I'm sure you know all about making rolled paper beads. I've posted paper bead projects before - here & here. Well, I was cleaning off my paint palette this weekend and I suddenly thought: why not make some beads out of all of this paint? Watch the video for the how-to: Supplies: non-stick palette covered with dried acrylic paint Matte Medium something round scissors And here's the necklace I made from the paint palette beads: The main reason to make the beads from paint instead of paper is that you don't have to seal them! There are lots of different... Read more →

Have you got 30 seconds? Then watch this video to see how to turn any t-shirt into a super cute headband -- no sewing or glue required: In essentials, cut your t-shirt... ...and then fold it up! This example is super basic, but you can get fancy by painting/dyeing the fabric. I did that with this one: It's sun printed! So, grab a t-shirt that you don't want anymore and turn it into some super cute headbands! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Check out these super cool earrings... ...that are super duper easy to make. You can watch the video tutorial below: Every time I've worn them, and I've worn them a lot, I get tons and tons of compliments from strangers. They look okay on the stands... ...but they simply sing when you put them on! They're lightweight and unique and I love them. I hope you'll make some for yourself! Thanks for stopping by! --- P.S. I am a paid spokesperson for the Brother ScanNCut. It is a machine that I love and use. All projects and opinions are my... Read more →

I finally put together the pom pom earring tutorial that I've been promising you! This video shares the basics of how to make a pom pom using the Clover pom pom maker: And then this video shares how to make the earrings: If you don't want to make pom poms, you can buy them pre-made. These are the little gold bars I used in the video. I think they really elevate the earrings and make them feel super polished. I'm off to try to find my needle nose pliers! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

I made another t-shirt for the baby. I really can't stop myself from making him cute little clothes! (He's resting on the quilt I made him just before he was born! I blogged about it in 2019: part one, part two, part three.) At first it just looks like a regular t-shirt... ...but then it glows in the dark! How fun is that?! You can find the tutorial on my YouTube channel. Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

This is one of those projects that started one way and then morphed into something else entirely. I wanted to draft a pattern for an easy summer dress to wear. After I made the pattern, I decided to sew it out of muslin before I actually moved on to "real" fabric. As it turned out, I didn't have any muslin, but I did have some Kona PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric. In the absence of muslin, I decided to use it. Once I put the "muslin" version of the dress together, it wasn't quite right and yet I found I... Read more →

One of the New Years traditions that I've adopted is Ali Edwards' "One Little Word" challenge. The idea is that instead of a list of New Years Resolutions, you choose one little word to represent your goal(s) for the new year. This year I have chosen the word: "enjoy." With a new baby in the house, I want to focus on enjoying my life rather than pushing and hustling and trying to get stuff done. As a simple reminder of my resolution, I decided to make a necklace featuring the word, "enjoy." In this video tutorial, I show you how... Read more →

My brother, who doesn't generally like anything crafty, saw a faux shibori t-shirt I made for Make It Artsy a few weeks ago and asked for one of his own. I was delighted to say, "Of course!" He gave me two shirts -- a heavy-weight long-sleeve t-shirt with a stain and a plain white t-shirt. Not one to miss out on the action, my Mom gave me an old t-shirt with an image of a samurai on it. And I threw in a t-shirt I had already dyed, but not yet "fixed." I used RIT dye -- one quarter denim... Read more →

As promised, here is the jewelry I made with my Aves Apoxie Sculpt experiments: I made three necklaces: And when I accidentally ended up with extra clay, I made this crazy ring: I used to make a ton of jewelry. In fact, I was a beader long before I was a scrapbooker or painter. Before I started blogging, I was solely a jewelry person. Over the years I have dabbled in bead weaving, lampworking, bead crochet, wire work, stringing, polymer clay, silversmithing, and lots more! The first major convention I ever attended was the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee.... Read more →

The good folks at Aves have sponsored Make It Artsy for several seasons. So many fabulous guests have come on the show and shown off amazing projects made with Apoxie Sculpt. Here are two of my favorites: After coming home from the most recent season of filming Make It Artsy, I knew that I just *had* to try it for myself. I filmed myself trying it out for the first time and making 3 pendants and a ring. You can watch the video to see how it went (BTW: The folks at Aves did not ask me to make a... Read more →