Christmas Layovers, Part 2

Note: I clearly intended to post this 2 years ago, but hey, why not now?

--LJE

Hello, Readers! Today, I will show you the beaded projects I made for holiday gifts and one necklace I made for myself with the leftovers!

I showed you my supplies and methods before, but here's something I bought to make beading easier for only about $6 which is absolutely amazing--a beading board. Everything is so much easier. You can measure more easily, lay out your design, and use the recesses for seed beads and findings.

I made three necklaces:

I also made bookmarks, 2 of each kind: 

The bookmarks were very easy. Using beading pliers,  I opened, attached, and closed a jump ring to each shepherd's hook bookmark. For each one I opened one end of an eye pin and put on my beads. I closed the eye pin around the jump ring and voila! 

These projects were fun in the making, but also in the choosing of beads with the recipients in mind: colors, designs, styles, etc. I ended up with lots of leftover seed beads and decided it would be fun to try to make a two string necklace with seed beads. I think I have a lot to learn about technique for this type of necklace, but I'm enjoying the finished product. 

That's all for now, friends! 

--Lael

Christmas Layovers, Part 1

Note: I clearly intended to post this 2 years ago, but hey, why not now?

--LJE

Howdy, Everyone! It's been awhile! The holidays were super busy, and in this post and my next one, I'll show you why!

I made my own holiday cards this year and a bunch of beaded gifts for my friends. In this post I'll show you several of the steps to make my finished cards. I chose to make postcards because, that way, I wouldn't have to buy seals or use envelopes and cheaper postage! It was much easier to "assemble" the cards and mail them out once I had them finished than ever before. And, the entire endeavor cost me about half as much as my usual cards.

You could use Vistaprint or a bunch of other sites, but I used Staples. I was really impressed with the quality of the finished cards. I downloaded a template from their website and drew my design in Adobe Photoshop on my Adesso Cyber Tablet. (Were I to buy a new tablet, I would buy a smaller one. A year ago I was under the incorrect assumption that there would be more of a correlation between the size of paper I would traditionally use to draw and the size of the tablet space.)

I took my inspiration from folio 17r of the Ingeborg Psalter and created a loose adaptation. Here are a few stages of the development...You can see I made a few changes as I went along.

 

That's a wrap for today! Tune in next time for some beaded projects!

--Lael

Grab Bag of Cool Things from a Weekend in NYC: Art, Architecture, DIY Decor, and Cuisine!

Howdy, Friends! Today I share some nifty stuff from my weekend in NYC to inspire you! 

This is part of the mural at Tu-Lu's Gluten-Free Bakery! I'm in love!

The decor in the Yaffa Cafe was quite eclectic.                                                                                   

While walking I saw this weathered gem. 

You know I love architecture! 

 I just love this view in Abe Lebewohl Park. 

This guy just made me happy! 

Ahh, now to the cool DIY part of this post! We stayed with my architecture student friend, and I just love how she decorated her apartment! So simple, clean, and DIY! 

 I'd seen this before, but it looks so cool in practice!

On Sunday, we brunched at Queens Comfort which had a very different type of decor than the Yaffa Cafe and my friend's apartment. 

This was the painting in the bathroom. 

Never had ice tea with brown sugar in it! I think I liked it! 

That's all for this week!

--Lael

Don't feel like baking this holiday season? What about making candy? (sort of)

A few Christmases ago I "made" some peppermint chocolate candy for a special someone. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have any pictures.

I bought a few cheap molds, special chocolate for the molds, red and white sugar, and peppermint oil. I sprinkled the sugar into the the molds. Then, I melted the chocolate using a double boiler. I stirred in a small amount of peppermint oil. I finished by pouring the melted chocolate into the molds. And voila! Once it hardens you have yummy candy you can just pop out of the molds.

Here are some cool videos from YouTube which describe the process in more detail and show some cool designs. You can buy the supplies at craft stores like Joann's. Here are some Wilton products that are pretty easy to find: Candy Melts, Candy Molds, and Candy Tools.

There are, of course, many more sophisticated ways to go either on your own or with kits. Check out the Alpine Pal Candy Pretzel Pops from Wilton (pictured below).

http://www.wilton.com/idea/Alpine-Pal-Candy-Pretzel-Pops

Sweet Eating and Melting, 

Lael

Sketching for Your Vote...

Something a bit different today, but it's arty because I drew it. ;-)

Hurricane and Painting

Howdy from Hurricane Sandy! Survived the storm with just a leaky roof. Not much text for you today, but here are some photos I took of a painting my grandmother painted! I really like it. Some with flash and some without to show color/texture variations. Makes me want to do a work on canvas...

--Lael

 

Weeknight Beading Project

Howdy, Jewelry Lovers! Remember this bead below from an earlier post? I went on about how you can make a quick necklace with one large bead, string, and a clasp.

