Peek at My Week (March 21-27)

 We've made it through another week! Here's hoping yours was a good one. Here's a peek at mine.

I have to admit that the majority of Sunday was spent on yard work. Spring is here and everything is starting to get out of control. After that, I didn't have much time or energy for my 100 Day Project, so I xinished up this little bracelet for my Honey Do List Reveal. 

Monday was kinda weird. I took my 17-year-old niece to get her first Covid vaccine. It was done as a drive-through in the Mobile Civic Center. It was odd to  drive through the same space where we have our Mardi Gras Balls. As we waited a few minutes to see if she had any reaction, I looked up in the stands to see Bernie up there. I was tickled and even got a prize for noticing him! 

After her shot and some lunch, I headed back home to get work done. Of course, I wasn't feeling it. All I really accomplished was making some Wonky Bits from the course I just took from @Willa.Wanders on Instagram. 

Tuesday was a rough day for the weather in Alabama. We didn't get much of the storms but watched the radar and alerts all day long. The rain finally settled in over our area overnight. 

Since I knew it was going to rain for several days, I tried to make sure I made a point of spending a little time outside. That was also partly because I was restless all day. The azaleas are out of control at the moment. To give scale to the size of some of our bushes, I quickly took this photo of Zoe in front of the ones next to our driveway. I'm still not sure you can tell how massive they are. 

It indeed rained on and off all day on Wednesday, and I didn't leave the house. Instead, I stayed busy with a few business-relaed tasks like making more beaded bookmarks and mixed media thank you cards that are included with my online orders. 

I also dove back into my Bead Soup to make a few more things for the reveal this Saturday. 

There was more work with the above beads on Thursday. But, I also made som time to explore the property since the rain had stopped. 

I was giddy to discover this tiny snail chopping away on a rotting log.

As well, I spotted these little roses that didn't bloom last year. (I think we had cut them back not realizing what they were.)

As the bamboo shoots are popping up, it's my routine to walk the property to kick them down before they get too big. On Friday, while searching for them in an area I haven't recently tread, I spied these blooms. 

I think they're some kind of pear. The funny thing is that they're blooming off a branch that is bent, broken, and mangled. To me, they're pretty little miracles. 

I worked a bit more on the last few pieces for my Bead Soup, altering some copper washers that my partner, Robin sent me. 

From there, I turned to my art journal since I haven't touched one in about a week. This page was an utter disaster until I remembered the wonky bits I recently made. It fixed the whole thing. I'll likely have a video on the process for this one before too long. 

Saturday was a mixed bag. Pat had a gig out of town so I was on my own. I woke early with him then did some yardwork before chatting on the phone with a friend I haven't talked to in a few months. From there, I decided to do a little eco-dying to see if the azaleas and wisteria would color my papers. (It seems that the wisteria leaves did great but neither of the blooms added much color to the pages - just FYI.) And, that pretty much ended my week. 

Here's some inspiration for your week ahead:

• I've mentioned it several times that I don't really do wreaths, but I can always appreciate the beauty of them. This Inexpensive Rag Wreath piques my interest because of its simplicity. 
• Can you believe that Easter is next weekend? GAH! I saw this Fabric Easter Egg Pattern and thought it was super cute. . . maybe next year! Also, this Easter Egg Banner is awful sweet. I can see hanging it across my TV stand. 
• I mentioned last week that I'm going to try to learn to knit, maybe even crochet. So this Crocheted Chain Link Necklace definitely caught my attention. 
• Oh my goodness. You really need to see the beauty of these floating embroidered pieces. They're gorgeous. 
• Anything rainbow-related always calls out to me. I'm taken with this woven rainbow card. I just want to pet it!
• Here are Five Favorite Creative Tips for your creative process. 
• I'm always on the lookout for images to use in my art, and The Graphics Fairy often delivers just that. This week, she shared some Old Kid Photos that are really great. 
• This little Woven Embroidery Hoop looks like a project I could actually do. I might too, I have all the supplies. 
• How about some jewelry-making? lol. These Marbled Clay Statement Earrings are made with polymer clay. 
• Finally, here are 52 Quotes about Journaling to inspire your creativity. 

And, that was my week. I'm looking forward to the week ahead and Easter with the family. I hope your week is full of all kinds of lovely surprises and signs of Spring. 

