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Beads Beads Beads

Fine Craft Guild — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:59:00 +0000

Oh, and the things you can do … with beads. And I’m referring to those beads that are iron-able and shape-able into pretty much any thing you fancy, called perler beads.

Creations Made with Perle Beads

After you’ve made Zhu zhu pet food from beads, and a beaded jewelry set with necklace & bracelet for Barbie or Bratz, and you & the kids still haven’t ran out of steam, .. then here are some more Perler beading ideas for you:

Funky Bead Coasters for your kitchen or to cheer you up at your desk
Bead Frame (s) to match the coasters, also for your desk
Beads Ornaments, balls or stars, for the Christmas Tree of Year-round
Doll Rug for Barbie’s house ( I like that … very creative)

Perler Beads

These colorful shapes are lovely, aren’t they? These perler beads make for a lovely no-mess afternoon crafting, and I highly recommend them. They are inexpensive and you can order online. You’ll need to buy 3 things: Perler beads, pin board shapes, and iron-on sheets.

For more info on how to iron them together, read the tutorial to make play food for zhu zhu pets.

Tassels, Fun Handmade Home Accessories

Fine Craft Guild — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:15:00 +0000

: shabby chic tassels like these are handmade home accents that transform a house.

This tassel is 100% recycled, and made of remnants of a sheer curtain & a shirt sleeve; a tiny bit of pre-used ribbon; and a broken bead spacer for the top. The white ribbon from which the tassel hangs from an old shopper. The only ‘new’ elements are 5 seed beads for a cheery finishing touch.

Click here for more

Home Decor

Great Deals, Great XMAS Gifts (upto 40% off)

Fine Craft Guild — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:25:05 +0000

I’ll resume regular ‘how-to make contemporary things’ – articles tomorrow, but today, I want to give you the heads-up on some too-good-to-miss deals.

I scoured around for the best XMAS gifts and ‘need now’ creative ideas, and here are my Top 5 for today. Cyber Monday on Amazon is actually all week and has already started. The deals you can get are amazing! Hard to stay focus on what you truly need, but I’ve done my best to help you.

Cyber Monday Deals Week started today, and all week long, new deals will be added every couple of hours. If today’s sales are anything to go by, expect your favorites to sell out within the first few minutes or at least within the first hour or so.

My 5 Top Lifestyle Deals

1. iPod w. SOUND SYSTEM

I just bought this LAST WEEK, and already swear by it. Get your music system at a discount today/this week to enjoy all Jingle Bell music and a year-round swinging life.

a. iPod Touch

Apple iPod touch 32 GB 4th Generation (White)

Did you know that you can use Skype on the iPod Touch and so use it like a phone at all Wi-Fi spots? You can use all internet-based apps too. Just get to your favorite local coffee shop to get the most out of your ‘music’ device/camera/organizer/personal planner/gadget-all-in-one. The iPod Touch offers a super-inexpensive way to enjoy all the features of an iPhone, except for full-time phone service. Buy it today for a better price than in the Apple Store.

b. Bose Sound System for your iPod/iPhone

Bose Sound Dock Series II Digital Music System for iPod (Black)

Believe me, I listened to ALL of them in several stores, and this one wins hands down. Yes, it is worth the difference in price, as it indeed is that much superior.

PORTABLE Bose Sound System & Dock

2. CLOTHS, e.g.. Sweaters & Knit Wear

I love the simple elegance & drape of this super-soft cardigan in 100% organic cotton . This and other knitwear has like 40% off. .. […MORE Sweaters & Knit Wear ]

3. CAMERA s.

Opt for this beauty: Fujifilm FinePix F505 16 MP CMOS Sensor and 15x Optical Zoom Digital Camera with 4 GB Class 10 SD Memory Card (Black). “ best-quality photographs of any small(-ish) point-and-shoot camera ever…. It’s almost impossible to take a bad photograph.” Click link to learn the features that makes this such a worthwhile camera. Now for $199 instead of 400 bucks! GREAT XMAS gift.

4. JEWELRY

I know: we all like to bead our own earrings, however you can’t beat the prices on these and not all jewelry are of the Make-Your-Own variety (unless you’re a trained jeweler).

