A New Bracelet to Help with Pain

I made this bracelet with chunks of raw amber, hematite beads and clear quartz crystal.  There are also some small glass beads.

I chose this combination not only because the colors are pretty but because all 3 stones help with pain.  I've used hematite before with an injury but have also found that amber does indeed help alleviate pain for me.  Clear quartz is supposed to enhance the effects.

I have bracelets and necklaces with these stones already so this one will be going up for sale.

More Journals & Rosaries to Sell ~ Nothing Bought to Make Them

Here are photos of the new journals I've made along with some new rosaries.  And the best part is that I bought nothing in order to make them.  Recycling at it's best use!

No extra frills on these, just lined pages and sometimes signature covers.

This rosary is made of clay beads with brass accent beads.  The ridges feel nice as your fingers move over them.  

All the beads are made of stone in varying shades of blue.

My favorite so far, red stones 

including the cross to which I glued metal crosses on each side, the large beads are vintage lucite.  I think it gives it a byzantine style.

All are for sale on my various Ebay stores, soon on Etsy & Poshmark, check my links in the sidebar if you are interested or send me an email.

New Bracelets I Made, Outside My Comfort Zone!

I lucked onto some boxes of beads at a yard sale.  A lot of them were larger than the beads I usually go for so it pushed me to try new things.  After perusing Pinterest ideas for a week these are what I came up with.

This 1st one has wrapped strands.

These were simpler but just as pretty.  You can twist them for somewhat the same effect as the 1st one.

They'll be going up for sale in my Poshmark closet in a day or so.

I hope someone likes them!

The Beaded Vest is Done and Up For Sale

I finished the beaded vest and have it up for sale in my Poshmark store!

I wonder if I should have made the embellishment on the back larger, then I think not because who wants to lean against a ton of beads?

I hope people like it and it sells soon!

A New Project ~ Bead Embellished Denim Vest

I finally got to do some sewing, as in sewing beads onto a vest.

I'm trying out a new idea to hopefully make some income.  I will be embellishing jean vests and jackets. 

With this vest I used a stencil for the design and painted it in with a copper paint.  Now I am adding multi-color seed beads around the edges.  I really like the Boho designs I am seeing with lots of color and designs from around the world.  I'll be looking for some fabrics and trims.  For now I am using what I have on hand.  This vest already had a southwestern feel so I am just adding to that.  Hopefully people who shop Poshmark will like this when I'm done!

More Handmade Jewelry

I've been busy trying to fill my Poshmark store.

Chunky green stones.

More green stones, shells & beads,

A fun multicolor Boho necklace.

From the aqua bead box I made this necklace & bracelet set. 

Also from the aqua box came the pieces for this glass bead necklace.

3 strand seed bead bracelet.

3 strand faux millefiori bead bracelet.  The beads are made of a polymer clay.

A Suede & Beaded Medicine Bag

Here's the finished medicine bag.  I did change the idea of a leather strap to a beaded one and I really like how it looks.

Those wonky beads are the only thing I don't like.  But the size is not uniform so that will be something I correct if I do any more of this work.

The bag is small, about 3 1/2" x 4" not including the fringe.  My methods might have been a little unorthodox but it turned out well for not buying anything to make it.  I was happy to use a little bit of my 23 boxes of beads stash.

Hopefully the recipient likes it!

A Quick Money Making Project

I was checking out a local buy & sell page on Facebook and found a lady that needed a dress altered pretty fast.  We messaged each other and Saturday she brought over the dress.

This is the dress her 13 yr old needs for a pageant this next weekend.  The bodice needed to be taken in on the sides about an inch.

Here it is 3 hours later.  

I opened up the lining side seams. Then tacked down the beads and sequins near the edge of the seam because I had to remove some.  Because of the beads I needed to hand stitch the new seam and then stitch the lining seams by hand also.

An enjoyable 3 hours for me and I get paid, I hope she wins!

How To Make A Cone Christmas Tree #7

Links to posts for trees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

For tree 7 I chose the purple sparkly paper and used the same method as laid out for tree 6.  The base is the other toilet paper holder bar like I used for tree 2.

Since I make jewelry I have a huge stash including chain,  I chose this gold chain to use as garland and gold & silver jingle bells for ornaments.  The bells were purchased last year at Walmart for a present project and were pretty cheap.  You could always used old or broken necklaces of any kind, faux pearls would look pretty!

I hot glued the foamboard disc into the cone and made sure very quickly that it was straight.  Then I added hot glue drops along the bottom, one at a time and pressed the chain into the glue.  Wet your finger and you won't get burned.

Once I got all the way around the bottom I started angling up with the chain garland.  Lastly I hot glued the bells on, alternating silver & gold ones.

This may be my favorite, but then purple is my favorite color.

Amber and Hematite for Arthritis?

I was reading some of the blogs I follow and a link led me to this blog.  She had an article on the healing properties of amber.  This was all news to me, I had no idea it was good for pain.

