Seasonal Welcome Kits

 Hi Everyone!

Last year I designed this huge order for Herrschners.  For each season, I designed a wall hanging, a tissue cover and a set of coasters in a box.  The coordinated sets each have a border of a quilt motif with colors and style appropriate to the season.

Here's the set for winter:

Look for these kits on herrschners.com under plastic canvas. There's a whole year of stitching for you!

Summer Entertaining with Gwen Studios

 Ahoy, maties!

This month with Gwen Studios we have a nautical theme.  I have some red and white grosgrain ribbon with which to design, and I found this cute wood lighthouse-style birdhouse at Michaels.  It will make the perfect centerpiece for my table.  Michaels also carries the ribbon I used here.

Here's the ribbon I received from Gwen Studios:

To begin, I painted the lighthouse with white acrylic paint.

Next, I sanded it and gave it a wash of gray acrylic paint to soften the white. I painted it with red and blue acrylic accents and glued some ribbon around it.  I also wrapped twine around the posts on top.

Here are a few more ribbon ideas for your table:

Add ribbon to a small bucket and use it for your cutlery.

Wrap ribbon around the top of picks or bamboo skewers and use them for appetizer picks, skewers or decorations.

Use two sizes of stars, paint the smaller one and glue them to a short piece of ribbon for napkin rings.

Now I'm all set for summer entertaining!

Here are the links for the ribbon available at Michaels:

For the Bows: https://www.michaels.com/white-and-red.../D582244S.html

Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon 3/8": https://www.michaels.com/gwen-studios-3.../D582242S.html

Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon 3/8" (other style): https://www.michaels.com/gwen-studios-3.../D582245S.html

Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon 5/8": https://www.michaels.com/gwen-studios-5.../D582241S.html

More bows: https://www.michaels.com/red-and-white.../D582243S.html

Head on over to the Designer Crafts Connection blog to see more fun ideas!

Painted Desert Necklace

 Hi Everyone!

I'm excited to share that I have a new necklace design up on the Interweave site.

I had a lot of fun creating this.  I like to combine and contrast different materials so this necklace combines ceramic, gemstone, glass, coral and wood beads.  The necklace is strung on cord with a few easy overhand knots thrown in for spacing, so it's a simple style to create. The off-center clasp is a jasper toggle that I've been holding in my stash for quite a few years, and I was happy to finally find it a good home in this piece.

You can find the pattern on Interweave with all the details on materials and instructions.  Have fun!

Button Chain Bracelet

 Hi Everyone!

Today I'll show you how to make a button chain bracelet with some super cute flower buttons.  These button are from Dress It Up and are called Happy Little Flowers.  

You'll need the buttons, 6mm jump rings and a clasp. The tools needed are two pairs of pliers - needle nose or flat-nose work best.

To open jump rings, grasp each side of the jump ring with pliers with the cut in the ring facing up.  Twist your pliers to open.  To close the jump ring, grasp the sides again and twist back to the closed position.  You should hear a small click as it goes back into place.

First, open all your jump rings.  This bracelet can be adjusted in size easily by subtracting or adding more buttons.  For an 8" bracelet, you'll need 33 jump rings.

Next, add two jump rings to each flower.  I used 10 flowers for the 8" bracelet.

Once you have done this for each flower, connect them with jump rings. To add more stability to the chain, you can add another jump rings alongside the first.

Add two more jump rings to one end.  To the other end, add two jump rings, and before closing, slide on the clasp.  I used a small lobster clasp.  Here's the back of the bracelet to show the rings.

And, here's the finished bracelet.

Doesn't that just make you smile!  I know all my granddaughters will want one.  And, it's a great project for them to learn how to use jump rings.  What buttons will you use for your bracelet?

Thanks to Dress It Up buttons for sending me supplies to use in my designs.  Stop by their site and see the amazing array of buttons.

And, for a little companion piece, try these Happy Little Flower earrings.