Rachel

Commissions

Before Christmas I made a bracelet and earring set for my friend Tiffany to give to her cousin. We wanted to get together so I could teach her how to make it herself, but the schedule just didn't work out. So this became my first commissioned project. It's shockingly similar to this set made for Dawn last year. But this time I got better pictures of it.

And then last month a friend who works with Shane ordered a little purse, also shockingly similar to purses previously featured here.

It is a bit thrilling to have people like my stuff enough to buy it, and while I've contemplated opening an Etsy shop or actually doing a craft fair, I think I like crafting best as play, not work. It's more fun to create something for the first time than to make it to order. And when I'm making gifts, I don't mind spending a lot of time on it figuring it out. That's just part of the gift and part of the fun. But it's not quite the same when I'm thinking of my time as money. So, yeah. No shop for me. I'm still happy (and flattered) to take an occasional order, but this isn't anything I'm ever going to make real money off of. And I'm fine with that.

But you know what would be awesome? Bartering. I make purses, you clean my house. That kind of thing. I don't expect any takers, cause my house is a disaster and everyone knows that. But still, it's fun to dream.

Appreciation

Sam had a wonderful year in pre-K, so I wanted to do something special for the good folks took such great care of him along the way.

First was Mrs. S, his teacher. Mrs. S is that perfect combination of warmth and enthusiasm ideally suited for teaching. And she has the patience of a saint, which helps too, especially when dealing with a classroom of 4 to 5-year-olds. So when I heard her mention that she missed having a rocking chair in her classroom -- that in all her previous classrooms at other schools she'd had one -- I knew what her gift had to be.

I watched craigslist for a sturdy, inexpensive, rocking chair. It didn't take long before this little sweetheart came up. I happily shelled out $20 and brought it home.

This finish was in great shape, so painting it almost seemed inappropriate. But I did it anyway because I wanted to personalize it. Sam picked out fabric for a new cushion ($1.50 a yard), and together we decided to paint it black to match his fun jaguar print. I used scrapbook stickers to stencil the word "delphinium" on the back.

(Here's the story behind that: When we picked out seeds for our garden in early spring, Sam was smitten with delphiniums. (Unfortunately, none of the seedlings survived long enough to make it into the ground!) I'm not sure whether it was the word or the picture that intrigued him so, but for the next several weeks he mentioned them frequently, including several times at school. Mrs. S just couldn't get enough of his 4-year-old articulation, and said the word "delphinium" would forever more remind her of him. It seemed a fitting way to sign/dedicate/customize the chair without an ostentatious inscription like "Painted by Diana!")

If you view the pictures full-size you will notice the many flaws in the finish. I used spray paint, which bubbled up in several places where I hadn't sanded well enough to get all of the old varnish off. I couldn't ever get those areas smooth, even after sanding the bubbled areas and painting again. I also had some trouble distressing the edges. I like the lightly distressed look, but I found I had a hard time deciding where and how much to distress. (All the tutorials say "where the chair would wear naturally," but I still don't know what that means, exactly.) So I did some sanding and repainting and resanding.

Still, I'm pleased with the finished results. Mrs. S was too. She actually got a little teary-eyed, and said she'd never received a present like that. When she sat down, she exclaimed "It has that perfect rocking chair creak, too!" I bashfully admitted I'd tried to fix that (with some glue and finishing nails), but she said "Oh, no. You want that sound. It's perfect background noise for nap time."

I'm really glad she liked it.

My total for this project was about $25; $20 for the chair, $1.00 for fabric, another $1.00 for the cushion insert (from inside a $1.00 Salvation Army pillow), and $3.50 for a can of spray paint.

For her teacher's aide, Mrs. Mc, I made a bag in matching jaguar fabric and a set of jungle/zoo themed jewelry.

I'll admit the jewelry set was thrown together the morning of Sam's graduation, and I had my doubts about how it was going to turn out. But in the end I really liked it. I think the mixed metals and materials work well here. As an added bonus, most of what I used was from my purchased-on-clearance/handed-down-from-other-crafters stash, so my total material cost for the jewelry set was probably about $1.00. Add that to the 50 cents worth of material for the bag, and that's a pretty affordable gift!

