Creative Thoughts and Inspirations

Tutorial - Swarovski headpin Bail from Beads Online Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 04:08:00 +0000

Hello,

Just popped in quickly to share this Tutorial from Beads Online Bead Blog.

It seems that the new Swarovski Butterfly Pendants are thicker than other Swarovski pendants and it is difficult to use a jumpring on them.

Click on the link above to see the full post and instructions.

Free Bracelet Project from Art Bead Scene Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:37:00 +0000

Found this great project from Shannon of missficklemedia.com via Art Bead Scene today in my Google Reader.

Art Bead Scene Blog: Rock Collecting Bracelet - Free Project

This is the best idea for featuring a small "found" rock in a bracelet I've seen. Although I don't know much about drilling my own rocks yet, I'm sure a wire wrapped version would work just as well.

I just LOVE the copper patina!

Thanks Shannon!

Color Palette Blog Walk - Australian Style!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Hello to all my Blog Walk visitors!
This week is the Color Palette Blog Walk organised by Brandi of Brandi Girl Blog. From Monday 28th February to Friday 4th March four blogs everyday will be posting their inspiring colour palettes created from their own photos.

Now, taking photos is not one of my strong points, what I see with the naked eye doesn't come out of the camera. So I'm just going to share some photos from family holidays to the Flinders Rangers in SA and the Sunshine Coast in QLD.

But first...

My Inspiration

These paintings are by Australian Artist Fredrick McCubbin. On the left is my favourite painting, titled "Lost", on the top right is "The Pioneers", middle right is "On the Wallaby Track" and finally, on the bottom "At Stringybark Creek". McCubbin and other artists were part of the Heidelberg School, know as the beginning of Australian Impressionism. Many of his works were painted whilst camping in the Australian Bush.

The photo for this palette was taken in the bowl of Wilpena Pound. The view of the gum trees reminds me of the painting "At Stringybark Creek" .

My second palette was inspired by a verse of Dorothea Mackellar's poem "My Country".

A stark white ring-barked forests

All tragic to the moon,

The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the crimson soil.

My final palette is just because I think I need to see some colour.

Thanks for taking the time to read this rather long post. I hope you'll take some time to visit the other participants of the Blog Walk

Tuesday, March 1st
Karen at Creative Thoughts and Inspirations
Julia at UlvDesign
Jessa at The ReArtingDotNet Blog
Lyn at Lyn Foley Jewelry Blog

Wednesday, March 2nd
Jescalyn at Peach Honey Love
Paige at Paige Maxim Designs
Katrina at Ma Joie Press
Jenni at Jenni's Beads

Thursday, March 3rd
Christie at Displaced Urbanite
Rachel at TatterBeans
Brittany at The Home Ground
Cindy at Sweet Bead Studio

Friday, March 4th
Rachel at Balanced Crafts
Wren at Each Day
Kelly at Mackin Art
Kristy at Simply Shiny Blog

Zentangle Storage

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 05:30:00 +0000

Do you love carrying your zentangle supplies around with you everywhere?

I know I do, but I found that I kept loosing my pencil and pen in the bottom of my bag, not to mention the crumpled tiles. I knew I had to find a better way of carrying everything around. Being the hoarder that I am I knew that I would have something around the house that could do the job. Little did I know that it would involve CHOCOLATE!

A small box of Ferrero Rocher chocolate like this one was given to me by my sister at Christmas time, AND I HADN'T EATEN IT YET! It didn't take me long to rectify that situation, nine little chocolates gone in an afternoon. The best part of this (apart from the chocolate) is that this plastic box is the perfect size to store Zentangle Tiles.

The tiles fit in the box quite comfortably with enough room to store a small pencil, paper blending stump, eraser and my current favourite pen (0.3 Artline Drawing pen).

I keep the box closed with a hair tie. For larger journals (A5 size) I use a larger box of chocolates (I'll need some help eating these)

I spent a few minutes last night making a tie out of thick black elastic and decorating the overlap.

Tolsby - A cheap and easy earring display

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 01:59:00 +0000

I was cruising through my Google Reader today and spotted this great idea from Jen of Sydney on the IKEA Hackers website

Tolsby - A cheap and easy earring display:

Materials: Tolsby frame, plastic cross-stitch canvas, scissors
Description: This hack is great for someone like me who loves to own a lot of earrings and need something to display them out neatly without costing too much. The Tolsby is an excellent choice for earring display at home and for product selling, I have used this display for my local craft fairs to great effect. It holds a decent amount of earrings for pierced ears, works well for studded and hook style ones of any size and shape. 1. Purchase a 7 count plastic cross-stitch canvas from a craft store. The '7 count' simply means there are 7 holes per inch on the canvas. I found that size the best to accommodate earrings.

