Purple Petals are blooming at Altered Eclectics

Let me tell you how the first of the month sneaks up on me - it's pretty stealthy! I'm humming along day after day and then I happen to glance at the calendar and I'm stunned at how much of the month has already flown by.  If only I could grab some of that time I wished away as a child; when I couldn't WAIT to grow up! Alas, there is no capturing time, but I can capture a it of childhood back; and I did so for my Altered Eclectics project for this month. I'd love to hear what you think about my Purple Petals Ring! (PS: You can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them)

Say hello to my Purple Petals Ring!

What I Used to Make my Ring:
Inside "pop ring" from a juice or milk container
Gems - one large and 7 12mm "bubble" gems
Krylon Leafing Pen in Silver
Glue - instant glue

Where you will find the ring

First, let me try to explain what I mean by the inside "pop ring" - the best way I can describe it is to show you a picture.

The "ring" on it's top

You'll find this inside ring is there once you open the containers outer twist off cap - I have found them in quart cartons of both milk and juice.  When I opened my vanilla almond milk and popped it off, I immediately put it on my pinkie (the only finger of mine that it fits) and admired it - it needed to be made!

While the white of the ring may be fine for your project, I knew I needed to color it and the Krylon Leafing Pens are perfect. I have been using these pens for years, from everything to outlining a card or making the old fashioned polished stone with alcohol inks and they last a long time and are well worth the money, in my opinion.  Also, if you look closely at the picture of the ring, you can see that there were some edges that we sort of ragged with a bit of thin plastic - I colored my ring and then sanded the ragged bits off, and then touched the ring up. Not that you can see them but for my own piece of mind.  You will also notice the outer edge of the bubble (that is face down) isn't even all the away around - never fear, we have ways to work around this.

Once the ring was colored, I had to figure out a way to hold it so I could put on the petals.  Since there is a bump on the top side of the ring, the petals are needed to ensure the large gem doesn't wobble.  Low and behold I had a pill saver type thingie that I had gotten as a freebie from some company, but you can find them cheap at drugstores or your local Dollar Store. I ripped the top off of one of the individual pill compartments and put waxed paper on the sides in case my glue dripped - turns out I didn't need the waxed paper at all - but I didn't know that at the time. 

I carefully used a small amount of instant glue and placed the petals around the lip of the bubble. 

This part took the longest because it turns out my instant glue wasn't so instant, so off to the side for the night it went. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the numbers on the dome, another reason I felt the petals would help "hold" the bigger, middle gem. When I picked the ring up, I noticed that a few of the petals were still wobbly (I suspect due to the part of the ring where the lip was smaller than the other parts) but I went ahead and glued the middle gem on and set it aside again.    
 Once it was dry, I flipped the ring over and put a generous amount of glue all around the petals to help stabilize them and it worked like a charm!  The glue isn't really that visible, in the picture the light is reflecting (I wanted you to be able to see it), but when you look at the ring in regular light it doesn't look anywhere near that bad.  

So there you have it!  You could save these inside ring pop closures and make a bunch of rings, for you to either wear on your pinky, or to give some lucky child.  These would be perfect for that friend who loves funky, chunky jewelry also.  And as I was making this I thought of so many other options to use for toppings; sequins, buttons, little beads, basically anything you want!  I hope this little post has inspired you to use something out of the box for your next creation! Please consider popping over to the Altered Eclectics blog and seeing what my wonderfully talented teamies have made to also inspire you ~ Fondly, Christi

Here's Manny holding up the ring - he's been feeling left out!

I am entering my Purple Petals ring in the following challenges:
Crafty Creations - #286, Anything Goes
Creative Moments - #65, Anything But a Card
Everybody Art Challenge - #318,  Anything Goes
TTCRD - Always Anything Goes (end wk of 4/26)
Recycle, Re-Purpose & Re Invent - (m) April Challenge

Mother's Day card and Bird's Nest Necklace

Mother’s Day in the United States is just around the corner so today I am showcasing a Mother’s Day card I made for my mom for my Globecraft & Piccolo project. Remember, there is a NEW project every day on the Globecraft & Piccolo blog - go and see what my fabulously talented team mates have made.

What I Used to Make This Card:

Embossing Fluid
Embossing Enamel in Micro Black 
3D Gel in Titanium White and Rose Pearl
MOM Stamp from Great Impressions, #G150
Distress Marker in Seedless Preserves
White Card Base
Scrap of White Cardstock
Paper Flowers & Leaves (Hero Arts & Prima)
Scrap of decorative paper & butterfly sticker 
from KaiserCraft Violet Crush paper pack

Embossed

The gels

I first used Embossing Fluid on my stamp and then stamped it on a piece of scrap white cardstock.  I embossed the card using G&P Embossing Enamel in Micro Black.  Once that was accomplished, I took two of my 3D gels, Titanium White and Rose Pearl, put a dot of each on my wax paper, mixed them together and painted the sentiment. In order to make the letters stand out a bit more I colored over them with the Distress Marker in Seedless Preserves.

