A Dozen Ways to Fill A Bezel-12 Creative Ideas for Using Bezels in Jewelry-Friday Findings

Aug 102018
 

I always find bezels intriguing.

It must be the endless possibilities for filling that they present.

ff 12 things to do with bezels (1)

Which explains why my imagination when into overdrive when Beebeecraft sent me all of these bezels to review.

oval bezel set

In fact, I quickly came up with over a dozen different ways you can use bezels in jewelry and home decorations!

sm bezel set

Here’s an overview of my list. Watch the video for more details:

  1. Photos
  2. Paper collages
  3. Scraps of special garments
  4. A lock of hair
  5. Seed beads
  6. Mini mosaics
  8. Create a pave
  9. Flat back crystals
  10. Polymer clay veneers
  11. Make Christmas ornaments
  12. Polymer clay sculpting

Watch the video for a 13th, bonus idea!

earring bezels

Clicking any of the photos will bring you to the product page at BeeBeeCraft.

Here are several of my videos that use bezels:

By the way, I briefly mentioned this rhinestone pickup tool, it worked great for sorting out those teeny nail art crystals.

Enjoy the video and happy creating!


Watch the A Dozen Ways to Fill A Bezel-12 Creative Ideas for Using Bezels in Jewelry-Friday Findings video at YouTube.

Use This Coupon Code For All The Polymer Clay Fairy Garden Tutorials You Want!

Jul 132018
 

I may have mentioned it once or twice before, but I had several polymer clay fairy garden tutorials published in Polymer Café magazine.

birdbath magazine cover

Including having my sweet little birdbath on the cover a couple years ago.

fairy garden tutorial collage

In total, there were seven fairy garden accessory tutorials and the vines and flowers pens tut. (Still one of the most popular!)

Then, sadly, the magazine ceased publication. 

acorn mailbox beauty

Which is why this cute little acorn mailbox tutorial never made it out into the world…

fairy garden mailbox en situ flattened cropped

…Until now.

Although Polymer Café is no more, which is sad, I miss it, the good news is you can now find all nine of these tutorials in downloadable PDF format in my Etsy shop, Keepsake Crafts Create.

lamppost beauty 2 contrast

Just last week I finished editing and updating the final one, this darling, glow-in-the-dark fairy lamppost. 

All of the tutorials have essentially the same information as in the magazine, but most have been updated with more or clearer photos, more detailed steps and more information. 

As a special offer to my subscribers, I’m offering 20% off your entire order of tutorials through Monday, July 16th.  

Use coupon code FAIRY20 for 20% off any and all of the tutorials you want to try.

Downloadable PDFs mean you can make your purchase now, and have the tutorial in your hot little hands right away! You’ll be ready to create whenever you want.

I hope you’ll enjoy the tutorials and the discount.

Happy creating!

Wire Jewelry Masterclass By Abby Hook-Book Review-Friday Findings

Jun 292018
 

Have you ever come across a book that perfectly suited your learning style, skill level and your taste?

This book, Wire Jewelry Masterclass by Abby Hook, has been that kind of experience for me.

ff wire jewelry masterclass review cover

If you are someone who enjoys learning from books, especially if you like going through them step-by-step, one page at a time, one project at a time, then you are going to love developing your wire wrapping skills with Abby.

In today’s video I will not only give you a taste of what is in the book and my opinions, I will also show you all of the jewelry that I have made using her tutorials.

It’s quite the pile. Even I was surprised once I gathered it all together.

wire jewelry masterclass earrings

Here are some earrings back when they were freshly made and still shiny. And a ring, which I didn’t like and took apart.

Here are a some of my favorite tools and materials to use in wire wrapping:

Have you tried wire wrapped jewelry? Is is something you want to learn?

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

P.S. I’ll be taking the month of July off from tutorials on my YouTube channel.  Don’t picture me lying on a beach for the month, though! I’ve rapidly filled up my schedule with all the things I’ve been putting off because I can’t seem to get to them in a regular week, lol.

Watch the Wire Jewelry Masterclass By Abby Hook-Book Review-Friday Findings video at YouTube.

Glow Pebbles Hollow Beads or Necklace Pendants, Glow-In-The-Dark Polymer Clay Jewelry Tutorial

Jun 262018
 

If you enjoy my designs, then perhaps, like me, you love creating distinctive and unusual pieces to wear.