2. Measure and cut out a 4x6 inch sheet from the canvas and slide into the frame. I managed to fill 4 Tolsby frames with the 1 plastic canvas I purchased. 3. Fill it with earrings!

~ Jen, Sydney

Looks like an excellent idea, Jen. One Tolsby frame (or maybe more) are on the shopping list for my next IKEA trip.

Color Palette Blog Walk Update

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 22:45:00 +0000

Thought I'd let you in on the full list of participants in the Color Palette Blog Walk Round 2. As you can see the blog walk starts next 9am Monday EST (just after midnight Tuesday CDST in Australia). Just so you know, we're about 15 hours ahead here (give or take).

Monday, Feb. 28th
Brandi at Brandi Girl Blog
Erin at Treasures Found
Jen at Jen Judd Rocks
Shari at Exploring the Wonders of Life

Tuesday, March 1st
Karen at Creative Thoughts and Inspirations
Julia at UlvDesign
Jessa at The ReArtingDotNet Blog
Lyn at Lyn Foley Jewelry Blog

Wednesday, March 2nd
Jescalyn at Peach Honey Love
Paige at Paige Maxim Designs
Katrina at Ma Joie Press
Jenni at Jenni's Beads

Thursday, March 3rd
Christie at Displaced Urbanite
Rachel at TatterBeans
Brittany at The Home Ground
Cindy at Sweet Bead Studio

Friday, March 4th
Rachel at Balanced Crafts
Wren at Each Day
Kelly at Mackin Art
Kristy at Simply Shiny Blog

My Weekend Project and a New necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:03:00 +0000

Back a month or two ago, when the Aussie dollar first reached parity with the US, I went on a mini shopping spree on Etsy. I bought a couple of pendants from Earthenwood and some ceramic beads from Gaea. I also bought, from Aussie seller SilkStudio, hand dyed silk ribbon and a lovely collection of lucite flowers. If I can find some brass leaf beadcaps I'll turn the lucite into earings.In the meantime I'm enjoying wearing this necklace. Earthenwood cat pendant, Gaea ceramic beads, copper chain from Spotlight and the copper swirl by me.

This is what I spent last weekend on. Sari Silk Fabric Beads. I love making them!! On the weekend I spent some time unravelling a skein of Sari Silk ribbon I bought from NorthcottWilson on Etsy. Lots and lots of gorgeous colours, I honestly didn't know which colour to start with.

So you see that little purple one, Down the front of the bottom photo? It's made with a scrap of velvet ribbon. It was the first one I made, I kinda made it up as I went along. After the first batch dried I was afraid that the fabric would unravel so I wound some 26g wire around each one, and finished with seed beads. The copper wire secured the fabric and gave the bead some shape. You might see in the bottom photo, I used my pliers to give some of the wraps a twist. Looks sort of interesting I think.

Now I just have to decide, Should I patina them??? Or leave them as is???

Teaser - What I'm doing this weekend.

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:34:00 +0000

Can you guess what I'll be doing tomorrow? These are the leftovers from my preparations this evening. Now I'm covered in these soft, silky, brightly coloured bits.

"Purple Summer" Colour Palette

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 02:48:00 +0000

Purple Summer by queen b-

Time for another colour palette inspired by fantastic photographers on Flickr. I spotted this photo in my Artful Flickr app on my iphone, it's by Queen B and called Purple Summer.

You might notice that I've been experimenting with PSE textures and overlays. I used a combination of filters and textures here to mimic the "dreamy" look of the photo.

I'm still not happy with the final result of the Peacock Palette even though I tried using a iridescent filter from The Digital Art Shop, it seems to work better on photos than on block colours. I'll keep trying though and you'll never know what effect I'll come up with next.

Sign up for my first Blog Walk!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 02:45:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I started making colour palettes and zentangling to try and kick start some inspiration. Now it's time for a major undertaking, for me anyway. I've signed up for Brandi Girls Color Palette Blog Walk.

From Monday 28th February, twenty of us will be posting our very own palettes, created from our own photos! On Tuesday 9am EST (just after midnight on Wednesday here in South Australia) I'll be posting my own contribution to this event, the very first blog event I've participated in. I've been sifting through my hard drive full of photos, looking for "inspiration", lets just say you'll be seeing some "Aussie" photos and leave it at that.

