Simple Butterfly Earrings

Hello everyone!

Yes, yes, I'm alive. Please don't die of surprise or anything. My humble little blog is indeed in your feed again. I apologize for my absence but blogging, while something I really enjoy, isn't something I make money on so I do this for fun. I must answer to the needs of the rest of my life when they beckon and lemme tell ya that they've been screaming lately.

I won't bore you all with the details but suffice it to say that I'm keeping very busy with the work I'm doing for Random Acts (more on that in a moment) as well as my belly dancing! My very first public show is coming up soon and I'm super excited.

Before I bore you with any more talk of my personal life, let me share with you the project I whipped up in my meager free time!

These are my brand spanking new butterfly wing earrings. I don't know about you but I LOVE butterflies. They're such a great reminder of spring and what with me living down here in Georgia, spring is already well on it's way. I decided to whip up something simple to make me smile. This is the kind of thing you can make in an afternoon.

Just take printable shrink plastic (you can get the inkjet kind at Michael's and I always recommend using a 40-50% off coupon that they e-mail out!) and pop it into your printer. Now go out and find yourself some lovely photos of butterfly wings. I found science sites were good for this as they splay the wings out just right. Put your photos into an editing system like Photoshop or Paint. Line up all your wing images so you get maximum use from your shrink paper. You don't need the bodies of the butterflies, just the wings.

Then just print them out, use a hole punch to make holes in both ends (or where ever you like) and bake according to instructions. Once they come out of the oven, I like to flatten them while still hot by using a book. This next step is entirely up to you but I then dusted some pearl powder on my wings in the colors that matched the wings most. It gives them a nice shimmer. To finish, just spray with some kind of sealant. I use Krylon Triple Thick Crystal Clear Glaze. That helps make them a little more water resistant.

Then just attach your earring hooks to the top holes using a simple jumpring. I also attached some cute sparkly crystals at the bottoms too so they shimmer more. You can spice it up by gluing on rhinestones if you like, or you can leave them plain. I liked just a touch of shine to mine.

You can also make them into a necklace like I did here so I have a matching set. :) The center is a dangle with a seed pearl and more crystals. It looks really pretty when the light hits it.

So that's it. Simple, fast, and just cute enough to welcome in spring. :)

Now, if anyone is still reading this, then I assume you're interested in what's going on with Random Acts! If you're wondering right now "What the heck is this nutjob talking about?", then allow me to explain.

I work for a non-profit organization called Random Acts. We do random acts of kindness for people and try to get others to join in on the fun so that all over the world, people are doing nice things for each other. Well we're having an Annual Melee Of Kindness (We're running AMOK) this Sunday and we're inviting everyone around the world to join us. If you're interested in participating (and no, we aren't asking you to donate anything or even affiliate with us) then you can read up on it at our site.

As part of my own silly participation, my friends Jenni, Tina, Jaime, and I are going to wander about a public park giving away flowers, balloons and candy to everyone we meet.

Why, you ask?

Because it's silly. It's fun. It might brighten someone's day when they really need it. It might make the difference for someone who's never been given a flower before. Maybe we'll meet a bunch of people who are too grumpy for flowers or maybe we'll be mobbed by people wanting them. Either way, we're going to wander about till our flowers and such are gone. :)

Hope someone comes along to brighten your day too!

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Kirigami Cards

I am super excited to show yo one of the projects I've been working on this week! 

As some of you know, I recently got a Cricut for Christmas and it's my very first electronic cutter. Goodbye, sore fingers and Mr. Exacto blade!! Well, ok, not goodbye really because I will use you for other things but you can sit quietly in my tool drawer until I need you for something else. Anyway, as I was saying, my lovely sister gave me this Cricut with one stipulation attached. Yes, she put a condition on my present but hey, that's her for ya. ;) 

Her one requirement? I had to make her a card using it. Not bad, right? It's not like she wanted me to cut out a billion damask patterns and stitch them together for her to wear as a necklace or anything. 

So that is precisely what I did. Now, bear in mind that this is my first ever time of making my own card like this so I know it's not as fancy as some but I like them. I had some pretty papers that I cut down to fit in an envelope and then I used the Cricut pack Grow My Garden to cut out a few flower shapes and a butterfly. While I was making my sister's card, I decided to just make one for my aunt in Germany too.

I folded the pattern to the inside of the card and then used the strip with the blank cutouts to embellish the bottom. Then I layered and played with various other flower patterns on the front. 

