Sunday, February 24, 2013

Sea Shell Pendant Tutorial

I love to collect sea shells  - I am fascinated by all the beautiful shapes, colours and textures. On our recent trip to Portugal I collected some on Barril beach, Santa Lucia


I will be running a few sea glass pendant making workshops shortly 



........and thought the shells would add some interests if the students finish their projects early.

I soaked the shells in a 50/50 mix water and bleach overnight. Next morning I left them to air dry and then rubbed some baby oil on them, to enhance the colour and finish.

Next I wire wrapped them with 24 gauge jewellery wire and added a faux pearl to one. I think they are quite pretty and yet the only cost a few pence to make. They could be hung on voile ribbon or twine if you want a sun-kissed beach look lol

an inexpensive way to preserve the memory of happy day on the beach


see you soon......and, if you have enjoyed visiting today, please leave a message or follow by email

Friday, February 22, 2013

Tattlets and painting

I have no excuse for not posting for so long, except that we have been travelling in Europe in our motorhome.

I didn't do much crafting but here a few things I did to idle away some time

this card was  a trial in combining tatting and painting on a card ......the card was going to be white but I wasn't happy with the bottom part so I added a piece of black, painted it and voila... a monochrome card 



I really enjoy painting on black card as the colours seem to pop


iT is possible to buy special paint for painting on card but I find DecoArt Americana works really well so don't feel a need to buy more paints

I also made a few tatted items.......this little tattlet




and a pair of big earrings (I used the Stumpy bookmark pattern by Kersti Anear)



Happy crafting