Thursday, May 31, 2012

Challenge of Literature



Challenge of Literature 2012

If you are here for the Tiny Tin Challenge, go here.

I am very happy to be participating in the Challenge of Literature Blog Hop hosted by Erin from Tesori Trovati Jewelry today.  I have always loved to read.  Books were my own private world when I was growing up, I can't remember a time when I wasn't reading everything I could get my hands on.  It seems to run in my family too, my Mom, one sister and my Aunt all love to read.  Books fly between all of us, sometimes it's hard to keep straight what home they should go back to!  When Erin announced this challenge, I didn't hesitate to enter for one second.  I even knew which books I'd pick.  

One ring to rule them all
One ring to find them
One ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them

I read the Hobbit in 5th or 6th grade, then The Lord of the Rings in 7th.  They were and continue to be my favorite books.  I could probably recite most of them from memory.
I wasn't sure what I wanted to make for this challenge, but I kept going back to the leaf brooch they were given in Lothlórien by Galadriel.  That and Galadriel's ring have always been my two favorite pieces of jewelry from the books.  I didn't think my wire wrapping was good enough yet to try the ring, so I went for the brooch.  It's the first thing I've made from polymer clay.  It is bigger than I wanted it to be, so I think I'll be making another smaller one, but I'm pleased with the way it turned out for my first attempt in a new medium.  


I used translucent clay with the mix I did for the green and pearl ex watercolors to paint the veins and around the edge.  I wish we would have had some sun today because it does sparkle nicely.  

Here is the brooch from the movie Return of the King.  They did a wonderful job capturing it the way it was described in the books.

Image from http://www.allmoviephoto.com
Thanks to Erin for having such a wonderful idea and for hosting this, and thank you for visiting me.  Please visit the other participants to see what they created for the challenge:

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Tiny Tin Challenge


Valentine Challenge 

If you are here for the Challenge of Literature, click here.

Michelle Mach is hosting the Tiny Tin challenge today.  We purchased two tins, one large and one small, and had to decorate one of them any way we wanted to, or turn them into something else completely.

I haven't done much with papercrafting in a while, except for card making classes that I take when I can.  I wanted to do something with the beautiful paper I have been hoarding. I also thought I'd add some of the buttons I had left over from the button swap blog hop.
Large Tin

Small Tin
I didn't want to change anything on that pretty patterned paper, I thought it was perfect.

Here are some shots of the sides:

I sealed them with Mod Podge.  I think I will probably add resin to the top of the small.  The buttons on the large one are too high to do that (if you have suggestions on how to do it, let me know).

Then I thought I'd try coloring the edge on the tops with my Spectrum Noir markers.  They are alcohol based markers, like Copic markers but much more affordable and they come in a huge range of colors.  Thanks to Brenda Sue from B'sue Boutiques I knew they would work on metal if they were cured with a heat gun. I think I'll do another coat since they look a little streaky in the picture.
I really like the way it looks though with the extra color on the edge.

Thanks to Michelle for hosting this and thank you for visiting me!  Please visit the other participants to see what they did with their tins:

  1. Michelle - Beads & Books - Hostess
  2. Amy - Amybeads
  3. Brenda - B'Sue Boutiques
  4. Dawn - Morning Glory Beading
  5. Debbie
  6. Jeannie - Jeannie's Blog
  7. Kay - Palm Coast Art
  8. Kim - CianciBlue
  9. Mary - MLH Jewelry Designs
  10. Mary Shannon - Falling into the Sky
  11. Michelle - Firefly Visions
  12. Molly - Beautifully Broken Me
  13. Pamela - The Crazy Creative Corner
  14. Patricia G. - My Life Under the Bus
  15. Patricia L.
  16. Robyn - A Ponderance of Things
  17. Shelley - Fabric of My Life
  18. Terry - Pink Chapeau Vintage Jewelry
  19. Therese - Domestic Goddess Enterprises
  20. Therese - Therese's Treasures



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Saturday, May 26, 2012

Cocktail Hour Blog Hop

Amy at Copper Diem came up with a great idea for a blog hop.  She gave everyone that signed up a different cocktail and we were supposed to use our drink for design inspiration.  
Mine was Mint Julep
Image from Taste of Home Recipes
I've actually never had one, I think they'd be too sweet for me.  When I think of a Mint Julep, I think of The Kentucky Derby, and green with icy white.  I decided to use the green with icy white since that seemed a lot easier than race horses.

Mint Julep Russian Spiral

I've been trying to master a spiral stitch. I was having a hard time getting the spiral to work, for some reason, I just wasn't getting it.  When I saw the green beads I thought they'd look really cool in a spiral with white seed beads.  I did the first couple of rounds over a pencil and I finally get it now, you could almost hear the click when it all made sense.

I also did a pair of earrings, they aren't matchy matchy with the bracelet but I like them anyway:
 I used Czech glass rounds and crystals, and green glass drops.  

And both of them together:



Thank you Amy for organizing this it was fun!  Please take a look at what everyone else made:





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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Button Swap Blog Hop

Today I am participating in the Button Swap Blog Hop hosted by Cindy Wimmer. My partner was Jayne Capps at Mama's Got to Doodle. I told her that my favorite color was blue and she sent me a lot of pretty blue buttons. I made a set of earrings and a ring, and I am working on a bracelet, but didn't get to finish that yet. 

Here are the buttons that Jayne sent me:
And here is the ring, as soon as I saw the heart button I wanted a ring:
And the earrings, I am at my Mom's this weekend (she is 3 hours from me) and I forgot to bring the beads I wanted to put with them, so I made the copper discs.  I'll beat them a bit with the hammer when  get home:
and both together:

And here is a picture of my Mom's irises, they are one of her favorite flowers.  I love you Mom, Happy Mother's Day!!!
Thank you Jayne for the great buttons and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!!  Please check out what the other participants did with their buttons:

 Kim Roberts and Partner unable to participate at this time.
* Pam Ferarri and Stefanie Teufel (will share their reveal on a later date)
* Stefanie Teufel and Pam Ferarri (will share their reveal on a later date)


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