Fall Beading Bloggers Project

This time around, for the Artbeads beading bloggers program, I got to order some FABULOUS beads and findings that remind me of fall, or pick from the Pantone hot new colors. For this project, I went with the fall inspiration while keeping the Pantone colors in mind. I chose some gemstones in labradorite, red poppy jasper, orange aventurine, and yellow aragonite, some copper plated pewter leaf links, some copper head pins, and lastly some copper chain.

Here's my stuff straight out of the package and ready to go!



Aren't these copper leaves great? I LOVE them!


Colors of Fall Bracelet
I made a bracelet out of the chain and head pins and the gemstone beads. I love the way the colors look together with the copper. The little flower link at the end of the bracelet and the clasp are from artbeads too. I think I need to add more of the gemstone dangles on the other side of the chain but I ran out of head pins. OOPS!



Colors of Fall Necklace
This necklace was made by wire wrapping gemstone links with the copper leaves. I really like the colors I picked out to use. They really remind me of fall and all the fun that goes along with it.



I have a TON of gemstone beads left over and a bunch of leaves too. Still trying to figure out what I want to make with them. :) Maybe some earrings?

Disclosure...As a reviewer of products at Artbeads.com, I received all beads pictured in the first photo posted above free of charge. I have been asked to review these products and give my honest opinion of the products...positive or negative. I am not being compensated by Artbeads.com for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.

PC and Angela ROCK!

Angela's Blog

Why this post? Well, Angela got a cricut cartrige with no book. She contacted Provo Craft and they sent her a new cartridge WITH a book. So, to pay it forward she's giving away a Happy Hauntings Cartridge. Cool huh? Go visit her blog, leave some love, and tell her I sent ya. Happy Saturday. :)

newest additions

Mac (the tuxedo) and Charlie (the tabby) came to live with us on July 31. They are 14 week old brother kitties.

Cal Quilt

I made this quilt for a friend of mine. Turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself seeing as it's my 2nd quilt EVER! It's kinda a cheater quilt because the top fabric was already done- I just stitched along the grid lines for the quilting. I'm getting better with my satin blanket edging too. I even figured out (3/4 of the way thru this one) how to hide the part where 2 different pieces of edging line up. Seems to simple to me now! LOL

Top of the quilt


Back of the quilt


Front and back of the quilt

Folded up with the recipients initials on top

Baby Blanket for Kristi

Months ago I found this great "soft and comfy" pink heart fabric at Joann's in the remnant bin. I had no clue what I would use it for but I had to get it. So it sat in my stash for a while. Then I found out my sister in law was having a little girl and her nursery is pastels. Hello! What better time to use the fabric? I got some white dot "soft and comfy" to go with it and added in some light weight batting. I finished out the blanket with satin blanket binding. I used variegated pastel thread for the quilting and to stitch on the binding. I only quilted the long lines on this blanket because my squares don't match up well at all and I didn't want to try free form on my very first project. So, it's not nearly as puffy, fluffy as it could be but it's cute and cozy and SUPER DUPER soft.


Front side



Folded over so you can see both front and back

Summer Design Partners @ Artbeads.com

I got my first batch of beads to play with from Artbeads as part of their Design Partners Bloggers. I got to pick from the HUGE assortment of Charms, Pendants, and Glass Beads for this round. I picked some sea life tierra cast charms in copper, czech glass beads in 4 and 8 mm earth tones mix and sea tones mix, a really cool Kalera style glass bead in sunset, and several ocean colored grooved glass rectangles with a picasso edge. I love beads from Artbeads because it's easy to match up colors on their website to get a great selection of beads that go together well. It seems that I'm all about copper these days so I used lots of copper in my pieces.

My Fun Bead Order


Sunset Necklace
I combined the 4 and 8 mm czech beads to make this necklace. I did the earth tones in 8 mm alternating with the sea tones in 4 mm off the ocean colored side of the Kalera bead and then did 8 mm sea tones alternating with 4 mm earth tones off the amber colored side. To finish it I used a copper toggle clasp from my bead stash. This Kalera bead is beautiful. The czech rounds go well with it too. I love how these colors all work together.





Ocean Fun Bracelet
On this fun piece, I used some copper wire, a copper trailer hitch clasp, and copper oval jump rings from my stash and combined them with the ocean rectangles and copper sea life charms. I made wire wrapped links using 20 gauge copper wire and linked them together with an oval jump ring and a charm. The clasp is from a bead store in Oregon but I have recently seen them at Joann's. LOVE this little bracelet- it's not too lose or too tight. I may add some czech glass links in between to make it a bit longer or possibly into an anklet. This bracelet is very easy to make and the charms are great! They don't feel heavy on the bracelet so you can pile quite a few on if you want a more "charm bracelet" look.


Ocean Earrings
I had some left over rectangles so I decided to make a pair of earrings to go with the bracelet. I used copper ear wires, copper head pins, 6 mm czech glass earth tones mix, and some 4 mm copper beaded spacers all from my stash. I used 2 of the glass rectangles. These are simple drop earrings and perfect to wear with jeans and a white tee shirt.


I made my own earring stand too! SUPER easy! Get a 20" piece of wire (I used 12 gauge home wiring wire and stripped it down giving me THREE pieces!), make a 90 degree bend 5" in from each end, make a loop at the ends and bend upwards. I bent my loops over so they would hold the earrings a bit better for my taste. Easy peasy earring holders/displays. If you want it to stay copper color, I recommend spraying it with a clear sealer. I didn't spray mine because I don't really care if it tarnishes.

Disclosure...As a reviewer of products at Artbeads.com, I received all beads pictured in the first photo posted above free of charge. I have been asked to review these products and give my honest opinion of the products...positive or negative. I am not being compensated by Artbeads.com for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.

