Seashells by the Seashore

Beached Curtain with Shells

With thoughts of summer, my thoughts have turned to sun, sand, and beaches... with the thoughts of the beach and sand I think of seashells. (Between my trips to beaches and trips of friends, I have a fairly large collection tucked away.) Bring on the sun!

The beaded curtains were made years ago from a sturdy hemp chord (which I seem to usually have on hand), medium-sized wooden beads, and various seashells with naturally occurring  holes and places to string the chord. They were first made for a bedroom I had in the attic and followed me a new house and even to a cabin doorway I had. I love the natural look of the wooden beads with shells and a few scattered gold beads. A bit of a hippy-inspired 60s flashback, but that is one of the reasons I love having them and decorating with them.

The little seashell covered boxes were made from tiny plain boxes and decorated with a sturdy glue and tiny colored shells to create a design. (I have a bunch of these little shells, some dyed different colors.) They are great to sit with my some of my mermaid stuff (which I seem to have at least a  few things).

I am so ready for summer.

Charm Hemp Necklace

This is just hemp charm necklace is an example of something fun I was playing around with. The charms were made with tiny bits of white Sculpey clay and bits of twisty ties inserted into the clay before they were baked (according to the direction on the package). I made a flower, a heart, a rose, a flat disc (to be used as a peace sign), and a small ball (to be used as a small globe).

They were then painted with acrylic paint (the globe with green bits, a peace sign on red, an orange and yellow flower, a yellow rose, and a black heart).

Once dry, the charms were used in making the hemp macrame necklace, made using an equal combination of simple half and square knots. (I used twenty of each in the pattern.) The clay charms were attached to the central strand in an equal spacing as I worked. The end is made from a loop and a button to act as the clasp.

Macrame is one of many of the retro 60s crafts that were the most popular at camp. I taught macrame knots pretty much every week to campers and the knots are often used in making friendship bracelets or anklets. I had a hemp and bead anklet my supervisor at my first camp made me and other staff members.

Flowered Bottle Necklace

Happy First Day of Spring!

In honor of this wonderful time of year, I was inspired to find a new project for some things I had sitting around here. Recycling some little bottles I had on hand I came up with this flowered bottle necklace that I am considering filling with wildflower seeds to wear carry with me. (Or to give to a friend to carry with them.) Sometimes, a person just needs to have some flowers to share with then world, even in the most powerful form of a seed. This is a super simple project that definitely helped me celebrate the coming of Spring and all it's beauty.

 I started with small glass bottle, I had left from candy making at Christmas time. (Every year I made hard candy for Christmas.) I have a small stash of these small bottles that the flavorings for the candy come in, cleaned and the labels removed. (So don't be surprised to see more projects utilizing these.)

Using acrylic painted I attacked a couple of these small bottles with greens and flowers, letting them dry between layers and then again at the end. (Of course, any theme could work.)

Once dry, I attached hemp cord securely around the neck of the bottle, knotting. (It has a nice earthy look and feel.) Using a bead pattern, I knotted the cord every so bit and added earth tone pony beads, securing the beads with the cord. I finished the end with a knot, leaving the cord long enough to slip over my head without needing a latch. (You could use any jewelry making technique, macrame knots, braid, or selection of beads. The one pictured is just the one I chose this time.)

Now, they just need to be filled with flower seeds and are ready to go. (Maybe give Mother Nature a bit of help spreading her colors.) Bring on Spring! Bring on the flowers!

(Of course, it also could be used for scented oils or something.)

Misc. Jewelry Creations

Double Row Hemp Choker

Some of these pieces of jewelry were camp related projects and some where not. I don't claim to be an expert on jewelry making and some skill sets are new to me.