This Jewelry is worth checking out with lightning deals with 40% discounts. New deals are added throughout each day, and sell out superfast. Don’t wait…

Rather than these hipsters, … how do you like these real diamond earrings…?! Classic beauty that matches all your funky wear. 1/4 CT Diamond Stud Earrings 14k White Gold (I1-I2 Clarity, G-H Color)

Get 60% off now. Perhaps a gift you’d like to give yourself or a friend?

5. ‘MOST WISHED FOR’

Get your XMAS gift shopping done early and consider these ‘most wished for’ books.

Here’s #1: Steve Jobs. Get this book now for about 50% off the list price. Even thought it just came out end October, it is already on ‘The Best Books of 2011’- list. It’s based on over 40 interviews with Steve himself conducted over 2 years, plus 100’s more with family, friends, and others.

Interesting read, no doubt about it.

Tribal Jewelry: Get Creative with Bungy Cord

Fine Craft Guild — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:33:00 +0000

Oh, we all crave creativity. But sometimes copycat-designs are ‘just the thing’ to shave off time of making something ‘unique’. Here’s a novel idea that looks so ‘belonging’, that could be made with recycled items.

I’d long to make it one day:

a tribal necklace

a la designer Proenza Schouler’s

Resort Collection 2011.

So, cool.

How-to Make the Chunky, Tribal Necklace:

In a nutshell:

get some rope and an old bungy cord from the garage. Cut them to pieces and lay your necklace pieces out as is shown in the picture below, before wrapping them together.

tip 1: try that rope on in your neck. Is it comfortable?? If not, you might like to use the kind of soft, silk rope that you’ll find in haberdashery shops for curtain drawbacks of pillow edging instead.

get some nice, thick cotton yarn from your knitting yarn stash (yes, some remnants will suffice).

tip 2: at this stage in the game, it PAYS to actually look into your wardrobe and see which outfits could use a tribal necklace like this, and then pick yarn colors accordingly. Ditto with the semi-precious stone pendants.

Use some strong glue to glue the ropes together, before wrapping them with the yarn.

tip 3: see ‘which glue for the job’ article for ideas as to what to use when.

Let the glue dry before adding beads.

tip 4: i know from experience that if my necklace is too heavy, I won’t wear it (for more than 2 minutes). So, consider limiting the heavy stones and to add significant crochet (or paper mache) elements instead. Hip, and light-weight.

In the making….

Done.

Looks so much more ‘difficult’ than it actually is.

Alternative Necklace Design Ideas:

The above is a hip, bright color combination. Consider a beach scheme instead, with sand-color, sage green, aqua blue and off-white; or an all neutrals with a bright contrast color. Both would be great!

In fact, when I went back over the Proenza Schouler Resort 2011 collection, I found that she has another version of the bright necklace in her collection, looking exactly like what I had in mind.

source howto photo / copycat necklace: Honestly … wtf

source top & bottom photos: proenzaschouler.com

Jewelry Ideas, Designs & Tutorials

How-to Make a Luu Chan Wrap Bracelet

Fine Craft Guild — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:44:00 +0000

Even if you’re not clicked-into the Los Angeles celebrity-scene, you might have seen these little wrap bracelets. They are THE RAGE in Hollywood. If you’d buy Luu Chan’s, you’ll realize that what once was a tribal friendship bracelet, has transformed into a pricey heirloom. That’s what happens when you add diamonds and precious stones.

Of course these kind of wrap bracelets were invented before Luu Chan was even born, and any good craft shop has all that you need to make your own.

They are actually simple to make. Why not make a couple for yourself?!

BRACELET MAKING MATERIALS NEEDED

The traditional ones tend to use wooden beads because they are nice and light. If you want yours to look more like Luu Chan designs, then choose diamonds, silver beads, semi-precious stones and crystal beads.

Leather cord is ideal for stringing beads with large holes or natural beads such as shell, wood, bone, clay, or metal. Use leather cord to showcase a favorite pendant. It braids well and mixes well with other stringing materials to create bold and stylish designs.

All spools are 5 m (16.4 ft) long. Comes in Black, Brown & Natural.

This strong, five cord waxed thread is ideal for hand-stitching leather. Smooth and consistent, it won’t stretch or break. It can also be used for beaded jewelry.

Made in the USA.

Durable, and easy to string. This natural 5-ply linen thread is lightly waxed for ease of use. It’s ideal for bookbinding, crafts, and art projects of all kinds. Each pack contains three 20-yard spools, one each of black, tan, and purple.

