Special

I'm still in jewelry making mode.  I'm thinking I may be here a while.  :)  At the Rose Bowl Flea last November I found this cat trio brass stamping in the $1 box.  (note to self...buy it all!)  I knew then it was destined for my friend who has fostered hundreds of kittens.  I didn't know what I was gonna actually do with it though.  Along came Brenda Sue.  I labored over this piece.  Not just with the design elements, but the assembly as well.  I redid each connection many times. 

Once I finished the necklace, I cleaned up my work space so I could begin playing with my first shipment of pretties from BSue's Boutique.  The filigree beads and the Victorian bird charm are "rusty black patina" finish, which I sanded with 0000 steel wool to bring out the copper underneath the black. Now they need to be sealed since I sanded off part of the protective finish; Krylon Matte Spray still traveling at the glacial speed of Amazon's delivery...I can't finish them yet.  OK, I'll just have to move on to something else, or I could watch another of BSue's educational videos.  I've watched hours and hours of her videos on youtube bsueboutiques/videos and learned so much. 

 

 

Pliers in hand...

I'm still in fun mode, as much as possible with a right arm that has limited mobility right now.  Using my left hand more is a good thing.  So, this was my small work space yesterday.  I'm pretty much finished with the evil eye brooch on the left; it's awaiting purchase of a good pin back.  I decided it was too long for a necklace with those chain dangles.  Guess I gotta go shopping...

 I found some pretties on eBay...

 and on etsy.  All of this is vintage.  The filigree at bottom is Miriam Haskell stock, so I'm told.  Vintage elements are most appealing to me.  Yet for quality elements and the chain, jump rings, pin backs, etc., the glue that brings a piece together, I think my best bet is to shop from B'Sue's Boutique. 

The World of B'Sue's Boutique

 It has been a LONG time since I've posted here:  Life with a teenager, aging parents, aging horses, a big house and yard can consume all of my time. Which doesn't leave room for fun and, let me tell you, that is not good.  I need FUN!!!  By happenstance I wandered into the world of B'Sue's Boutique about a week ago, in early April.  If you love jewelry making, if you love good people who are generous and down to earth, go there now.  I jumped in with both feet, watching many of her videos from her boutique and from YouTube.  After hours of inspiration and education, I got out the beads and tools.  Above is a little pendant I made in the B'Sue style yesterday. 

 I needed something handmade for my niece's 18th birthday.  I found what I wanted in my stash and I think it is really cute.  Much of this is made from "big box" store components.  That works for a teen trinket, but B'Sue encourages us to use good quality and from now on I will be more particular about supplies. 

 B'Sue's glue for this type of collage jewelry is E6000.  I am running a little low on that, so I may try this G02 from Loctite.  I used it to glue all of those stones and geegaws to my phone case.  I've lost not a one in over a year. 

 Now that I'm excited to make stuff, I'm thinking "What's next?".  I mocked up this piece which will be for by BFF, with trinkets that are meaningful to her.  Much of what I shall use is vintage. 

 On hand I also have the necessary findings, and I think the quality is OK. 

And here is where I work on jewelry.  I really gotta improve the lighting.  That Ott task light is the bomb, but it could use a little support. 

Proper Way To Store a Necklace

 Mom has lots of beautiful and even some valuable necklaces, collected from all over the world.  Naturally she knows how to best store these pieces that she loves.  Ah, not so fast.  Some might be in the odd pouch but most are wrapped in a fragment of tissue paper, jumbled in a bathroom drawer.  Yet she was deeply distressed when a handful of her favorites disappeared.  Who knew how long they were missing?  And there was an inkling that perhaps Mom had "hidden them" in a secret place.  Ugh.  How many important things I've lost when I put them in hiding: Hiding them from myself it turns out.  This was the catalyst toward a solution to "what to make for Mom for Christmas". 

 I so enjoy making these drawstring pouches.  I follow a tutorial from a private blog and have made quite a few of these over past several months.  For the focal point I used sections from the vintage sweater I bought at the Rose Bowl Flea with ivory satin as the pouch itself.   Looking at these pictures takes me back to mid-December when I made them.  They were a goodly amount of effort.  And such a pleasure to complete. 

