Did you say FREE TUTORIAL & ART STUFF???

Hanging out at Tangerine is so good for me... I LAUGH harder at that place than just about anywhere else in my week... except, of course, when my 6 year old is making faces... that's pretty priceless! This week was no different... Gina shared some recently unearthed family photos that are just fun to pour over and old documents that are fascinating. We pondered who the people may have been in some of the pictures, checking out the old shoes, piecing together stories based on family accounts...

While we chatted and pondered, I stitched some... since it was St. Patrick's Day I started with the piece that had green beads embellishing the beautiful silk dupioni... while I stitched and listened and laughed... I was also thinking...

Where will this bead go... where have these beads been before... whom did this bead adorn in the past...

How many Christmas trees did that little sparkle grace in its day... I loved collecting all of these little things from the Alameda Point Antiques Fair... I mean, look at that BUTTON!  How many hands passed over these things before they made their way into my creation?

I can't get more until I use the ones I have! LOL

I love designing these cuffs... If you're curious, I'll let you know how I made these little silk pieces... I first cut them to the size I like which is about 7.5 - 8" long and then add a little to turn over - about a 1/4" seam allowance, I cut a piece of quilting batting to fit, and then stitch it up.

Next comes the FUN! Choosing the embellishments... I always choose too many... its a personality quirk! Then I stitch on the ones that look nice together in a pretty random fashion, but I do try to see how it will look on and where they will fit the best... 

Then I cut a piece of denim for the backing and stitch around it... (be sure if you're stealing your husbands "old jeans" that he's really done with them! ;) Now I add a bunch of random stitching... you learn not to put your beads and whatnot too close to the edge of your cuff since you'll have to stitch around it. Its at this point that I add the closure... very hi-tech thing, that... I cut an elastic band in half and  stitch down the ends between the silk and denim. I use a lot of stitching on the ends to reinforce the fabric and give it a bit more durability. Plus I think it looks KEWL! ;)

Last I put a giant button on for the other side of the closure... I use a heavy thread for upholstery to attach the button so it doesn't fall off cuz that would be SAD... can you imagine?!? *sniff*

Voila! You have some upcycled, cruelty free, ROCK GODDESS SUPER KEWL jewelry!

Here's Alexia wearing her own kid sized version:

Also Rocked out this week are the following:

TaaaDaaaaahhhhh

Sorry for the funky lighting... I am trying to be efficient and get EVERYTHING done, but the lighting in the studio at night is not really what I would call photo friendly *sigh* 

Ok, so for the free stuff....

Drum roll please... 

The Game pieces go to...

None other than...

Lora Oliver

TaaaaahhhDaaaaaahhhhh

Congratulations Miss Darling!

Stay tuned for the next giveaway...

I have been sorting things by color and putting them into big chunky bags... I mean, who doesn't want an artful bag filled to the brim with their favorite colored goodies???

Let's get our CRAFT ON!

xoxo

jul