Bead Box 5 - Reveal

WAAAAAAAY back in October, I shared what I had packed in a simple plastic organizer to help me get some jewelry made when I'm away from the house. I started that post with the words, "I wouldn't get as much jewelry made if it weren't for my handy-dandy Bead Box." I spoke too soon. That stocked box of designed jewelry has been lingering around since then, following me from place to place, taunting me. I even forgot what some of the designs were supposed to be. This week, I sat down and made myself complete the last couple of designs...finally. I'm going out of town soon and hope to have it re-stocked to take with me. For now, here's a reminder of what the fifth version of this stocked box looked like.

Let me go ahead and admit that the wrap bracelet in the far left compartment isn't done and won't be making an appearance in box 6. I just can't tote it around anymore. I'll never get it done. However, the rest of the designs were completed. One has already sold on Etsy and several others are already for sale either there or at Southern Antiques and Accents. If you need a refresher of the before pictures (I did), take a look at Bead Box 5 - Stocked. Now, let's take a look at the after!

These simple upcycled tin and bead earrings have already sold on Etsy. I should probably make some more similar since they're such a lovely little design.

This isn't the best picture of this necklace that combines acrylic paint poured tin (reversible), brass beads, and chain. However, it's a great shape and available at Southern Antiques and Accents (SAA).

I totally love the combination of hot pink tassel, distressed brassy tin, and more paint poured tin for the long pendant in this necklace. Golden beads  and chain were used to make the long chain. This Hot Pink Flow Necklace is available on Etsy. 

I can't get enough of the tin, and buttons have always been one of my favorite elements with which to work. The stacks of tin and buttons were already made when I added them to the box. It was just a matter of creating the bead connectors and attaching them to ear wires. You can find these Spring Sky Earrings on Etsy.

I was excited about this necklace when I designed it, and I'm not disappointed. The array of white shades in the beads along with the juxtaposition of the fabric and upcycled tin on the pendant just make me giddy. As with the pieces above, the Frayed White Shades Necklace is for sale on Etsy.

This box seemed to be full of long pendants that are just combinations of vintage found objects that make me smile. That's exactly the case with this necklace that simply combines a key, a chandelier crystal, and a vintage button. I added a beaded charm to the front of the key to match the handmade beaded chain that I created. You can find the Button Crystal Key Necklace in the Etsy shop. 

Salvaging old jewelry to make it new again is one of the things I love to do. In this case, I took an old brooch and removed the pin mechanism to make it a pendant. Chinese crystals and golden beads were wire-wrapped together to make the front part of the chain while basic gold-color chain finishes the necklace. This necklace will be available at Southern Antiques and Accents in the coming weeks. 

These elements should have been super easy to combine, but I struggled with them for some reason. I was finally able to coax the bronze PMC charms, vintage buttons, and my own wordy washers to come together cohesively in this pair of earrings that will likely end up on Etsy.

When I matched up the elements for this necklace, I was elated that I was able to get that minty, pistachio green color to match in all the pieces. However, when I started to bring them all together into a necklace, it was just too much. I broke it up with some gunmetal-colored seed beads to finish this pretty little Pistachio Journey Necklace that is already on Etsy.

I added antiqued brass beads to this design to break up the mother of pearl buttons and to echo the brass bell at the bottom of the pendant.  I like this necklace a lot and plan to list it on Etsy before too long. 

There was a bit of a snag with this necklace when the tassel fell apart on me. (I failed to make sure the knot holding it together was tight and glued - my own fault!) Once that was fixed, the rest of the chain came together beautifully with jade and copper beads. It will be heading to Etsy.

This is the main necklace whose design idea got lost between coming up with it and making it. Not all of the elements for the design were in the same compartment in the bead box. I kept finding a baggie of buttons in the box that I couldn't figure out why they were there. I should have looked at the original post for the answer. Dur! Instead of using the buttons, I found these salvaged glass beads in a coppery, rust color that I used to break up the other beads. It worked out just fine. I think this one will likely go to Etsy as well. 

There really wasn't much to this design. Of course, I have no idea what my original idea had been, but I really think I made this work out well with the elements I gave myself. I simply wired everything together then added a bit of chain. The clasp and jump ring aren't agreeing at the moment, so I will have to fix that before I take it to SAA.

Heavens knows what I had planned for this small collection of five buttons. I went with the flow and simply wired them together to create this simple necklace. I'm tempted to do a tutorial on how I created it. Would you be interested in that? Let me know. As for the necklace, it'll be hitting the shelves at SAA soon. 