Painted with the 3D gel mix

Once my sentiment was dry, I trimmed it and adhered it to the decorative paper.  I needed to add some oomph so I turned to my stash of paper flowers and leaves (my mom loved to plant flowers) and added a few of them, as well as a butterfly sticker. The card is done, so let me move on to the gift I made for her.

The card is actually more purple than pink

For a gift I made a bird’s nest pendant.  This was SO easy but looks SO hard I love it! I loved it so much I already gave it to her I just couldn’t wait!  There are quite a few tutorials on the web for this type of pendant (one of my fav's is HERE) so I am just going to give you a quick explanation on how I made it.  I used some silver craft wire (22 gauge), about the 10” long, put the three “eggs” (these were just plastic beads I had hanging around) on the bottom of the wire and basically formed a circle around the eggs, adding walls and threading the wire through as I went around the nest.  I then cut more wire and weaved it in and out of the nest frame to make it more cohesive.  After I finished with the wire, I took care to tuck the ends so they wouldn’t snag on any clothing and shaped it a bit with a pair of needle nosed pliers.  Mom wore the necklace to her senior center on Tuesday and it was a hit! All the ladies wanted to know if I sell them – I told Mom to get their favorite colors and I’d be happy to make the pendants, the whole thing only took about 15 minutes! 

Not as neat as the ones in the tutorial but I love it!

So there you have it – I will most likely get my mom a plant for Mother’s Day as I can’t go over there empty handed.  I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial.  Please keep in touch, as I am getting ready to celebrate my Blogaversary!! I have SO many goodies to give away there is going to be more than one winner (and I keep adding stuff to the pile daily, who knows, maybe everyone will win something!) Thank you for stopping by ~ Christi

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Sister Act Card Challenge - #54, Anything Goes

Creative Moments - #41, Anything Goes

And I would like to enter my bird's nest pendant in these challenges:

C.R.A.F.T. Challenges - #256, Not a Card
All Crafts Challenge - Anything Goes (April/May) 
Party Time Tuesdays - #169, Anything Goes
Pause Dream Enjoy - Linky Party #8, Anything Goes

I won at Rhedd & Rosie Challenge Blog!!

This means the world to me as the challenge winner at Rhedd & Rosie is chosen rather than randomly selected (not that I have anything against randomly selected winners as I have been one on a few occasions), but it is nice to be picked specifically for your design!! Doing a HUGE happy dance :)

I won with my "Fly Pendant" - you can get all the details on how I made this HERE - it was really easier than it looks :)

Thank you Moira for choosing my work! And thank YOU Zoe for the heads up :)

Spring Forward and Fly!

My post today is for the NEW challenge at Anything But a Card Challenge #34 - "SPRING Forward"!! We know Spring is dragging it's feet in arriving as ol' man winter keeps his heels dug in the snow and ice... so we are celebrating the new season with an OPEN THEME!!! Feel free to break out the bright colors and create along with Spring and Easter, or create whatever your muse desires... as long as it's anything but a card!

I love "anything goes" challenges, especially when they are for Anything But a Card - this challenge inspired me and my muse to make use of some extra parts that were just laying around. With gears being all the rage I was lucky enough to find a watch repair place that gave me tons of watch parts that he could no longer use.  After stripping all the parts down I ended up with a bunch of watch cases (I think that is what you call them), some of which were brand new.  As I was thinking about what to do with all these cases I got a fabulous idea – and that is how this pendant was born. How appropriate to use a watch case for "springing forward"!

 

Surprisingly this pendant isn't heavy. . .

Items I used in my creation:

• Empty Watch Case
• Globecraft & Piccolo (G&P) Vintage Silver and MermaidTears Embossing Enamel
• G&P Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze
• G&P Butterfly Accents
• 2 Jump Rings
• Charms of your choice
• Crafters Pick Glue
• Necklace for the Pendant (I used Silk Cord that I got from G&P) 

Not the real one, but close

I cleaned one of the watchcases and unscrewed the back and the top. First thing I did was emboss the top case (where the watch face would be seen) with Vintage Silver and Mermaid Tears Embossing Enamel.  I coated and embossed the frame many times (if you chose to emboss any metal part PLEASE be careful, as the metal gets VERY hot, as

Embossed and coated - ready to go!

does the embossing product! Don’t touch anything until it has cooled!) When I was finally happy with the frame I added a coat of Glasstique Gloss to protect the enamel and, hopefully, make the pendant less prone to chipping.