Colour Palettes, Memories and Peacocks

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:12:00 +0000

I've been thinking about favourite colours lately. You see I don't really have a favourite colour, I like lots of colours. Having said that, there are colours I wouldn't wear, they are usually colours that look good on my sister, and colours I wouldn't decorate with (purely practical reasons). To me colours convey feelings, influence emotions even trigger memories.

One of the memories I'm taking about occured when I was about 13 or so. Between the ages of 5 to 18yrs I took Classical Ballet lessons, to strengthen my ankles (I was born with twisted feet, toes pointed backwards and soles facing up). Now, I'm not a very flexible person, ok I'm stiff (while the other girls in class could do the splits with no problems I could barely slide down far enough to touch the floor) so it astonished me when my teacher chose me and two other girls to open the "end of year concert" centre stage, IN THE SPLITS!

If that wasn't bad enough we were wearing PEACOCK COSTUMES, blue-green leotards with pale blue net "tails" covered in a small fortune's worth of peacock feathers and three large feathers standing bolt upright out the top of our heads! So you can understand that for years any mention of "peacocks" brought back memories of weeks of agonised stretching, awkward long spidery legs (all knees and elbows) and needing to crouch down low to get through doors with an absurd headdress.

Where am I going with all this? (No! your not getting pictures of 13yrs old me) I love the colours you find in peacock feathers! The shimmering iridescence of greens, blues and purples probably speak to be more than any other colours, so I was a little disappointed when I pulled a photo of peacock feathers out from my hard drive and created a colour palette. There's something missing, the iridescent, shimmery glow that I love so much. Please when you look at my latest palette use some imagination and "see the shimmer"!

PS - If anyone knows of a photoshop filter that can add "shimmer", let me know!

Zentangles - More of my first attempts

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 03:32:00 +0000

It's time for some more of my first Zentangles. Since I did these I think that I have a better understanding of "white space". Filling up an entire card with tangles might be counter-productive.

I have a tenancy to work very small, even in polymer clay.When a took a workshop with Christi Friesen a couple of years ago even my bird sculpture was almost half the size of the other students.

Anyway, here are more of my first Zentangles.

Time to practice working a little larger.

My first Colour Palette

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 03:43:00 +0000

raging skies by bloung on Flickr

Wow this was fun!! Thanks to brandi girl for the template.

I loved this photo as soon as I saw it, I have an app on my iPhone called "Artful Flickr". It shows a set of interesting photos everyday, all of them very different. I will probably use this to start off posting palettes, at lease until I have a reasonable number of my own photos to use.

I was looking at my colour wheel, trying to workout what colour rule these colours follow. I'm pretty certain it follows some of the rules of Compound Colours, it's hard to tell on my monitor. What to you think?

Handmade Distressed Butterfly Pendant

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 03:07:00 +0000

I just spotted this in my Reader Feed from Flickr - georgeous!!!! Handmade Distressed Butterfly Pendant: "
Creative Art Center

"

Zentangles - Some of my first attempts

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 03:02:00 +0000

Today I thought I'd share some of my first attempts at creating a Zentangle. It was about a week after I bought the November/December issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. Beign in Australia it was in the New Year that it was in at the local newsagent. Straightaway I knew that Sara (my youngest daughter) would LOVE this, I didn't realize I would enjoy it too.

And

I think that this last one looks entirely too much like a pineapple to me, happens every time I try "zneppel".

I know that at some stage I'll have to give them a name, any suggestion would be appreciated.

Paper Bead Necklace - by kiahdesign on madeit

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 13:25:00 +0000

Spotted this georgous Paper Bead Necklace - by kiahdesign on madeit today. The pink and tourquoise beads are made from hand silk screened Japanese paper.

Paper beads are extremely light weight and when sealed are usually quite durable. The shape of the bead is determined by the shape and length of paper. A long skinny triangle, rolled and sealed gives a lovely shaped bead. Now if the necklace was made in dark purple and sage green I'd be VERY tempted, but I think I'll leave it for someone who loves this summery pink.

A new Personal Challenge - Inspired by brandi girl :: a life inspired by color: Freebie :: Color Palette Template

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 03:02:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I was reading some my favourite blogs in my Google Reader. I did what I usually do and follow a series of links, jumping from one blog to another. I was very pleased and happy to arrive at brandi girl's blog.

This is a BEAUTIFUL blog, beautiful photos, great tips and inspirational projects like "30 before 30" and "52 colors project".

