Beaded Lanyards

Trunk or Treat



Tonight is our annual church Trunk or Treat. Since I dressed up like a pirate for our recent Disney cruise, I decided to go with that theme.

 

 

Here's a picture with my youngest sister and Goofy and I as pirates. I plan to wear the same outfit, except probably not the sweater...it is suppose to be in the mid 70's tonight.

 

 

I was stumped as to what to do about decorating our van. I really did not want to go out and buy a bunch of stuff. I remembered that we have a very old trunk. Maybe I could use that as a pirate chest. Only thing is, I don't want it to slam down on anyone's fingers or other body parts. I decided to use a beige sheet I had that looks like sand and put that on the floor of the back of the van. Then I draped an off white afghan over the back seats. I put the closed trunk in the back and draped a "fishing" net I had and then threw Mardi Gras beads on it (living in Louisiana, one always has plenty of Mardi Gras beads).

 

I remembered I had a bunch of Beanie Baby fish and sea creatures, so I grabbed those along with a broken wood fish mobile I had, and "tangled" them into the net, and hung the fish around the back of the van.

 

 



I made a banner using nautical theme scrapbook paper. When I get there tonight, I plan to put more beads around.

 

I'm all set! My daughter in law will be helping me out. My husband is coming too, but really doesn't want to dress up, so I am just going to have him wear his red and black stripped shirt and jeans. I might get him to put on a scarf or something.

 

Even though all our little ones are now big ones, we still love to hang out with the children and hand out candy. In our new neighborhood, we won't be getting many trick or treaters because all of the neighborhood kids and grown up and moved on. So this will probably be our only chance to hand out candy this year.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween! Stay safe and have fun!

 

 

 

Eight Days on the Carnival Sunshine part 5 Grand Turk

Fun Crafty Links!

Here are several links from some of my crafty buddies. Hope you check out what they have been up to....

Two New Patterns
Connie's added two new patterns to her Etsy shop and she is also running a sale there--find out the code to use to save!
http://www.conniegeedesigns.com/blog/etsy-code

Bewitching Halloween Card
Eileen shares directions for a cute Halloween card featuring witch layered die cut embellishment from the Silhouette Design Store as well as tips for hand lettering.http://theartfulcrafter.com/blog/bewitching-halloween-card.html

Halloween Skirt for a Little Girl
Sometimes improvising does not go that well, but it all turned out OK when Sarah decided to make a Halloween skirt for her daughter out of scraps from another project.
http://www.ourdailycraft.com/2015/10/20/the-halloween-skirt-without-a-pattern/

Ice Cream Yarn Review!Who doesn't like ice cream? What about ice cream yarn?
http://tammypowley.com/2015/10/21/video-yarn-review-lion-brands-ice-cream-yarn/


Jade Knotted Bracelet
This free bracelet tutorial is a good beginning level project or just a good quick one for anyone who loves colorful beads.
http://jewelrymakingstudio.com/jade-gemstone-knot-and-bead-bracelet/

Beading Arts
Cyndi just can't get enough of the color turquoise, and she is sharing a tutorial on making a soft wrap cuff bracelet using her (current) favorite color!
http://www.beading-arts.com/2015/10/turquoise-bead-embroidered-soft-cuff.html      

Snap out of it, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!     
Jean reviews Fast & Easy Earrings, 100+ Projects, by Erica Swanson. The book is loaded with earring designs from tons of your favorite artists. You will love the inspiration you'll get to begin creating your own beautiful earrings!
 http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/2015/10/review-by-jean-of-fast-easy-earrings100.html                   

Christmas Is Close At Hand
Here are a few gift ideas Terry has put together for an individual on her Christmas list. These gift ideas should get your creative juices flowing for some on your list...whether it is for Christmas, Birthdays, Graduations, etc...                
http://tappingflamingo.blogspot.com/2015/10/christmas-is-close-at-hand.html                        

My Etsy Shop Is Open!!