If this is too thick for your bead size, consider using Nylon Jewelry Cord instead. (see below).

Nylon Jewelry Cord
This cord is the perfect size for threading many of the smaller to medium-size beads.

It comes in 25 yard spools and has a braided, 1/16" diameter color-fast nylon that is heat fusible.

Each bag contains a variety of beads in assorted colors and shapes, in sizes ranging from ½" to 1½". Bead sizes may vary slightly from assortment to assortment. The 4 oz bag contains approx. 25–30 beads, and the 8 oz bag contains up to 60 beads.

I found some superb beads for you, to make one-of-kind bead wrap bracelet that would make Luu Chan jealous:

These high-end glass beads are modern replicas of the classic trade beads from the late 1800s and early 1900s that were designed and made in Europe and Africa.

Ideal as centerpieces for handmade jewelry pieces, they’re also great for creating other types of art.

Be sure to hit the clearance section of this website before you leave. They have high quality (usually expensive) art & craft materials for sale at huge discounts.

And last but not least, check out this link, as they offer further discounts. At the time of this writing it’s a promo code for shipping discounts, but it varies from time to time.
Blick Art Materials’ Current Promo Code

In any regards, all these bracelet making supplies mentioned here are fairly inexpensive and when you buy them together here at our site sponsor, shipping cost won’t be that much.

HOW TO MAKE A LUU CHAN WRAP BRACELET

Chan Luu crystal wrap bracelet is made the same way as is demonstrated here:

For those of you who can’t see the above video screen, follow this link here:
Luu chan bracelet.

Back-to-School with Easy-to-Make Friendship Gifts

Fine Craft Guild — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:37:00 +0000

Time to celebrate going Back-to-School with flirty gifts that create smiles on the first day of school and help continue friendships.

Fun Fashion Friendship Gifts that are Easy to Make

Sure, there is the good-old classic friendship bracelet (click link to learn how to make it).

But let’s go beyond the simple ‘threaded thingy’, and help your (kids) friends be in style and fashion this Fall. Make them something good! How about these ?

	Back-to-school Fashion Tips for Teens This necklace is kind of like having bangles around your neck. Only they don’t clink (that would be annoying) and are superlight to wear. Sure to get admirers for this one.
	Handmade Fashion Jewelry: Decoupage Bangles Everyone will need bangles this Fall. Everyone. Big bangles and thin bangles, should be all the rage this year. Here are quite a few ideas for upcycled bangles.
	http://www.finecraftguild.com/handmade-fashion-jewelry/ I’m showing just one of about 20 different handmade fashion jewelry ideas that you’ll find when following this link.
	For Glamorous Back-to-school Hairdo ups: Jewel Studded Hairpin Keeps your head cool, your hair tidy and makes fabulous gifts.
	http://www.finecraftguild.com/handmade-crystal-angel-earrings/
	Fashion Glitter Hair scrunchies, to create new back to school hairstyles. For understated glamour.
	Flower & Fruit Shaped Earrings Fun and with peace symbols added a great way to ‘make up’ with that friend you had a bit of a fall-out with last year… This article links to a range of handmade earring projects, so check it out.
	This Celeb Flowered Headband with black rose makes a 2011 fashion statement. Easy to do, and looks great on!
	Handmade Glitter Hair bands Ideal for covering up bad hair days and still look dazzling.
	Bold & Tribal Fashion Trend 2011. If you want to make something bold & tribal, consider making this fun polymer clay bracelet. You can pair it with any tribal t-shirt color scheme you have. Bold colors are fun, whereas a color combination like black/brown/white/ grey/mauve would make a more elegant version.
	For Smaller Kids: Friendship Cuff Cuff or bracelet? What’s the difference?! These are so fast to make, you can make them for all the little girls in her class, and she can help making them. Cute.

Back to school fashion is fun. There’s no doubt about that. Actually, there are a lot more ideas on this website that would make suitable Back-to-School gift ideas. Just browse around.

More BACK-TO-SCHOOL IDEAS

Our creative back-to-school project plans, patterns & ideas are organized neatly over the week, like this:

Monday : Fun Fashion Friendship Gifts that are Easy to Make

Tuesday : Backpacks, School Bags & Lunch Bags

Wednesday : Pencil Cases, Make-up Bags & ‘Thingy’ Bags

Thursday : College Room or Teenage Room Ideas

Friday : Schedulers, Organizers, Notice Boards, Locker Ideas & Desk Accessories.

