Sewing has not been the only thing keeping my hands out of trouble recently. My mom had a birthday and a couple of women at work asked me to put a few things together for them. So I got to custom design some stuff for people! I love it when I can do that. So in chronological order...
Mom's Mother's Bracelet and Grandma Bracelet:
The Mother's Bracelet - complete with the children's birthstones
I have an older brother and a younger sister. By using our names as mom called us when we were all kids, it was 5 letters a piece (hence why you see Kathy instead of Kat). I included a sterling silver crystal studded bead with our corresponding birthstones: April, July, and January. The other beads are sodalite and rainbow obsidian (it has a little bit of reflection to it). I spaced it with little sterling plated brass saucers. The clasp is awesome:
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mela_lyn) to put it on me. So anyway I think this just turned out adorable. And again, you must take a look at the profile shot:
It's magnetic!!! Easy on - Easy off. It practically closes itself, which is always preferred when trying to put a bracelet on by yourself. It's pewter so it compliments the pewter letters I used for the names. Oh! And I can't let you get away without a profile shot of this thing:
I like it.
The Grandma Bracelet:
Mom only has one grandchild, so this is easy. Catie loves pink, and she's a little girl, so I thought the rose quartz would be perfect for her. I included the same sterling silver crystal studded bead with her birthstone on it, July. Same spacers.
This is the clasp I chose for the Grandma bracelet. Again, I thought because Catie's only 4.5 she is still a little girl and flowers go well with little girls! The bonus for this? IT'S ALSO MAGNETIC!!!! If you can't tell, I'm an advocate for magnetic clasps for bracelets. I hate when I have to come into work with my bracelet in my pocket and ask one of my girlfriends (usually mela_lyn ) to put it on me when I get to work. Also, the magnet gives before the bracelet does. So if you catch it on something the magnet will come undone before you break the bracelet. I love that.This is the profile shot so you can see the rose quartz really well and a little of the letters and the clasp. Just adorable - just like Catie!
The next group of projects I did were requested by some wonderful ladies at work. The first is another Mother's Bracelet, but slightly different:
This is Annette's Mother's Bracelet. This will be a combined birthday and mother's day gift for her mother. I used sodalite and amethyst with sterling silver plated brass rounds for spacers. I have in there 5 sterling silver crystal studded beads with the birthstones of Annette, her 3 sisters, and her mother's one and only granddaughter.
This is a good close up of the sparkle. Above you can see the clasp and again it's magnetic for easy on and off. This is a great piece that turned out fabulous. It definitely sings better in person.
I had some left over beads and I saw Annette admiring a pair of earrings I had done for a baby shower prize. So I made her some earrings.
Amethyst Earrings: they are the same silver rounds and amethyst beads I used in the bracelet. I think they came out really well. And the second piece of custom jewelry I did was for Janet.
Janet's Anklet
I used pewter rondelles and these awesome silver plated cut-out rounds that really give it a lacey look. The initials of J,T, B, and L are on there for her family. The letters are sterling silver and have a great brightness to them. I used a regular base metal lobster claw clasp for the closure. She wanted magnetic but on an ankle if it gives away you may not notice. I would rather do something a little more secure. So this is what she got. I love it. I might have to get a few more beads and do one for myself!
I had a few beads left over and Janet had seen the beads in the bag and really liked the cut-out rounds. So I made some earrings for her too. I simple spaced them with the sterling silver plated brass rounds for a nice crisp shine. They turned out awesome. So that is not all of the projects I've done, but those are the best and the ones I got photos of. I will take more pictures and get the other posted as they come up. I hope you enjoyed my little project update!
- Location:work
- Mood:
accomplished
sadieloree you know I have a fear of my sewing machine. Well I'm going to be honest I got sick of being scared and tired of waiting for lessons from the internet fairy. So I went to Joann's armed with a 50% off coupon and bought a pattern for an apron and some fabric. Well...I got home and opened up the pattern and looked at it, tried reading it, and whimpered. I didn't know I needed to learn a foreign language to read a pattern. I should have due to my experience with crochet patterns, but I didn't think about it. So I flipped to the abbreviations and started to put 2 and 2 together. A few times I got 5 and that's when I called mom to double check what they meant.