Beads & Wire Flower Tutorial | DIY Beaded Flowers

Earlier this week, I shared the Spring Flowers bracelet I made for the Honey Do List reveal at SJ Designs Jewelry. I'll share that bracelet again at the bottom of this post. However, today, I want to show you how to make the easy beaded flowers I created for the chain of the bracelet. 

It's really a simple process that just takes a few beads and some wire. But, I didn't come up with it. After MUCH searching, brain-wracking, and frustration; I found how to make these little beaded flowers on the WireWorkers Guild Blog in a post from 2013 entitled A is for Apple Beads. 

Since it is such a simple process and much easier to show you, I (of course) made a video of this Bead & Wire Flower Tutorial. 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here or in the comments section of the video.

Oh, and I did mention that I would show you that bracelet.

It's super sweet and perfect for spring. Of course, the flowers could be created in any color combination for any season, making them quite versatile. What would you make with them? In what colors?

Spring Flowers (SJ Honey Do List Reveal)

As I've mentioned in a few previous posts, Spring has definitely sprung in my little corner of South Alabama. Everything is in bloom. For this month's Honey Do List at SJ Designs Jewelry, Eric chose a perfect photo to really help me get geared up for the season. It's full of little pink and white wildflowers. I actually don't often make jewelry with much pink but was sure that the photo inspiration would kick-start something beautiful. 

Honestly, I didn't know where to start with this inspiration. But, a week or so ago, I suddenly remembered a tin in my stash with some pink flowers on it. 

As soon as I pulled it out, I knew it was perfect for this challenge. 

I've been playing around with adding hardware snap rings to tin with rivets and had wanted to try to make a sort of bracelet bar with that idea. So, I cut some of the flowers from the tin, punched a few holes, and added the snap rings.

It worked out beautifully.

From there, I used bracelet bending pliers to gently arc the bar for comfort. After that, came the hard part, figuring out the chain. Y'all, I struggled so hard with that for some reason. 

Actually, I knew the reason. I wanted to make flowers but not on cord like a typical daisy chain.  I wanted them to be on wire. It took a bit of research, but I finally found one old tutorial on a blog that was fairly close to what I wanted.

With some fiddling, I made them work just the way I wanted. I've created a Beads & Wire Flower tutorial if you're interested in how to make them too. 

In the end, this bracelet is just what I wanted for the challenge from Sarajo and Eric. It's so sweet and just screams of spring.

As always, a big thank you goes out to Sarajo and Eric for inspiring me to create something I wouldn't have thought of without them. Make sure you head over to the SJ Honey Do List Reveal for March and see what Sarajo and the other participants have made. And, if you're inspired to create something too, make sure to share it! She'll have the linky tool open for about a month. 

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Peek at My Week (March 14-20)

I hope your week has been quite wonderful. Mine's been a bit all over the place. After a busy Friday and Saturday, I took Sunday to recover and didn't accomplish much of anything. On Monday, I was still a bit sluggish but tried to make the most of the day. 

While I fit in a bit of art journaling, my jewelry-making endeavors were less than successful. 

Tuesday was blooming good.

All the azaleas, pine, dogwoods, and everything else is in bloom in our area!

I was inspired to finish these sunrise sunset earrings and they sold pretty immediately.

Artemis has recently decided that my chair in the craft room is really hers.

On Wednesday morning, I made myself a delicious breakfast with more of our egg abundance.

It was also St. Patrick's Day, and I went on a shamrock hunt.

While getting some work done, I looked down on my desk and saw a theme. Do you see it too?

Primary colors!

I took Zoe out and saw more blooms. Wisteria - one of my favorites!

Much of the day was spent in anticipation of a horrible storm throughout the state. We got our portion of it overnight as we tried to sleep. 

On Thursday, I made sure to work on a new design that had been doodled into my journal earlier in the week. It came out better than I anticipated.

I was in a creative groove and even worked on an art journal page too.

I was really feeling Spring knocking on my door on Friday right from the moment I walked into the craft room that morning. The view!

These little roses weren't in bloom last year, but I'm so glad to see them this year.

And, oh my goodness, the blooms on the blueberry bushes are out of control!

I struggled with my jewelry-making a bit but finally had a breakthrough.

And, it looks like I'm going to try to learn some new skills.

I haven't cracked the book yet but wish me luck.