Here’s the Back-to-School ideas – overview page. Come back for more ideas!

BACK TO SCHOOL, ART & CRAFT SUPPLIES

Back to School Sales & Deals for New Supplies

Our sponsor’s site, Blick, has great weekly deals and a superb selection of back-to-school stationary, art and other school supplies, etc.

Well worth a visit! Use the Blick Art Materials’ Current Promo Code and

SAVE when you shop Back-to-School at BLICK!

FREE SHIPPING on orders totaling $150 or more,

(low shipping cost overall.)

Fabulous Glamorous Fabric Beads

Fine Craft Guild — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:25:00 +0000

Here’s the tutorial for this easy to make beads, these fabulous, glamorous beads are made with fabric strips wrapped around simple cotton balls. Stitch the fabric down and embellish with contrast-colored shiny glass seed beads in a free –form pattern.

As simple as that.

Don’t they look glorious?

source photo & original design: Alma Stoller

My Idea: Go beyond jewelry when using these beaded balls, and make them into table cloth weights.

Put a little stone in the center of your cotton ball before you wrap them. Hang four or six on clips and use them to hold your tablecloth down when the there’s a tat of wind during your summer al fresco lunch on the porch. Yes, life is meant to be easy.

These beads are an easy project to get into bead embroidery. So simple, I’d classify this as ‘summer crafts for kids’.

Learn More

For a more advanced bead embroidery jewelry tutorial.

Find other Jewelry ideas and tutorials here.

DIY Bejeweled Bookmark

Fine Craft Guild — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:41:44 +0000

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Collect materials: string, or strip of leather, or yarn or jewerly wire coverd in fabric,….. ~ or equivalent.. + pretty beads + tools to attach beads.
2. String them together, creating a long beaded jewel for the book bottom end, and a tiny beaded end-jewel to be topping out of the closed book.
Done.

idea source: http://etcetorize.blogspot.com/2011/02/book-jewellery.html

Art & Creativity :: Linky Party

Fine Craft Guild — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:15:00 +0000

Doing anything creative? Show us: it’s Linky Party-time. My contribution to the linky party is today’s Jewelry Repair Workshop. Please do link up your contributions below.

Jewelry Repair Workshop – Lessons From Day 1

Today was Day #1 of the “jewelry repair workshop’” that has been desperately needed in our home. I repaired this special and beloved bracelet of my husband and learned a few things along the way.

What’s so special about this piece of jewelry?

First, this is a spiritual bracelet. It was obtained on a pilgrimage to Northern Italy, to visit the wonderful shrine of St. Francis of Assisi. For those of you who are spiritual, this is one of those MUST-VISIT-ONCE-IN-YOUR-LIFE kind of places in the world.

You can feel and almost taste the energy of St. Francis in the room of his tomb. St Francis has worked with us ever since upon our return back home. And not only him. This pilgrimage brought us this spiritual bracelet, which features many saints and popes, who help my husband greatly in his daily handling of affairs.

Second, if that was all not special enough, this bracelet is made of the wonderfully multi-functional healing gemstone, hematite. But more about its healing properties later, as this is a craft blog after all, so let me get back to my jewelry repair workshop.

Jewelry-Making Lessons Learned from repairing this broken bracelet

1. If you have special beads, you must use 2 threads, not just one. Repairing this bracelet was a breeze. First the top thread broke, but it was no crisis as the bottom one was still in tact. When I had replaced the top thread, and gave it back to my husband, the bottom thread broke. As the beads stayed nicely strung on one of the strands, this was a 2 minute repair job, instead of an agonizing 30+ minute labor (of love).

2. Just working with these special beads for even a little while, experiencing their many healing & spiritual properties, made me resolve to make a few more ‘pieces for peace’ with hematite. I learned, again, that working with special beads elevates the ordinary (stringing a simple bracelet) into the extra-ordinary (a healing experience, in this case).

Healing Properties of Hematite

The central healing properties of hematite are grounding and protection, making us feel safe and strong. It deflects negative energies from others, and is overall balancing. It works this way emotionally, but also physically: Hematite helps the mind to focus, to retain information and to create original thought. It is good for kidneys (your body’s cleaning room), tissue regeneration, spinal alignment, absorption of iron and production of red blood cells. In sum, a great healing stone. *

LINKY PARTY

Show us what you’ve been up to. Only request is that you link back to this blog and will have a creative day. Promise??!! More than one entry is OK, as there are several different themed linky parties to choose from.

