Bluango Bracelet, First Beading of the New Year

This is the first beading I’ve done in the new year.

Blue and gold is a classic color combination. But this dark blue and shinny gold combination in this bracelet just evokes Cleopatra to me. hehe I think it’s a beautiful contrast.

I decided to leave the back unadorned so that you would have 2 styles in one. If you are wearing a more casual outfit, you could wear the back. If you are wearing a something more dressy, you could wear it front side out. :) 2 bracelets in one! 

Created Jan 24, 2013 (2hrs of Labor) while watching Bones (I hate Pelant) and NCIS.

Design inspired by a bracelet made by NiteDreamerDsgn (funny enough, her name is Mandy). I’ve made the base numerous times for different bracelets but I loved the overlay look so I added it this time. 

Stitch: Right Angle Weave (RAW)

Materials: Nylon thread, 4mm Swarovski crystal bicones in Dark Sapphire, 6mm Swarovski Pearls in Night Blue, Size 11 gold seed beads, Size 11 silver lined gold seed beads.

I packaged it in the fun origami envelope. You can make one too, just followTHIS video tutorial from Rosemarie995. :)

Flat Spiral Crystal Bracelet

Summer Bday gift part 2

My friend, Summer's birthday gift started with the Crystal Flower Bracelet, but it looked too lonely in the gift box so I had to make something else for her. :) Since nothing came to mind, I went back to an old stand by. I love the RAW and flat spiral stitches. :)

I didn't like how just the pearls in the middle looked so I decided to just to turn it into a sample piece and try out alternating crystals ini the center. Then I liked the look of them together and continued until I finished the bracelet. I like the look of the ends being a little different but still symmetrical. :) What do you guys think? :)

Materials:

13mm lobster clasp 

6mm Swarovski Crystal Pearls in light blue

4mm Swarovski Crystal Pearls in cream

6mm Bicone Swarovski Crystals in aqua

8lb Fireline 

Seed bead SGB co 15-457G size15 bronze

Seed bead size 11 19A Toho blue

To finish it off, I made her a birthday card. She collects buttons so I used them to make bundles of "balloons". :) I also included a bag of buttons from my collection to add to hers. :) I tied the gift box with the rainbow string I used for the string on the button balloons as well. 

Happy Belated Birthday Summer!!! :)

Just a quick aside about my buttons. I saw this set of drawers next to a dumpster one day and decided to go rifling through the drawers. What I found was a drawer full of buttons! Score! I happily took them home, sorted, and bagged them. They really do come in handy. hehe You know you are a real crafter when...you are happy to find a big bag of buttons that someone else didn't want. hehe I have had them for years and still haven't been able to use them all. :)

Crystal Flower Bracelet

My friend, Summer's Birthday just passed and I am a terrible friend for just starting to make her present. :p I finally broke through the craft block because of this beautiful pattern. :) I was looking for something to do with roses because I saw her beautiful wedding gown's skirt was filled with roses and pearl details. She may be a wild child and a free spirit but she is truly a traditional/antique romantic at heart. :)

Materials:

Size 12 beading needle

4mm Swarvoski Crystals in Rosaline, Tanzanite, and Light Sapphire

San Gabriel Bead Co: S/L Silver Size 11 J11-001-Miyuki Seed Beads

San Gabriel Bead Co: Silver Lined Silver Size 15 15-001-Miyuki Seed Beads

Swarvoski Crystal Pears in White Size 8

Fireline Crystal 6lb weight
Findings: wire guards, heart lobster clasp, spring jump rings and closed jump rings, chain, eye pin

Pattern:
Russian spiral, Hogarth Crystal Curve
Designed by Wendy Lueder
from Bead and Button Mag. April 2012 Issue 108

Crafts for Charity

My friend had a yard sale to raise money for their charity trip to El Salvador. They are helping build homes for the poor. I decided to help by adding some of my crafts and working the yard sale. :) It was very hard work and I am very tired but it was worth it for friends and charity. :)

The purple flower was made using this free easy pattern.

The flower petals was not coming together so I used a figure eight motion to tighten up the bottom of the petals from the back.

I modified that pattern a little to get the smaller tan flower on top:

Into a magic ring - 7sc

chain 6 then sl st into the next sc - around

into each c6 spot (aka petal) sc hdc 5dc ch2 5dc hdc sc

Hook size used: 4.25mm

Yarn used: Vanna's Choice

This is the rose that I had made for my little top hat. It didn't work for the hat but it works well for a little hair clip.

This is a simple heart/bow bracelet that was too large for me but it fit as an anklet. :)

This is how I displayed the jewelry. To make it more professional, next time I would use cardstock instead of index cards and print on the name.

This heart pendant was really easy and I strung it on some ribbon. I think it would've made a great Mother's Day gift. :)

Someone had donated a bag of costume jewelry. Sadly all of them were broken or missing pieces but it was cool to look at and would be great in the hands of an imaginative crafter. :)

Lastly, I baked cupcakes. I added instant coffee to both the cake and the frosting and it turned out well. :)

I Heart my Friends

Happy SAD! Happy V-Day!

