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Showing posts from November, 2014

heART beats from other blogs!

Grace and Hope Cherie thinks about grace and hope this week as she paints and even does the dishes! Holiday Crafting with The Artful Crafter: Kids' and Christmas Card Projects Looking for little crafty gifts or something to keep the kids busy on a snow day? The Artful Crafter has just the thing! Beautiful Paper Art! Take a look at cards decorated with intricate looking quilled paper techniques. Carmi's Art/Life World The pendant I have featured can be located on my computer in a file called "Resin Disasters." How I saved it is on my blog.

Magazine review and giveaway: DIY Holiday

DIY Holiday 2014: The Crafting Life Interweave/F+W; $9.99 DIY Holiday 2014 is the premiere issue of a new publication that is being released as a special edition of Interweave's Stitch magazine !  If you are a lover of all things hand-crafted, this is for you: 25 beautiful projects that you can make for the holidays, or make just because you want to learn something new!  And guess what?  I've got three of them to give away!  More on that in a bit... There are eight different art areas that the projects fall into: crochet, knitting, quilting, modern sewing, needlework, jewelry making, mixed media, and weaving.  As you can see, there is something for everyone, and a lot of inspiration to help you kick-start your next obsession.  Personally, I'm really intrigued by a new-to-me technique called ply-split weaving.  Many of the projects are marked as "cool crafts on the cheap".  That's helpful too, don't you think, especially at this time of ye

Recent publications: November 2014

Animals: 20 Jewelry and Accessory Designs (Magpie) by Tansy Wilson Flowers: 20 Jewelry and Accessory Designs (Magpie) by Sian Hamilton Jewelry For All Seasons: 24 Bead and Wire Designs Inspired by Nature by Linzi Alford Sabine Lippert's Beadwork Evolution: New Techniques Using Peyote Stitch and Right Angle Weave by Sabine Lippert Convertible Crystal Jewelry: Reverse it, Twist it, Wear it Many Ways by Diane Whiting Making Silver Jewellery by Louise Mary Muttitt 2015 Crafter's Market: How to Sell Your Crafts and Make a Living by Kelly Biscopink Beautiful Bracelets By Hand: Seventy Five One-of-a-Kind Baubles, Bangles and Other Wrist Adornments You Can Make by Jade Gedeon Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Bead Journal Project: November 2014

I didn't get this Bead Journal Project piece finished for October, but now at last it's done for November!  I used metal mesh ribbon from   Fire Mountain Gems, Czech glass beads from  The Best Beads , and the embroidered forms of St Petersburg chain stitch, African helix, chevron stitch, and Russian spiral  from Bored By Back Stitch . Soon, very soon, I will have a tutorial to post! Here are the rest of my  Bead Journal Project  pieces so far: January February March April May June July August September October

heART beats from other blogs!

Children of God Being God's child was the inspiration for these prints. Carmi's Art/Life World Who knew that scissors designed to shred your private papers could create gorgeous flowers too? Christmas Stocking Advent Calendar This charming Christmas Advent Calendar will add to your holiday decor, delight kids of all ages, and be used for years to come. Knitted Sampler When you can't figure out which knit stitch to use, why not use all of them? Art Bead Scene Check out our Art Bead Palette Inspiration from Brandi and Zesty Frog! What can you say in 30 words? Over the past year, Andrew has participated (off and on) in Erin Prais-Hintz's 30 Words Thursday Project. Erin has selected entries from different participants of the challenge to create a book to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association.

Book review: Micro Macrame Basics and Beyond

If you're thinking about heavy dark hemp, forgetaboudit!  Try this instead: This is the style of macrame done by the Raquel Cruz , author of Kalmbach's new book Micro Macrame Basics and Beyond . I have been fascinated by macrame since childhood.  Of course back then, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, think and colorful cords were hard to come by.  I think everything I made used that terrible brown shreddy rope that ripped your hands apart while you worked. Then came beautiful C-Lon and other brands of nylon cord.  All the colors of the rainbow, and no shreds !  As you can clearly see, micro-macrame looks nothing like the old style.  I've done a bit with half knots and square knots, but Raquel shows you how to combine these with lark's heads and half hitches to create beautiful patterns and gorgeous jewelry that are a far cry from the scratchy hippy jewelry and friendship bracelets of the past.  But, if you want to make a beautiful friendship bracelet, now yo

