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Naturally Soft & Uniquely Shaped - Belle Armoire Jewelry Autumn 2019

10/3/2019

Naturally Soft & Uniquely Shaped

This custom shaped natural-soft pendant jewelry was published in Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine Autumn 2019. You can find techniques for this piece in the magazine, but I would like to share a little more details for this piece that didn't show in the magazine. I hope you will enjoy making this piece.

Crocheting around custom shaped wires

Draw a double-lined heart shape (H: 55mm x W: 45mm) on paper. Bend 20-gauge wire into the two drawn heart shapes.

Wrap copper foil tape around the heart-shaped wires.

First securing each heart’s wire ends together.

Then wrapping the two hearts together.

Using hemp cord, crochet around the heart shape until it is completely covered.

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Funny Photo Gallery

7/7/2019

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Small happiness is all around you.

Happy Shadow Robot

Cool Bus

Very Dead

This is very dead too.

I will eat many fortune cookies.

Jabba The Hutt Hill

Obama Blend

Go A's

Shiny Aliens

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Food-Coloring-Dyed suede cord jewelry - Belle Armoire Magazine Winter 2019

3/28/2019

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Food-Coloring-Dyed suede cord jewelry

This food-coloring-dyed suede cord jewelry made a cover of Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine (DEC/JAN/FEB 2019). You can find techniques for this piece in the magazine, but I would like to share a little more details for this piece that didn't show in the magazine. I hope you will enjoy making this piece.

Wrapping Stone with Cotton Crochet Thread

1. Cut eight strands of cotton crochet thread to the same 12” length.

2. Hold the threads together and tie a knot two and a half to three inches from one end.

3. On the long side of the knot, separate the eight threads into four pairs.

4. Tie a knot along each pair, approximately ¼ inch from the base knot.

5. Splaying all 8 threads from the 4 pairs on your work surface, tie together 4 new knots (again about ¼” apart) using threads not from the same pair, but from neighboring pairs.

6. Use clips to hold each pair to avoid confusing them. Repeat knotting together threads from the same neighboring pairs at your desired distance until reaching the ideal size of the net bag.

7. Place the rough cut amethyst into the net bag.

8. Grab all eight strands and make a knot as close as possible to the stone.
Braid both sides to their ends.

Making Centerpiece

Size 10 - 100% cotton Crochet Thread

28mm - 31mm rings

About 1 inch long

Wrap the braided ends of the net bag to the three rings (front)

(back)

Secure the wrap with wire along the back of the piece (back)

Use wire to secure the both sides to prevent slipping along the centerpiece (front)

(back)

Dyeing Suede Cord

1. Choose any food coloring brand.

2. Need single drops of red & blue.

3. Add 2 ounces of water.

4. Soak the ivory suede cords in a dye for 1 minute (soak longer for a stronger color).

5. Pat the cords dry with paper towels and place them on a cutting board.
To add a little color variation, spot-treat certain stretches with more or stronger dye-mixes. Rinse the cords and treated areas as desired to distribute the spread the coloration if too strong.

6. Hang the cords with clothespins to dry.

Tips: Less is better. Start with small amounts of food coloring first; you can always add more later. Remember that when the cord dries, its coloring will be stronger than when wet.

RED & BLUE Food Coloring

BLUE Food Coloring

YELLOW & GREEN
Food Coloring

RED, YELLOW, GREEN & BLUE Food Coloring

RED & BLUE Food Coloring

BLUE Food Coloring

RED Food Coloring

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How to make coffee filter treat bags

7/26/2015

This item was born out of a need to find simple, inexpensive, and green packaging for a line of beer-based soaps. I sought inspiration by walking around stores and checking out soap websites to get package and display ideas, but nothing felt right until that old adage “less is more” came to mind. Coffee filters were easy to work with, economical to buy, and, being fully recyclable, environmental.

Packaging always poses both opportunity and problem. It sets first impressions, and speaks to the quality and value of what is inside as much as does the product itself. Yet, it can also be expensive, wasteful, and all too often anti-environmental.

This durable, food-grade, and recyclable solution strikes the balance of elegance, price, and environmental consciousness. Using coffee filters offers a green option for attractively packaging small items and gift-ideal amounts of candy.

"Coffee Filter Treat Bags" was published in Green Craft Magazine Spring 2014

Coffee Filter Treat Bags - Green Craft Magazine 1

Coffee Filter Treat Bags - Green Craft Magazine 2

Coffee Filter Treat Bags - Green Craft Magazine 3

How To Make Coffee Filter Treat Bags

This is an easy, inexpensive and environmental way to make many small treat bags. It might be too obvious to explain how to make it, but I'll show you what materials I used and give you some tips.

Size #4 Coffee Filters
I like this size #4 coffee filters. The size #2 is too small and the size #6 is too big for my sample size bar soap. This is a perfect size for my small soaps.