Saturday was my niece's prom, so I spent much of the day at her house so I could get a few shots of her and her boyfriend before the big event. Really, they just had call-outs that we watched virtually. There was no actual dance because of the virus.

And, I got some great pictures for sure!

How about some inspiration?

• I'm not great with seed bead stitches but am quite taken with this Right Ange Weave Tennis Bracelet Tutorial. 
• Over at The Graphics Fairy, you can find this list of a couple different methods on How to Make Tassels. 
• These looking glass Easter eggs are made with a simple method, but the results are lovely. 
• Check out this easy wire and leather triple wrap bracelet tutorial. 
• If the flowers where you are aren't blooming yet, you can make your own tissue paper flowers with one of the tutorials at My Modern Met. 
• Now for a couple of embroidered inspirations. First, these embroidered portraits. Next, how about more landscape embroideries. 

I've got a busy week ahead: trying to make sure I meet all my end-of-the-month deadlines. I hope you've enjoyed the first couple of days of spring and have a really fabulous week. 

DIY Bead Cap Fringe Earrings

There's something almost magical about a pair of earrings that have a lot of movement to them. The jingle and jangle of many moving parts catches the eye and enchants the observer. This was the case with these bead cap fringe earrings. The minute they were made, I was giddy.

We all have those techniques and tricks that we see other artists use and know that we want to try, so we file them away or pin them to Pinterest for another day. While I'm awful about getting back around to those ideas, sometimes I just HAVE to try them. This bead cap fringe idea is one that I know I've seen multiple times but put off for later. Most recently, I saw Moois Van Mie share an earring tutorial that uses the technique. While coming up with designs for Bead Box 11, I decided to try it and loved how fun the results were. So, I'm sharing it with you. The ones I made are simple enough.

Start with some basic materials - 

For a pair of earrings, you'll need double what I have pictured here: a metal tassel, eight small beads, eight balled headpins, a bead cap (with loops), a spacer bead, an ear wire, and a short length of wire (20 or 22 gauge). You'll also need some basic jewelry pliers: chain nose, round-nose, and flush cutters.

I have the entire process of making these DIY Simple Bead Cap Fringe Earrings for you on YouTube.

However, if you just want the quick walk-through, here you go.

Start by placing one of the small beads on one of the balled headpins. Begin your wrapped loop, but don't wrap it just yet. 

Slightly twist open your loop and slip it onto one of the rings on the bead cap.

Now, close your loop by wrapping it. Then, trim the excess and tuck the tail. 

Repeat the process for all the petals on your bead cap.

From there, we need something to hang from the center to give your earrings a little weight. I chose a metal tassel. But, another charm of some sort would work too. Make a wrapped loop at the base of a short length of wire, adding your charm before you wrap the loop. 

Then, insert the other end of the wire into the center hole of your beaded bead cap. Make sure it's the underside of the cap. Top the cap with a spacer bead and form another wrapped loop. Trim the excess and tuck in the tail.

After that, it's just a matter of twisting open the loop of an ear wire and attaching it to your fringed charm before closing it and completing your earrings. 

And, you've got yourself a pair of fabulously fun, flirty earrings full of all kinds of movement. 

I'm hoping to get better about posting more jewelry-related tutorials around here. In fact, I have a whole series recorded and waiting that I may start next week. But, this little tutorial happened first, so I'm sharing it first. Do let me know if you have any questions about the earrings made here or any suggestions for future tutorials. I hope I've inspired you to make something beautiful today. 

Bead Box 11 - Stocked

Before I started The 100 Day Project, I knew I needed to restock that darn bead box. Since my project is #100DaysOfMakingJewelry, I just had to make sure I had a few designs at the ready for those days when I'm not inspired. 

My bead box is a simple plastic organizer with 17 compartments. Into each compartment, I place most of the elements for a jewelry design. This is the eleventh iteration of this box. I'll have links to all the others below. Here's a quick look at the box all stocked and ready for me. 

And, here's what's in each of those compartments. 

This actually wasn't the first piece I designed for the box, but it ended up in space one because that's the largest of them, and this is a packed design. It's really simple though. I chose an ornamental vintage chandelier crystal for the pendant. From there, I dumped out my personal stash of bead soup (mix of beads) and began selecting beads and buttons that spoke to me. Before long, a palette emerged. If you follow me on Instagram, you've likely already seen this and several of these other initial bead box designs in progress.

