More DIY jewelry & getting ready for the festival

There’s only a few days left until ravenswing – Sunday, May 29 from 10am – 4pm! Be there! It will be great and fun. Great fun!

My life has been saved thanks to a friend who was kind enough to drop off a sewing machine for me to borrow. I’m so excited to be able to get started on the aprons and wall organizers. Everything’s ready to go, so I’ll be getting started on that tomorrow.

While I decided to save the sewing for tomorrow, I still got quite a bit accomplished tonight. I prepared my business/product cards to hold my earrings, pushing the earrings through the cards… I did something similar for a few pairs of feather earrings… and I finished another button necklace:

 

I already explained, in a previous post, how I made the button earrings. I made the feather ones by attaching feathers to three-sided earring clasps with hot glue. To make sure everything stays in place, clamp the two outer edges into the middle. Finish them off by attaching the desired type of earring hook. I added a little something extra to a few of the pairs by putting a few links of thin chain between the clasp holding the feathers and the earring hook. There are lots of ways to experiment with earrings… Try it!

I finished off my business/product cards by adding short lengths of hemp string and writing the name of the blog on the front. On the back I included my website, email address and name. I had to experiment with a few different pens (I know, such excitement..!), and finally decided on a gel pen to avoid any bleeding of ink. I’m really happy with how they turned out.

Anyway, things are actually starting to come together. I’m really excited to see how the aprons and wall organizers turn out. The aim is to have everything done by Friday, so that I’m ready to bake my Saturday away to oblivion.

More to come soon!

DIY button necklace & homemade business cards

Well, my sewing machine has temporarily failed me again. I was all optimistic after my last post because I got the bobbin holder to stay in place. Now, though, it turns out the bobbin holder is missing a “notch” or “groove”, necessary to keep the tread in the right place while sewing. Anger! Rage! Okay, it’s not that bad, but I’m bummed that I won’t get to sell many sewn things at ravenswing next weekend…

On a more positive note, I did get a few crafts done today for next weekend’s DIY festival. I finally found a way to successfully make a button necklace that stays together well. I “simply” wove a long piece of medium-thickness metal wire though the button holes. I have “simply” in quotes for a good reason, though – it takes a long time to do this well and is very finicky. I had previously made this type of necklace by weaving a stretchy plastic string through the button holes, then lining the back with a thin wire attached by hot glue. This method will eventually fail and fall apart. It’s far better to spend the extra time to weave with wire from the beginning. I would recommend a pair of needle nose pliers to help keep the wire in place while you’re feeding it though the button holes.

Aside from the button necklace, I also got started on making some business and product cards to be attached to the items I’ll be selling at the festival. I used water colours on plain tags that can be found at any office supply store (around $4-$5 for 100 tags). I tried to use a colour/style similar to that of the blog and will write the price, website, etc on with a fancy pen once they’ve dried. Attach them to the product with some ribbon and you’re set! I think this is a great way to make sure people know who they’re purchasing from, without having to spend to spend very much at all. It’s simple and definitely goes with the theme of the festival – DIY.