So after dinner, I got the nerve up to cut out the pattern. I laid out the tissue on my pretty fabric and then picked up and took my fabric and refolded it so the wrong side was out as indicated by the pattern. Re-laid everything out again. I pinned it down and poked myself about a billion times. Finally I cut it out. I have to admit I was nervous. I said a little prayer to the crafting gods and goddess to let me do this right the first time so I don't cry. My boyfriend heard me and also asked Fate for a good turn out so he didn't have to hear me cry. Fate likes my boyfriend a lot, because I didn't cry.
I have all these pieces parts and it looks sort of like an apron. So I left the pins in and gently folded up my pieces parts and took them upstairs to my crafting station (I'll have to take pictures and post later) where I put the pieces aside and hooked up my machine.
For the next hour and a half I taught myself with the sewing machine manual and the little I remember from a sewing event with my mother 6 years ago how to change the thread from black to white. To wind a bobbin. To properly thread the thread through the machine and the needle. To thread the bobbin through the machine. I also took a couple of scraps to practice on (that was Trick's idea - it was a good one).
Ok. I can start the easy stuff - pockets. So I break out the ironing board and the iron. Get the fabric all pressed out and I sew the pockets up. Now - it takes me a least 20 minutes to figure out they had me sew them inside out and then want me to right side out them when I'm done. I know...I know...it's my first time on my own. A little slack please. It's now 11pm and Sunday. I put things away so I don't have a certain helper help himself to my project. Don't believe me? Look:
So I don't touch it for a week. But my craft station is set up for sewing, so beading is out. Damnit. Sunday morning I wake up early for me and decide today I'm going to get it done come hell or high water. So I fix my PB&J and head upstairs. I attach the pockets and they look pretty darn good. Next comes the tab for the D-rings. I cut out two (only needed one) and proceed to mess both of them up. Sewed it shut both times before I got what I was supposed do (again slack and needing some). Now I have to cut a new piece but decide I want to do the complimentary fabric instead of the same fabric. I cut that out and finally sew this part correctly and take another 20 to 30 minutes to figure out what the heck they are talking about when trying to attach it to the main part of the apron.
Now it's time for the neck strap and the ties. This should be easy. They are just strips of cloth. Sewing was easy. Turning the blasted things inside out sent my blood preassure throught the roof and me swearing. At that point it's like 4:30am. I'm hot, sweaty (it was 83 that day and I just had the window and a fan going) and PISSED OFF! The swearing brings Trick up asking if I'm ok to which I tell him no I'm pissed because I just wasted an hour and half trying to turn these damn ties inside out and I punched a hole in the fabric of one! Apparently chop-sticks aren't meant to force fabric through. Trick told me to put it down and go get a shower and he'd fix dinner because my stomach growled at him through all this. So I did as he suggested and I was finally able to get them turned right side out and start the final steps of the apron.
But I got it done! I was so excited! It looks cute and is awesome. I'm going to picspam you now with my final product.
This is the final project all done and completed!!! Totally cute and perfect for summer.
A close up of the neck strap and loop with D-rings.
A close up of the pocket which turned out really well too.
Jasper approves obviously.
This is what I was hanging apron from while photo graphing it. I was wondering while I was doing it how much trouble I would be in if I got caught...
And one more helper picture because he's too darn cute not to include.So that is my sewing saga. It has proved to me that I won't stitch my fingers together. There's not much blood involved and only a few tears. A little sweat just makes it better. I'm empowered to move on to other things. Like that headband cover. :-) Or cat clothes...we'll see which later.
- Location:work
- Mood: accomplished
I'm a fan of lemon drop studio and her etsy store Lemon Drop Studio but now she is doing a give away! Which is fun. You should check out her blog and start following her on Twitter at lemon_drop
She has really cute and creative note cards, gift tags and hair goodies. Definately check her out!
The blog wil detail how you can enter. Again with the check it out people!
I hope you have sunshine today
- Mood:
chipper
You are The Moon
Hope, expectation, Bright promises.
The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.
The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
- Location:work
- Mood:
bored - Music:bad radio
With the first day of Spring here (YIPEEE!) and the promise of coming color I found a fabulos little color personality quiz. I found via a new friend via twitter lemon_drop
The Color Sense GameAnd I of course I had to play and this is what I found out:
Have some fun with this! Let me know what you find out.
- Mood: happy
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