Mrs. Mc was a little harried when Sam gave her the gift, so we didn't get to see her open it. But I hope she likes it too. I'll have to watch for her in the fall to see if I can catch her wearing it.

Speaking of harried, the gifts for Sam's bus driver and bus aid were thrown together in a hurry too. I had planned to bake a batch of cookies to take out to the bus stop for them, but decided the night before that was too boring. What good is a batch of cookies without a cute tote to deliver them in? So pulled out some fabrics from my stash and had Sam pick two.

He ended up choosing the same prints I used to make Arabella's purse (blogged here) last month. It was cute how specific he was; the polka dot pattern was for Miss K, and the flower print was for Miss Ashley.

I made the bags, two reversible totes with ribbon closures, in record time. I was so proud of myself when I finished and had them loaded with cookies a whole TEN MINUTES before the bus was scheduled to arrive. I was just taking them outside to photograph when the bus pulled up EARLIER THAN IT HAD EVER ARRIVED in my entire year of meeting the bus. So, no photos. But you can use your imagination: same style and size as the one for Mrs. Mc, but in Arabella's pretty black and white prints, and with a pink ribbon closure. Then imagine them stuffed with cookies and pink tissue paper, and delivered flower-side-out for Miss Ashley and polka-dot-side-out for Miss K. And that's how it all went down.

Since these purses were made entirely from material that had been in the stash for years, I'm calling them free.

Angela

Dawn

A couple months ago my friend Dawn brought me a big box of stone heart charms that had turned up as freebies at her work. No one else was taking them home, and she knew I make jewelry so she delivered the whole stash to me.

I can't tell you how much fun we've had with these. Sam loves to count and sort them by color. I love to imagine the project possibilities. So far, I've only managed to use them in one project, this set of earrings for Stephanie. But when I learned that Dawn recently had a birthday, I knew the hearts had to make a prominent appearance.

I paired turquoise hearts with shell discs for a bracelet and earring set. My photos, unfortunately, did not turn out well this time (and the camera may be permanently broken, so that doesn't bode well for future photo shoots either), but in person the set is really quite pretty. I love the movement of the bracelet. The look and feel is just perfect for summer. And luckily, there's no shortage of supplies for these babies. So there might be a set just for me sometime soon.

The Amber Collection

My friend Amber had a birthday several weeks ago. She tried to keep it a secret, but I have my ways of collecting information. (That is, I overheard someone else telling her "happy birthday.") But even if I'd know about her birthday months ago, her gift would probably still be several weeks late, cause that's how I roll.

Anyway, I'm all about interchangeable jewels these days, so I wanted to make an amber-themed set of mix and match earrings and pendants. I think I pushed the bounds of Amber's style with the long green dangles, but I bet she'll wear them anyway just to humor me. She's great that way. (For example, I photographed these in Amber's own back yard while she was inside making me dinner.) I do like the bicone cluster set especially though, and I think that suits Amber's personality. Plus, I bought the beads for the baby bracelets for her sweet little girls a couple months ago, but didn't end up using them. It seems fitting that they end up in Amber's jewelry box somehow.

Rozannah

It's an earring wardrobe! Rozannah's new to the world of pierced earrings, so I thought she might appreciate a variety pack.

I only had ear wires in one size, so I had to do some creative bending to give the set more variety. Again, my wire work is not perfect, but good enough. But it's the dangles that are the most fun. I really had a good time coming up with baubles to dangle, and ran out of time before I ran out of ideas. Expect more interchangeable sets to come.

(Also, for some reason this photo looks out of focus when it's small, but is just fine full size. Why is that? I have no idea.)

Stephanie

This set arrived in two installments. I gave Stephanie the necklace and earrings as a thank you gift several months ago, and then added the bracelet for her birthday just recently. Although I made them separately, I do like how it all goes together.



I think if I were to make the necklace today, I'd put the tassels at the end of chain (like I did on the bracelet) instead of on beaded headpins. It'd have more free movement that way.

