Anthro Knockoff

My version

I was looking on Anthropolgie at jewelry a couple of days ago, and I saw a necklace that I liked the shape and look of, but was appalled at how sloppy it was made and they wanted $168.00 dollars for it!  It was paperclips with contact paper or tape wrapped around each one.  When I looked at it closely it wasn't even neatly done!  I have a necklace from paper clips that I made in a different style, long ago, and I like they way they look, so I decided to try my own version of theirs.  I wanted a more organic look to mine, so I cut one inch squares of decorative paper, and glued them and wrapped them around the paperclips, I need to mention though, that you cannot wrap the paper clips until you are done connecting them, or you wouldn't be able to hook them to each other.  Then I wanted to make them more sturdy, so I took a small paintbrush and coated each one with two coats of Triple Thick glaze. Then, I found in my bead stash some shells that I thought looked good with the colors, and embellished the necklace with a few of them.  The great thing is even though it did probably take about 6 hours to make, it only cost me about a dollar in supplies.  The possibilities are endless,  if you use paper, the designs and colors are limitless.  I also would like to try making one with some of the Japanese printed masking tapes that are out on the market now.   If you try this, come on back here and post a pic of your work, I would love to see it.! 
Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

When and Where do You Get Your Ideas?

I get my ideas in the strangest places and the strangest times sometimes. I was wondering if anyone else would like to share what and how and when they are inspired?  I truly believe our talents are a gift from God, and we are meant to use them to somehow encourage or inspire others.  I also believe we are ambassadors for God in this world, it makes me so happy to see how many of us who have crafting and cooking blogs are Christians.  Many are home schoolers, and such good family oriented people.  I feel sorry, I think a lot of children are being raised by babysitters, and when mom and dad come home they have so much to do in the evenings, there isn't much time for family activities and individual attention.  My daughter works, and has three girls, and by the time they get all the chores done and homework, it's time for bed.  I know with the economy the way it is a lot of women have to work, and I feel a lot of compassion for them, because it is so hard and it puts a lot of pressure on the family.  That's where grandmas and grandpas come in handy.  I try to help my daughter a lot. Trying to keep her spirits up, and not to let her get overcome, while she is trying to support her family.  My other two daughters are lucky enough to be stay at home moms.

That all said, I need to get back to the subject of inspiration.  I get mine in some strange ways.  I stayed up very late working on a tutorial project a couple of nights ago, and decided I needed at  least a little sleep, so I laid down in bed, and I was thinking about the tube watercolors my son had gifted me with two years ago, that I hadn't even tried yet.  Suddenly I got a picture in my mind, at three a.m., and thought, "Oh that's cute, I will have to draw that up, TOMORROW."  Well, the image and excitement about it kept bugging me, until I had to get up, get a piece of paper and a magazine to use for support to draw on, and some colored pencils to draw with, and laid back down in bed and proceeded to draw this picture that was on my mind. Then when I woke up, I had the image I liked for a second  pic, and had to draw it when I woke up. I get a lot of fresh ideas in the shower too, maybe the water tapping on my head stimulates my brain!lol  Sometimes I will be driving, or sitting down to eat dinner, and an idea will pop in my head, too.  If I try to think of something, I usually can't, it has to be when I am not thinking about it.  How does it work for you?  Well, the next day, I tried out the watercolors, and these are the pictures that I painted.

Repurposing a Curtain Valence

I decided to face the monster yesterday, and resort and organize my linen closet.  Ughhh!  I don't think anyone looks forward to that job, am I right?  In doing so, I did find curtains that I have been hanging onto for years, some were even from my mom's house.   I looked at them with a repurposing eye, and I thought what could I do with these, there is a lot of good material here, ruffles, lace, there should be something.  I took some of the valences to my sewing room and I took a teal one with a ruffle at the bottom, cut the middle out, made a contrasting strip of fabric to go across the top, hemmed the sides, and ran a decorative ribbon across the top, with extra on each end for ties.  Then I got into my stash of fabric yo-yos circles, remembering I had a red plaid one with scotty dogs that would make a good pocket.  I had just enough of a strip of the contrasting fabric to make a cute little flower to embellish it with, and I have an apron!  I am putting together a tutorial (my first, wish me luck!), I should have it ready in a couple of days.  I also have a couple more ideas for curtains, that I think you will like.  I find cute curtain valences at thrift shops and never thought of what I could do with them.  For instance, if nothing else, if there is a nice wide gathered ruffle at the bottom, why not carefully cut it off, leaving a bit of the fabric it's sewn to, and apply it to the bottom of a little girls skirt?  If you wanted an apron in a hurry, you could just run a ribbon through the rod casing adjust the gathers, stitch across to keep the gathers from shifting, and tie it on!  I see a lot of possibilities.  Maybe from a fancy, flouffy set of cutains, a little girls play dress- up outfit?

close-up of pocket and trim details

apron made from curtain valence

I may have single-handedly defeated the linen closet monster! Now maybe if we look at it's contents with a different eye to repurpose something good from it, we won't dread confronting it so badly.