I went much more simple with a lot of what ended up in this version on the box. These turquoise drops and brass arrows, for example, will be a pair of earrings.

I've had those lovely brass leaves for AGES. It's time I put them to good use. They really speak for themselves, so they'll be the centerpieces in a pair of earrings. 

Finding beads to match that shade of blue on the found pottery shard was tough. But, I dipped into the last of my amazonite pebbles and will alternate those with frosted faceted glass beads. 

A friend gifted me with several sets of keys. I've been trying to find different ways to use them. As I was stocking this box just before Valentine's Day, these heart keys spoke to me. I painted them with several shades of pink Vintaj Patinas but wasn't a big fan of the outcome. So, I sanded it back to give these a nice rustic, peeled-paint feel. I'll accent them with some rhinestone beads. 

I absolutely love using those hardware store snap rings for assemblage pendants. For this necklace, I'm using a soldered button, a soldered stone, a handmade wired resin and paper teardrop, Czech glass beads, a bone bead, and some gunmetal-colored e-beads. I can't wait to see how this one comes together.

And, then it's back to simple. Those distressed and aged tin discs will be paired with the large white beads for earrings.

I'm really, really excited to see how this one turns out. The brass stamping fairy was picked up at an antique show several years ago. I haven't been able to bring myself to use her. Isn't she lovely? But, now it's time! She will become the pendant to a necklace with the chandelier crystal and some clear glass beads. 

I can't remember where I got those metal tassels. I think they were part of some office supplies I found at Tuesday Morning. Of course, I saw jewelry! They're going to make it into a pair of earrings along with brass bead caps, headpins, and some tiny faceted blue beads. 

These elements were already bagged up together like I had already planned out some earrings for them. I don't know what I was waiting for, but into the box they went. They will end up just being tiny little things.

I'm awful at planning out bracelets. I try to make sure I have at least one design for one in each of the bead boxes. The Tim Holtz word bar was altered with metallic Vintaj Patinas. I'll add the black and gold beads as the chain.

Those tin semi-circles are from an old Mary Englebreit tin. Can you tell? I picked out coordinating red and yellow glass beads along with a few black seed beads and some silver chain to create a pair of earrings. I know we're all ready for spring!

As simple as this mix looks, quite a bit of thought went into it. The pendant's picture is from the dictionary definition of the word "balcony." I decided that the girl is Juliet and looked up the Capulet colors. Seeing that they were blue and yellow, I selected the yellow glass pearls and small Czech glass beads to make the chain for this necklace.

I wanted a new key assemblage piece in this box. So, an iridescent glass bubble was attached to a steel key blank. I'll add some wrapped crystals to the key when I work on this one. As well, a soldered bubble, silver beads, and more AB glass beads will be used to complete the chain of this necklace design.

Again, I've gone with simple for a pair of earrings. This set will include vintage chandelier crystal beads and some reproduction copper clock hands. 

I really love those amazonite briolettes. I've matched them up with cultured sea glass coin beads and some silver tone swirl beads to make a pair of earrings.

For this final design, I picked out those cute brass bows. They'll be combined with some tiny garnet semi-circles, garnet-colored glass beads, and frosted glass beads for earrings.

If you're interested in the other stocked and revealed boxes, here's that list I mentioned. 

Bead Box 1 -Stocked

Bead Box 1 - Reveal

Bead Box 2 - Stocked

Bead Box 2 - Reveal

Bead Box 3 - Stocked

Bead Box 3 - Reveal

Bead Box 4 - Stocked

Bead Box 4 - Reveal

Bead Box 5 - Stocked

Bead Box 5 - Reveal

Bead Box 6 - Stocked

Bead Box 6 - Reveal

Bead Box 7 - Stocked

Bead Box 7 - Reveal

Bead Box 8 - Stocked

Bead Box 8 - Reveal

Bead Box 9 - Stocked

Bead Box 9 - Reveal

Bead Box 10 - Stocked

Bead Box 10 - Reveal

And, that's it for this version of the bead box. As I finish writing this post, I have to admit that I'm getting close to finishing all the designs for it since my 100 Day Project is keeping me very busy with making jewelry. I hope you're finding ways to stay busy too.