I've decided to try creating some colour palettes myself. Click on the link below and download Brandi girl's template and try it yourself!

brandi girl :: a life inspired by color: Freebie :: Color Palette Template: "Final file dimensions: 500px wide by 433px tall Last Friday, I offered a free color palette template download (say that three times fast). T..."

Zentangles and Back to Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 03:15:00 +0000

Tidal Treasures

I've been in a bit of a craft slump lately. Some other crafty bloggers say that "their muse is missing in action", that's exactly how I feel. All the web surfing for inspiration and browsing through my fav magazines hasn't done a thing for me the way it usually does.

So a few weeks ago I decided to get back to basics. I picked up a pen and paper and started drawing.

Blowing in the wind

My youngest daughter started Zentangling earlier last year. You can see her Zentangles here on Flikr. I think she has a bit of a flair for this, she has always had an eye for colour and pattern. I think she'll enjoy high school next year, with "real art teachers".

My Pretty Pocket

I did these Zentangles whilst on Summer holiday with the family at Hardwicke Bay. I'm really enjoying getting back to basics with a pen and paper. It's made me look at shapes and textures with a new "eye".

Steampunk Zentangle

Being able to ignore colours, has given me an appreciation for black and white as a theme. One day when I get my own Craft Room I'll decorate it in black and white. Makes more sense really, I don't really have one favourite colour I have many, that change with the seasons and my mood.

Missing Posts, BlogPress and an Update

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 23:30:00 +0000

I've been fiddling around with my blog theme lately, trying to get a more consistent look, and discovered I have some missing posts! When I previewed the changes it looked like the last time I posted was in August. I figure I've lost about five Google Reader posts, three or four BlogPress posts (from my iPhone) and at least two Flickr posts. I might be able to recreate them, but it would take time.

So, what's been going on since August - I finally bought a new oven and cooktop!! For the past few (or more) years I've been without an oven and we've been getting by with an electric frypan, microwave and a "toaster oven on steroids". I couldn't cook the family favourites, no Oven Fried Chicken, Chocolate Pudding, Triple Choc chip cookies or Chocolate Muffins. (Do you see a chocolate theme here? lol) Fast-forward through 6 months of saving and the new oven arrived in October, installed early in November and I've been cooking ever since.

Time to go now

Shared from Magpie Gemstones - Conversion Chart

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:35:00 +0000

I was reading my Facebook News Feed this morning and spotted this.

Conversion Chart: "Jewelry designers source for wholesale beads, high quality gemstones, wholesale turquoise and gemstone beads,"

This conversion chart from Dr Karen Meador on the Magpie Gemstones website. This chart is a great resource for converting inches to mm (in decimal places and fractions) and the number of beads (in mm) on a standard 16 inch strand. Feel free the share this chart, but please don't forget to credit Magpie Gemstones!

Here Comes The Rain Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:31:00 +0000

Was on the way to drop the kids off at school this morning and spotted this.

Here in Australia were in the middle of a drought. Even in the depths of Winter the rainfall has been far below average for the past couple of years. Reservoirs are about half full, and we are probably facing a Summer of strict water restrictions again. So when I saw that the local creek was overflowing, I was very happy.

I've lived here in the Adelaide Hills all my life and I've never seen it flooded this much. We're expecting more rain in the next couple of days, bring it on!! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sharing This - PMC Button Bracelet Project

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:50:00 +0000

Here's a project from missficklemedia.com on the Art Bead Scene Blog. Found it whilst cruising through my Google Reader. Might have to try this out myself. I don't have a Sea Urchin Button but I'm sure I can find something interesting in my Grandmother-in-law's button stash. On another note, I'm about to add another tool to my wish list - A Bead Reamer. Not sure of a brand yet, any suggestion would be welcome. Hopefully a tool will be taken off the list soon, I'm getting a new oven!!!! Two years ago my oven gave up the ghost. Seems the company that made it wasn't supplying oven elements anymore. I've been cooking for the family with a countertop Breville oven, about the size of a large microwave. Next week the local electrical store will be delivering and installing a new 80 litre Westinghouse Oven and cooktop. The old reliable Breville oven (about twice the size of a toaster oven) will become my Polymer Clay Oven!!(happy dance). Now all I need is a permanent place to keep it.LOL

PMC Button Bracelet Project: "I was tickled to death when the PMC button post for my July 31st Studio Saturday had such a warm reception! Several friends emailed me and asked about the bracelet using the Sea Urchin button with patina-ted brass chain and suede strapping. Well, here it is! Stepped out with photos so you can create your own version! Think of the variety you can achieve with this simple pattern; different chain, several chains, different colors of suede and leathers and so many different buttons to make comfortable, durable hand crafted jewelry with.

