Creative Chaos Challenge Reveal!

Okay :) We're here!

A while back I made up four kits of various objects that I offered up for grabs to three of you. It was the first step for the first Creative Chaos Design Challenge :)

And here we are... reveal day :)

Joining me in this little jaunt outside the normal are Shaiha of Shaiha's Ramblings , Alicia of All The Pretty Things , and Rochelle of A Creative Chelle .

A refresher of what the kits contained ;

 

The month kind of got away from me. I had some designs started, then things kept getting in the way and they got shoved aside. Then, when I pulled them back, I ended up discovering I'd forgotten my original idea... misplaced the design I had sketched out... and then when I got past that, I found mistake that had to be fixed >.<

My challenge was indeed challenging ... lol Or rather 'challenged' >.<

I didn't use all of my ingredients, but I ended up being able to use a bit of everything except the white shell pieces. I'm not loving some of them, and some need to be taken apart and have some things fixed.. in one case for no real reason, just that I noticed something that is now driving me nuts just knowing it's there >.< lol

So without further ado... here are my designs for the challenge.

The large blue shell pieces were combined with some fake pearls to make a pair of earrings.

 The washers were linked together to make a pair of earrings, and a bracelet. with a large lobster clasp to make it adjustable.

 Necklace with buried 'treasure'

This is the bottle, and the idea I had for the Skull blog hop a few weeks ago that the weather messed up on me. ( the red suede cord is only loose there due to the way the chain is laying... when worn, it's pulled even with the chain) .

 Here's a close up so you can see the skull partially buried in the sand. The sand is sealed 'mostly' in place so it doesn't shift around. There are a couple long rice pearls in there too to look like bones, but they didn't want to show up in the photos.

  This bugger was the first design.. the pendant was a lucky find after I had picked out the colors and started the chain.. it was in a mixed bag of beads and buttons I picked up for a buck and matched  nicely.. so I added it. This is the two creamy buttons, one of which is attached to the clasp.. that I made :D

It's also definitely getting redone.. again. I think I'll take the pendant off and shift the buttons around a bit...

  

See...I made that twisted wire hook and eye all by myself :) It was SUCH a pain in the ass to do, to, let me tell you >.<

 

 This is just a quick little choker that I need to add some weight into the front of... I think maybe a few little blue crystals or something....  either that or turn it into a wrap bracelet...

  ....and here is the last quick little bracelet... that I actually really like..I'm wearing it right now :)

 I took one of the white buttons and ran the cord through two of the holes, then looped it around and poked both ends up through the other two holes...

 

You pull the cords to loosen it enough to slip it on, then pull the two ends to tighten it again, then just tuck and wrap the ends. It is REALLY comfy... and simple.. and I like it :)

And that's it.  The last two were quickies I did just to use up some more of my stuff, and I took all of the photos this afternoon... thus the crappy lighting, sorry >.<

I can't wait to see what these same items were turned into by the others :)

Here are the link to the other participants :) Be sure to stop in and see what they made :)

Alicia - http://www.allprettythings.ca/

Shaiha - http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Rochelle - http://acreativechelle.blogspot.ca/

And for those interested, the kits for the second Creative Chaos Design Challenge are all ready to go :) I'll be posting signs up some time this week :)  And July 6th is the new F.F. giveaway post for those wondering why it hasn't gone up yet ... it's the first Friday of the month ;)

~ Skye

ToolBox Challenge

So, welcome to my first jewelry challenge slash blog hop :D 

This was an open challenge and invitation to all,  to reach outside of their norm... and I saw an early pic of one of the pieces so I know just how good that can be... jaw dropping amazing.

The challenge was to take a piece of 'his' world and use it 'ours'...raid the toolbox, tackle box or hardware store and use something that you found to make some jewelry (tools and fishing line don't count since we use them all the time anyhow ;) lol)

I WAS going to do a Father's Day challenge to make a piece of jewelry for men... because I suck a making jewelry for men and I know a lot of others have that trouble too....BUT...

.......I suck a making jewelry for men and I know a lot of others have that trouble too ;) I didn't give a lot of design and work time for this challenge, issuing it towards the end of May, so I didn't want something TOO hard, wanting to go with more  quick and fun :)

I had plans for several different pieces.

I procrastinated as usual.

I finally chose what piece to start with...

this is my piece of  'his stuff'.

 A piece of brass hardware for a drawer... knob not included ;)

I found a bunch of cool brass pieces along similar lines a year or so ago, and they've just been shifted from drawer to drawer ever since. Figured this was the perfect chance to use at least one of them.

When I picked this out of the 'bin o' brass', I immediately thought it would be awesome bent into a curve and made into a bracelet.

But... when I hauled it out for this project, I saw a small bib-style necklace instead...

..So I procrastinated some more, idly picking through beads and findings, searching for what would be 'right' for it.