I am sending all my love to my friends and family since I don't have a guy to shower. :)

My mom's Valentines Day gift. It's a bracelet I made for her with frame beads from inmcrystal.com. I printed out black and white pics of her favorite people onto cardstock and slipped them in. This is not waterproof but my mom doesn't want to wear it too much. :P She's just going to keep it for sentimental value. I was going to cover each picture, front and back, with modge podge to protect it. :) And to make it more comfortable to wear, I used stretchy cord with a clasp.

Hope you guys have a great day! I am going to say it's ok to overdo the sweets, but just today. :p

Not just another bracelet

I think this will be my last paracord bracelet post for a while. :p You're welcome. :)

Chain Sinnet Square Knot

There is a very nice video tutorial here. The great thing about this is that it looks like the regular survival bracelet but it is easier to undo in a real emergency.

This the back end, I tucked the melted ends in so it doesn't scratch you while you wear it.

You see that silver on the one loop. It is there on purpose. I ended this bracelet so that if you pulled that loop and then you pull on the two ends sideways, it falls apart. It makes it even faster to take apart. :) Hey, every second counts.

I used the lanyard knot to make the knot. I just pulled the loop long enough so it goes around your wrist.

A great gift for the Valentine man in your life. I just don't have one yet. :P

Gifts for Pat

I made a couple more bracelets as a gift to my friend, Paromita, in Maryland. Another friend, Mel, is going to visit so I wanted to send something pretty along. :)

Strung Butterfly Bracelet

I made another 3 Hearts bracelet but this time, I made the hearts face the same way. And added the Owl earrings I made earlier.

Package

This is how I packaged them together. 

Miss you guys!

Another Paracord bracelet

I made another quick deploy/release bracelet for males. This weave is called Ripcord Sinnet (this is a link to the YouTube video tutorial on how to make one). This tutorial is made by TyingItAllTogether and they have a lot of other videos. You can use other cords to make these bracelets besides the paracord. I think I would like to try these with satin cord for girls. :)

The last bracelet I made used a fishtail type weave that all little girls know and used for their hair at one time. Here is the link to that video tutorial.

Close up of the front 

Close up of the back

 I found two other quick release weaves. These use buckles or U shackles, which I don't have, therefore, I have not made them yet. The Milipede paracord bracelet uses more cord and is thicker. The Slatts Rescue Belt knot seems to be the quickest to unravel but it needs something like a crochet hook to make.

If you guys are wondering where to get the paracord and buckles, I would go here. Most of their stuff includes free US shipping and you can choose regular or priority mail. I love that because it is still free but you get your stuff faster. They have a variety of colors of not only the cord but the buckles as well.

Happy Weaving! :)

All in a Day's work

Here are the projects I have finished today. :)

One of my guy friends asked me to make him a bracelet. He saw the Buddhist one I got during Chinese New Years. What do you think? I showed him an option in which I alternated one black round bead and one brown cylindrical bead. But he wanted me to alternate two or three to make it more interesting. I thought I would make it even more unique by alternating 2 and 3 brown beads with one round black bead in between. He also asked me to use stretch cord with a clasp. The customer is always right. :)

Red bow bracelet

I was trying to make more all red lucky bracelets for my friends. Here is one I thought up. It even includes these red cylinders that my friend sent me for Xmas. :)

Red and White Bow bracelet

I think the red hearts put together like this with a red crystal bicone in the middle makes them look like cute bows. The clear AB crystal beads really make the bows pop. 

Owl Earrings

When I was bead shopping, I came across these cute owl charms and thought they would be great as earrings. Here they are finished. I added some crystal beads in turquoise to match something on the owl. I hope my friend in Maryland will like these. :) I only wished that I had gold wiring and earring findings in order to match the gold in the owls. 

I hope your weekend was just as productive. :)

Practical Bracelet for a Man

I am so happy! I am still high off of shopping for beads for 2 hours. And then I come home and I get my online order today instead of Monday! Yea! So, I have a lot to keep me busy for the weekend. :)

This is a red braided quick deployment 550 paracord bracelet. I have 4 guy friends who are or were in the military and I wanted to make these for them. The military uses 550 paracord for a variety of reasons. Of course, they probably don't use red but I bought red because it is a lucky color and this week is still Chinese New Years. :) I wanted to use this braid aka rattlesnake braid instead of the usual cobra stitch in survival bracelets because of its quick deployment properties and therefore is more practical for them. It was also very quick to make. It only took me about 10min. It also only cost me $1 for each bracelet. Yes, one single dollar to make this. :) I bought 100 feet for $10 and used 10 feet for this bracelet. So, do the math. :)

550 Paracord is nylon and has 7 white cords in the middle.

To tighten the loop, you can pull the side knot so the bracelet doesn't come off.

I am very happy with this new guy gift. It is probably the cheapest practical guy gift I will ever find. And it's so cool! :) hehe Ooo...and you can give it to him for Valentines because it's red! Yea!

Have a great crafting weekend Ya'll!