Making pleated silk shibori ribbon flowers - part two

This week, I want to take some of the individual pieces ( petals and leaves ) that we looked at last week, and show you a couple of ways to use them together in a finished flower.  And very very soon (I promise), I'll be posting a tutorial for the flowered necklace I made several months ago. Wild Rose 1. Make 5 petals according to the instructions given last week for single petals .  Make each one from a piece of ribbon that is 1 1/2" long.  Cut a small circle of interfacing and stitch each petal to it. 2. Here are all the petals, slightly overlapped, with a small space left open in the middle. 3. Stitch one or more large beads to the center.  I cut a small hole in the center of the interfacing so that the center bead could be suspended. 4. Optional, but nice: add wired stamens.  These are double-tipped, so I bent them in half and inserted them through the hole in the interfacing. 5. I stitched the stamens down to the interfacing in the

heART beats from other blogs!

Carmi's Art/Life World The Happy Flappers Necklace with Fabric by Kelly Panacci features a new fabric line! Personalized Thanksgiving Clothespin Magnets Use these cute clothespins as place cards for the kids at Thanksgiving dinner or clip them to gift cards or a few photos of each child. After Thanksgiving, the kids can use them to post their artwork on a magnet board or refrigerator or just hold papers together. Bears, Bunnies, and Birds! Enjoy some cute amigurumi goodness with episode 8 of Crafty Princess Diaries Podcast. Peace I Leave With You Cherie reflects on John 14:27 and the topic of peace. BIG NEWS! Andrew shares that he'll be co-teaching two classes with his sister at the Bead&Button Show 2015 in Milwaukee! Check out pictures of their class samples!

Making pleated silk shibori ribbon flowers - part one

I've been promising you tutorials on making pleated silk shibori ribbon flowers for awhile now, and I have finally made the time to figure out which are the most useful and the best to share with you.  The problem is, I went down a LOT of rabbit holes in the process of coming up with just a few that I really liked!  So this week and next, we'll take a look at the styles that I think will be the most useful for everyone. Hollyhock or Rose 1. Cut approximately a 10" length of silk ribbon.  With right sides facing, stitch the short ends together. 2. Baste along one long edge, leaving thread tails. 3. Gather the stitching and fluff the flower out.  As is, it makes a fine hollyhock.  To make a rose, make another flower the same way, but with a shorter piece of ribbon.  You can layer as many as you want to make a full rose. Single Petals 1. Cut as many pieces as you will need petals.  I make mine from 1" to 1 1/2".  Stitch a

heART beats from other blogs!

More Mini Canvases Cherie plays with some mini canvases. Acrylic Paint Stamping Technique Pigment inks are the most common media for art stamping, but there are others. Eileen experiments with acrylic paint stamping as she starts designing her Christmas cards. A Bead A Day You've heard of sampler quilts and even a candy sampler, how about a Swarovski pearl sampler? Lisa was so taken with her sampler bead strand, she made it into a bracelet.

Book review: Animal Kingdom

Ok, I'll admit that I never really grew up.  I still like a lot of very juvenile things, and I don't apologize for it.  In fact, I'm willing to bet that there are at least a few more people out there like me... Do you still enjoy coloring?  Doodling?  Are zentangles your thing?  If so, then I think you're going to love this new book by Millie Marotta.   Animal Kingdom is a remarkable adult coloring book, with 96 pages of Millie's detailed and charming "doodles" (if you can even call them that).  Some of the pages leave spaces for you to fill in with your own designs, and all of them simply cry out for you to get to work with some markers or colored pencils.  The pages are quite thick, so you don't have to worry about markers bleeding through...a real plus! Why would you want this book?  What does it have to do with beading?  Oh, let's see...relaxation, fun, cross-pollination...shall I go on? Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade

Double-wrapped ribbon bracelet

I was given a wonderful opportunity recently to work with Offray Ribbon , creating some jewelry pieces for their totally updated website.  I've always bought this brand, since it was available in all the local craft shops and is always consistent in color, size, finish, and general beauty.  And now it's available online as well, direct from the company.  You can learn more about Offray Ribbon here. And guess what?  We've been given a coupon code that you can use to online to get 15% off an Offray order from now till the end of November! Offer: 15% Off One Order Code: BEADING15 Details: Use BEADING15 during checkout on Offray.com to receive 15% off one order. Offer expires 11:59 PM eastern time on Sunday, November 30, 2014. Discount excludes applicable tax and shipping costs. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Discount cannot be applied to previous purchases. Subject to change or cancellation without notice. Other restrictions may apply. Materials &