A Bit of Halloween Humor....

..and a new Halloween necklace, too. I'm not usually a Halloween aficionado. But this year, after making the charm necklace shown in my last post, I decided a themed necklace was in order. I found lots of small bits that lent themselves to it, like the little ghosts and beaded yo yos. And I purchased a few charms from a bead supplier to add in. I need to get a larger jewelry form- this one make the necklace look gigantic. It doesn't really ride that far out on my shoulders! That WOULD be scary.  

You can see a few more of the charms in this close-up. There's a message-in-a-bottle charm from the class I took. It's says "Best Day Ever- 2018- Goatfeathers Studio". I've told our instructors that their classes are quite often the best day ever- so much fun. The little potion bottle was also from the class but did not wind up on the class project. It fits here very nicely. I've been playing with making Shrinky Dinks charms, and you can see the eye on one of them peeking out. She does not look very happy to see us.

I also added beaded felt balls, witch's shoes, and more Shrinky Dinks. The face is one made from fabric featuring the Ghastlies- a delightfully creepy family in the mode of the Addams Family. I was able to transfer the face onto the shrink plastic, bake it, and wind up with a perfectly Ghastlie little charm for my necklace. These are such fun to create. Of course, Christmas is coming! I'm already thinking about a third necklace for that holiday.

"Got catnip?", these two trick or treating kittens want to know. I saw this project idea at Rainbow's End quilt shop, Dunedin, FL. The shop was selling the paper image sewn onto theme fabric at a recent quilt show for just a couple of dollars. I bought two, and added further embellishments. Then the piece is mounted on canvas board and displayed on a plate rack. Their creative idea, my embellishing. But I can certainly make my own with images for other holidays and events, and plan to.

 This one made me laugh out loud- "Surprise me," the pumpkin in a barber chair says trustingly to the carving knife! I added a sparkly yo yo, rick rack, ribbon, and a fiber bundle to this one.

Throw in a few pumpkins and an autumn garland, and maybe I'm more of a Happy Halloween person than I thought!

A Bit of Southern Charm...

DIY projects are just the ticket in my book! So when I got a chance to take a class in making charm jewelry, I jumped right in. This charm-loaded necklace was the result, and I'm so happy with it!

It has a wide assortment of charms, 14 of which we learned to make in the class. This close-up shows a bottle cap charm, one made from a bit of tape measure, a wrapped fiber bead, a wire bird's nest complete with eggs, and two of my mandala drawings turned into shrink plastic charms.

And here you can see a sewing machine bobbin turned charm, a pom pom charm, and just behind the mandala is a silver thimble with ribbon extensions. We were provided with the chain necklace to which we added our charms.

Our instructors, Celeste and Merri of Goatfeathers Studio, suggested that we assemble the necklace by placing it on a jewelry display form. We could then design and balance out our charm arrangement in a pleasing way. You can see some of their work along with student work at the link above.

Here's what goes into the charm making- a table full of bits, pieces, and tools. We learned Jump Rings 101, and how to form tidy loops with wire to attach the charms.

We needed wire nippers, flat and needle-nose pliers along with a way to keep our charms in order. We were at about 11 charms in the photo above when it was time to break for lunch.

And what a lunch! Our instructors were also hostesses/chefs, and provided a lovely chicken on salad meal. They have such flair! That spooky silver hand held my napkin. The entire feast was presented with Halloween table accents.

Merri and Celeste had more than a dozen of their necklaces on display to spark our creativity. They've been busy making, and have taught this class several times to various sewing and fiber groups, so have lots of samples.





The metal tag and wooden spool were given to us to create more charms for future jewelry. My plan is to make more shrink plastic charms to include as well. I missed the entire shrink plastic decade, so am catching up now! There is a bit of a learning curve to achieve the results I'm aiming for, but more on that in another post.

I loved the bird's nest so much, I made another to have ready. The other five charms were part of our lesson and may be part of my class project eventually. But I ran out of right-size jump rings to attach them. There may be a Halloween necklace in the works, and perhaps a Christmas one, too. While working to complete this necklace, several others were inventing themselves in my mind. One thing I've learned is that I have many interests, and every one of them requires its own set of supplies and tools. No wonder I'm always trying to tame the chaos in the sewing room!