I do have arthritis and for the last month my left elbow has been really giving me a time of it.  Nothing I'd tried seemed to work, not even Aleve.  So I dug out my amber necklace seen in the photo above and put it on.  Then I remembered I used to wear a hematite anklet, until it broke, for my sciatica.  Hmmmm, on went the old thinking cap and into the boxes of beads I went.  

Last night I created this bracelet with unpolished amber chunks, magnetic hematite, quartz crystal and glass beads.  I put it on right away.  Then I even slept in both the necklace and bracelet.  

My elbow is usually not too bad in the morning as it has had time to rest.  I wore the necklace & bracelet all day.  The pain comes and goes in my elbow and at its worst (when I am trying to lift something) it's probably a 6 on a pain scale.  Mostly it did not hurt at all today and when it did, it was probably a 1½.  And I took no pain meds.  

The baltic amber has about 8% succinic acid which is absorbed by your skin and that's supposedly what does the trick.  The magnetic hematite is the kind you want, magnetics have been used for years to combat arthritis and to help heal broken bones.

I'm going to continue wearing the jewelry even though it doesn't really match my wardrobe.  If you try this be sure to wear the pieces next to your skin.  I'd be interested in knowing if any of you have used amber or hematite before or if you will now and what effects if any you got in the past or get in the future.

Encrusted Crazy Quilt Piece

This is how it started after a week of dithering over fabrics and placement.

After 6 weeks of very informative encrusted crazy quilt classes given online by Sharon B at Pin Tangle, it looks like this:

My frame is not wonky, that's the camera doing its tricks.  This piece is 13 x 17 inches, much larger than most folks' 8 inch squares.  But then I never do things the way others do.  I'm pretty well pleased with it.

Here's a closer view of the top portion.  The gold round piece is a vintage brooch I picked up that is labeled Guinevere.  Some of the flowers in the curve here are pre-made ones I had in my stash, it was nice to find a home for them, the rest I embroidered with silk ribbon that I had picked up on closeout ages ago.

This unicorn is the piece I started with in the beginning.  It is an applique lace motif that started out beige.  I painted it with 2 colors of gold metallic craft paint.  The fern stitch fronds around him are done with vintage silk tread I scored at the thrift shop one day.  I did have some trouble with it since being vintage meant it did have some weak spots and several lengths had to be picked out and trashed.

This heart was also a lace motif I painted gold but this corner needed something light so I added the gathered pink silk ribbon and beads.  There are lots of beads scattered everywhere on this piece.  Click on the photos to enlarge them.

I spent the most time on the flower curve with its myriad of blossoms.  There's even a few buttons in there.  All my favorite colors and textures brought together in one piece.  If you are interested in learning more about encrusted crazy quilting I highly recommend Sharon's class.  You get to download and keep the instructions so I feel it is well worth the price of $60 for 6 weeks.  There is also a forum for those in the class so you can help each other and bounce off ideas.  Sharon also gives you the link to an online stitch index and her blog is wonderful for inspiration.
I was able to take skills I already had and put them all together in a new way.
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Just a reminder that today is the last day to attend the Virtual Craft Show and do some commenting in order to win some fabulous items!

Encrusted Crazy Quilting part 1

I am taking sharon b's Encrusted Crazy Quilt class online.  Here's a link to her wonderful blog if you would like to see how an expert does it.  

Most everyone is doing a square as you would in a real quilt but I decided to frame mine and hang it in my bedroom.  Therefore mine is rectangular and I am using an existing frame I have which is a a fairly narrow antiqued gold leaf with curlicues.  I constructed it way back when I was managing a frame shop/gallery.

After looking at it with the focal piece I intend to add, it will be vertical, about 14 x 18.  Mostly purples with lots of glitzy gold pieces, a little turquoise and royal blue and a bit of red.  I have actually added a couple more fancy ribbons to the mix and need to start on the embroidery part.  I am going to try and work on it every night this week.

One piece I cut out of an old project I never finished, and it already has beading on it, is to the left of the gold braid.

Some of the purples are showing as blue.  The triangle with the gold rose outline is a royal purple as is the corrugated fabric in the top left.

The bottom right piece is an almost black indigo blue with a gold metallic floral pattern.

Love the dragonscale netting, I just added it to the top of the tiny stripe which was a silk tie I picked up at the resale shop.

Next post should have some embroidery done on it.  It will be rather fantasy themed as my focal is a bust of a unicorn.  I'm probably going to paint it golden as the white looks a bit odd with all these dark colors.

After I had lunch with my quilting buddy Debra yesterday, I stopped at one thrift store on the way home, all the others were closed already.  I scored this wonderful pile of crocheted edging...all for $1!

Not sure why they added the rickrack to the one but it can easily be removed.

Oh yeah, and this gorgeous Victorian type crocheted collar was part of the lot.  Looks like it was never finished or used...all I need is a button and I think I probably have several thousand to choose from.  It fits too, so I may wear it this winter with some of my new long sleeved cotton tees that need dressing up.  Maybe I need to add some beads to the bottom edge? ;-)

Hope your weekend has been as fun as mine!