Never content to leave well enough alone, I went hunting around on-line and found THIS:

Is this not cool or what? It's a 3-D orchid that pops out of the card when you open it. The site I found it on is called Easy Cut Pop-Up and they sell the patterns for these for pretty cheap. I decided to buy their whole flowers and butterflies set because it came with a ton of designs for about $12 and it ended up around $.50 a design. Not bad if I say so myself. I pulled out some parchment and used it to print the design on. The directions were really easy to follow and in no time, I had two pretty orchids popping out of my little home-made cards!

I used a little watered down ink to brush some color on the one for my aunt. I don't know if I like it yet or not. I also cut out a small square of the same parchment to write my little message on. 

And then, because I can't leave well enough alone and I wanted the recipients of these to really feel special when they opened them, I made two pendants that matched the colors of the cards. The one in my aunt's has a touch of red and that soft parchment shade in it while my sister's had some pretty blue-green shades that went well with the inside of the card. 

I used some copper elastic cord to loop through the pendants and then punched two holes in the card to wind the cording through. Then I just tied the cards shut with it. 

So what do you think? ^___^


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Adventures in Reupholstering

Ok, it's official. 

I broke my upholstering cherry last night. 

I had sort of expected to come into work today with bleeding fingers and a doctor's note detailing just how many staples he'd had to pry out of my body but somehow I managed to walk away from this adventure not only intact but with a lovely new hamper. 

I've always wanted to try my hand at upholstering. I would see these images of beautifully done swingback chairs that went from dingy to damask in the seconds it took to scroll down the page. 

You know which ones I'm talking about. 

That blog you've stumbled across here and there where the crafty genius found some lovely bit of furniture for only a dollar and somehow managed to slap new fabric on it and make you more jealous than you thought possible. 

Every time I'd see one of them, I'd tell myself "Oh yeah, that could be ME sitting in that comfy chair that looks like it came straight out of a Ballard magazine" but I've never had the courage to try my hand at it. Well, I decided to change that. Life is about challenging yourself to try the things you never thought you would, like how many oreos you can fit in your mouth at one time, and so it was time to upholster something. I wanted to start small so I looked around my local Goodwill and found this lovely little hamper. 

Isn't she pretty??

I snagged her for a whole $6 and brought her home. The wood was in perfect condition but the cloth on top...well. Ew. 

Yeah. Ew. 

It was grungy. 

There were stains I didn't want to know the origin of. 

It smelled funny. 

I knew she would be beautiful once I got that nasty fabric off though. The inside had a white cotton liner in it attached with velcro so I ripped that badboy out and just tossed it in the wash. This is the empty basket. I love the color of the wood. 

I took my trusty multi-tool and plucked out all the staples holding the straps in place and then unscrewed the lid from the hinges.

I say this like it was easy. 

That would be a lie. 

In actuality, there was a lot of cussing as those tiny brass screws stripped faster than a hooker in a millionaire's house and I was forced to get them out using a pair of needlenose pliers. 

But I digress. 

 Point is, I got the lid off. Go me. 

Next, I pulled out the staples that were holding the cloth to the board and was pleased to find a fat cat underneath. He decided to help me so it was all good and I let him stay. 

The padding already on the lid was still good and had mercifully survived without any stains. YAY!

I had some trouble deciding on a fabric to put on the lid but a while ago I'd come across a sundress at, you guessed it, Goodwill! I could never wear it but that didn't stop me from buying it because the fabric was pretty and like an addict, I convinced myself I would use this at some point. Hooray for being right for once. 

I cut the sundress in half and then sliced up the side of the part that used to be the bottom. 

I placed my lid in the center of the fabric and, starting from the top, I pulled the fabric down and stapled it in place. Then I pulled up from the bottom, making sure the fabric was taught, and stapled that in place. Each side got a single staple as well and once I was assured that I hadn't completely messed up, I attacked the fabric like a spaz, stapling every spare inch I could reach, pulling the fabric tight around the corners as I went. I wish I could say I had photos of this step but alas, I was so caught up in stapling that I forgot. 

Whoops.

Anyway, use your imagination. It's stapled. 

A lot.

Then I had the hubby critter help me hold it in place while I put in new screws. Thank god I have a ton of them from all the other crap I've taken apart of the years. I stapled the two ribbons back in place on the underside of the lid to keep it from falling all the way when opened and voila!

Ok, so it's not perfect but it makes me happy. The seams down the top are from the panels of the dress but I like how they look. It's hard to see here but the fabric actually has this neat blue/purple sheen to it.

What'cha think? I like it, myself. I can't wait to put the liner back in. It's not actually going to be a hamper. Instead, I'm going to use it to hold all my magazines, clippings, ect that inspire me and are currently jammed on my bookshelf. I'm tired of hunting through them to find my Sherlock Holmes novels so I'll be glad to have a place to put them all. Also, sorry for the complete lack of professional looking photos showing my hamper in the perfect lighting with random items placed around it to make it look perfect but frankly it was late when I completed this and there was no sunlight left to make my work look awesome. 