Like some of the other designs, I decided that I needed a little something else to go with the originally selected elements. In the case of this necklace, I added the large round, faceted crystals to the smokey topaz crystals in the chain. The back is a simple antiqued brass chain. Watch for this one coming to Etsy!

Nothing had to be added to this design. It simply needed to get wire wrapped together. I love the faux watch look of it and the sparkle from the crystals and the distressed tin. It's destined for Etsy. 

I'm so glad to have that bead box finally emptied and ready to fill back up. I don't really know what took me so long to work my way through it. But, I have a feeling that it was my need to add additional elements to the designs while I wasn't within reach of those new elements. For my own sake, I hope to plan out the designs a little better to keep my productivity moving. I'll share with you when I get Bead Box 6 stocked up. If you're interested in my previous Bead Boxes and reveals, here are the links for you. 



Thanks for stopping by! 

Create a Bracelet with Leather

Changes have been afoot in Silverlox (our house) and life's been a bit more hectic than normal for the past several weeks. As such, my blogging has suffered. I hope to get some time to fill y'all in, but that's not going to happen right now. Instead, let me share a tutorial I created.

While I struggled to end some lengths of suede (faux?) on a bracelet, I decided to turn on the camera and share my technique.

Initially, I had hoped to put tube rivets in the leather, but that didn't work out well. Instead, I used the punched holes to my advantage to help hold the wire in place as I wrapped it.

The leather is simply slid through the holes on the end of a Tim Holtz tag that I altered with two shades of Vintaj Patinas.

Here's the video on how to Create a Bracelet with Leather to give you a better look at the process.
I'm always open to answering any questions you may have, so please don't hesitate to ask!

It's a super simple process, but I do hope that you enjoy the idea!

June Challenges and Inspirations

It's yet another month, and that means that there are new challenges and ways to be inspired. I like to work with these fun and fantastic prompts myself and think it's only fair that I share them with you. It's always more fun when others play along too. 

  • ICAD 2019 from Tammy of Daisy Yellow has just begun. This challenge is a mixed media art one that invites you to create something on an index card every day for 61 days. It runs through June and July. Tammy even offers up daily prompts and weekly thematic prompts if you need them.  You can visit the link above and make sure to follow Tammy's blog to catch the prompts each week. 
  • Speaking of mixed media art, the latest Mood Board for Our Mixed Media Moods from DeeDee Catron and MixedMedia Jenn has been revealed. Watch their videos to see how these originators worked with the board, and check out the Our Mixed Media Moods Facebook Group to see how others worked with it as well.
  • Art Journey #4 at Art Bead Scene is open until June 15th. The theme for this journey is the work of Odilon Redon. Remember that contributions for this challenge must include an art bead. 
  • The June inspiration at Earrings Everyday is Storms. As Erin pointed out, most of the country is experiencing the storms that are raging or at least the after-effects. Read what she has to say and make sure to participate. The reveal is June 21st.
  • Over at Art Elements, we've been given a theme I've never heard of: Selkies. Well, the actual theme prompt is Selkies and the Sea. Again, though, selkies are something new for me. How exciting to learn something new! Anyway, the reveal for this challenge is June 30th. Make sure to leave a comment letting them know you are participating so you can be added to the blog hop list. 
And, those are all of the inspirations and challenges I've found this month. If you know of any to add to the list, please don't hesitate to let me know. Now, what's inspiring you?

Art Journal Pages You May Have Missed

About once a week (more often if I can), I share a video of me working in an art journal. Rather than overload you with weekly blog posts about a single art journaling video, I prefer to share the pictures and YouTube links to several of them once a month. THIS is that post! Lately, I've worked strictly in my small junk journal, and that's the substrate for all the videos this month. However, ICAD season has begun, and I might just share videos of those too. For now, here are last month's art journaling videos. 
Small Junk Journal Page 11

Small Junk Journal Page 12

Small Junk Journal Page 13

Small Junk Journal Page 14

If you would like to see these videos in a more timely manner, when they come out, please make sure to subscribe to the CraftyHope YouTube Channel. Of course, I also share links to the videos on my CraftyHope Twitter and CraftyHope Facebook Page. So, if you're following me in either of those places, you're likely to catch the videos there too. 

And, if you have any questions about art journaling, please don't hesitate to ask! It's such a fun and freeing medium. I encourage other artists to play in a journal too.

The 100 Day Project 2024

Yesterday, the 100 Day Project for 2024 started (it's not too late to join in!!) I mentioned last week that I would give you a heads-up ...