Today’s project combines a beautiful fanciful design with an unexpected element: It glows in the dark!

glow pebbles cover

My first thought was to make these into necklace pendants, but then I walked into a dark room and saw them glowing on the table and thought they’d be so cute:

  • Tucked here and there in a fairy garden
  • Placed in pretty bowls about the house
  • Positioned on a night table for a soft comforting glow (for a child, or anyone who needs a little gentle light in the night)

glow pebbles insta (3)

This is the chart provided by PolyClayPlay on their glow powders:

Color: Brightness: Endurance: Particle Size:
Green 10 14+ Hour Dust
Aqua 9 12+ Hour Fine
Blue 7 8+ Hour Fine
Purple 5 6+ Hour Fine

 

In my pieces I didn’t find that even the green glowed much longer than an hour. However, I did NOT carefully measure my powders or my clay. So it’s likely that if you add them in the correct ratios, you’ll get better results.

I’ll have to try doing that sometime, lol.

Let me know what ways you can think for making use of these sweet little glow pebbles. I just love having them around, they’re pretty and fascinating to look at.

glow pebbles insta (1)

These would also be fun to try lighting up from the inside with LED lights. That may be a topic for an upcoming Friday Findings video.

Here’s the article I mentioned by Ginger Davis Allman on conditioning Pardo Translucent clay.

Tools and Materials:

Enjoy the video. Happy creating!

Watch the Glow Pebbles Hollow Beads or Necklace Pendants, Glow-In-The-Dark Polymer Clay Jewelry Tutorial video at YouTube.

Make Your Polymer Clay GLOW with Glow-In-The-Dark Powders-Friday Findings

Jun 222018
 

Making things that glow in the dark is always a fun prospect.

It kind of brings you back to your childhood.

ff gitd polymer clay

A couple years ago I got the idea to make these cute little fairy lamp posts with the flower lights that glow in the dark.

lamppost beauty 2

However, I was disappointed in the glow capabilities of the Sculpey glow-in-the-dark clay.

Since I’m rewriting the tutorial for the lamp posts I decided to investigate other ways to make polymer clay glow.

lamppost lights out

In today’s video I will show you how glow-in-the-dark powders from PolyClayPlay compare with the Sculpey glow-in-the-dark polymer clay kit.

Here are a few of the things I show in the video:

Although I don’t have the lamp post tutorial re-written yet, I do have several other fairy garden accessory tutorials available as downloadable PDF’s in my Etsy shop.

If you haven’t already, sign up to receive email notifications whenever I publish a new tutorial.

Enjoy the video and happy creating!


Watch the Make Your Polymer Clay GLOW with Glow-In-The-Dark Powders-Friday Findings video at YouTube.

Which Adhesive is Strongest For Polymer Clay? Polybonder, Super Glue or TLS? Friday Findings

Jun 152018
 

This week several orders of glue came in and it got me to thinking about the different types of glue we use in different applications: jewelry making, beading, polymer clay and other crafty things.

In fact, there are so many adhesives out just for jewelry making that Fire Mountain Gems made a chart of all of them.

ff polybonder super glue or TLS

I was especially thinking of Polybonder versus Super Glue, as I was out of Polybonder for a while and missed using it in my projects (silly me didn’t put the cap back on tightly.)

Polybonder is a glue formulated for use with polymer clay by Lisa Pavelka, who is a big name in the polymer clay world. It sets instantly, like Super Glue, but it’s made to withstand baking up to 300° F.

I’ve been given to understand that Super Glue gets brittle after being subjected to those temperatures.

For some reason I was in the mood to test it out. So I grabbed a few samples and did a not-entirely-scientific test.

No worries Ginger Davis Allman, I will NOT be taking over your work anytime soon! I don’t have the patience or desire to do all the careful controls and samples that you include in your testing.

While I was at it, I decided to test Translucent Liquid Sculpey, too. 

Watch the video to see the results.

Here are links to a few things from the video:

Happy creating!

Watch the Which Adhesive is Strongest For Polymer Clay? Polybonder, Super Glue or TLS? Friday Findings video at YouTube.

Silk Ribbon Jewelry-How To Create Darling Embroidery Pendants, Tutorial Pt 2 of 2

Jun 122018
 

In part one of this series I showed how to design and create cute little scenes using silk ribbon, beads and simple embroidery stitches.

This is such a relaxing and fun pastime, I hope you give it a try.

silk ribbon pendants 2 of 2 cover copy

In today’s video I will show how to take your embroidered scene and fit it into a bezel so you can wear it as a necklace or other jewelry.