Again, use your imagination. 

So has anyone else ever upholstered? Any tips I missed? 

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Boot Re-Paint

This morning I found myself with a bit of a dilemma. I've mentioned previously that funds are pretty tight around here right now so there's not a lot of spending going on. When I checked the mail though, my lovely aunt had sent me a Christmas present of some cash to buy myself something. I found myself torn on what to get. My old black boots, the only ones I have, have seen much better days and were starting to get pretty beat up. I wanted to get a new pair but I also wanted to get my unruly hair cut. Well, the hair won out and I'm glad it did since I feel much better now, but that still left me with my old boots. I've been trying to give a lot of my old stuff new life so I thought why not my old boots too? 

I pulled out some white paint, a couple small brushes, and dragged my boots out to the livingroom.

They're pretty scuffed up though you can't see it so well in this photo. I apologize for the quality of these pictures but it's been a long day and I didn't want to pull out the big fancy camera. ;) 

I pulled up some interesting swirly designs on-line all intent on copying them but in the end I just wound up free-handing on some patterns that I liked. I'm pretty darn happy with the result:

They aren't perfect but I like the little imperfections. These took me about 2 hours hunched over with a tiny brush but I think it was worth it. 

You can see more of the scratches above but at this point, I don't think anyone will notice. Hopefully I can dazzle them with the white swirls and whisk away before they notice that the boots are still beaten up. ;) 

In the end, I think it's a pretty good overhaul that cost me nothing but time and I'm looking forward to wearing them out. I'm going to coat the design with a good waterproofing mix to keep it from getting damaged and I think they'll be super cute with my white tights and black sweater dress! All I need now is a lovely fleur dis lis black and white umbrella. 

Hrm. I might just have to start looking for white umbrellas....

Button Bracelet

I have a confession.

 I have an unhealthy love of a set of glass buttons I bought in Savannah, GA some years back and I've never been able to find a craft project for them that I just felt was good enough. I'd put them on things, sew them into projects, and turn them into little more than vase filler but nothing seemed to showcase them the way I felt they deserved. Then I stumbled across this amazing idea from Obstinate Pursuit  that showed off a charming bracelet made of nothing but buttons. Seriously, go look at her work! It's GORGEOUS. The minute I saw her version, I knew I had finally found something that would not only put my buttons on display but would let me take them everywhere so I could show them off. If you can, I highly recommend following her method but I sadly didn't have any chain with open links so I had to improvise.

I love Paris!

OOH LA LA!!

Ok, I have a confession, I've never actually BEEN to Paris but this does not in any way stop me from loving the idea of Paris. More to the point, I love the concept of French provincial cottages and countrysides, the romance of Paris at night, the thought of all the cafe's, artists, and history that adorn gay Paris like strands of pearls. Alas, I am starting to get a little overly poetic here so I'll stop. Point being, I love adding little flairs of that romantic feel to my home when and where I can so when I saw this great muslin table runner I knew I needed to have something similar. With the winter holidays upon us, my diningroom table was begging for a change of color and the soft white of muslin just called to me. I had some fabric left over after making my own lightbox (more on that in some future post) so I grabbed up what I had, all set to make a glorious runner that would flow off the ends of the table.

Ribbon Necklace

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I'm spending most of this week in classes for about 12 hours a day as I work on getting my Cisco Certified Network Associate certifications. YAY! I've been super worried about this upcoming test but it's the next logical step on my path toward a better career. I won't bore you with that though. Let's get to the fun stuff life crafting! I had mentioned I made presents for people this year instead of buying them for Christmas and I wanted to share some ideas that you can use. Here's a quick, simple idea for a neat necklace that really has some big impact.

Wanna know how to make it? 

It's pretty simple all told. It's just a piece of damask ribbon though any would work. I wanted to go for a delicate French impression though so the swirls of damask just called to me. I picked up a pack of ribbon clasps from Michael's along with some lengths of chain and a pretty hanging photo ornament. Yep. That's what that is. It was a Christmas ornament they sold last year and I just turned it into a pendant. So the rest is pretty straight forward. Just measure out your chain and ribbon so that the chains are slightly longer. That allows the pendant to shift a little and I think it just looks cleaner than the ribbon being exactly half of the necklace. I then attached the ribbon clasps on each end of the ribbon, attached the chain with a jumpring, slipped on the pendant, and then attached a lobster clasp at the back to connect the two halves. 

I added a little dangling piece that I made of a marble star, hematite bead, and marble bead on a simple headpin. It just adds that little bit of extra interest. Here's a closer look.

And that's it. Enjoy!