Anthro-inspired necklace

Last week I showed some jewelry inspirations from Anthropologie

so one afternoon this week I began to craft my own pieces

This necklace was so much more difficult than I had thought it would be

It looks very basic but getting the weight right so that it hangs properly took me 2 hours

I did learn quite a bit about the structure and physical nature of this concept

and have begun working on a few more in other color schemes.

This one is made from vintage men's silk pocket squares and vintage kimono fabric

The pin is a thrift shop find

 

Hope you like it!

Anthropologie inspirations

I am so so in love with this bracelet 

and this one

and this necklace

so I am thinking about making some similar pieces for myself using these

What do you think?????

I have scraps of silk dupioni and several vintage silk scarves to use with them.

Ideas are bubbling in my head......

Keep in touch!

Chris

Some days..........................................

I have had an interesting day so far - I did the laundry this morning and as I was pulling a pair of Dan's shorts out of the washer, it felt heavy so I thought he had left some coins in the pocket - NOT! He had left his cellphone in the pocket - it was dead!!!!!!  When he returned from golf, I told him, and he took it very calmly - he still had the last phone he had before he got this one (long story, he left his phone in a golf cart in North Carolina when we were on vacation in 2008 so he had to get a new one here - and then they sent him back the old one so he still has it) so he took it to the AT&T store this afternoon and they reactivated the old phone for free. I was very relieved!
This has been one of those weeks where things happen - not for the best. Yesterday as I was driving to work, my rear view mirror fell down.  Dan says it will be easy to fix but what a pain it is driving without it!
Of course, I realize that none of my little aggravations are as bad as the things that happen to Claire in the Morganville vampire series books - I just finished the first one yesterday and was able to put some of the others on reserve at the library. If you liked Twilight, you will probably like these books by Rachel Caine.
I have been playing with some new ideas this past week - with fabric and lace. A while back Cassie Box (one of the ScrapGals) made a bracelet from a cuff she had cut from a shirt. I liked the idea so I cut the cuffs off of an old white shirt that I had and added frayed fabrics, laces, and Gecko Galz vintage buttons. I love how it feels on my wrist and am inspired to make some more - I started on a black sort of Goth-y one and have ideas for one in shades of pink.   I plan to put them in my etsy shop - got any colors you would like?

I purchased a 100 yard spool of rayon seam binding on ebay and plan to dye it - I can use glimmer mists and also some Making Memories dyes that I bought marked down 90% at Crafts'n'stuff. Don't you just love the names of the things like that - never yellow or red but instead sunsoaked, hibiscus, key lime, grapevine, aquamarine, dusk, and nutmeg.
I have also been knitting quite a bit - 2 projects that must be completed by the end of July - one for vacation and one for a contest. My fingers will be flying. Below is a pic of a scarf that I am knitting that looks like a leaf - it's from a pattern by Jane Thornley, my knitting idol. I would so love to go on one of her knitting trips, like to Santa Fe or Tuscany (she calls that trip Knitaly - sigh...................).

Hope your day and week is going well, and thanks so much for visiting my blog - no scrapping to post today - not that I haven't been - it's just that I can't post them yet but soon................

ttfn
Chris

Angels and insects

My creative juices are really flowing this week as I decided to return to playing with paint, paper, and fabric. I created the above canvas for Gecko Galz - the canvas was gessoed and then painted with ivory acrylic paint, then some gel medium, and then bronze acrylic paint. I took a cloth and wiped some of the bronze away. Then I used a Gecko Galz stamp to add some texture. The ephemera are all Gecko Galz as are the vintage buttons (so love them!!!!). I added a feather wing (cut from a Christmas ornament that I bought after Christmas, some alphas, and drawn legs. Then I covered some heavy chipboard with a piece of Gecko Galz Scents to Remember paper and adhered the smaller piece onto it. BTW, I won the Gecko Galz Mother's Day contest with my Mother's Day album - they are going to send me a goodie box filled with Ranger goodies - I am so excited!!!!!!

I created a fabric and lace brooch yesterday afternoon - I tore strips of cotton fabric and sewed them in a circle motion onto a piece of felt - then I hand-dyed the whole thing in some coffee. then I added the lace and the vintage cuff link. Do you think brooches or other jewelry pieces like this would sell on etsy? I have seen a few things similar but wasn't sure if they would sell.

And now for a few sneak peeks of some other things happening in my studio - above you saw the Angels, now a peek at the insects (beeswax to be precise)

and a new knitting project to begin (Jane Thornley's blade scarf) - if you like to knit, you should check out her website or her forums on Ravelry (don't tell me you aren't a member of Ravelry?!)

the top yarn is Blue Heron rayon metallic in the color of Leaf and the 2 other skeins are Knit One Crochet Too Tartelette - just love these yarns!!!!!

Hope you can join us at the ScrapGal crop tonight or at least drop by and say hi on the Chat. I have a challenge for both tonight and tomorrow night.

I will be back tomorrow as it's a big day! The new challenge for These are a few of my favorite things will be up, the new challenge for Candy Shoppe Designs will be up, and the new challenge for The Sampler Kit at Scrapbookingsuppliesrus will be up - I am exhausted just thinking about how many layouts I have created lately - but it's all good!

And, to save the best for last, I got a phone call from Julie T-W, my boss at TAAFOMFT, this morning. What a lovely and fantastic surprise - it is so cool to put a voice with her photos and fun ramblings! I've had a super day!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading
ttfn
Chris

Spring has sprung

Tulips always mean spring to me - we cannot grow them in Florida so I always make a point to buy a bunch at the grocery store every year. I love their bright, happy colors!

I saw a wonderful nest pendant necklace on a blog (I am so sorry I cannot remember which blog and I could not find it again so thank you for the inspiration whoever you are) and decided to make my own. The one I saw had pale blue beads for eggs but I decided to use some funky beads for eggs.

I then found some nest pendants on etsy but most were circled wire with tie offs - I wanted mine to be very random-looking like a real bird's nest.

Today the weather is beautiful and it is WARM!!!! I went to see Alice in Wonderland and it is truly "wonderful". As always, Johnny Depp is brilliant!

I have finished several aprons and will be listing them this week on etsy. I will add a link here. I have also finished quite a few layouts for projects and will be posting them this week here and Tues on the Gal Blog and Wed on The Sampler. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for reading and ttfn,

Chris