Sunday, January 29, 2012

Lovely Little Trinkets 2

A lovely lazy weekend...nothing but resting, eating, washing my hair (been using the dry shampoo too much lately:P) and a little light food shopping late yesterday afternoon. We got home just as the weather suddenly turned from sunny and mild to 'raging rainstorm'. Great timing! Nothing inspiring on the box...'Godzilla' for the umpteenth time. Somehow I got sucked into watching this disaster movie again...it's like junk food, one bite and your hooked. I wish for a channel that's devoted to showing only Jane Austen  films and miniseries...all the versions ever made. Happily I own a few on DVD that I can watch over and over and over again...


Today was even more restful. I thought a lot about this new year and what I would like to accomplish. It was good to spend time in a peaceful atmosphere reading my Bible and praying about this and for my family and friends. The message came from Genesis 1:28 - "And God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man ]..." AMPLIFIED BIBLE. This message was for me, as thoughts about what to do this year, finding creativity, earning an income, etc. has been filling my mind constantly lately. The knowledge that God has blessed me to do these things has given me a peace and also direction. The part about "...in the service of God and man ..." reminded me that it's not all about me and what I want. My plans for this year must include God and other people.

Another theme that came up was about having BALANCE in life. Balance means: having the right amount of:
1) healthy nourishment (addressing health & weight);
2) rest (sleep & relaxation);
3) work (purpose);
4) play (enjoying your life & exercising);
5) time alone with God (getting filled up spiritually everyday so that you can go the distance);
6) time to enjoy Godly relationships (blessing family & friends & others that cross your path).
I'll be praying about this everyday...

Friday night I came across a vimeo about 29 ways to stay creative: http://vimeo.com/24302498?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Tweet&utm_campaign=sfg . It's really good, actually remember about 10 of them:
1. Take breaks (have really been trying to do that...God worked 6 days and rested on the seventh...He's the ultimate Creator!)
2. Sing in the shower (do that a lot:))
3. Get away from the computer (since getting my new laptop, this one's been tough)
4. Carry a notebook everywhere
5. Go somewhere new
6. Try free writing (blogging?)
7. Clean your workspace (can't work in a messy environment anyway)
8. Exchange ideas with others - Collaborate
9. Don't force it
10. Listen to new music.

Now for those other collages I promised. All this 'free writing' is revving up the creative juices...ha ha...it really works!

5. Recycled Hardware and Smokey Accent Bead Pendant

This one has a very modern feeling. I don't know what this piece of hardware used to be, but it makes quite a nice piece of 'bling'. Will go great with a snazzy black outfit;)

6. Recycled Washer and Purple Beads Necklace

I've wanted to try making something with washers for a long time and was happy to have had enough 'stuff' to make a matching pair of earrings for this necklace.

7. Wrap-around Bracelet and Deep Purple & Amber Earrings

See, everything I make isn't pink:)

8. Miscellaneous Earrings

What a joy it is to make earrings...you can create something very pretty very quickly...and wear it directly! Those yellow ones are the cutest...they remind me of fat little bees or tiny angels. I recycled the yellow beads from a decoration that was around a hand lotion someone gave me once as a gift. (The gift that keeps on giving:))


Can't believe January is almost at an end...the time really flew by. Just the other day it was Christmas...

Blessings!
Surita

Friday, January 27, 2012

Lovely Little Trinkets

Hello Friday! Spent a wonderful morning photographing some of the lovely little trinkets that I've been working on since the end of 2011. After the photo session, which took up half the morning, it was time to start up my CorelDRAW Graphics Suite program and make collages of the different pieces.

Here goes...

1. White 'Milk Jug Plastic' Flower Necklace with Earrings (needs a prettier name?)



 Moi  is very happy with this little set...its 'belle belle!'. The flower pendant is made of milk jug plastic and a few crystal clear beads. Pretty cute hey? In keeping with the floral theme, different sized flower shaped beads were incorporated into the design.


Here I'm wearing said lovely creation...still can't believe a milk jug can be turned into something so beautiful. I plan on making lots more of them and do my part in keeping the earth green.

