Craft Tutorials

• While drooling over all the beautiful bags in the U-Handbag flickr pool I ran across etsy seller ObscuritiesHotGlass. She has tons of really cute bags and they all look beautifully sewn. The above-pictured crossword puzzle bag is a fave but she also has tons of great boxy bags. Looks like she’s having a killer sale right now too so check it out.

• And speaking of boxy bags, I’ve been searching online for a tutorial for this type of bag and found a great one from Dragoknitfly. She explains everything well and has lots of good photos.

• Wait until you see this amazing Etch-A-Sketch laptop cozy over at Betz White’s blog. She made it as a birthday gift for her brother. Seriously cute. If she was selling them in her shop I’d already own one! ha ha

• For those of you interested in selling your wares at the biggest (and dare I say best?!) holiday craft show in SoCal applications are up for Felt Club! This year’s event is being held on Sunday, November 16th at the Shrine Auditorium. Along with the usual fab offering of crafty workshops we’ll also be including Swap-O-Rama-Rama in the festivities. Applications are being accepted through August 29th.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Have a crafty, productive weekend everyone!
Cheers,
Donna

It feels like I’m spinning all the time, and that’s because I am. In April, I took the plunge and bought myself a spinning wheel. Since I live in a dorm room, I need something light and compact, but it still needed to be beautiful. My wheel - a kromski sonata. The first night I played with me wheel I realized I didn’t know how to spin; I barely even had the hang of spinning with a drop spindle. I immediately got on amazon and ordered the spinning book with the prettiest cover.

Of course, we all should know the saying - don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but that’s what I did. I’m writing this post as a book recommendation for those that are thinking about learning to spin. A few weeks ago, I decided I needed to learn more, so I bought Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning by Judith MacKenzie McCuin. Amazing! This book goes from a history of handspinning, to processing and spinning your own fibers, to making novelty yarns. While the downside of this book is that the pictures aren’t too appealing, the information is incredibly helpful. I know I’m not a book critic, so my word may not be much, but I am someone eager to learn to spin and I reach for this book everytime I sit at the wheel.

Have fun spinning!

Kate

Salutations!

My name is Sara but I also go by ChickenBetty, Mama, sweetheart, tootsie and too many more to count. I’ve been a crafter for as long as I can remember and my crafting choices can be as varied as the names I answer to.  I’ll try my hand at just about anything and if I had unlimited resources its all I would do! Hopefully I’ll be able to share some projects that will inspire you to try your hand at all sorts of new things.

Today I’d like to dive in with some jewelry. I started making jewelry for myself in high school when I was on a limited budget and couldn’t afford many of the sparkly spangles that I saw in all the popular accessory stores. I’ve continued to do so as the years have gone on, for myself and as gifts for friends and family. The tools and supplies are simple and readily accessible to most people either at their local craft store, mega department store, from various online sources and hundreds of suppliers at Etsy.

Lately I’ve been stuck on buttons. I’ve done several necklaces where I would string buttons and beads and add a clasp but I’ve been thinking in a new direction, groupings, clusters and flexibility and I have a penchant for making things inspired by movies, books and pop culture. There have been a rash of comic book themed movies in the last few years and a recent release caught my attention. Follow along

You’ll need a selection of buttons ( I chose laquered shell buttons for this project), craft wire in a color of your choice, coordinating beads, ear wires, chain and a clasp (mine is part of an old thrifted costume jewelry piece) jump rings, wire cutters and round needle nose pliers.

I began with a 24″ ( 60cm)length of wire.Pinch the wire about 3/4 of an inch (2cm) from the end with your round  nosed pliers and give a 180degree turn. Still holding the curve you’ve created with the pliers, wrap the remaining short wire around the long wire stem forming a closed loop. Clip the end close to the loop with your wire cutters, put the flat side of your wire cutters towards the loop, you will get a much closer and cleaner cut this way. The beginning of each cluster will begin in this manner.

Thread the wire through your first button from the back, leaving the newly formed loop showing. Give a gentle curve to your wire and thread it, front to back, in the second button hole. Pulling gently, in the direction of the curve in the wire, tighten the wire through the button holes.

Slide the second button onto the wire, back to front, snug it right up next to the first button and gently bend the button to sit tight with the first. Repeat the wire loop, threading the wire through the second button hole on the second button and tighten to hold in place.

Repeat with the remaining buttons and then thread on your bead of choice.

You now need to finish off this cluster and secure the wire so nothing will fall off! Cut the wire leaving yourself about 3/4 of an inch of wire(about 2 cm). Grasp the very end of the wire with your round nosed pliers and turn the wire around the pliers until you are tight up against the bead. Your first cluster is now done. Continue on to make as many clusters as your heart desires - I made 7. You may need to cut additional lengths of wire when creating the clusters but keep you starting length at 2 feet.

I chose to simply attach one cluster to each ear wire to make the earrings. Super simple, just open a jump ring with your round nosed pliers and drop an ear wire and a cluster on it, close the ring and your earring is done.

The necklace design is up to you. I attached on cluster to each end of the chain with a jump ring. I then took a scrap piece of the craft wire, made a loop in one end, threaded on 2 beads, one cluster and 2 more beads. I closed the other end with a loop and gave the whole thing a slight bend in the middle. I then joined the center cluster to the two on the chain.

That still leaves me with 2 lonely clusters - there are endless possibilities. You could add the last two clusters to the jump rings that join the the center or, remember, the wire along the backs of the button clusters could support jump rings.

Click on any pic to see a larger version. Give it a try. Its fun and you have sparkly spangles when you are done! Drop a comment if you have any questions or if you figured out what my inspiration was.

Toots