Button Jewelry ideas

I know a lot of people who like to collect buttons...mostly antique buttons. So, what do you do with all your buttons. It's kind of hard to display them all. Well how about making something with them....

 

If you read my blog lately, you have seen these. I took inexpensive buttons and made a bouquet out of them. By using floral wire and stacking different color beads on top of each other, you can come up with some nice combinations. I've even see some beautiful bridal bouquets made of button flowers. I know this blog is entitled Button Jewelry Ideas, and that is not a piece of jewelry, so let's move on to what this writing is all about....

 

JEWELRY!!!!

 

Several years ago I was involved in a blog hop where we exchanged buttons and then made something out of what we received. I received a beautiful set of antique buttons that I immediately fell in love with. I knew I wanted to make a pair of earrings with lace and this is what I came up with.

 



 

Speaking of earrings, here is another pair of earrings I made with white buttons and yellow glass square beads and turquoise round beads. I added a large copper jump ring to make a very fun pair of earrings to wear. You will notice I like to use a lot of mixed colored metals. This way you can wear them with all your jewelry.

 

 

A lot of times, you can find theme buttons, like these bats. Wouldn't they be fun to wear during Halloween?

 









 

Now the next piece I would like to share, took some time to put together, but I love it!

 

It's easy to find a big container of different size white buttons for a pretty reasonable price. For this piece I used old telephone wire, but you could find colored wire at your local craft store. After wire wrapping all the buttons, I attached them to chain with jump rings.

 

 

This last piece is really easy! Just take a piece of elastic and sew buttons on to it. This would be a great piece to do with your kids to teach them how to sew on a button...then they would have something fun to wear.

 

 

Well, I hope this got your creative juices flowing. There are so many fun, simple things to do with buttons. You should give it a try.

 

 

 



First Annual Danse Macabre Blog Hop

 

Danse Macabre? What is that you may ask? It is French for Dance of Death. No matter our position in life, whether you are rich or poor, famous or unknown, part of a large family or single, we all will eventually pass through this life and move on to the next through death.

 

I will be honest, when I first learned of this blog hop, I was taken back, but as I did my own investigation of the meaning of Danse Macabre, I found some beautiful music that went with it. Here is the link for it. I actually recognized the music and, as a dancer, picture the movement that one might see with this piece.

 

Death is not something to look at as negative or scary or evil....it is just part of life. Personally, I do not feel that death is the end of it all. In my heart I know that it is a continuation of this life, so I try to make the most of mortal life. Sure there are times during our time on earth when things are not that easy, but these are tests that we all have to go through. In the end, as I dance down the road toward my post mortal life, I look forward to seeing friends and family that have moved on. It will be a great reunion, and this is what I see as the Danse Macabre; all of us dancing for joy in being together into the eternities.

 

Now, on for my pieces that I have made for this First Annual Danse Macabre Bog Hop...

 

 

I found this beautiful silver toned skull and crossbones with all the bling on it and fell in love.

 

 

I knew that I wanted this to be a sparkly piece, so I looked for some crystals to go with it. I found some read, black and smoky colored crystals that I loved, and decided to use spacers that had an antique silver tone to them. Since I love the ocean, I flanked the skull with sea turtles. This gives is more of a pirate look.

 

 

 

Then I remembered a closure I already had, that had some more crystals on it. I knew this would finish my necklace off perfectly.  

 

 

I also decided to make one other thing...with an owl. I have heard that the black cat and the owl are a witch's companions. Have you ever heard the screech of an owl? Well, it sure sounds like the cackle of a witch, so that is probably why an owl is associated with a witch at Halloween. 

 

Anyway, here is my owl thing....

 

 

an ornament! Made of old guitar strings!

 

After looping the strings around into a circle, I wrapped them with silver colored wire to keep the strings in place. I then added the owl bead and garland. Doesn't he look like he is sitting in a tree?