What you need; 1 Shank button 1 Shell bead (the one I used is widely available from retail craft and bead shops) 7 to 8 inches 5mm Brown Suede leather strapping from Lilysoffering.etsy.com 4 to 5 inches 6mm Weathered Patina brass chain from moi 8 to 10 inches 22 gauge dead soft antiqued sterling silver wire Scissors Chain nose pliers Round nose pliers Flush cutters

Step 1 - Decide on the measurement for the completed bracelet. The bracelet shown is 7.5". Cut 4' of the 22 gauge antiqued sterling silver wire and create a wire-wrapped loop on the button shank.

Step 2 - Slide on the shell bead and wire-wrap the opposite side of the wire to the 4' piece of patina-ted chain. Step 3 - To create a nice fit of looped suede over the button, I test before knotting by holding the suede over the button. Keeping your fingers where the button measured on the suede, tie an overhand knot and pull the knot towards the open ends of the suede to tighten it.

Step 4 - Once the suede loop is formed and slides easily over the button, place the two lose ends of suede into the last link of the patina-ted chain and fold them over. Hold out your bracelet to make sure the folded section of suede is on the inside of the bracelet.

Step 5 - Cut another 4' piece of the sterling silver wire and wrap it tightly over the folded suede. To do this evenly, I start with the middle of the wire and wrap both ends simultaneously until I come to the ends of the wire. Tuck the sharp ends of the wire into the wire-wrapping with your chain nose pliers to prevent the wearer from being scratched.

You're done! Add dangling beads from the chain and the suede for a fancier version or just enjoy the simpler version as I am. You could also add large holed beads to the doubled section of the suede before wire-wrapping the ends to the chain or weave a thin silk ribbon into the chain links for an added punch of color!

Have a great time creating! Much Love & Respect, Shannon missficklemedia.com

"

Hope you enjoyed

My Wish List of Tools for Making Jewellery

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:22:00 +0000

I suppose I should tell you how much I love making lists. I make lists for everything, I probably have at least 2 lists running each day. I suppose its a little OCD, but I can't do anything important unless its on a list.

So, I thought it was about time I put digital pen to virtual paper and made a "Wish List" of tools I'd like to buy before Christmas this year. Hopefully, anything I don't buy for myself will make it to my Christmas Wish List.

I've been told I'm difficult to buy for!!? Isn't it typical that you can always think of things you'd like months before the event, or just days after, but never when you're asked!

So, I hereby present:

Karen's Wish List for Tools
•Chasing hammer & texture hammers
•Butane torch, Steel sheet, fire block and fire blanket (necessary, I'm a fire hazard!)
•Toaster oven for polymer clay
•Beadsmith Mandrels
•texture sheets and moulds for polymer clay

Some of these thing on my list are in the order of "you can never have too many..." You know the stuff - You can never have too many texture sheets, moulds, czech glass, brass (or copper for that matter). Greedy I know, but nobody's perfect. LOL

Do you have a Wish List? Let me know, I'd like to hear what's on your list!

- Posted using BlogPress from my new iPhone

kate tracton designs: Welcome to my shop.

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 22:47:00 +0000

Please head over to Kate's new shop, It's very well thought out and a pleasure to view.

kate tracton designs: Welcome to my shop.: "Years ago, an accident provided me an opportunity to explore the process of creating jewelry as works of art. From the early days of simply ..."

Sharing - From missficklemedia.com - The Bead Smith Mandrel

noreply@blogger.com (Karen M) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:27:00 +0000

I was browsing through my Google Reader account today and I spotted this post on Art Bead Scene Blog by Shannon (AKA missficklemedia.com). Shannon's post certainly made me rethink my Wish List of Tools... a torch instead of a kiln (for now, lol)...a decent toaster oven instead of a dedicated full-sized oven...a dedicated craft room...then again I still want the craft room, lol. Anyway have a read of Shannon's blog post while I go off and order a Bead Smith Mandrel, just like Shannon. Regards Karen M

The Bead Smith Mandrel: "I bought this;

It was a consolation purchase for not being able to buy this;

I was able to make this with my inexpensive shape maker;

Isn't that awesome!?! I am thinking about wire-wrapping beads to the inside of the links and tying on ribbons to the last links in this particular segment to complete a necklace, but I am eager to get back to shaping metal into large links with my new mandrel that I can solder together for long dramatic chains!
I Heart This Tool!
Much Love & Respect,
Shannon