Little Bit Crafting
Here is my 2nd Project for January! A wire wrapped labradorite pendant!
Nothing to report yet on my next tutorial! I am still getting all the supplies together. Hope everyone is having a great 2011 so far!
I have been trying to come up with a New Year's Resolution recently that I can reasonably succeed at without failing in the first few weeks! Well, I stumbled on to FabricFascination's blog and have decided to do this same resoltion:
Challenge myself to complete at least one project every week in 2011.
It doesn't sound horribly hard, but at the same time this will also be my first full year crafting for my Etsy shop. There will definitely be more times when I will need a bit of extra motivation!
Here it is, my first project of the new year completed!
Also, I have been trying to come up with my next tutorial project and have finally found one! I am gathering the supplies now and will definitely be posting the project within the next few weeks! *sneaky sneaky*
Happy New Year!!
Here is another wire wrapped labradorite pendant! This time I added in a bit of copper and I am really loving the effect! 
Additionally I have been trying a new type of crafting. Recently my boyfriend has become interested in brewing. It is an interesting process, so I am going to try a bit of brewing myself. He likes to make beer, but I am interested more in wines and mead, so this weekend I am going to start the process of creating a Maple Mead. I found the recipe here. Should be interesting and I definitely can't wait for the taste testing!
Hee hee! Yep, been a bit since I posted last! Vacation lasted a bit longer than I thought it would, so there was a little lack of crafting.
Anyways, I am back now and have crafted a few things since my last post. I am so enamored with the labradorite cabochons, that I went on a wire wrapping spree and finished wrapping all five stones that I purchased. I'll post the three newest ones below. Two were still working from the original tutorial that I had posted.
The newest is slightly different, but I definitely like how it turned out. I would love to try it again with a thinner stone.
I am so attracted to these stones, that it is hard for me to want to try and work on anything else. I think after a few more of these, the novelty will wear off slightly and I will be able to move on to a new tutorial. I have a few already in the queue, but I am not sure which one will be next. We shall see!
I tried the wire wrapped stone tutorial again, and these are what I came up with!
These ones are probably twice as big as the first one I made. I think, personally, that I like the smaller one best, but I just love the colors in these stones! I need to work a bit more on the sizing, but I think they turned out nice.
I think that these ones will probably end up in my etsy shop since they were done nicer than the first one... I still have three more stones left that I can wrap, and I can't wait to try some more!
Let's see... I tried out the tutorial below for the Wire Wrapped Rock, but unfortunately I had the wrong sized stone. I had to do things a bit differently, but for my first wire wrapped stone pendant, I think this one turned out well! It didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, so I think I will just end up keeping this one.... Here it is!
I just love labradorite! Such pretty colors. I have a few more labradorite cabochons coming in the mail, so I will have to try this tutorial again! Also, I think for my next one I am going to try oxidizing the wire afterwards for an antiqued look. I guess I will update again when I get a chance to test this next time.
I have been looking around and have found quite a few different projects to try. Of course, I just don't have the right materials for most of them.
This is the one I would like to try next: Wire Wrapped Rock. I have most of the materials for this one, but I am waiting for a few things to come in the mail, so it will be a bit before I can get started.
The author of this tutorial, Dev Khan, has done some amazing work and I can only hope that in the future I can become even half as good an artist as her!
And now it is 4 am. Really need to stop posting so late when my writing and brain functions become fragmented....
Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot to mention that I did finish my second crop circle pendant! Here is the finished product:
It isn't exactly like the crop circle pictured, but I think it turned out well! Need to find a new one to start on!
Wow, it has been a bit since I last posted. I'll try not to do it again!
Anyways, on Etsy I am a member of TeamBPAL. This week a team shop was set up where members could donate items to be sold for a cause. At the moment, the shop is filled with ocean/sea themed items. Each item sold will have all the proceeds donated to the Sea Turtle Restoration Project. I decided to donate two items of my own.
Both items are shell necklaces like those I have made in the past. The one pictured above has already been sold! Yay!
I think it is great to donate to such a cause and can't wait to participate in others for the future! Here is another item made by Elements & Artifacts on Etsy that I think is just fabulous!
So, it has been awhile since I have experimented with a new technique/tutorial, so I am going to search out one to try next. Also, I am thinking about trying to make some chainmail jewelry in the future. Haven't gotten any supplies for it yet though. Someday!
Here is a quick spur of the moment project I finished a few days ago. I only had a little bit of silver wire left, so I decided to try and craft a ring! Here is what I came up with:
It was a bit difficult to get the wire to cooperate, but I think it turned out okay in the end! I used small lapis lazuli beads for this ring since they looked so nice with the silver. 
I have to admit that I was a little hesitant to post the picture of me wearing it... I always feel like my fingers look silly in photographs. Silly fingers!
Here is the video that I first saw explaining how to make wire wrapped rings: Auntie's Beads. This tutorial is quite helpful in showing the basics! And wow there are loads of tutorials up on YouTube! Will have to check out a few more later.
