Enter to win this Necklace!

I made this necklace for you!  I hope you like it.  It's black beads on black chain with silver accents.  It will go with everything!  I showed it to my daughter and she wants it (that's always a good sign!).

I made one for myself too, here it is:

If you would like to enter my drawing for this necklace and earring giveaway here's how:

To enter the drawing, leave a comment letting me know that you want to enter with your contact information.

And.....

If you share my giveaway on your blog, your name will be entered to win 2 extra times! Just leave me a comment after you announce my giveaway on your blog and I will put your name in the drawing once for the comment and twice for sharing....that's THREE entries!  And, I look forward to coming to your blog to visit!

The drawing will be held on my birthday, March 19th at noon PST.

Good Luck!

Let's make a new necklace (out of an old one!)

Are you ready to make some new jewelry?  If you have been following my blog, you already know that I LOVE to make new things out of old things.  

I found two necklaces at a yard sale,  I took them apart to get the beads.

Here are my instructions on how to make the necklace using chain, beads and O rings.

I took a pin (this pin is made for jewelry making), placed a small bead, large bead, small bead on it.

Then I bent the pin with my pliers and snipped off the excess.  Next I curled the pin to make a loop.

I repeated that process until all the beads were done.

Next, I took an 0 ring and I opened it and used it to attach the bead to a chain.

I alternated large and small beads. For a little extra bling, I added some small silver beads close to the chain. 

I made a necklace for ME and.....I made another one for YOU! I also made a bracelet for myself out of the left over beads.  I can't wait to wear it!  It will go with everything. 

Yes, that's right!  I'm giving this away.   I will write a separate post letting you know how you can enter to win this necklace and earrings set.

Did you like the instruction to go along with the necklace?  I really want to try my hand at making a video.  Check back soon.

Skull necklace

I wanted to make a special necklace for a friend for her birthday.  We are not really close and so I don't know a lot about her. I do know that she is a writer.  I couldn't think of anything that would reflect that.  A quill pen charm would have been nice.  I also know that she likes penguins, but I couldn't find any of those either.  And, I think she writes about ghosts.  That is what gave me the inspiration.

My idea was to make a necklace with skulls.  I was hoping to find some crystal skulls or something "steampunk", I'm not even sure I understand steampunk!  But, finding skulls was proving impossible.  I was about to give up and just make a generic necklace, when after visiting all my favorite bead supply stores, I found THEM!  SKULLS!  Not crystal, but very pretty silver.

My hope was that the skulls would be a secret surprise that you would have to look close to even notice.  I think it turned out.  

In fact, I like it so much, I think I will try to find some more skulls and make one for myself!  I don't know if this was her thing after all, but I enjoyed making it for her.  

I'm giving these away!!!

Yes!  These beautiful Flowers can be yours!

Here they are on a pair of sandals:

I'm in a Classic Rock band called Crystal Image and we were voted #11 last year on KCRA's "A List".  Right now we are number 8 and the voting ends on May 18.  Would you take just a minute to vote for us?  I would be so very grateful!!

click here to vote:  http://ctvr.us/crystalimage

All you need to vote is an email address, and you don't have to live in this area. 

If you do vote for us, leave me a comment and I will draw a name from the comments and send you this pair of Shoe Flowers that I made.  They are fabulous (if I may say so myself) and they go on anything. They would look great on a pair of flip flops, sandals, as a bracelet or necklace, pinned on a sweater or tied on to your purser. And, if you already voted....THANK YOU!  And, yes, of course you can enter!

And....if you post my giveaway on your blog, I will add your name in twice, for a total of 3 entries!!!
Recap:

Vote for the band =  1 entry   
(leave a comment to let me know that you voted...thanks!)

Share on your blog = 2 entries  
(let me know in your comment that you shared..thanks!)


Drawing will be on May 19th

If you want to read more about our band, check out my other blog:  http://stephaniesbandblog.blogspot.com

Thank you thank you thank you!!

Stephanie

05-11-11 P.S.  Voting update.  I want to thank all of you out there in the blogging world for helping me!!  We are hovering at our position, the voting is intensifying this last few days.  Without your votes I'm sure we would be moving in the wrong direction!   Only 7 more days!

Shoe Bling

I went shopping for shoes....again.  They can put a man on the moon, but they can NOT make a truly fabulous, cute shoe that is comfortable!  Why???  

I saw so many shoes that I wanted, but I just can't wear them anymore.  I love all the embellishments that are in style right now.  This pair costs only $395.  What?  That's just a little out of my budget, and I could never walk in them.  

As I was shopping, I started to get an idea.  I could buy the comfortable shoes and embellish them myself.  I couldn't wait to get started.   I decided to start with fabric flowers.  I found a tutorial on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEbpMvAGs5k  I learned what I needed to know and made this flower:

I decided that it wasn't necessary to cut circles, so I just cut squares.  Just bein lazy I guess.

I cut about 3 or 4 sizes.

Next step was to singe them with a lighter.  I used up the small one and finished with the long one.  I will use the long one from now on, the small one hurts my thumb after a while.  But, the long one tends to be too much, so be careful.  It can do way more than singe if you aren't.