2. Pink&Pearl 'Soda Can' Blossom Necklace and Earrings


Making this necklace and the matching earrings was a whole day affair. Lots of cutting, sanding, embossing. My fingers were sore, back ached and eyes were crossed by the end of the day...but the result was absolutely worth it. An intricate, feather light, pretty and feminine piece of jewelry. Again, who would have thought a soda can could redeem itself and go to heaven...no rusty death at a garbage dump for this one!

3. Recycled Hardware 'Pink Blossom' Pendant Necklace


This little project has been brewing in my head for a long time, then last week everything came together. METHOD: Take one big washer looking toolbox find; give it a good sanding with some fine sandpaper; clean with a soft cloth; cut small flowers in 3 sizes out of a soda can; sand that clean on both sides and mold it a little so that it will hold a small amount of resin; paint the inside of the flowers with a pink pearl coloured nail polish; let dry; instead of dropping small amounts of resin inside the blossoms, I used a clear strong adhesive (Pratley Quickset Clear, me thinks it's basically resin) which I bought for gluing things permanently in the jewelry making process; let dry completely; then mix another very small blob of the adhesive and very quickly glue the blossoms in place on the washer looking thing (this adhesive dries in 3 minutes and sets permanently within 24 hours); mix yet another even smaller amount of adhesive to glue rhinestones in the centre of each blossom...bling! (didn't have a third tiny rhinestone for the smallest blossom so used a small blob of silver glitter glue)...and 'ta-da!' you have a very stylish pendant. All it needs is a suitable chain. Mine is made of two strings of pink and clear seed beads. Très chic, no?

4. Salmon Pink Peyote Tube Bead Necklace with Flower 


There's a trend here...pink...and floral. Something new I learned this week...making Peyote Tube Beads with seed beads! I found a great tutorial here: <http://inspirationalbeading.blogspot.com/2011/01/beading-tutorials-peyote-tube-beads.html> , after seeing the merveilleuse creations Emma from http://fredbeansnook.com/blog/ makes.

I guess that's all for today, but I can't log off without sharing something very cute and very sweet...


Blessings!
Surita

Better late than never...

This is my very first post! Yeah! I wanted to start blogging on the 1st of January, but life happens and then some...so here I am, better late than never. I'm still not sure I like the look of my blog but it will have to do for now. Hopefully in the days and weeks and months to come I will fill this blog with all the lovely & beautiful things I plan to make this year. Not forgetting lots and lots of lovely inspirational pictures I find on the net...I'm a serious serial image googler:)

So to start off with, I'm in love with 'shabby chic' and have been using up my internet bytes googling shabby chic blogs and downloading loads and loads of chicness to inspire me for making everything from jewelry to recycled 'tin food can lanterns'. There is just sooooooo many ideas out there. I've also been hoarding a mountain of 'junk' to up cycle and turn into art...food cans, soda cans, glass jars, egg cartons, plastic milk jugs, those bread-bag-tie-thingies, etc. In the last week though I've been re-learning to crochet...so imagine the big bulging file of free patterns that's been downloaded, everything from basic crochet stitches and easy crochet flowers for beginners to things I've never heard of...cowls & cloches...which turned out to be a kind of scarf and a hat. Learning new things all the time people!

So here goes some inspiration:
Beautiful art...Portrait Of A Lady As Evelina by John Hoppner
Hearts....I can never get enough of them!
...see:)
Lovely jewelry...mmmm...I've made a few nice pieces in the past few weeks and will be posting pictures of them soon...
Glorious Lavender!!!
Roses in vintage blue jars...just perfect.
Burlap and lace.
White paint! I dream of a room like this...
Have white paint and old frame...will be making a notice board like this before the year is out.
Love the fabric, love the flower, lover everything...
 Paper roses...
Lanterns...how am I going to cut heart shapes out of them so neatly?
Faux mercury glass...very chic.
Irish Lace Scarf...downloaded a free pattern from http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80771AD.html
I can't wait to get all the goodies to make this one...it's too perfect!
Will soon be posting my version of this crochet necklace. So stylish...

I think that's enough for my first post. Next time look for lots of pics of my own projects. I can't wait...