Thursday, January 21, 2010

Bling, Jiggle, Bling, Bling

I have been buried under piles of beads and jump rings for the last couple of days. 

I have found a new PASSION!

Jewelry making has always intrigued me and I have dabbled in it here and there… Back in November I took a class on crocheted necklaces…made a zillion of those and then signed up for Tresa Black’s Creative University next month… and guess what?  They do a CHARM SWAP… and guess what else?  Silly me signed up for it, buwahahaha!  I have been having so much fun making charms and baubles and bling, jiggle, bling, blings….  Wanna see?

For the charm swap we were instructed to make two types of charms, one creative (using papercrafting schtuff and ideas) and one filler type charm (using bling and jewels and other fun goodies), 15 of each for a total of 30.

Here’s my filler charm:

IMG_6566web
The filler charm was made with a variety of beads and a Swarovski crystal.

And here is my creative charm:

IMG_6568web
I created the creative charm by designing a birdie in Photoshop Elements.   I used a basic bird body template for the outside shape and then went to town creating my clipping masks and adding in textured and patterned papers and embellishments.  I printed the birdie onto white “Shrinky Dink” paper and then cut out all the bodies and front side wings, threw in the oven and let them melt!  {The original birdie art had legs, but I lopped them off because they added unnecessary bulk and distracted from the bird.}  

Erin'sBirdie-2-BuildwebI glued the wings and a rhinestone on and laquered these babies up with some Sally Hansen “Hard as Nails” nail polish.  The Crystal Effects and Liquid Nails altered the color of the printer ink too much.  Other than the “high” from the nail polish it wasn’t so bad. :)

Click on the birdie for a view of the details.

 

IMG_6420web
Lopping off some birdie legs and trimming out the birdies.  Shrinky Dink  paper is a pain to cut out, basically it’s plastic and if you snip too hard you snap the plastic… lost a few beaks and back wings that way. *sniff*

 

Here are some other charms I was working on including a pair that turned into earrings.

IMG_6531web IMG_6549web

And then I needed a bracelet because the plain old chain I was trying to make into a bracelet just didn’t do what I wanted it to do…. but that’s a post for tomorrow because I have to go work on laundry (dang real world interrupting my crafting time) and think about dinner… :)

~Inky Smiles

13 comments:

Nichole W. said...

You floor me with your never ending wealth of creativity, knowledge, and talent!

Kathi Carlson said...

And is there an Etsy shop or eBay store in the works where those of us less talented folks can buy these luscious morsels?

All gorgeous, Erin!!

Sue C said...

My first thought echoes Kathi's - Etsy? Please? Beautiful stuff here, girlfriend!

Anita said...

This is so beautiful. I need to pull out my beads again.

Sarah said...

Wooohooo Erin..these are fantastic! That birdie is awesome. Do you have an ETSY shop?..Oh my gosh these would go like hotcakes girlie! You can share mine anytime LOL...

Lynn said...

Erin- You are soooo creative. Are you on FB?? we need to be friends if you are!! Good work with the jewelry. We did a charm swap at a big scrapbook event in Des Moines Iowa in the Fall and it was SO MUCH FUN!! Jewelry making is as much fun as paper crafting. {Don't tell anyone I said that!} Lynn

Sharli Schaitberger said...

OMG Erin - how DELIGHTFUL!!! These are both just beautiful! I wish I was going to be at Creative University!!! You are amazing.

Jeanne said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! You are so amazingly talented! Thanks for sharing!!! Have fun at your retreat!

Stampin n da Hood said...

OMGawsh!
those are trey stankin cute!

Gabrielle Valentine said...

I came across this on my google feed. WOW! I would love to learn to make jewelry! You need an etsy shop!!! Are you selling these?! I love your talent!!! If and when I get some time, I'd love to pursue making charms and jewelry - think of the cool gifts you could make for people through the year!

Tresa Black said...

I can't wait to get mine in the swap! These are gor-JUS!

Nishant said...

where those of us less talented folks can buy these luscious morsels?

Work from home India

Erin Gudge said...

Those are gorgeous, Erin! I've been wanting to make charms like that for a while.