I'm back with a Beaded Bracelet to Share!

Hello!  My name is Judy..........thought I might need to introduce myself again!!!  It's been a very long time since I posted here. 
I needed a break......some time to refocus.   I'm working on renewing some of my creative energy!  I took time to create some art for myself, no deadlines, no requirements!  I'll share a journal that I'm working on in some future blog posts.

Here's a few highlights from the last 2 1/2 months.......

In early August, I went to Phoenix for the Spellbinders Design Teams retreat, my 4th trip.  Wow, time does fly!  A big change this year with all the design teams attending the retreat.  So much talent!   What fun!
Later in August I had some minor surgery.  Everything went well but boy did it zap my energy for a week or so!
In September, I went to Sweden and Norway with my parents, husband, sisters and nephew.  A trip of a lifetime!  We went to see where my Mom's grandfather came from in Norway and visit cousins there.  We also visited the area of Sweden where my Dad's grandfather came from. Lots to see, lots of travel!  Wonderful to experience it with family!!!  A great trip!
Back to reality when I got home........projects due! 
October brought birthdays to celebrate!  My youngest granddaughter turned 1!  My grandsons turned 12!  My son in law celebrated a birthday, too.  We celebrated an anniversary!
Now, it's already the 22nd of October! 

So let's get to something crafty!!!

This is a bracelet I designed for Julianna Hudgins' Positively Me! blog. 
  

 

 

This is a simple beaded design composed of 2 rows of seed beads on each side of a row of black bugle beads. It's fairly simple to do on Julianna's Jewel Loom.  You can see a video about the Jewel Loom at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs3JLbrNbXE

When I started the bracelet, my intention was to make a simple, quick bracelet.  I wanted a narrow bracelet that I could pair with other bracelets.  I really like how it turned out!

As I finished gluing the string ends and put the clasp on it, I noticed some charms laying on my work table.  An "Aha!" moment!  Why not add a charm to the bracelet clasp?

So that's what I did!  My first photo shows the leaf charm added to the clasp with a jump ring.  I  glued 2 seed beads onto the leaf which adds the blue color to it and ties it to the bracelet.

  

I still like the bracelet without the charm!!!  I really should make a couple more to wear together! 

 

If you'd like to see the post on Julianna's blog, here's the link  http://juliannahudgins.com/jewelry/blue-beaded-bracelet/

The supply list it there.

It's good to be back!  Thanks for visiting! 

Have a creative day!
-judy

Americana Bird

Happy Independence Day!

I'm enjoying a relaxing day at home!  It's wonderful!  And I took some time to play!  It's been a very long time since I created something purely for fun! 

In observance of the 4th of July, I put together this little Americana bird.......

I used Spellbinders® Media Mixage™ Birds One dies and Artisan X-plorer® to cut 2 birds from worn denim. Well worn denim that's thin-medium weight cuts quite well in the Artisan X-plorer.    I glued the edges together except for the tail, leaving about 3./4" opening near the bottom.  I stuffed it with a tiny bit of fiberfill and glued it closed. I cut 2 wings from some navy fabric with stars on it and 2 wings from red vinyl that I drew stripes on with a white Painters marker. I had to improvise because I couldn't find any red/white stripe fabric in my stash!  I glued the star wing over the stripe wing offset so the stripes would show. The wings are glued to each side of the bird with Fabri-Tac glue. Next, I cut some red and white string and glued it in the tail.  The eye is a dot of black paint added with a Painters marker.

The base is 2 layers of self-adhesive craft foam, 1 of cardboard and 1 of navy paper cut with Spellbinders Stars Five #2 (#1 being the smallest), .  The foam stars are adhered together and then the paper star is glued to the top. I punched a tiny hole in the center for the twisted wire.  I splayed the wire ends for support. The cardboard star is glued to the bottom over the wire ends.  To put the other end of  the wire in the bird, I used a needle tool to separate the seam a tiny bit and pushed the wire in.  Then I glued the tiny opening shut again.
The bird holds 3 stars dangling from strings.  The stars are cut using Spellbinders Stars Five #1. I cut 2 of each: red vinyl, natural canvas, worn denim.  I glued each set of stars together back to back with string between.  The strings are glued into the birds beak. I didn't think ahead to leave the beak unglued!  It was pretty easy to separate the fabric as the glue wasn't fully set and tuck the strings in place.  

I hope you've had a great 4th of July!!! 

Happy creating!
-judy


Supplies:
Spellbinders® MMM-001 Artisan X-plorer®
Spellbinders® MD2-011 Birds One
Spellbinders® S4-092 Stars Five
Worn Denim
Navy Star Fabric
Red Vinyl
Natural Canvas
String - red, white
Elmer's Painters Markers - White, Black
Beadalon Artistic Wire - 20 gauge Bronze
Black Craft Foam
Cardboard
Beacon Adhesives - Fabri-Tac™
Fiberfill

Goddess Jewelry Holder

Today, I posted this Goddess Jewelry Holder on Julianna's Positively Me blog.


You can find all the details there including directions and photos!  Plus a supply list!


This is one of my favorite types of projects!  Lots of inks, spray mists, some gems and metal, textiles and even stamping!   A project to really get inky!

 
Thanks for stopping!
-judy