Although I liked this necklace, the bead turned out to be too heavy for the thin string, so when I went back to Bedazzled, I bought some more beads to make a fuller  necklace and transformed it into this.

Here are the supplies I used: small pliers for beading, scissors, Bedazzled Tortoise Mix Matte Czech 6 seed beads, assorted Bedazzled specialty beads, Bedazzled antique copper lobster clasps with split rings, Bedazzled Natural antique copper clamshell bead tips, Silk No. 10 by Griffin, and a coaster!

I like this string, especially for a quick project or for someone who doesn't bead often and is low on funds/supplies. This string comes with a beading needle for the use of the string. Normally, I don't use bead tips, but after my last collapse (and running down a hallway after my large bead), I decided to use them this time. First, I tied a knot on the end of the string without the needle.

Next, I put the knot inside the bead tip and used the pliers to close it tightly. I then attached the lobster claw to the other side of the bead tip and used my pliers again.

I liked most of the seed beads in this mix, but did not want to use the dark purples, so I separated those and set the ones I wanted to use on the coaster. The coaster helped separate, but also made it easier to string the beads. Good enough until I have more beading supplies!

I think it is probably best practice to set out your beads first, but I decided the basic layout mentally, and felt that the end product would have a more fun and relaxed vibe if the seed bead colors were random rather than in a set order. I started with 20 seed beads. Then one of my smaller specialty beads (I started with 6 of those). Then 10 seed beads. Then another specialty bead and so on.

I placed the large specialty bead in the center of the necklace and repeated my pattern all the way around. At the end, I cut the string, made another knot, attached another bead tip, and finally attached the ring for the lobster claw.

My end result is a bit jazzier than my original single bead vision, but still quick, easy, and fun to make! It's always nice to have done something productive after 9pm on a weeknight!

Until next time,
Lael

PS. Here's another necklace I made after I wrote this post! The lighting was bad, but you get the idea!

Uhoh, I forgot one!

How could I forget? Well, I didn't keep up with the news myself! The Sam & Fuzzy collection, Sam & Fuzzy Under the Influence is now for sale! Written by Sam Logan, this web comic is my favorite out there right now--just don't stay up until 4am on a week night reading the archives as I have been known to do! Sam and Fuzzy books are available as bundle packs and with cool added bonuses! The book club option is especially cool!

Happy Friday,
Lael

Two Really Cool New Books If You Like Comics

This week, I'd like to share two really cool books that have been published recently. As much as I love web comics, it is still super awesome to be able to read through a book of comics in your hands. Such a different experience. In a talk at the 2011 Small Press Expo (SPX), Craig Thompson, the author of Habibi and Blankets noted that he was opposed to having his recent opus printed as an e-book. For more info on the demise of the book check out this blog post from the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and this blog about e-books. Anyway, before I get into a rant about that....

Julia Wertz's new book The Infinite Wait has been out since late September, and I can't wait to read it. If you order directly from her, which she prefers, you can order the deluxe package and will get some really cool stuff.

The Oatmeal's new book How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you is now available for purchase. If you're in the Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Atlanta, or Chicago area this week, you can see the Oatmeal in person during his book tour. In Baltimore, he'll be at the Charles Village Barnes and Noble at 7 pm on Thursday.

See you next week,
Lael

PS. Of course, I am always willing to plug my own comic, as well.

Drinking Autumn...

In honor of someone special who is no longer with us, but whose favorite month was October and who would certainly appreciate and encourage a good cocktail, I present some fall cocktails from around the web for a quick post this week. 

Check out the Pumpkin Pie Spice Martini from Food Network. 

Some friends and I had something similar last year at Rocket to Venus (and took the picture above)! 

One of the best reasons to read Cosmo? The cocktail ideas! Here are eleven ideas. I really want to try the Camarena Candy Corn Cordial! 

The Normandy on yumsugar sounds delightful. And what about Hungry Couple's Apple Pie Martini?

A toast to you and to autumn and/or cocktail lovers everywhere!

--Lael 

A Gorgeous Wedding

The weekend before last, I went to a lovely wedding of two very close friends. I wanted to share some photos of the venue which was gorgeous. There's a reason the Elm's website calls the venue "a charming place for a party." Do check out the images on the site! A nice place for an intimate wedding. My "plus one" took the pictures below, which, I hope, give you a sense of what it was like to be there at night for a wedding. Unfortunately, I don't have any info on the art yet!

Unfortunately, there was quite a glare on this image, but I think it's pretty representative of the vintage pieces at the Elm. 

I absolutely love this piece. I'll have to find out more about this work.

I actually really like that the lamp obscures the bottom of this image. The lamp is a nice piece itself, and it sort of gives you a sense of the space and makes you feel like you're in a time past.

Until next week!

--Lael