Copy Cat: Ring Project

Ring I made that was inspired after a much more pretty ring which I can't copy and paste here because my computer is being foolish.

This ring (that I made) cost $1.50 for the stone, prob like $.05 for the eye pin, and maybe less than $.05 for the ring wire I bought at the store ($6 for 6m of wire). Let me tell ya the ring that I saw originally looks a lot better than mine but also cost A LOT more than $1.60. You get what you pay for I suppose.

What you need for this is:
- a stone you like that has a pre-drilled hole in it
- an eye pin that can fit the stone in it.
- ring wire (I bought mine at the Bead Monkey on Grand: the brand is called "The Bead Smith Bead Wire: Silver Wire with copper core 0,8 MM Length 6M 20 Gauge")
- pliers

Step 1: Put bead on eye pin. Make sure to cut down the wire so that it fits close enough to the bead's actual size, but leave enough room to close the end.

Here is an example of how the bead should look with the eye pin.


Step 2: Cut enough wire so that it will fit around your finger and then some extra to wrap around the ends of the eye pin. Be careful here you will need it to be bigger than you think. This is why my ring became a pinky ring because I misjudged on my sizing.

Step 3: Take your bead wire and poke each end through the eye pin on each side of the bead. Make sure the wire is even on both sides.

Step 4: Using your pliers wrap the wire in circles around the eye pins so you can't see the eye pin anymore.

Step 5: Wear the ring!!!!!

Making jewelry from nature

So I dedicate this blog post to my dear friend Angela from my Holistic Health Studies program. She is always modeling the latest artsy pieces of jewelry and many of her collection is inspired by up north and nature in general. She is quite the artist herself and one day I hope I could maybe share a link to some of her stuff with you.

The first thing I want to share is a bracelet that I will forever admire which Angela wore in the beginning of program (last fall) a lot. Yeah I am a creeper a little, but I notice these kinds of things. This one is of course more expensive than another one you could prolly find from a cheaper place but that is because it is an artist's work, and his name is Michael Michaud.

Its a bracelet that looks like bark from a birch tree. Talk about hot! Someday maybe you will see me sporting one of these. It depends if my bf reads my blog. haha, JK!


The second item on the agenda was a simple project that took me about 5 minutes. This necklace was inspired by a necklace Angela has as well. I know you're prolly thinking why don't you just marry Angela if you like her so much, and quite frankly that is a good question. But that is not the point of my posting. So back to the story-- I saw this necklace on her in class this past Monday and I recognized that I have many rocks from Hawaii that have been sitting around taking up space, and they have been a really special symbol and reminder for me of some significant life experiences that I cherish. I had been carrying this particular rock around with me in my "portable oasis" (which I can talk about at a later date), but I decided I wanted to make it into a necklace I could wear (modeled after Angela's) to remind myself more obviously of everything I learned in HI. All you need for this project is:

- Modge Podge
- A flatter rock (hopefully that has meaning to you)
- Some malleable metal
- Coil clasp parts
- Black cord
- Pliers

1) Take the metal and bend in half in the shape of a "U"
2) With this "U" shape, make sure to use the half circle end of the metal to act as the sort of eyepin circle that will connect the rock to the leather (see pic).
3) Tie or wrap the metal around the rock in whatever way you please. (the pic is pretty self-explanatory I hope).
4) Add modge podge with a paintbrush or your finger over the metal part that is holding the rock to secure it in place.
5) String the rock onto the leather cord of your preferred length.
6) Dip the ends of the leather cord into modge podge and then place the coil clasps over the gluey ends.
7) Using the pliers, clamp down the coil (like a crimp bead) and you have yourself a new necklace that brings nature and meaning into your life!

Check it out:


K, to be honest, I am very very tired (and sick--you can probably tell from my picture)so unfortunately my blogging ends here for now, but hopefully I can come back on soon and update my other two blogs considering I am back in school with plenty more material to share!

Have a nice relaxing weekend and I hope you have a minute to enjoy nature or art or maybe both together!

Fun gift/Craft Idea Warhol-esque Pet Art

Above is my friend Baxter, the cockerspaniel son of my friends, Jacci and Karen. This project was their Christmas present from Jay and me this year.

Borrowed this cute idea from my friend Katie. She made a great one of her dog, Howard. Basically all you need for this project is a good photo of your dog and then a photo editing program (the one that goes with your camera). Play with the photo by increasing the contrast and highlighting different colors. Do this for four or six or as many photos/colors you want to use. Then go to Snapfish.com and upload the altered photos to a photo album. Here you can make calendars, coffee mugs, or whatever your little heart desires. In this crafting project you will want to select the collage format. Choose the pictures you want to use (in this case I had 6 photos selected that I edited beforehand), and then place your order! It literally took a day to process my order and print at the site I selected---I picked mine up at Staples. Last grab yourself a coupon to Michaels and get yourself a nice frame :)

Artsy, creative, affordable, thoughtful, and fun! You could do this with family members. I am thinking for the parentals I will do one of our family come Mother's or Father's day.