Happy Day!

I've been picked to be part of the Artbeads Design Partner Bloggers!



I'm so super excited, I can't contain myself! :)

Yes, I'm a geek.

That's all.

My new bag

So, I found a really cool sew along on the {make} blog. I made a new bag for myself. I got to try out quilting and make an adjustable strap so I can wear it across my body. The blog made 2 short straps to be carried or over the shoulder. I used 19 different fabrics on it! I think I like it. Have to use it for a bit and see if it softens up because right now it's pretty stiff. Without further ado, here's my new bag!


The super long strap that I love and made out of all the different fabrics in the bag. The hardware came from strapworks. LOVE IT! I can even get the hardware in different colors and sizes!



inside the bag



back of my bag



front of my bag

Little Letter Needle Book

Wandering thru blog land I came upon a tutorial for a needle book. I've been meaning to make one to hold all my random needles that are floating around my sewing box and poking my fingers. Well, this tutorial on {make} was SUPER easy to follow and made great envelopes! I didn't make them all postage style and stuff but I may make some like that eventually.


Outsides/fronts of needle books. The one on the left is mine, my sisters is in the middle, and my sister in laws is on the right.


The backsides showing the closures.


The inside of my needle envelope all loaded up with needles.

it's spring

so I had to go out and cut some roses. :) that.is.all.

my first wrap skirt

I have had this fabric sitting around for almost 6 months. I bought it intending to make a skirt. It was the end of a bolt so it was cheap, no clue what I paid for it, I tend to throw my receipts away to destroy the evidence of my spending. LOL

So, I wanted to sew today. I wanted to make something. I fixed my favorite pair of pirate patchwork shorts that had a hole in them. I made a hole in one of my favorite skirts trying to repair an invisible zipper (I'm gonna give it to Jess and see if she'll fix the zipper, I'll fix the hole) and put it back in the mending bin. I finished Greg's pot holders. I tried to make the neck trim on my shirt I started, gave up because it wouldn't do what I wanted it to. THEN I began the search for a skirt tutorial. I wanted to make a wrap around skirt. I needed a decent and easy to follow tutorial. Well, I found one here and it was very easy to follow. Here's the results:


Front View




Back View



I made some modifications. I used a 1/2" seam, I did 1/2" fold over and iron and then a 3/4" fold over and iron (sneaked some stitch witchery in to help keep it so I could sew) for the hem and the side edges. For the ties/top, I made a 2" bias tape with my bias tape maker and then folded it in half to make a double tape. I then put in a button hole so the tie could go thru to hold it all together. I made the ties/top 104" long since it was part of the edging on the top. I probably should have made the ties not equal length because if I tie it on the side I have one that's REALLY long and one that's shorter. But whatever. It's my first time! I think I'll try to wear it when/if it finally warms up around here! Thanks for checking out my project! Leave me some love if you want! :)

6 years

I got married 6 years ago today. It seems like it hasn't been that long but I can't really remember what life was like "before Greg". Seems like we've always been together. Nothing much has changed but yet EVERYTHING has changed. We've built 3 houses, moved twice, had to put a kitty down, still have one kitty. We've gone on lots of adventures and have found new hobbies. If you had asked me 12 years ago (yep, we've been together that long) where I'd be in 2010 I would have answered that I'd be single most likely, living at the beach playing in the waves. Now, I'm glad that I don't live at the beach and play in the waves all the time. I enjoy doing that but if I didn't have my best friend with me it wouldn't be worth it! And since we don't live at the beach, when we go it's that much more special. For those of you who have known me for a long time, you know that my hubby and I met when we were in school in Monterey. We tried to find a place to buy out at the coast. It wasn't happening. Stuff was just TOO expensive. Well, we sucked it up and moved back to the small town california that he grew up in. It is here that we have made our lives. My inlaws are successful business owners in the area and hubby worked with his mom and dad for many years until the construction and real estate market crashed. Hubby then decided to go back to school to get a cooking degree. Yep, he's my chef! It's something he loves and rather than sit at home and do nothing while being unemployed, he's gone back to school. I love the fact that he cooks for me. He gets frustrated that I don't "like" all the stuff he cooks and I have to remind him that he cooks for the love of cooking and that if I try what he makes and don't like it, I am a big girl and I can make my own dinner. :) I've had my teaching job for 10 years now. Same school, same district, pretty much same grade. It's good. I enjoy our life and look forward to many many more years together! :)

taggies

I made SIX taggies the other day. I can't seem to quit making them. I LOVE it! My mom's cat Carter loves them as well. I have to make one for him out of scraps I have kicking around.


Polka dots


Red Monster Fleece- I LOVE this fabric and might have to buy a yard or so of it just to have on hand. :)


Gecko fleece made for a teacher @ my mom's school.


Flowers and Flutterbys- I bought this as a remnant and LOVE it!


Flower Garden- another remnant I got. I'm a sucker for lime and flowers.


Big polka dot fleece. The "right" side is SUPER DUPER cookie monster fuzzy so I put that INSIDE. My machine does NOT like stitching over that stuff!

Crafty Saturday

I spent my WHOLE day today being crafty. My craft room is a mess and I wasn't even working in there! I was working in the dining room on the pool table.

So, here's what I made today:

A reusable cup insulator in a SUPER cute turtle fabric.



Another reusable cup insulator in a teal and lime paisley kinda pattern.



I restrung a bracelet for a friend to give as a gift.



I made a "taggie" blanket as a baby shower gift for a fellow teacher.




Baby shower card for fellow teacher (goes with the taggie)



A mother's bracelet for the daughter of a fellow teacher.



A Birthday card for my brother

I also got most of another cup insulator done but ran out of felt. Guess I get to go buy some insulbright tomorrow. :) I love crafty shopping.