The Double Row Hemp Choker was my own take on the macrame knots I have been doing for years. I taught basic macrame using square and half knots at camp, mostly used for bracelets, necklaces, and chokers. This was a design I played with on my own inter-knotting two rows of square knots. One week half the camp ended up using thick macrame chord (donated and probably from someone's 70's or 80s stash) to make macrame belts. Retro definitely has never gone away with hemp chord and macrame chord. Check out more on the Double Row Hemp Sq. Knot Choker

Dream Catcher Earrings

The Dream Catcher Earrings were the result of working at a camp located in an area where American Indian Culture was celebrated and Pow Wow was held annually. I was playing with making my own out of what I had on hand. (There were some necklaces and stuff made too that were given away.) These were made from a couple of key rings, brown embroidery thread, a few small wooden beads, a couple small orange feathers, and two earring hooks. Check out more on my Dream Catcher Earrings

Charm Bracelet with homemade charms

When I was younger my mom had a charm bracelet that I was fascinated with, complete with charms that all had meaning to her. This charm bracelet was made with chain and hook from the jewelry section of the craft store with re-purposed old earrings and homemade charms that all were significant to me. A heart, a mermaid (I kind of have a things for mermaids), a flower, a tree of life, a peace sign (of course), a couple small butterflies, and a few tiny bead strands. The homemade charms were created from discarded twisty ties, stripped of the plastic or paper coverings, then twisted and altered into various shapes (needle nose pliers helped here). Most of the shapes took a lot more twisties than one might have originally planned.

It didn't me long to get aggravated with stripped on the plastic or paper coverings on the twisty ties, so I resorted to using a controlled bit of flame to burn the covering off. Of course, making sure they were cool before munipulating them into shapes. The tiny bits of wire, were not the easiest things to form, but it was a challenge I was glad I took on. (Look ma, no injuries.) The end result was a new bracelet and a great learning experience. More on my Twisty Tie Charm Bracelet

The Seashell Jewelry (necklace and earrings) got easily inspired by a large collection of shiny tiny glass beads in all sorts of blues, greens, ambers, and browns with a nice assortment of seashells mixed with my thing for mermaids. (It just keeps finding a way to reappear, so you might as well get used to it.) I used a jewelry make wire, catch (for the necklace), and earring hooks that I had one hand (plus of working at a camp) to string the beads and attach the shells.

Seashell Jewelry

My original intend when starting these ocean inspired pieces was to use them as part of a mermaid costume that I have been playing with sketches and construction ideas. The costume hasn't been built yet, but I haven't given up on it. (I'm still playing with some ideas.) Have no worries though, the jewelry was used this past year when I helped a couple friend with Halloween Costumes and one of them went as the Ocean. The seashells and beads were a nice touch with the creation of flowing blues and greens with various sea creatures thrown in for fun. These have proven to be a great addition to my costume collection (and yes, I have one, one that takes up it's own closet, but that is another story for another day). Check out more on the Seashell Jewelry

Celebrate the art of being who you want to be and wearing the things that mean something to you.

Peace Sign Ornaments

In the last few years I started to make new ornaments for Christmas, for myself and often for friends & family. This past year I chose a Peace Sign ornament (time to promote 'peace on earth' anyway we can).

I started with a simple salt dough recipe, which you can find all over the web. (Check out these for some recipe ideas - http://giftideacenter.com/Holiday/Christmas/dough_ornaments.php
  http://www.artsncrafts-ideas.com/salt-dough-recipe.php.) Of course, you could use any clay you prefer (I often use a Sculpty for projects). I formed the dough into various peace sign designs free form with the aid of a narrow knife in some cases. All the peace signs were baked until a light brown and baked thoroughly (check out the directions for the salt dough or other clay and follow drying instructions).

When cool, the peace signs where painted with a multitude of mixed rainbow, tie dye themed marbled colors. (Retro Rocks!)  I used a green marbling (greens, yellows, white), orange marbling (orange, yellow, red, white), pink marbling (pinks, white, a touch of red). I wanted a nice rainbow of colors to go with my mix of shapes, sizes, and designs. I painted one side, let dry, them painted the other.

When all the peace signs were dry I used hemp cord attach as hangers. Now they are ready to hang.

You can check out this also on http://www.cutoutandkeep.net at http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/peace-sign-christmas-tree-ornament.)

Maybe it's time to set up that hippy themed tree.