 

 

I hope you enjoy my Danse Macabre pieces. I would like to thank Lee Koopman of  Strega Jewellry for hosting this event. now go see what all the other talented ladies made...

 

 

 

Lee Koopman                           Strega Jewellry (this is the creater of this wonderful event)

Sam Waghorn                           Pale Moon Creations

Dini Bruinsma                            Angaza by Changes

Mowse Doyle                              Mouse Made This

Lori Blanchard                            Alainn Jewelry

Robin Showstack                        Hearts Desire Jewelry for You

Amy Jorgensen                           Hoarders Corner

Nan Smith                                    Wired Nan

Tammy Adams                             Paisley Lizard

Catherine King                              Catherine’s Musings

Michelle McCarthy                         Firefly Designs Studio

Betony Maiden                             Beadwenches Blog

Becca White                                  Morgana Fey Creations

Kim Dworak                                   Cianci Blue

Tami Norris                                   Tamis Creative Spot

Inge Von Roos                               Inge’s Blog

Terry Jeanette Carter                    Tapping Flamingo (that's me! you are here)

Deb Fortin                                       Mohti Studio

Melissa Trudinger                           Bead Recipes

My Afternoon Doterra Trim Shake

Peeling Wallpaper -v- Peeling Sunburned Skin

Since mid-summer, I've been taking down wallpaper...ugh

 

Anyway, as I am about to finish taking it down from my craft room, I am reminded of the many times I have peeled skin after a bad sunburn. Come on, I know most of you have done that...and probably got some kind of satisfaction with it.

Well, I have come to the conclusion that taking down wallpaper is a lot like peeling skin....let me explain....

Let's start before we get sunburned. Usually, we head out to the pool or beach, or wherever because we want a tan (sometimes, we may get too much sun because of work or sports). The first thing I do when taking down wallpaper is spray HOT, HOT water on to it. I look at this as getting too much sun. Soon, the wallpaper, just like our skin has become damaged, and starts to separate from the wall (body). Now the skin (paper) is easy to peel away, and we start doing just that, removing the skin (paper).

At first we can usually get a big piece. This can be pretty exciting...then...

ooops! We get too deep. This is not good...not when we are peeling our skin, or wallpaper off the walls. This is probably why it is not a good idea to peel your skin.

 

A lot of the times we get to a point where things get a bit tedious, and we get frustrated....

 

 

That is until we get another big piece. Somehow that motivates us to start peeling more.

 

 

I do not recommend peeling your skin. It can actually cause a pretty bad infection. You really need to leave it alone. My dad told me that same thing about taking down all the wallpaper in our house. I did not listen. Besides, wallpaper is a bit different than one's skin. You can do some permanent damage to your body, but with the walls, you can fix the damage done there.

 

So, next time you want to peel some skin, don't! Go find someone that needs help with taking down wallpaper....

 

 

Those results are a lot more satisfying...



 





Eight Days on the Carnival Sunshine part 4 Puerto Rico

Stay Tuned For My Etsy Shop

For the past....YEAR, I have talked about starting an Etsy shop. Between moving, a tornado, and endless issues with my computer, I have yet to get that done.

This past weekend, I had my first craft fair....a huge failure! The weather was great, the other vendors were very nice, but the venue was not advertised, and no one really knew about it. No one did very well, and all of us went home very disappointed.



After I got home and started to unpack my stuff, I started to think about what next? Do I do the fair in a couple of weeks? The booth fee is really high, and not sure how the weather is going to hold out. Last year this time we had just had a tornado, and October in this area can be pretty rainy sometimes. We have not had rain in WEEKS, so we are due for some. Not sure I want to chance that. But what do I do?

Wait a minute!!!! My esty shop!!! Yep, I need to do that, NOW! I need to put my Christmas earrings and ornaments on there! So, I am in the middle of doing that. Hoping by the end of next week I will have it up and going. So, be on the look out....

 

I'm sure I will post about it when it is up, and ready for ya'll to shop....