Non-traditional Bachelorette Party...two thumbs up!

So, my friend is not marrying what an American would consider a traditional guy, although by other world perspectives and standards he may be much more traditional than most people walking around the states these days.

And my friend too, while respects tradition in her life, also is open to redefining tradition/culture and to facing the challenges that might present themselves in this remaking of her own space in the world.

While her bachelorette party lacked the flashing lights and phallic symbols, it truly reflected a tranquility and honesty that I strive to have at my own bachelorette party.

The night began with many healthy snacks and munchies, we had fresh papaya, pineapple, an apple and orange platter, some orange poppyseed muffins, crackers and cheese, and of course some chocolate :) Then for dinner we made a salad together and our friend Ananya cooked us her special chicken and potato curry...num. While this was going on the other girls just sat around and talked about life. After we kept talking and talking and talking, we noticed that we needed to go down to the pool and hot tub before it closed. So we went down there and relaxed in the water and we talked some more. Then we went back upstairs and we began to eat a lovely bundt cake Trisha prepared and then we crafted. I brought 5 picture frames for the 5 women who were at the party to create something that would remind us of the night/each other as well as honor an idea we felt we needed to pay more attention to in our lives. While only three of us finished, it was a success and it was a well-needed time for inspiration and creativity.

Mine, while kitchen-themed has more to do with guilt in reference to life in general. I often find myself feeling guilty really for no good reason, and I am making a better effort to note that "Guilt is not one of the ingredients" to a happy and healthy life.



Here are Irene and Ananya's collages, which are both beautiful. It reminds me of how we all might be the same in certain aspects, but really when it comes to art and creativity there are so many different ways you can make something, and we all are full of great ideas and potential.





To close, I have to say that this was the first bachelorette party out of many that kept me up well past my bed-time happily (I didn't get to bed til 3), and it was all without any of the drunken bar confusion and splitting up that you see at most bachelorette parties. Mainly though, it was well-worth being sleepy the next day for, because it was a powerful sharing of women's wisdom and support, and for me, that is the kind of rally I want to have when I am getting married. Two thumbs up!!!

My twin and a craft project that will take you less than 10 minutes

My friend Kate found this picture of "me"...my twin (at least in the face when I look like death). It is kinda scary but funny enough for me to put on here. I mean if you imagine bangs and my hair being down, along with a little more eye makeup and my eyelashes curled, I think you could see the correlation.

Also, I must say this blog post is entirely dedicated to my dear friend Kate, who has an amazing blog by the way. Check it out here to see what I am talking about: http://katewestby.blogspot.com (again, my apologies for not crafting this so you can click on the link, but for some reason my link bar will not publish it!) Grrr...


Anyway... why I reference Kate's blog is because today I was in need of something to do before class other than homework or chores and Kate's scarfy-necklace thang was chillaxing there in cyberspace, and I had all the ingredients here and did in like 10 minutes, maybe less which is great for the busy-body.

Here is the photo of my rendition of the necklace per Kate's instructions:




All you need is a scarf (like the hankerchief type) or just some fabric, and then some big ol' beads. The directions that I grabbed were from Kate's blog, and they work like clockwork. You take the cut-fabric and tie a knot 6 inches in, add a bead in it, then twist and knot and then add another bead in it and twist and knot, etc. etc. For more detailed directions again, please see kate's piece. I am not going to reinvent the wheel here. But I am going to use the remainder of the fabric from the scarf to make a bracelet :)

Thanks Kate!

I'm Bringin Craftin Back, yeeeeah/(did it really ever leave?)

I have a friend named Kate. Some of you might know her. She is very crafty and inspiring, and this fine evening, she fed me edamame, and home-made white bean chili and some sort of sauerkraut and corned beef dip/spread on rye bread. Even topped the meal off with some pistacchio puddin' pie. I was in heaven for a moment, despite my upset stomach :) hehe

Anyway, not a crazy impressive craft project. But I am not here to impress you. Kate and I had taken a bike ride into uptown a few weekends ago and we saw some metal letters much like these at urban outfitters. We decided to take matters into our own hands and here are my little guys. They are unfinished. I still have to paint the edges with a dark brown acrylic paint, but that will come this weekend. I am debating if I will set them somewhere on a shelf in the kitchen or if I should hang them on the wall. We'll see.

Also, there is a great book that Kate checked out from the library called The Big-Ass Book of Crafts with lots of other cool projects that I am looking forward to, check it out peeps, I think there might even be more than one volume! But I need to hit the hay, got a big day tomorrow, and I have some more craftworking to do... after all George's birthday is tomorrow and I still must finish up my giving tree project that I have been working on!

Okay, a little overexcited, huh? why not be excited? In fact, I am very excited to go into the cold sheets of my bed and put on my grandmother's afghan right NOW. Fall weather rules! Enjoy your sleep tonight!