Midnight and Jade jewellery set.

A little change today with this jewellery set I made. 

Lots of shiny black beads with jade to add colour and some bead knots that I saw in a magazine tutorial.  They looked quite difficult but turned out to be really easy and fun to make.

hugs
Chris xx

Green crochet necklace

It's soooo long since I made any jewellery and it was a nice change to get out the crocheting hook and these are so easy to make they are a breeze.

 I used fabric covered wire... there are so many gorgeous colours available so you can create a piece to match any outfit.

I added a black shiny bead to the centre and two small ones at the end of the ties for a bit more glamour.  I think I've got the jewellery making bug again... watch this space :D
hugs
Chris xx

Chipboard jewellery and a little toot :D

A little bit of excitement today cos I can now share with you that I have been invited to join the Tando Creative Design Team.... whooohoooo with a cherry on top :D  That means lots of lovely lovely chippie will be coming my way to play with.  I want to say a HUGE thank you to Di  for the opportunity and I hope you will pop over to the Tando blog to join in with the gorgeous things that I and the other DT members will be sharing there.

I couldn't abandon my painting just yet... oh you just know that I can't...lol... so I was uber excited when I realised that the Tando Chipboard is sturdy enough to take whatever I throw at it... and as it also has a gorgeous white coating it's ideal for painting on. Yeeeeeessss!!  So for my first pieces for the DT I decided to create some heart jewellery.  I think Frida Kahlo is a wonderful artist and my brooch above is in honour of her.

I then decided to paint a little whimsy girl and turned the painting into a necklace before finally doing a mixed media brooch (below) too.   Lotsa fun... I enjoyed every moment.

This one was created by throwing bits of kitchen roll at it... ok ..ok I didn't throw them... I rolled them and collaged them and added swirls of fabric coated wire... but you know what I mean ;-)

The colouring is watercolour crayons and acrylic paint mixed.

Now for the best bit... I made these from the Tando Home hanger and I still have another heart and the words left to play with... heh heh.. I'm nothing if not frugal with my goodies!! 

I will share what I make with what's left soon.  TFL

hugs

Chris xx

I dream of the sea....

clear blue skies and crystal clear warm water to splash and swim in and a gorgeous golden sandy beach to relax on with the sun on my face :D 

Oh but then I wake up to cold wet dreary days and wait for the snow that it's well cold enough for!!

Well what do you do on days like this.... you look at something that makes you feel happy and reminds you of your dream...lol   These earings I made are my most favourite in the whole wide world... the things I love most about jewellery making are that you can make something just to fit your mood... or to match perfectly to your favourite outfit and also know that they are unique to you.  Wonder what these say about me ;-)

Thanks for looking

hugs

Chris xx

Beaded charm bracelet

A little change from papercrafting today. I made this a while ago for my niece ...love making girly things so it's good that I have lots of nieces to share things with.
What girl doesn't love something that jingle jangles on her wrist... even us big girls eh.
Off to do some crafting with my girly pals Chriss and Debbie tonight and hopefully have a play with some stamps and my distress inks... whoohoooo Bet you wish you were coming...lol

Have a great day
hugs
Chris xx

Is it a month ALREADY.....

I just can't believe how fast time has flown since I last posted.... it's passing me by at a rate of knots!! Could be that I've been down with the dreaded lurgy which has slowed down my decorating antics and made me take to my bed. The will to keep awake and keep going was in my mind but my body it seems had other ideas. DG began with a cold that lasted 2 days and kindly breathed my way.... the result... almost two weeks of coughing, sneezing and sleeping combined with the headaches from hell that had me wondering if I had succumbed to swine flu... but without the energy to do anything about it if I had.
I'm coming out the other end slowly however, even a short walk to the loo has me feeling like taking to my bed again.... the moral of the story..... never let a snot laden kid within ten miles of you when there's work to be done....lol
Just sharing some pics of an experimental hand crochet beaded necklace, ('nother done before today project....lol)

Hopefully I will be back really soon, as my own internet connection should be up and running in the next couple of week and ALL of my decorating will be FINISHED..... YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAA...... did I say FINISHED?....... YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

I promise you some photies next visit.... it's taken a long time but the transformation is sooooooo worth it :D

hugs

Chris xx

2 down,2 half done and 2 to go.....