Here's all the pieces.   The large one was to flat so, I clipped it in a few places and singed again.  That did the trick.  I did the same thing on the smallest pieces. 

Here you go, two finished flowers.  I put a few small red beads in the middle.

Then I sewed the flowers to a piece of ribbon.  

Here is my new sandal.   Very comfy!

I just tied the ribbon in a bow, under the flower.

Ta Da!!

How cute are they?  I can't wait to wear them. 

I will definitely make more of these!!

Now all I need is for the weather to co-operate and get warm!!

Spider Necklace for Halloween

I wanted a really great necklace to wear with my Halloween costume.  We had 3 Halloween gigs with our band and I had an Elvira costume.  I searched around the internet and decided that I could make a spider necklace.

I chose a few things out of my stash....mostly clear, crystal, black, silver and red.

This spider was my first attempt.  I love the way it turned out.  

And, so I made earrings to match.  My daughter had to fly (as a flight attendant) on Halloween and so I gave this set to her.  She said she got lots of compliments.  

None of my beads were big enough for what I had in mind.  So.....I went through my stash of old jewelry.

I had loads of earrings from the 80's and I picked an earring from this pile and took it apart.  This spider necklace has 2 parts of one earring.  How did I ever wear them that big?  I actually made this twice.  I felt that the wire gauge wasn't strong enough to hold the shape in the legs.  And, that's so important. 

It turned out just the way I wanted it.  It was HUGE!!  And, it kept it's shape the whole weekend!

I made some little spiders to match.

Here's the final result...hubby and me in our costumes.  We had a terrific weekend of FUN.  You can read all about it on my other blog:  http://www.stephaniesbandblog.blogspot.com

Oh...one more thing...I must point out the fabulous spider ring that my dear daughter bought for me on one of her trips!  It was perfect!

Beaded Knitting

...

I love to bead and I am really enjoying knitting (total beginner here!), so combining the two together...sounds wonderful!!

If you read any of my previous posts, you will know that I do NOT need a new project. I have several in the working stages right now. THIS was my daughter's idea. She saw this scarf in the Bead Store (The Hole Affair), and she fell in love with it. So, we decided to take the class together.

This is our teacher, Linda, wearing the BEAUTIFUL finished scarf. I just adore it and can hardly wait to have one of my own!


This is my daughter and her beginning scarf. She is such an amazing person. She came to the class without even knowing how to knit and she was keeping up with everyone else. She must have crafting in her genes!! Her scarf is green, her favorite color.



This is my knitting buddy, Nanette. This is our second class together. Nanette is really good at knitting. She keeps saying that she is still learning, but I think she is already a PRO! Nanette chose a different pattern than the rest of us. I would like to try this pattern also (if I ever complete my first scarf that is!).


These beads that Nanette chose are perfect for this color, just the right amount of "sparkle".



This is Judy's scarf. She was sitting across from me and I just could not take my eyes off this red. The beads are much sparkly-er (did I just make up a word?) than the photo shows. I MUST have a red one! I didn't want to post a pic of Judy without her permission, but I'm sure she won't mind showing off her work:


This is mine. I was trying to think of a color that I needed in my wardrobe and I decided on royal blue. I just LOVE this color! This is where I am with my scarf....I have already taken apart my scarf 3 or 4 times. I am not going to start over any more!! It will just have to be whatever it becomes. So, if you see me wearing this scarf, please do not come too close and begin to analyze it for imperfections....because I already put 2 beads where I was supposed to put 1. Darn!




...

Water Bottle necklace

At our local beading store, The Hole Affair, they have a challenge every so often. I'm pretty new to beading, so I couldn't imagine entering. Well, I did imagine....only nothing came to mind. That is the hardest part of jewelry making for me....coming up with some idea of what to make.

The challenge was to make something "recycled". I pondered this and after some time, I had a crazy thought. What if I made jewelry out of garbage?? Well, I checked out my garbage, and eeewww. I thought about a tin can, couldn't imagine that. Then I decided it would be a water bottle, because I have lot's of those! So, I looked at the bottle for a while and ....still nothing. Then I decided to cut off the bottom and use it. GREAT IDEA...now, I'm on to something!


I "saw" a flower there in the bottom of the water bottle. I, personally, only drink Desani in emergency situations. I prefer to drink my water "straight", and Desani has salt added in. Who needs that? But, the bottom of their bottle was the best one for my flower. So, I cut it out.


And here is the result. I love it! And....I might actually even wear it. I have already turned it in to the contest and I'm bummed because I added a couple of really pretty bronze beads on the ribbon on both sides of the knot. Please use your imagination here.


I actually "sewed" these beads on. Absolutely no glue! I broke several needles and my fingers were really hurting until I figured out a way to use my pliers. And, the plastic is really thick in the center, so I used a hammer and a nail there. I felt kind of crazy at the time, and I even wondered if I would ever even tell anyone about it. It turned out okay...so I can go public after all!


Now, if the sweater I am trying to knit turns out, THAT will be a miracle. I will go to class tomorrow and see if my teacher can save it. Maybe, after that, I will show it.