Stand-up,Stuffable Halloween Card

Standing up, not stuffed

Laying flat

Standing up, stuffed with goodies!

I thought you might enjoy  seeing my Halloween cards I made for my grandkids. I like the fact that you can stuff them with goodies, and then they will stand up to look pretty, (or should I say....creepy?)  They are sooo simple to make each one only takes a few minutes.

Tea Wreath

                                                                                  

Tea wreath, a wreath for any season!

I saw a Tea Wreath over on kojodesigns, and thought it was a stroke of genius, so I had to try it for myself.( kojodesigns is a great blog, they have many creative ideas, and a cute new baby too, you should check it out.)   I have so many  different kinds of teas that I have to keep them out on a shelf, in a tub, in my utility room.  Not very convenient, right?  I followed their tutorial, using colors of paper to compliment my kitchen, and it turned out really nice.  Mine holds about 30 teabags of my choosing.  It's nice when family and friends come over and I don't  have to go digging out the "Tub O Tea" for them to select their favorite, I can just put out a variety on the  wreath, and They can push a clothespin and take the one they want, then when it starts to get a little empty, I can refill it.

Hand painted pumpkin

Wire cross I designed

Hand painted Oriental Lady

Pretty in Purple

Hand Painted Roses

I also worked on some jewelry this week and took pics of some I had made a couple of months ago, I will put a few of them on for you to see. 

Crazy Cat

Bandanna Skirt for $2.00

I haven't  had much time for blogging this week, I spent it with my Sister-in-law and her husband and little girl who came  up to visit.  We don't get to see them nearly often enough, only about once a year.  She is just like my own sister, as I never had one, only a brother.  My  brother was wonderful, but I still missed having a sister.  When I married my husband, I got a sister too, as a package deal.  Dolores is great, and we have so much fun together.  We went to an antique mall, and saw all kinds of things we wanted, but really don't have room for. They left this morning, and it always makes me sad to see them go.  Fortunately, my daughter came with her little girl, and one of my other granddaughters to visit, so I didn't get a chance to be too sad. 

Before they got here, last week, I tried one of the bandanna skirts that V and Co. had a tutorial on, which inspired me to try one.  I found this cute bandanna in the Halloween section, with owls, which I love.  I noticed that the right and wrong sides of the bandanna looked very much the same, so instead of cutting the two bandannas off shorter for the proper length needed for my little granddaughter, age 5, I folded it over so it would make another layer of the skirt.  I simply sewed the two bandannas together, right sides together only on one side to start with, then folded it over and then sewed about an eighth of an inch from the top edge, and then an inch  down from there, to form the casing for the elastic. I cut the elastic 22 1/2 inches long to fit her waist, worked it through the casing by attaching a safety pin and pulling it through, then I closed up the second seam, right sides together, back-stitching at the elastic to reinforce it.  In the front where the top layer was folded over, you could see the seam allowance from where I sewed the sides together, so I sewed wide, black rickrack over the seam on the top layer only, and put a black and white striped fabric flower at the end of it.  I also added a gathered strip of netting on the bottom of the skirt to dress it up a bit.  My little granddaughter tried it on and began twirling around, so I knew it met her approval. Thank you V and Co. for a great and economical Idea. This was so much fun I can't wait to make more, and I will have to, because I have four more granddaughters.

Purse Week

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I have been very busy making a purse for the Purse Week contest at a lemon squeezy home.  I have never made a purse without a pattern to go by.  I made 3  purses with a pattern a couple of years ago to give to my daughters for Christmas.  They were all  the same pattern, but different fabrics.  They turned out all right, but this is another story.  I made it up as I went along, and kept adding more and more embellishments, many of which I opted to sew on by hand, rather than machine.  I just feel like I have more precise control when I hand sew.  The main part of the front was a picture that I drew myself, (that was actually the inspiration for the whole purse), and then I layered cotton batting and another piece of fabric on the back and embroidered her face.  Then I adorned her hat and necklace with red and black seed beads.  This was quite an adventure, but one I am glad  I took.  I will be back soon with some new jewelry pieces, and who knows what else?  I am dying to try the Teabag Wreath over at Kojo Designs, If you are a tea drinker, or need a cute gift for someone who is, or maybe a teacher gift, check it out.  I bought some of the supplies, I may tackle that next!