places to decorate that is!! Okay the main reason for my absence is that I have moved house and oh boy what a lot of work to do.
2 rooms down, 2 half done and two to go....ooooooer
I have scraped, filled, sanded, painted, laid carpet and burnt the candle at both ends for weeks but hey it will all be worth it in the end. The t.v. program changing rooms don't have a look in...lol There will be lots of pics later but as I'm still borrowing computer time I can't upload anything right now.
My bedrooms are all done... bathroom and staircase almost there.... kitchen getting done(fingers crossed) at weekend and then only one more room to go....... cor I will need a rest after all this.
I must say though the self satisfaction at a job well done is fab.... I'm not very good at delegating cos I'm so bloomin' fussy.... so it serves me right if I'm knackered :D
I'm even considering learning to plaster...ha ha..... well I almost re-plastered the staircase the amount of filler I had to use for the million of holes left once the wallpaper was removed...hummmph.
So while you are having fun with your crafting.... spare a thought for this busy old bird cos curtain making and picture painting will have to suffice for my playtime until my boudoir is complete :D Can't wait to share with you the fruits of my labour but all in good time.

Ok some crafty stuff..... not made lately but luckily I had saved this ready to post before I moved so I would still have something to share with you.
I love wooden beads and I luuuuuurve playing with chain since I started jewellery making but although I was quite good with the set above..... I kinda lost the plot with the bracelet.... I will need someone to help lift the arm I wear this on in the future...lol

Hope you are all well and having fun and I hope to be back with you all real soon if everything goes according to plan.

Off to make curtains now...... wish me luck :D

hugs
Chris xx

Metal effect necklaces and brooches with alcohol inks

The Simon says challenge this week says Craft with Tim Holtz... the man himself...so who can resist. Using one of Tim's products... my favourite...Alcohol inks... I decided to create some jewellery.
First of all a necklace using a disc created with Cuttlebugged metal which I coated with alcohol ink. I layered ten discs of card sticking them together to resemble chipboard before adhering the metal to it. The metal was put through the script cuttlebug folder once the right way and then turned 90 degrees and put through again for the effect on this metal. I also made a matching brooch using the same technique and adding a bottlecap image from Lisa's altered art to the centre before decorating with pearl half beads

As usual I got a wee bit carried away and couldn't stop at one... so I did another using different coloured Alcohol inks combining red and green (my favourite colours of the moment) allowing the gold metal underneath to show through. This metal was put through the script folder just once.

I sanded over the top of both pieces to remove the ink from the top layer which turned silver. Playtime and happy accidents once again...lol
Have a great day all

hugs

Chris xx

Jewellery and twinchies

Well lick my legs and put my tongue out to the weatherman.... the sun is splitting the sky for the fifth day on the trot. Who needs to go on holiday... not me... I can turn my skin a beautiful shade of RED on my own doorstep...lolDo I envy anyone who turns a creamy caramel shade under those sunny rays... you betcha!! Being an English rose (with the whitest skin on the planet) has to suffice for me unless I hit the bottle of Dove self tanning cream... the only way I'm ever gonna change to a colour worthy of showing me arms and me legs is when I lash on that cream from the bottle (much the same as me hair colour!!).

So instead of sitting out and hoping for a miracle I will stay indoors and look lovingly at the way the world seems to light up with this gorgeous weather and content myself with making something new cos today is all mine... nowhere I have to be... nothing I have to do.... so I'm gonna play, play, play. whoohoooo

Just before I disappear though I'll share with you a few of my latest makes.... the jewellery bug is still in full swing and I have a new found love of GREEN... a colour I have never really been partial too but one which seems to be drawing me in of late. Especially in this gawgus shade which I had to add to my bracelet....

and a pair of dangly earings to wear it with :)I also have another new found love thanks to my blogging buddy Gez :) Having fat chunky fingers I've never been a lover of inchies but when I saw Gez' twinchies I just had to have a bash at them and for the record I LOVE them... so I will be doing lots more.

I've been playing and using my 'puter to do some images from my family photos ready to turn into stamps for meself for my mixed media doings and these two are two of my favourites. The one above is from a photo of my nanna as a young lady.... and this one is from a photo of my gorgeous daughter. ooooh I love that girly to bits :)

Both images were printed out on to acetate and then added to card before layering onto alcohol ink backgrounds before adding my usual bit of bling.