Taking the bottom of the case (where the watch guts are), I found some decorative

paper that showcased the colors in the Mermaid Tears Embossing Enamel and punched out a 1” circle.  I centered the circle and glued it into the bottom.  I decided on a using a small butterfly for the pendant focal point from A148 Butterfly Accents.  I embossed the butterfly with a mix of Mermaid Tears, a pinch of Micro White and a pinch of Vintage Silver.  Once it had cooled I glued it to the center of the bottom case.  I searched through a bunch of old book pages to find the word “fly”, cut it out and attached that above the butterfly. 

Now my watchcase had 2 “handles” on it to hold the watchstrap.  On the top handle I glued a jump ring for the necklace to go though.  I honestly don’t think that is going to hold for very long and I will eventually solder it – once I learn how (hehehe). On the bottom handle I dangled a few charms.  Oh, and since I got Embossing Enamel in the groves of where the two pieces meet, I used glue again to hold the back & front together.

 

You can see the charms better with in the first pic, but I LOVE the colors in this one

Now, go fly and play (and don't forget to enter ANYTHING GOES at Anything But a Card!) Keep an eye out on my blog for my BLOGAVERSARY giveaways - coming soon! In fact, why not start following now so you won't miss it??

Thanks for stopping by ~ Blessings! Christi

I want to enter my pendant in the following challenges:
Crafty Calendar Challenge - Things with Wings
Rhedd and Rosie Challenge Blog - #30, Anything Goes 
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Fairy Tale Challenge Blog - Butterflies

A Bracelet Made of Brads

Hi everyone! I hope the holiday season brought you all joy & some crafting goodies! And if you are in the deep freeze, please be careful, make sure your animals are inside and your elderly neighbors are safe.  Luckily, we haven’t gotten Arctic in my part of Colorado, but today I did wear my winter coat which is literally the first time in 2 years (I have a love/hate relationship with coats, but that’s another story).  Between the amazingly hectic season and the fact I also got myself a touch of a cold (not the flu, thank goodness!) which is partly why I haven’t been blogging – but the good news is I am feeling better and I have LOTS of new projects to share!

I don’t know about you but I have a ton of supplies that I just can’t bring myself to use because they are so pretty (some of you know about my paper addiction already) and this project was born from having this beautiful set of brads from gcd studios in my stash forever – at least 3 years.  I would take them out, play with them, remind myself how pretty they are & then put them away.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a homepage for gcd studios and I fear they may have fallen on hard times, but I am sure you have a set, or two, of lovely brads that you just can’t bring yourself to use.  I was inspired by this post on Joy’s Life that explains how to make a bracelet out of brads!!  This was a perfect solution to hoarding them – I could “use” them but at the same time, I could "keep" them (makes sense to me)!  I was actually looking on the Joy’s Life webpage for die cutting machine information & I feel so lucky I found this post.  Using up my stuff is also one of my resolutions for the new year - mostly because I need the room and I can't justify buying anything new until I clear out some of this old. 

Since this project really depends on how large your brads are and how large you want your bracelet to be I am not going to make a material list – all you need are some brads, some jump rings and a closure. Oh and some pliers or I have this nifty little jump ring opener I got from Fire Mountain Gems – this is an awesome company that sells all kinds of goodies not just jewelry supplies – and they have GREAT sales – I am in no way coordinated enough to orchestrate 2 pairs of pliers so this little tool is a must for me.  I linked up my jump rings first, I made four sets of a few rings a set (and for those of you who don’t work with them often, don’t open them from side to side, instead twist the jump ring – it helps keep the ring from getting distorted & it is SO much easier to put it back together)

 

Then I linked the rings to my brads.  The brads I worked with are almost an inch long, and are all the same size, so I just kinda winged it.  I suppose you could measure your wrist or another bracelet and figure it all out that way, but I don’t have the patience for that.  It really was very easy to make and I am thinking of how cool it is to be able to customize each bracelet.  You also want to be careful opening the brads because I did have a few of the “arms” break off and you need the arms to attach to the jump rings.  You need to open those arms all the way open.

Open them ALL the way

  And here is my new bracelet!   

 

TaDa!

 Now on a few of the brads I was unable to really push the brads arms down and I think what I’ll do is put a dab of E6000 on the arms to make sure they don’t get caught on anything.  I am also debating if I should make it a bit smaller, but I like the fact that I can just slide it on without having to fiddle with the closure – but again, it’s all preference!

I think the arms are too long

I tried to get a good picture if the arms sticking up but nothing would cooperate - I hope you can see what I mean in the above picture.

I hope you enjoyed this little how-to - I love my bracelet! I will be going through my brads & definitely making more of these (early holiday gifts anyone?) 

I would like to enter my bracelet in the following challenges:

Frilly & Funkie - New Years Resolutions (to use up my stash) 

UnstampaBelles Challenge Blog - New Beginnings (I have never made this before, new technique)

Creative Creations Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

Crafty Girls Challenges - Anything Goes

Creative Moments - Anything Goes
Added 1/10/14, Suggested I join by Buttons ~
Our Creative Corner - No More Shopping Sins!!