I bought the blue & brown rectangle beads at Big Lots for next to nothing. There was a big closeout on Blue Moon art glass apparently, and I'm glad I stocked up when I did. These beads in particular have been a favorite -- I think each time I've hauled out my stash for jewelry parties, someone has snatched these up to make something pretty. I have friends and family all over the country wearing these beads. I love that.

m girls

This set was a gift for a dear friend Amber, who just gave birth to an adorable set of twins, Caitlyn and Madelyn. Because the girls are identical twins, I wanted to make some kind of name bracelets. I'm not a huge fan of names spelled out in alphabet beads -- I wanted something more delicate. I looked at engraving, but the options there were way out of my price range. So I settled for a dangling first initial. I really like the look, especially with the butterfly charm on Amber's bracelet. During her pregnancy, Amber mentioned a particular piece of artwork that portrayed a pregnant woman as a butterfly. The idea of transformation, of growing life really spoke to her. So I wanted to capture that imagery in her bracelet.

I actually looked all over for a suitable butterfly bead. I found a lot that wouldn't work, and finally resigned myself to go without the butterfly. But then in my very own scrap pile, I found a dainty butterfly earring. I was able to trim and bend the post into a loop, and what do you know? It was just right.

Materials: I used glass pearls, swarski bicones, and sterling silver beads. I used green and pink crystals on one baby bracelet, and brown and pink on the other. Amber's combines pink, green and brown crystals. For once, I didn't scavenge thrift stores and junk piles, so I spent a little more on these than I normally do. But I think the results were totally worth it.

Amy

Amy's got sort of a punky hippy style about her. She's also a high school teacher and a mom of four, so she doesn't have time to be all high-maintenance. My plan was to make her something teacherish, but every time I opened my bead box, this fish kept (figuratively) jumping out at me. I finally realized why; Amy is the quintessential fisher of men. She gathers souls for God.

I wanted the focal piece to look like a line of fish just pulled from the river, lures and bobbers and lines still attached. It's easily removable (for days when she doesn't feel like hefting a line full of dead fish), and the beaded necklace is substantial enough to stand on its own. I used a ribbon closure again, which I think works well here. (One trick I discovered with Kristie's necklace was knotting the ends of the ribbon and then closing crimp covers around the knots. That was much easier than threading beads onto the ribbon!)

The earrings are simple, but they really capture Amy's style. I think that's what I like most about them.

Abby

I did a couple new things with this set. The earrings are made from from 3 inch headpins. I slid the beads into place and then shaped it into an ear wire. I like the streamlined look a lot, but it was hard to get two matching ear wires, with just the same curves and angles. (A jig would solve that problem, but I'm cheap. Have I mentioned that?)

This clasp caught my eye several months ago, and I'd been looking for a way to use it for some time. I like the way the loop is beaded and incorporated into the rest of the bracelet. I haven't tried this before (or since), so I'm not sure how well it will hold up to wear. But Abby says so far so good.

These turquoise beads were another clearance deal from Fire Mountain Gems. I'd say materials probably cost me about $2.00 for the set. Everything went together pretty quickly, except for the clasp, which took some finagling. I probably spent 2 or 3 hours all together.

Angela

I like the look of this set -- kind of a retro modern combination, with the bulky pink orbs spaced between clear glass. I'm pleased with how it turned out. I especially like the adjustable clasp, with the alternating sections of oval links and round split rings. It's really sturdy, but pretty and functional too.

Britta & Brielle

This was my first mommy-daughter bracelet set. I like how it turned out, but I don't think I'll make a lot like this in the future. I used mostly crystal beads and sterling silver components, both of which are kind of pricey. For a baby gift, I'm more willing to spend extra money for high quality components to make a piece that really lasts. Unfortunately, these didn't seem to wear well. I gave these to Britta spring-ish 2008, before Brielle was born. She loaned them back to me to photograph several months later (Feb 2009). By then, the sterling parts had tarnished and the crystals were somewhat scratched. I cleaned it up for the photo, but the luster on the non-sterling components (the chain on Britta's bracelet) still looks better.

Britta also mentioned that the sharp edges on the crystal had scratched Brielle when she was a newborn, so she didn't wear it much till she got a little older.

I couldn't find a suitably dainty chain for the closure on Brielle's bracelet, so I linked several jump rings together. I won't be doing that again. That process took way too much time, and the result is not as strong as a length of commercial chain. But, at least if it does break, Britta knows where to go to get it fixed.