Hope you are all having a fab day

See you soon

hugs

Chris xx

Summer Surprise charm bracelet

Well thanks to my pal Chriss.... I now have yet another addiction it seems. Headpins and shiny beads keep jumping into my lap along with charms and pliers and it looks like everyone and their aunty will be receiving baubles and bangles etc for Birthdays and special occasions. Now I'm not kidding myself that I will ever be as interested in jewellery making as I am in papercrafts and digi stuff but hey it's certainly giving my fat fingers a workout... trying to fit those pesky jump rings puts me into a right frenzied red faced sweat...lol
My nieces will be the recipients of my first attempts so hence the girly colours and charms... just love the cute dress one (bottom left) was almost tempted to keep it for myself.... but I guess I have to grow up sometime eh :)
hugs
Chris xx

Knitted wire jewellery cuffs

Hi all... I'm not going to bore you all with the details of why I've not been blogging recently but I am glad to be back. Now you know I like to try different things and as I've been promising myself for quite a while to try some knitted wire jewellery... I decided to have a bash at it and see what I could come up with.

I am well chuffed with how my pieces ended up. I used lots of chocolate and gold coloured wire and seed beads for this one.

The front is a folded knitted piece onto which I added a 3d beaded flower that I made.
Now the next piece has a little story attached of how NOT to make a knitted bracelet. You can not thread on your beads.... begin to knit and then throw a wobbly....or throw your needles.... ( can yer Chriss my pal....rofl) Ok well maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration but partly true. Chriss wanted to learn how to make her own cuff but didn't quite get to grips with the concept... so although she chose the beads and threaded them etc....

I got to do the knitting.... finish it off and claim it for me own. So guess who's happy now ;-D
Hope you likeeeeee

hugs

Chris xx

Big Art Adventure Challenge- Charms

Well my absence from blogging this week has had a lot to do with the fact that my body has been working the night shift. I've been awake all night and slept all day for most of the week because the little men working my brain are having a laugh at my expense...either that or they've been having parties and stopped working due to hangover induced coma's...lol

While being awake all night would be welcome... if I would have creative boosts and be as happy as the proverbial pig in muck.... it just doesn't happen that way... especially when you wake up and it's dark and you feel like you should be getting into bed and not out of it. A certain fog descends and somehow no amount of turning lights on helps to illuminate the hours ahead.

Sitting without noise for fear of waking everyone else ain't much fun either cos even if you fancy having a disco so you can prance around the room like a marionette on strings... you ain't gonna have one... unless you are ready to face the wrath of the neighbourhood the following day and I'm not THAT brave..lol

Anyway I think I've got it licked cos I am up and it's a little after 8....and DAYLIGHT whoooohooooo. After sleeping all day yesterday and grabbing a kip in the early hours I have hopefully got myself back on track... oh the little things that keep me happy :D

So onward we go and for this weeks Big Art Adventure Challenge we have Charms. This is completely new to me as I have never even thought of making a charm never mind put one together and I thought of giving it a miss as I didn't think it was my thing... but I'm so glad I didn't cos I have found me a new talent and another forthcoming addiction I think :D


So thanks to Linda and Rosie for encouraging me to think out of the box and also thanks to my good bud Chriss for sharing some fabby bits of old jewellery with me to help me in my creating when we spent some quality (chocolate free) crafting time together on Monday evening.

As usual once I got started they just kept coming so I have a little collection starting :D The images are all Artchix and the starting point for each one apart from the wings charm was chipboard shapes. I lurve chipboard it is soooo versatile :D
This one was covered with a piece of previously alcohol inked card which had been stamped with Crafty Individuals crackle stamp before adding the image and... ooooh look BLING...lol
Next piece was covered with a part image and a sentiment... the edges inked with black stazon and I gave her a bling ring and a crown sent to me by my buddy Karen (I got some cooool friends) lol You can also get the crown from Scrapz (see my fab places to visit).
My favourite piece of them all is this one thanks to this gorgeous butterfly and heart from a piece of Chriss' jewellery...oooooh I just love it. The chipboard was covered in coloured card again stamped with Crafty Individuals crackle stamp... the image was cut out and mounted onto a piece from an earring before attaching it to the chipboard with the other bits.

Finally my bottle cap charm has the addition of some ea ring pieces and wings hand cut from cardboard and then covered in some lush velvet paper that I purchased from Scrapz. It is soooo strokeable but unfortunately the texture doesn't show up well in the photo... you just have to take my word for it :D

Okay I hope I haven't interrupted YOUR sleep pattern by making you nod off with the length of this post...lol

I'm off to grab me a coffee and blog hop :D I'm having withdrawal symptoms now.

Have a great day

hugs

Chris xx