Needle Felting Experiment

I finally gave in an tried needle felting. I have been admiring all the little creatures that people have made with this technique for ages but kept telling myself that I didn't need to take up a new craft. This weekend I gave in and bought some wool roving, a few felting needles, a foam block and a wonderful needle felting book from Woolbuddy off of Amazon (kindle edition) http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D154606011&field-keywords=woolbuddies. The book has lots of instructions to make all kinds of wonderful little wool buddies and is completely suitable for beginners. I decided to make the frog since it was supposed to be one of the easiest. He took me about 1.5 hrs and I have to say that he wasn't at all hard to make! The instructions in the book are marvelous and although my little guy didn't turn out quite as good as the one in the book, I think he is smashing for a first try :-)

Woolbuddy also sells kits on etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/woolbuddy and at their website http://woolbuddy.com/. I can't wait for the Cactus Monster kit I ordered from them to arrive!

At Long Last.....

Well, it has been a long and busy summer. I have been a very negligent blogger these last few months. What with the beautiful weather and some visitors from Scotland I just haven't been very productive. But I am back on track and have started creating again so hopefully I will be doing much more posting in the future :-). Here are two necklaces I made from some extra large aluminum jump rings and some coloured rubber jump rings. They are super easy and quick to make and just so much fun! All of the supplies and the instructions are available at http://www.bluebuddhaboutique.com/. The instructions are on their blog under "Coiled Rubber Scallop Necklace and Earrings". I encourage you to give this necklace a try, especially if you are new to whole chain maille experience since it works up in about a half an hour and requires almost no skill.

Vertebrae Chain Maille Necklace with Lava Stone Pendant

Hello Everyone! As usual, it's been a while since I've been here :-). Today I have for you a vertebrae chain maille (or modified Kingscale) necklace made with bright aluminium rings I bought from The Ring Lord online at www.theringlord.com . They are a fantastic source of chain maille supplies. Their quality is always fantastic and the prices are superb. You can find many tutorials on line for the vertebrae weave but I couldn't find any free ones. I was lucky enough to be able to figure out how it was done just by looking at a photo of finished bracelet. It is a fairly simply weave so if you are familiar with chain maille you can also probably figure it out without too much difficulty. I modified it to come to a V so I could add a pendant. I chose a 1 inch square lava stone which I think finishes off the necklace nicely. I hope you like it!

Ruffle Scarf

I made this cute ruffle scarf from a pattern I bought on Ravelry a while back. The Pattern is called Verse by Alexandra Tinsley. It was pretty easy to work up although it took me a while to finish because I knit so darn slow :-). I love result, very Victorian collar-ish.

Shaggy Loops Bracelet and Necklace

 Happy Easter Everyone! I hope you the Easter Bunny brought you lots of yummy chocolate :-) I spent the Easter weekend making a jingly bracelet and necklace set using a shaggy loops chain maille technique. Tutorials for this technique can be found all over the internet for free but I have linked a particularly nice one from CGMaille here http://cgmaille.com/tutorials/shaggy.shtml. I used 4mm 18G jump rings for both the bracelet and the necklace and I also added some silver toned beads to the outside loops to give it more interest. You can make the beaded part of the necklace as long or as short as you like....it is entirely your personal preference. I think I might make another bracelet with some black beads next, or maybe some green beads for the Spring.

Crochet Wire and Bead Bracelet

Here is a cute wire and bead crochet cuff bracelet I made on the weekend using 24 gauge wire, a 5mm crochet hook, a slide clasp and about 25 beads in various colours and sizes.

Sterling Silver Chainmaille Necklace

Here is a commissioned custom made sterling silver chainmaille necklace I just finished making. It contains about 350 sterling silver rings and is made using a European 4 in 1 weave. I am really happy with how it turned out and I hope the person I made it for is too!

Ice skate Ornaments

Happy New Year! I have been so busy with Christmas that I haven't been able to post anything in a while. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season with your families and friends and did lots of crafting! One of my friends plays hockey so I made her these little hockey skate ornaments to hang on her tree. I modified a pattern a found online here http://jewelrymaking.craftgossip.com/winter-jewelry-tutorial-crocheted-ice-skates-pin/2008/12/09/ by crocheting the first 2 rows white and not adding the white at the top. I also crocheted a row of sc around the paper clip in grey for the blade.