Inspiration cemented itself when I discovered one odd-man-out Czech Glass cat bead. All the other beads formed pairs except one that had a bit of red in him... that went nicely with my brass :)

Once I had it all put together and was trying to decide on the clasp....  I suddenly got hit by the urge to make it a bracelet after all... SO, I bent the brass and tada!!  A wrap bracelet :)

Kitty-Cat Love

There is a red glass heart with a black Czech  glass dangle on the left side, and a black glass heart with a red Czech glass dangle on the right.

The wrap is red and black spider web lace that I've braided , then added a piece of red faux suede that had been strung with a few black seed beads.

You'll notice there are no other pieces here... just the one.

The combination of procrastination and lack of final inspiration ( tons of ideas and supplies, though), delayed me on them... but I'd planned on at least doing one more small piece this afternoon. Crunch time designs seem to work not too badly for me, especially earrings.. and since that was what I was planning on...

.. but alas... 'twas not to be :(

While at work I had a 'duh' moment that left my fingers tips not in the mood to create. It's midnight now and they're feeling better, but it's time to type and post now. For those who want to know what happened, lets just say metal that has been heated to 375 degrees all day long should never come into contact with bare skin. Before you get worried, I should like to say that I've been doing this for far too long, and burnt myself far too many times that I now barely even wince.. and my fingers didn't even blister... and they should have, trust me... lol But nope...they were just a bit tender for a while. At the moment, aside from still having a slightly 'dull' feeling to them, they're fine.. no sign of them having grabbed a hot metal door. Aren't I lucky? lol

And don't think that my procrastinating over this challenge meant I wasn't making anything.. no..I got some work done on my Chaos Kit challenge stuff done too.. not as much as I'd like, but... I'm getting there lol

So, now that you've seen me transform a piece of kitchen/bathroom hardware into a bracelet, go check out some of the others. There's only ten more participants, but I'm thinking of having another toolbox challenge in the fall :)  So keep an eye out for the right bits of 'his stuff' to make your own and share with us on the next round :)

~

Blog Hop List

You are here -> Skye

Marlene Cupo

Pookledo

Julie Anne 

Shelley Graham Turner 

Leslie Wayment

Sherri Stokey 

ingetraud 

Shaiha 

Dyanne Everett-Cantrell 

Keri Lee Sereika 

~

Marlene Cupo says she'll have her post up but won't have photos of her piece... her computer had a very brief affair with a power surge during a lightening storm, and while she has access to another computer, her camera doesn't. She'll be hopping along with us though, and as soon as she gets her pictures up, I'll share them here too :)

 Oh.. and a little something none of the participants knew about... everyone that signed up who remembered to make something and get their post up in time...will be entered in a little draw for a prize :) 

Marlene counts since she let me know in advance about the problem and will still be blogging.

Hop on & enjoy!

~ Skye

Last Chance

Alright, so since I never got around to finding the rest of the parts for the F.F. #5 cording giveaway.. until today...I've extended the giveaway for two more days; you now have until midnight on Thursday ( ET) .

So ... what is up for grabs this month?

9 bundles of satin rattail cording. 

2 bundles of hemp cording

5 bundles of faux suede

3' of black satin 3/8" ribbon

3' of purple 1 1/2" craft ribbon

3' of mauve 1/2" velvet ribbon

3' of black & white 1 3/8" vintage Conrad velvet ribbon

 So, yummy enough? Click on the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. The winner will be posted on Friday's blog, as will the next giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Freebie Friday # 5

 Hello  :)

Happy Star Wars Day :)  you have no idea how much I was tempted to do a Star Wars giveaway of some kind, but alas... I couldn't bring myself to part with any of my treasures :)

Yes, here we are again... the first Friday of the month. Time for a new giveaway :)

I had thought to do some jewelry for this round... but I have several pieces already that need to be made.

Then, I thought about making some hook clasps, ear wires, and beaded chain... or maybe make some domino pendants or something....  but then I realized, I have too many things sitting here waiting for me to finish them... whether it's jewelry or bits of jewelry, I just don't have time right now to take on another project. >.<

I was going to pick out a pendant and some coordinating beads, then I hit upon an idea. I've been coming across so many posts and blogs lately where the person has mentioned that they've never used fibers in their work but would like to.

Now... my 'fiber' collection is nothing special, but I figured I'd help one of you start your own :)

 

A variety of satin rattail cording , and three  little bundles of faux suede. I couldn't find my  hemp cording or my ribbon in time for this photo, but I'll include some of those as well  and post a new photo of the full bundle up for grabs another day :)

Sorry for the short post. I've had a rather... interesting... week, the kind that never works out the way you planned. And now my plans for the weekend have shifted as well... instead of my mom coming up here for a girls weekend, I'm heading out there. I was told that my dad 'needs me to fish for him'... because I'm better at it ;) hehehe  so I'll sitting on the dock at their ponds, fishing  young Koi out so my dad can sell them ( catch and release, obviously ;) )

Plus, he wants me to do some computer stuff for him >.< lol Oh well, a weekend in the country, watching the dogs run circles around the pond chasing any frogs that might be there, while I fish and visit with my parents... sounds rather nice :) Just keep your fingers crossed the weather stays nice for me!