Stay tuned!



Christmas Is Close At Hand

At the craft fair the other day, I had a Christmas tree up and decorated with some of my guitar string ornaments.

A lady looked over at the tree with a sigh, "I don't even want to think about Christmas right now. Let's get through Halloween and Thanksgiving first," she replied.

I'll have to say, I do agree with her to a point. I quickly replied to her with, "Did you know there are only 10 more Fridays before Christmas?"

She paused and then said..."Oh....Now I'm a bit stressed."

Yep, only 10 more Fridays. This got me to thinking about all that I have got to do, and one of the things I need to do is mail packages. First, though, I have to get the gifts to go into the packages. 

Here is one gift I have come up with....

The person I'm thinking of with this gift is very conservative. She is a beautiful woman, and dresses very simple, so I started out with this scarf that I made. I think she will like the colors.

Then I decided to make her this wood bracelet. Not sure of her wrist size, I figured a memory wire bracelet was the way to go. 

She doesn't like heavy earrings, so I made her these crystal and paper bead earrings. I hand wrapped and triple dipped them in a special glaze so that they are water resistant. 

Last thing I decided to throw in was this Ladder Necklace I crocheted.  The colors are conservative; navy, white, green and brown. It is also adjustable!

Now she has several pieces she can change out. I don't expect her to wear all these pieces together, although the earrings and Ladder Necklace go nice together, as do the scarf and bracelet together.

I wrapped it up and tied a bow, added one of my beaded guitar string Christmas ornaments, and now it's ready to put in a box and ship off.

The next gift I have to figure out is for a guy. Girls are so much easier to give gifts too....

Arts & Craft Fair

Well, did my first arts and craft fair today....

Was a lot of work, 

but I met some nice folks!

It was a nice day!

Lots of sun,

a little wind...

and not so warm temperatures

YAY!!!

Sold several items.

Maybe I'll do another one soon...

Ponderizing

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I look forward to General Conference. What is General Conference? Well, twice a year--April and October--we are privileged to be spiritually fed by many of our leaders. I always enjoy listening, but this year, for some reason, I feel I was able to feast upon the many words that were spoken!

Many talks stood out to me, but one in particular by Devin Durrant. He talked about "ponderizing." No, you won't be able to find that word in the dictionary, so I will tell you what it means. It is how you can more deeply understand something. He directs this to the scriptures. 

We are taught that we should know our scriptures for many reasons. One is to know our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ better. Another reason; when those bad thoughts come into your mind, or you see or hear something that is not exactly good, you can turn (in your mind) to that scripture. You can also do this by learning hymns. Ponderizing is 80% pondering and 20% memorizing. By ponderizing, a deeper understanding will come. This provides an uplifting place for your mind to go. 

Elder Durrant challenged us to pick a scripture each week, put it in a place where you will see it daily, and ponderize that scripture. What will be the benefits? Well, if you do this as a family, your relationship will grow stronger. Your relationship with your Father in heaven will also grow, and your testimony will strengthen.

"These scriptures will become your friends" as we "feast upon the word." He also challenged us to invite friends and family to join in, and not just from our faith, but of all faiths, and to check up on each other. 

I thought this was a great idea, and hope that many of you will join me by picking a scripture to ponderize each week.

So, what did we choose this week, our first week? Well, I was going through some notes I took during conference, and came upon a scripture I had written down...3 John 1:4. The speaker was Claudio R M Costa, and he spoke of how the Sabbath Day is a holy day. We should read our scriptures, pray, ponder and visualize. We should also teach our children and grandchildren to do the same. When I read over my notes, I am reminded that we are all children of a loving heavenly Father, and that he wants us to know truths. 3 John 1:4 says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." As a mortal parent this is true, but I am sure that as a heavenly parent our Father wants us all to "walk in truth."

So, that is our scripture we chose to ponderize this first week. Will you join me? What scripture will you ponderize this week?