Themed Link Parties @ Fine Craft Guild

For DIY, CRAFT & HOME DECORATING Tutorials

Please choose the appropriate party for your project.

	‘WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO ?’- linky party. I’ve been inspired by this lovely rosette quilted bedding on this divine outdoor daybed … and found the tutorial for it, which I’m sharing with you in this post about romantic quilt bedding. Add a link to what YOU have been up to at the end of this post in the linky list.
	Art, Craft & Home Decorating Featuring Flowers
	General (Open to All Craft, Art, Home Decorating Projects)
	Howto Create a Beach Cottage
	Groovy Stairs & Home Make-Over DIY
	Things Moms Like

REMINDER

For good Karma, link back to this site.
Just use easy tool below.

Be nice & visit other party-goers.
We all like traffic & comments.

No sales; just tutorials/WIP lessons learned.

Thank you so much for joining.

We have fun having you,

and hope you have fun being here!

* source: CharmsOfLight.com/hematite-healing-properties.html

Every Creative Girl’s Dream

Fine Craft Guild — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:54:00 +0000

This guy just has to be every creative girl’s dream: tall and good looking, organized, and best of all: he helps you find stuff as he remembers where you’ve put your things…!! May I introduce you to: …

… Mr. ‘Craftbox’ !

This wonderful guy (.. ahem, Craft Storage Furniture) may perhaps be the answer to all your craft storage prayers, hopes and dreams too.

For my art, jewelry, scrapbooking & other craft supplies, this ‘craft box’ is a storage dream come true for me! It comes 6” tall and stores EVERYTHING. In this storage Everything will have a spot and I’ll work so efficiently, I’ll make more. Yoohoo. No time wasted with trying to find ‘what-ya-might-call-it’. It’s all there. (Ahhh…. What a difference from my current reality where I literally looked for my bag of zippers over 2 hours today to make some contemporary jewelry piece with some zippers for an upcoming article. I haven’t found it yet. )

So, I dream of an efficient work room…..and this craft box could be the ideal solution. Are you having similar cravings for a guy like this???

Craftbox’ Inside: Organized Craft Storage

If you are like me and prefer it when you can instantly find things instead of having to look for things for hours….., I can see how this cabinet will save me lots of time.

I can make a dedicated ‘knitting project in progress’ drawer, and a ‘art journal in progress’ drawing and i will be able to easily progress on a wide range of projects without having to ‘pull out all the supplies that relate to that craft’ and having to look for things in case I want to create mixed-media pieces. It’s all right there, organized. In fact, I can see that this cabinet will be a great inspiration to do more mixed media…

Craftbox’ Outside: Quality Cabinet

On the outside, this craft box looks like exactly like other high-end handsome storage cabinets. But on the inside… oh la la!!! It opens up as a box, and inside is actually both a workplace and a storage solution. On the bottom, it sits on castors, so you can roll it to wherever you need it.

Made with all high-end materials. The one I am showing you here is made with knotty alder wood, but there are other wood types (I quite fancy the black oak), different shapes, sizes and formats. Prices vary from $595 to $1499.

Craftbox: The Verdict

This craft storage is a major purchase for anyone, no doubt. But it all depends a bit on how you look at it whether it’s a good investment. This ‘craft-room in a box’, which is what it is in my opinion, is like the equivalent of an extra room in your house dedicated to your art & craft adventures. Saves you from having to have the kids share a bedroom or move to another house or convert the garage or the basement. And even then… would you really like to work in that space?! My favorite space of working is right in the kitchen where there’s most light….

I can see how this cabinet will both save you money, and you get to work in your favorite room of the house. No more in the dungeon basement, where it’s always just a tat too dark to do your better work and for you to feel really great while working.

If you, like me, are on the lookout for better storage furniture for your art, jewelry, scrapbooking, sewing or other craft supplies, this is a ‘MUST LOOK AT’, if not a ‘must purchase’. For more details and purchase information, check here.

I’m going to see if they ship to Italy!

… or check out the Vanilla Beadboard Craft Storage version. Beautiful.