We’ll cover:

  • How to deal with round forms
  • How to create an easy miter for a clean finish on square or rectangular shapes
  • How I dealt with an usual style bezel frame.
  • **As a bonus I’ll show you my very first piece of silk ribbon embroidery! (Be prepared to wince.)

In case you missed it, you’ll find part one here: 

Silk Ribbon Jewelry-It’s Easier Than You Think! Simple Embroidery, Pretty Pendants, Tutorial Pt 1 of 2

Tools and Materials:

Those of you who are patrons, don’t forget that I have the sketches available to you for download at https://www.patreon.com/sandysewin/posts.

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the Silk Ribbon Jewelry-How To Create Darling Embroidery Pendants, Tutorial Pt 2 of 2 video at YouTube.

Watch part 1:  Silk Ribbon Jewelry-It’s Easier Than You Think! Simple Embroidery, Pretty Pendants, Tutorial Pt 1 of 2

How Tool Magic Can Help With Jewelry Making and Polymer Clay Sculpting Tools-Friday Findings

Jun 082018
 

Have you ever bought a product for something, realized it didn’t do what you’d expected, set it on a shelf, then one day discovered it was actually quite for something else?

It happens to me all the time, lol.

ff tool magic (2)

The good news for you is, not only did I recently rediscover this jar of Tool Magic, I figured out lots of different ways (besides the main advertised one) to use it. 

Watch the video to see all of my ideas, and feel free to chime in the comments with your suggestions.

By the way, using this stuff to keep my plier handles securely in place?

It worked PERFECTLY!

I’m so thrilled to not have my tool sleeves slipping all over the place anymore.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch the video for  a demonstration.

  • You can find Tool Magic on Amazon, and also in your local craft stores.
  • The beading project I show in the video is the Kalahari Oasis Lariat, from Carol Cypher’s African Helix Stitch 101 course on Interweave.
  • Ooooo, I just had another idea: What about coating the bottoms of things you want to be non-skid?
  • Please share your creative ideas!

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the How Tool Magic Can Help With Jewelry Making and Polymer Clay Sculpting Tools-Friday Findings video at YouTube.

How To Quickly Convert Your Pin To A Necklace Pendant With Brooch Converters-Friday Findings

Jun 012018
 

Although I had heard of brooch converters before I didn’t really think about them much until recently.

ff brooch converters

And when I started thinking about them more carefully I realized all the exciting new possibilities with just my own small collection of brooches.

Hope you find them as helpful as I know I will!

Here are links to the things I showed/mentioned in the video:

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the How To Quickly Convert Your Pin To A Necklace Pendant With Brooch Converters-Friday Findings at YouTube.

Silk Ribbon Jewelry-It’s Easier Than You Think! Simple Embroidery, Pretty Pendants, Tutorial Pt 1 of 2

May 292018
 

I’ve enjoyed hand embroidery since I was a little girl of around eight or nine years old.

So when I first encountered the concept of doing those same stitches I had made with wool and floss, but instead using silk ribbon, I was intrigued

silk ribbon pendants 1 of 2 cover

This was about 20 years ago and I wasn’t into jewelry making then, but I sure did have fun embellishing lots of garments and home dec!

Then the kind folks at Thread Nanny contacted me and wanted to know if I would like to use some of their ribbons in my videos.

And so I took another look at the possibilities for silk ribbon, especially in jewelry as that is where my focus is these days. It was a lot of fun finding cute bezels and sketching out charming little scenes.

I especially delighted in adding beaded and embroidery floss embellishments.

Harlow hoop

By the way, here’s a secret I didn’t think to mention in the video: that blue oval hoop I use for embroidery? It’s the same one I used as a little girl!

In fact, it even has my maiden name engraved on it, lol.

I hope you give designing and creating your own little silk ribbon scenes a try, it’s fun, relaxing and very satisfying.

Be sure to watch for Part 2 of the tutorial, where I’ll show how to finish your embroidered pieces.

Tools and Materials:

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Watch the Silk Ribbon Jewelry-It’s Easier Than You Think! Simple Embroidery, Pretty Pendants, Tutorial Pt 1 of 2 video at YouTube.

Part 2 is up now: Watch the Silk Ribbon Jewelry-How To Create Darling Embroidery Pendants, Tutorial Pt 2 of 2 video at YouTube.

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