Faith

Number Two of 52 Necklaces

I had so much fun making necklace #2.  The inspiration came from one of my favorite magazines: Jewelry Affaire. In this issue, artist  Erin Bullock uses wire and gems to wrap a hoop with brass wire, fire opal and quartz.  I used what I had on hand:

 

and this is what I came up with!

   

after I took my supply picture I ended up adding the clear crystals and second inner circle.

I had so much fun making this piece that I made two more!!

I have to admit the pictures don't do them justice.  They are very sparkly in person.

Have you made anything lately that you just had to make more of?

So pretty!

If I was making 52 bracelets instead of 52 necklaces I would love to make this pretty bracelet.  So nice for a bridal or baby shower!

 

Picture courtesy of Pinterest

Proud Mom Moment

Alison won the Dragon Award for Social Studies this quarter.  Woohoo! We are so proud of her.  Here she is with her teacher and her certificate.  What a way to start off high school :)

Number One!! of 52

Here is necklace # 1 of 52 necklaces in 52 weeks.

"Just Be" is my way of remembering to stay in the moment and not to get ahead of myself.
 

The new techniques for me that I used for this necklace were to use metal stamps ( People.....you should give those artists who hand stamp jewelry ALOT of credit. It is not as easy as it looks and you only have one shot) 

and to use paint to stamp the blank. This would not have been something I thought of doing until this project.

I also went for the asymmetrical look which is not usually in my comfort zone. Ya know, with the two beads on one side and none on the other.

These were the supplies I started out with

The findings are by Vintaj.

They have lots of cool findings and after doing this project I would like to try more of their products, although I think they are a bit expensive.

Overall it was a lot of fun to make and I would try these techniques again.

If anyone has any ideas for how to use the metal blanks ruined by metal stamping goofs let me know ;)

Let me know what you think of necklace #1!

52 necklaces in 52 weeks

I was recently talking to my mom about how I'm always saving craft and jewelry ideas but I never make them.  I buy jewelry magazines and then I don't make the necklaces because I don't know a certain technique or I'm not familiar with some of the supplies.

Later that same evening I was watching the movie Julie and Julia.

 

Photo courtesy of Google

In the movie a blogger named Julie aspires to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's cookbook in 365 days.  It is based on a book by Julie Powell. Now there is no way I am making 524 necklaces in 365 days..........but I do think it would be fun to make one new necklace style a week. So we will have....

52 Necklaces in 52 Weeks!!

Now these necklaces will not be something I have ever made before.  They will have some element that is new to me.  Whether it be a style, material or design element.

The goal is to have some fun while making something pretty and learning some new techniques. Let me know what you think of the new styles over the next 52 weeks :)

Flower Power

A couple of weeks ago I was feeling a bit down.  I had been telling my mom about it during the week. On Sunday morning the door bell rang.  It was my mom! She lives an hour away.  It was such a nice surprise. We drank tea, ate cookies and talked (We are famous for that!). She also brought me an Amaryllis bulb.  I love them but don't usually buy them because they are for sale at the same time I have to do Christmas shopping so they are not a priority.


Our family has gotten so much joy out of this little flower bulb.  We all love watching it grow and are amazed how quickly it has. My mom was just trying to brighten up my mood but gave something to all of us by giving us this little bit of mother nature.

 

Hot Water!

Halleluliah! We finally have hot water after 11 days!  Yes, I said 11!.  It started out with a freak October snowstorm where we lost power for 4 days.  When the power came back on it blew a "something or other"  that is extremely important in the process of heating our water.  Every time they came to fix the problem it would break again, almost as soon as they pulled out of the driveway.  They finally fixed it yesterday and it hasn't broken yet (It's very hard to type with my fingers crossed).  No more boiling water to bathe and wash the dishes.

 Picture courtesy of tumblr

This isn't really my bathroom but I would love it if it was :)

Tiny Belles Boutique Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Shanna! She has won the Tiny Belles Boutique Giveaway.  To see what she has won check out this site http://www.tinybellesblog.com/2011/11/and-winners-are.html  Included in her winnings is a $50 credit to Sundays Cottage! Happy Shopping Shanna!

You have to be in it to win it!

Love this!

jewelry display

Getting ready for a craft show this weekend,

Sooo excited!

Before:

After: