my world

I feel really blessed today and was thinking of all the homes where my creations have gone.

I’ve had such great feedback and have come a long ways from the early days. The ladies of Wabamun really got me going though, so thank you all so much for your support and encouragement. Thank you Janet and Andrea for the opportunity to display my jewelry in your shops. Thank you to the brides for letting me jewel your bridesmaids and darling flower girls. And a big thank you to every compliment, whether you purchased it or not - without you I couldn’t move forward!

I’m not getting an award. I’m just feeling thankful and blessed.

Yours truly,

connie

When my Aunt became a member of the Red Hat Society, I wanted to make her some jewelry in the red hat colors but it just wasn’t working for me. Then I found this great project by Lynn B. Krucke.

If you’ve never used polymer clay, this is a great place to start. I went crazy and made several hats for earrings, cell phone charms, key chains, and lapel pins. Lotsa fun!

Here are some of my other Polymer Clay creations.

Everyone needs a pair and you can make 6 if you buy a case!

Here’s what you need:
-2 bottle caps (I used Molson Canadian)
-2 ear wires
-2 headpins
-2 small beads
-a spot of crazy glue

Tools:
-drill with tiny bit
-round nose pliers
-another pair of pliers or jump ring tool
-flush cutter

Mark the top of each bottle cap with a sharpie. This is where you will drill a small hole for the headpin.

Place the headpin into your drilled hole so the head is resting inside the bottle cap. Add one small bead and using your round nose pliers, turn into a round loop. Trim the excess wire.

Open the loop of your ear wire and add the charm.

To keep the bottle cap from spinning on the headpin (the back side is not so pretty!), dab a spot of crazy glue inside on the head of the headpin. Let the glue dry overnight while you plan your outfit for tomorrow’s debut!

Don’t toss those worn strands! With a few extra materials, you can make ‘em as good as new!

My sister delivered a Goldstone necklace the other day and asked if I could do something with it. The gold plated accents were no longer gold and she wanted it a bit longer.

An easy enough job, but since I didn’t want to use plated beads again, I added golden-brown faceted pearls with tiny gold filled beads on either side. To make it longer, smaller Goldstone chips were added to either end along with “Copper Crystal” Swarovski crystals and finished off with a gold filled clasp.

If you’ve ever strung chip beads, you know that it can be a tedious chore! Since chip beads are often drilled diagonally, they have to be fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, otherwise the necklace ends up with gaps. Since the beads on this necklace were well-placed, I just ran the new wire up to the old one and strung them on in the same order.

A wash in warm soapy water, and Voila! a new necklace!

Cost of Materials added: $6.29
Time: 45 minutes