since it is all the same color tones.And here is Anthropologie's Gumball necklace - price $258. When I first saw this necklace, it was not "on" a real person - just in this picture. I didn't catch the actual potential in it until I saw the same necklace on another website with someone actually wearing it. Then I knew I had to make my own.
Here is my version - once again, a really bad picture (indoors at night, in my house cleaning shirt). But I do love this necklace! I can't wait to wear it for real, with a really nice blouse and my hair done nicely (not in a ponytail). This is a fun one and super easy to make. Again the trick is finding the right beads. I am working on another project that I hope to have done soon. And I have my next few projects all lined up, ready to go - can't wait. I'm done traveling for a few weeks and can hopefully get moving on making some progress on my Christmas lists.

Not for a lack of ideas . . .

. . . just a lack of energy. I've always got a list of craft projects a mile long, but I've been working some long hours lately. Add a lovely cold and a sick family on top of it, and my projects are just sitting there, staring at me . . . incomplete. But that's ok. Tomorrow will come. And now that I look at them, all but one of these projects requires a trip back to the store to get a few more supplies - how is it with the craft room FULL (OVER FLOWING) with stuff that I still need something else?

Anyway - here is a peek along with a reminder to myself about what I need to stop for so I can complete them . . . maybe this week.

#1 - look, an actual pattern. I haven't sewn a clothing item for myself for a very long time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one. I need another 15" of this fabric, if it is still at the store - or I'll take plain black of the same type of fabric.

Here is another pile of fabric that I'm thinking about making a dressy jacket with. I tend to where a lot of browns and this only adds to my closet full of browns, but it was too pretty to pass by. I'm more than a little nervous about this one, but the pattern instructions look pretty simple. Surprisingly I think I have everything I need for this one.A little bit of a blurry picture, but I need some bronze chain and jump rings. I feel another Anthropologie knock-off coming.Oh, wait - I feel yet another Anthropologie knock-off coming on too. I need some gold-tone chain for this one. Think bubblegum!And, yes - note the shades of brown appearing again and again. I can't seem to stop myself. Ok - caffeine, saying "no", and eating right are the plans for the week. Let's see what I can accomplish. None of these projects is even on my Christmas to-do list. I'd better get working!