That is all for tonight! It is late and I should be asleep... *sigh*
Yay! I finished my first crop circle pendant and added the chain. I feel like it turned out pretty nice! Kinda big though, the pendant itself measures 2.25 inches in diameter. I guess if anyone were to wear it, it would make quite a statement! Hee hee!
Also, I just finished using my new glass etcher! I seriously love it! It is just like drawing on glass.
And lastly, my next project I am currently working on is a new crop circle! Here is the inspiration photo:
Here is what I have completed so far:
All I have to do is attach the two pieces, maybe add another bead or two... We shall see!
Getting close to finishing my first crop circle pendant! This one took quite a bit of work to make!
Looking at it now, I think it is actually a bit bigger than I had originally expected to make. I like it though! I found some pretty garnet beads for embellishment and everything seems to have come together quite well. I still plan on wire wrapping the surrounding circle as well.
At the same time, I am around halfway through knitting a scarf for my grandmother! I made a scarf for a friend at Christmas and while I was making it, my grandma loved to come by and pet it. She is a better knitter than I will ever be, having made me two blankets and a huge lovely afghan for my mom, but I don't think she has ever had anyone knit anything for her. I chose a multicolored purple yarn for her since purple is her favorite color. Sadly, me being me, I started this scarf back in January. I stopped knitting on it months ago, but now I am determined to finish it up for her! It will definitely be ready by winter! Hee hee!
I used this pattern called the Tipsy Rib Scarf. I love this pattern because since it is so repetitive, I don't need to carry around instructions. Great project for beginning knitters!
I have been having lots of fun with wire jewelry recently (for evidence, see my Etsy page...), so I think I am going to play with this medium for awhile.
So, I have been watching X-Files recently and was thinking.... What about wire crop circles? They always have such interesting designs and there are loads of different kinds out there. I can try to make them out of wire, right?
Well, I have already started! This is the first one I am playing with:
I found this crop circle picture here. Right now I have the main shapes done, but a long way to go to finish the rest of the wire wrapping. Also, I need to find some interesting new beads to add on....
That is all for the moment. Back to the crafting!
Found my camera! Yay!
So, first of all I finally put that copper wire pendant I made onto a chain. Also added a few beads. I really like how this one turned out and I almost hate to send it away.
This next one was made with picasso jasper beads with a few turquoise beads thrown in. I just love how every jasper bead is so different! Also, I got the idea for the clover head pin from this web page. Apparently there is a tool called a WigJig that is specially made to form wire loops, but it is quite easy to get the same effect using only a pair of round nose pliers.
Lastly is a necklace I whipped together using these pearlescent glass beads that have been sitting around in my jewelry kit for years. Quite a simple design, but I just really like these colors.
That is all for now. Just waiting for my new glass etcher to arrive in the mail! Yay!
So here is a picture of the hat on my boyfriend! It fits perfectly! Sadly I just realized it is kind of hard to see the fit in this picture, but it really does look great on him! 
In other news, I had some 16 gauge wire left over from other projects, so this next pendant kinda made itself... My first time making anything like this!!
I found a great tutorial on basic wire weaving techniques from Jewelry Lessons which gave me the idea for the woven parts. Otherwise, it was made purely with my own imagination! 
I am thinking about finding this pendant a black chain to hang from since I think that would make it "pop" more than a copper chain.
For the next project? I really have no idea at the moment....
Managed to finish the hat! Yay! A fairly easy project that actually turned out really nice! It also fits my boyfriend's head perfectly! Now I just need to get a picture when he isn't asleep....
I was browsing for new jewelry tutorials yesterday and came across one that looked simple, yet pretty.
The Rosette Wire Wrapped Ring
This tutorial is fabulous! It calls for 22 gauge wire, but the closest I had was 20 gauge. I feel like this made the rings I made a bit more difficult to shape, but they actually turned out quite nice!
I would love to experiment with this more. Possibly by mixing copper and silver wire together or adding small beads. I definitely need to acquire 22 gauge wire as well as a ring mandrel. I ended up using a Burt's Bees lip balm container to wrap the wire around and it would probably be better if I could get the sizing a little more accurate.
Excellent tutorial from McFarland Designs!
Well, it's been a bit since my last post (bad me!), but now I have a few pictures to upload!
Managed to create a few necklaces, but sadly I realized that I have very few clasps... These are all in their final stages though! Just need to acquire a few different kinds of clasps.
So, here is the first one I put together. Didn't use any of the wire wrapped shell pendants for this one. I had a few pretty green glass beads laying around and since they looked so nice next to the copper wire, I had to put them together!
The next one I chose to assemble was one of the shell wrapped pendant necklaces. I also chose to attach a few hematite beads strung on wire as a few little accents. I really like how this one turned out in the end.
So, after watching the movie Julie & Julia, I felt inspired to make a blog. I rarely finish things, like the main character, and lately this problem has been making me feel quite worthless. This blog is for me to track and review different crafting projects. I have so many tools, project ideas, and supplies for knitting, jewelry crafting, sewing, etc. that have been languishing in the dark corners of my closet, under my bed, and hidden in the drawers of my desk.
