Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Boekenfestijn!

Ah, het boekenfestijn, ik ben er zot van :-). En deze keer kocht ik ook naaiboeken, die van op de foto's hieronder ...





Tjah, aan die prijs kon ik die echt niet laten liggen :-). Dat rokje is één van mijn volgende projectjes!

scrapbook earrings

I saw some scrapbooking supplies and I immediately thought they would make beautiful earrings. Here are the ones I made:

I really like the ones with the leaves, they're so pretty!

And yes, the background for these pictures is an article I integrated in the PhD ...

Dots and stripes, lovely!

9 pairs of earrings, made in a snap!


How did I make them? It's really easy. I used these scrapbooking supplies (see picture below), took away the metal snaps with pliers, and simply glued them on earring studs. And that's it! Super easy earrings :-)


Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

fabric covered buttons = earrings :-)

The title of this blogpost says it all: I made some earrings with fabric covered buttons, a really easy and rewarding project. It's also a great way to do somethings with scraps of fabrics you really don't want to go to waste, such as this beautiful Petit Pan black sioux oilcoth ... Some of the buttons aren't perfect, but hey, who is ;-). There's a short tutorial below the pictures in case you're interested ...






This is also a really easy and fast-going project, if you have some materials at hand. What do you need?
- earring studs
- special buttons made to be covered with your own fabric - you can find them in various craft shops
- glue (I used E6000 industrial glue)
- scraps of fabric

You start by cutting a circle bigger than your button. Usually, the package of the buttons has a little circle the size you need, and explanations on how to cover the button with fabric. Maybe it's because I used some really old buttons, or maybe it was the oilcloth, but pushing the buttons into the little rubber thingy was the hardest part of this project. Luckily, there are no pictures available of me trying to push those buttons into the holder :-).
You're almost there already! Once you have your button readdy, just glue your earring studs to the back of the button. Sometimes, there's a little plastic or metal thing for sewing your button onto a garment. You have two options: cut it away with some metal clipper, or just bend it over with a jewelry plier and glue your earring stud just above it on the base of the button (as I did). Let the glue dry overnight and ta-dah, a new, unique pair of earrings!

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Easy peasy bracelets

Titto jewelry set
 
When I saw this in a newspaper (76 euros, seriously?!?), I knew I could make something similar myself - so I did. Instead of a necklace, I decided I would make bracelets - I wear those more often.
These are really easy to whip together, in no time :-).









I don't really know if anyone needs a tutorial, but this is how I made them: I bought some leather strand (I bought 1,5 meter, which allowed me to make three of these :-) ) and used beads I had laying around.You also need a clasp, 2 jump rings and 2 clamps to hold the strands together.

Start by just cutting strands that are the size of your wrist. The strands can be a little bigger, depending on how loose you want the bracelet to be around your wrist. Do keep in mind there will be a clasp, so the bracelet will be somewhat looser, even if you take strands the size of your wrist. Take as many strands as you want: the bracelet with green beads has four, the one with the white beads has three, and I'll make another one using the two strands I have left. It's really up to you and what you like best.
Add some beads to each strand. Again, it's up to you and what you prefer. I had 5 beads per strand on the bracelet with the green beads because those are bigger, around 8 per strand on the bracelet with the white beads. You can't really go wrong here :-).
Almost finished already :-). First, you have to keep your strands together using a clamp. I then twisted the strands as I wanted, tangling them a bit. Then I attached the other ends of the strands together, again using a clamp.
At one end, I attached a little jump ring to the clamp; at the other end, I attached a little jump ring and a lobster clasp. And that's it, you're done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Another bouquet - fresh pink

Hi there!
Yesterday was another memorable day for a former colleague - yes, another PhD defense. Again, I was happy to be in charge of the bouquet given to her at the end of the defense. I more or less had carte blanche; I went to the market (on Fridays here) and got inspired by the flowers I saw. This is the result.

Preparing the canvas ;-)
Done!

Some up-close shots

It seems Maurice approves :-)
In case you're interested, I used pink and white lillies, roses and alstroemeria :-).

Thanks for stopping by!