While I sewed the pouches, I used Fabritac to attach the sweater piece and most of the decorations.  Too late I realized that I really needed to stitch around the sweater and trims for both appearance and longevity.  It would have been easier to do before stitching up the sides of the pouches...but I did figure it out after the 2nd one.  I am really pleased with this trio.  They are different enough that Mom will have no trouble recognizing which pouch holds the particular jewelry she is looking for.  Right? 

Turn This Into That

 Last December I was crazy enough to brave a day of shopping at a distant high-end outdoor mall.  Crazy because it was cold (the water in the mall's fountain was frozen solid), it was far (about 2 hours each way to get there what with getting lost a couple times, going way off route for gas at CostCo, a vegetarian menu instead of the pasta I craved...and NO I wasn't driving) and it was crowded.  Still...there was Anthropologie, there was L'Occitane, there was Williams-Sonoma and so much more. This year I have not entered a single shop except Michaels to buy Christmas cards and a few craft supplies.  Instead of shopping, I got out this felted wool garland I bought last Christmas; and I altered Anthropologie. 

 I cut all of the decorations off of the garland.  There were 4 owls and 6 or so of the acorns.  Glitter, mica, glue, some scraps, some pearls...a recipe for hours of fun.  Only 2 of the owls would stand on their own so I attached those to die-cut chipboard rounds. 

 I stayed true to the A Gilded Life style when decorating the acorns. 

The owls were all given as little token gifts.  The acorns were sent to dear friends from OR, CA and TX.  If you want to see the other 2 owls, click on this pic.  So, from a $40 garland I got hours of entertainment and some cute trinkets for friends and family. 

$100 Wreath

 Yesterday I declared a craft day since my menfolk were out of the house for most of the day.  I was late getting the November kit from The Stash Society .  So worth the wait.  I fell in love with the accompanying tutorial for this wreath. 

 I can't share the tutorial since The Society is only for members who pay $100 per month for a curated kit of supplies from the fabulous Gilded Girls, Shea and Debbie.  However, I can get you started on making your own wreath:  12" Styrofoam form; 4 strips of silk or other fabric, each strip a yard long and 2 1/2" wide; 3 yards of 1 1/2" wide cotton lace; 6 additional pieces of assorted beaded trim and lace, varying in length from 16" to 26"; a couple dozen pearl top pins; a bunch of dressmaker pins and some bling and ribbon.  Look at those cool "flowers" made from ball fringe.

 You start by wrapping the form with the background fabric, each strip covers approximately 1/4 of the wreath.  Pin a strip to the back side as you start, and then secure with pins as needed. From there wrap on the longest length of cotton lace on top of the background, then fill in by wrapping the wreath with your best trims.  The flowers above were made from slightly gathered pieces of narrow cotton lace trim, wound, pinned, then a crystal button glued in the center.  I only used glue on the crystal accents.  Everything else was attached with pins. 

 I followed along with the tutorial almost exactly, except I modified the center of this bow to use these 5 vintage drops.  Initially I looked thru my supplies for another length of ribbon to make the bow, but decided Shea really did know best so I used her selection of this cotton lace.  I love the fuzzy chenille ribbon.  Really there were some fab trims used on this wreath. 

I used everything in the month's kit except these odds and ends.  Voila! 

Brand New AGL for Spellbinders

 At Spellbound we were lucky to be able to purchase some of the upcoming AGL for Spellbinder products.  My purchases are pictured above. Though the 3 bezels on the bottom left were gifts in the swag bag.  Nice!  Notice that ivory colored locket in the middle?  That is a reproduction of a Victorian mourning locket owned by Shea. 

 Here is an example of what can be done with the shield die set. The center shield shape can be used by itself and/or framed and sectioned by using all pieces of the set.  Very versatile and isn't it gorgeous all glittered and spangled?  This is a sample that was on display. 

The ballerinas are so glamorous.  Add some glitter, tulle and seam binding, the mount on a rosette and what package or tree decorations these will make.  This picture is from AGL's facebook page.