Invite Your Partner Swap

The fabulos pinkmichk invited me to swap with her in the Invite Your Partner Swap on Craftster WAAAAY back in July.  I posted only a few photos of the amazing things she sent to me on Monday since the pictures I took way back when seem to have disappeared... 

Here are the things that I sent to her...

A crayon roll that I made for her son

 

A few sets of note cards cut with my Silhouette Cameo.  I quite like how the top three turned out.

 

A beaded Kumihimo bracelet done in pinks which is her favorite color.

 

Two stenciled shirts from some of her favorite fandoms. A Harry Potter and Hunger Games mashup and  Doctor Who featuring the tenth Doctor and the TARDIS.

 

Finally a key fob done in what reminded me of a race flag.

 

Since these things were made months ago I don't have links to all the sources but could track them down if anyone is interested.  I know I found the pattern for the Crayon Roll on Skip to My Lou, and the Doctor Who pattern is from a free pumpkin carving pattern I found online somewhere.

12 Days of Christmas

Monday I got to show off all the awesome goodies that I received in the Mini 12 Days of Christmas swap and now I am going to show off the goodies I sent.  My partner super spoiled me and I hope that what I sent was loved even if it wasn't as much as I received.

The first thing I made was a reusable advent calendar.  I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the design I used on the back.

 

Then I used lots of festive papers to decorate each box.  It was then filled with a few Kisses for each day.

 

I stitched up these mini hoops to be used as ornaments for her tree. 

The pattern is from Kimberly Ouimet on Etsy

 

I have been collecting wine corks to try out some new crafts and decided to make a few ornaments.

 I of course also had to make some jewelry!  I love the way this winter themed cluster pendant turned out.

 

Also a braided Kumihimo bracelet done in Christmas colors.

 

I made this fun felt banner using pre-cut snow flakes and felt circles.  I sewed the snowflakes to the circle by hand then used my sewing machine to get them on the ribbon.  The felt pieces were purchased from Pitterpattery

 

Two fun snowman magnets made from a kit I purchased at Retro Cafe Art Gallery.

 

I stitched up this cute coffee hoop using a free pattern from Wild Olive

 

And of course since note cards are my new favorite thing to make she got a set.  The Thank You cards are my favorite!

 

She had this super cute Santa wreath pinned so I sent that along too.  It's wrapped in yarn and I created the belt with ribbon and the buckle is paper cut with my Silhouette.

 

My partner also had these super cute felt houses pinned.  The Etsy seller actually sells the houses fully assembled.  I messaged her and she was nice enough to sell me a set of unassembled houses that I could put together myself.  These were also purchased from Pitterpattery

 

It's crazy that Christmas is about a week away.  The month has flown by!  I still have lots of Christmas things to share!

Halloween Bling

I am still in shock that Halloween is in a few days.  Before you know it Christmas will be here!     (((((YAY))))))

To me November 1st is really the start of the holiday season.  I am ready to start pulling out the decorations, drinking cocoa with the kids, baking, and watching our favorite Christmas movies.  It's a time of tradition and making memories that I hope my kids will continue to do with their kids.  But before I jump ahead of myself I want to share the last of the Halloween stuff with you all.  

Rounding out the package I sent to quaggy in the Mini 13 Days of Halloween swap is a mess of jewelry pieces.  I seem to always make one or two pieces for each partner when I swap.  I may have gone a bit overboard this time but I couldn't help myself!

I found these awesome Jack O' Lantern beads online that just had to be turned into a stretch bracelet.

 

I think this pendant is probably my favorite of the group.  It's simple but gorgeous!  Look at how cute that little spider is!

 

I of course had to make a braided Kumihimo bracelet since these seem to be my new addiction in crafting.  A fellow Craftster pointed out that it looks like Indian corn and she's right!  It really does look like Indian Corn,

 

Last but not least is a Halloween junk pendant.  There are kinds of charms, bits, and bobs on this one.  I bought a little kit from Amazon that had all the elements in it but anyone could use bits from their stash to make something unique.

 

I have put my Halloween supplies away until next year and pulled out my Holiday themed goodies.   I will have lots of things to share next week.

Kumihimo Braided Bracelets

I have been wanting to try Kumihimo braiding for a very long time.  The jewelry that can be made is just gorgeous but I was always afraid to try it since it looked so complicated.  I decided to watch some Youtube vidoes to get an idea of how to make the bracelets and realized that it’s really not that complicated!  I ordered up some supplies and whipped up my first bracelet in no time.

For your first bracelet I recommend using some thicker cord of some kind.  I used satin cord that I purchased on Etsy

 

Here is one that Adia made

Once I had mastered the basic 8 strand braid I decided to try doing a braid with beads.  I had a little trouble finding the right kind of cord at first but after doing some more research I settled on S-lon Cord #18.  You can burn the ends which makes stringing the beads much easier or you can use a collapsible eye needle to help string them. 

All the tutorials I watched used bobbins to wrap the strung beads around while braiding.  I found that these just get in my way and so I just tie a bead with a knot the end of my strings and let them dangle.  They do tangle up a bit but overall I prefer it.

 

I use basic round end caps that you can get at your local craft store and E-6000 glue to finish them off.

I hope this helps anyone who is intimidated by this technique to give it a try!

 

Youtube Tutorials

Supplies: 

Kumihimo Starter Kit

Satin Cord: MorrigansMagic 

S-Lon Cord

Beading Needle