by VioletLeBeaux | Jun 28, 2010 | Craft, Decoden-Tutorials, Other-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial
Before we get into the sparkly bangle tutorial I just wanted to let everyone who was waiting for me to reply to comments know that it’s all done!
Every comment (other than ones that were posted this morning) have been replied to so if you were waiting for an answer please go have a look ^_^ Next step is catching up on all my emails! I am trying really hard to get back on top of things so please have patience with me!
I am a big lover of deco in pretty much every form and I’ve been making lots of accessories lately. I’ve always liked over the top jewelery but lately I’ve found myself liking big bangles too 😀
So today I’m going to show you how to make your own deco’d chunky bangle like this:
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So gather your materials…This is what you need:
- Jewels (I’m using 2 sizes and 2 different colours)
- Epoxy glue
- Felt pen marker in the same colour as your jewels
- Felt in a matching colour
- Base to put it on (more on this in a second)
Now the base! You can use anything that is roughly the right shape. Going from left to right there is a bangle I bought on sale for $1 at a discount store, a wooden base bangle I bought at Spotlight that’s specifically made for this purpose and lastly the cardboard roll out of the center of a ball of crochet yarn. |
Any of these work just as well and range in price from free (if you’ve already got the yarn) or $5.95 for the purpose made base.
After you pick your base (I chose the Spotlight one) colour the whole thing in with the felt pen so it looks similar to our jewels ^_^ This is so that when you add the jewels you can’t see light wood through the gaps.
Lay out your jewels and prepare your epoxy glue.
With the bangle flat on the table you should start by gluing one ring of jewels around the top edge. Make sure this ring is completely straight because it’s going to set the tone for the rest of the bracelet. Wait for it to dry then repeat on the other side ^_^
Now decide on the pattern you’re going to do. I chose to do alternating large and small jewels with a row of small right around the edges. Lay down one line of glue from top to bottom and position your first line of jewels. Again it’s important to get the first row right because it will effect the rest of the bracelet.
Start going around adding more and more rows 😀 I decided to change it up and do a couple of different patterns! I did straight small jewels and red as well.
Lastly you should cut a piece of felt and glue it around the inside so the wood doesn’t have to touch your arm ^_^
Aaaand there you have it ^_^
Taaadaaa ^_^
It’s so shiny when you get it out in the sun! Let me know if any of you give the sparkly bangle tutorial a go!
by VioletLeBeaux | Jun 25, 2010 | Craft, Other-Tutorials, Tutorial
Yay we’re back to tutorials again today it’s how to DIY your own flatback pearls!
Still no real internet but dong my best. Thanks for sticking with me and I promise that all comments will be replied to very soon *fingers crossed*
Do you guys ever get to the end of a gigantic deco project and realize you don’t have enough jewels or pearls to finish? I HATE that feeling. I hate having unfinished projects too! Especially if I’ve ordered from overseas it takes forever to get another order ;_;
So this is a stop gap solution I’ve found to avoid having to wait for an order from overseas!
What you need to DIY your own flatback pearls:
- String of cheap pearls or something round and the right size
- Fimo or Sculpy clay
- Sharp knife
- White nail polish
- Pearl nail polish (I’m using a Sally Hansen)
Ok first thing is first. Get your Fimo/Sculpey and using a colour you don’t like make a blob.
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Using your string of pearls press in over half way to create a nice round dent.
Like this:
If you’re doing it with a loose pearl/bead then use a piece of thread to fish it out of the mold like this:
Now cook your mold according to the packet instructions.
Using the mold you’ve just created start making pearls. Do this by taking a large chunk of some Fimo/Sculpey pressing it into the mold, pulling it out and slicing it off the round part with a sharp knife. It will take some practice before you get the technique down ^_^
Now cook your pearls and let them cool. It doesn’t matter what colour you made them because it’s time to paint!
Lay your pearls out on paper or something you don’t mind getting polish on. Paint them white.
It will most likely take you a few coats of white if you started with a dark colour. You can see I was experimenting with a few other pearls shapes below too ^_^
This is roughly what you want to end up with:
Now lets turn them into pearls!
This takes a few coats too. Make sure you let them dry completely before each new coat or they will never dry properly!
Peel them off the paper and you will end up with something like this:
If you made them with a dark colour you might want to paint the bottoms too but it might effect how well they stick for deco projects.
So they are not perfect and they aren’t as good as store bought ones buuuuut they are perfect space fillers in deco projects and once they are surrounded by other jewels you will never tell the difference ^_^
So yay for tutorials again! Let me know if any of you diy your own flatback pearls, I’d love to see how they turn out! |
by VioletLeBeaux | Jun 22, 2010 | Hime Gyaru, Life
A few weeks ago I was invited by Nuffnang to attend a chocolate High Tea for fashion and food bloggers at the Aria Bar and Lounge at the Langham Hotel.
I’m not really a fashion or a food blogger but they couldn’t hold a High Tea without me so off James and I trundled across the river to be social!
The place was just spectacular! I felt slightly out of place in somewhere so fancy XD
I couldn’t believe how many other bloggers turned up! Everyone was so lovely and it was great to put faces to a lot of blogs that I read. I hope we can stay in touch 😀
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I didn’t think that it could get much better than that but then my partner in crime Grace from Living Footprintsarrived in her regular hilarious manner and we had an absolute ball having non-high-tea-appropriate conversations!
And OMG THE FOOD!
I’m no food blogger so let me do my best here… there were delicious finger sandwiches, scones, endless tea/coffee/hot chocolate and you are going to drool over the best part…
UNLIMITED CHOCOLATY DELIGHTS!
The decor was impeccable and everything was themed in Alice style. |
We got to meet the head pastry chef Markus Bohm and let me tell you, he is awesome at his job!
He even made us personal chocolate and passion fruit souffles!
I did my nails especially for the occasion with little macaron stickers that Leanne at The Fashionate Traveler sent me! I also did an effect to make them look as if they were dipped in chocolate…
Jamesgreatly enjoyed himself with his tiny sandwiches…
This is how he entertained himself:
It was almost too cute to eat but they were all too delicious not to!
I had such a lovely time meeting new bloggers who (as soon as we get the net switched on at home) I will definitely be catching up with again soon!
Graceand I are always a model of composure in these situations…
Yes always…
Seriously though check out that strawberry thing in front, it’s actually called “Strawberry chocolate Vacherin with Elderberry cream” and it is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.
It’s kind of cruel making me relive all these tastes over and over again to write this… I want to go back again Nuffnang!!
Grace, Sarah from 100Datesand I showing that we all process great restraint.
So much fun! Let’s do something like this again soon, these are meet ups I can get on board with!! I <3 you Nuffnang!
Have you girls ever done high tea? I can’t wait until we actually have real furniture in our house again so I can invite everyone to tea at my place! Until then, maybe we can go to the Langham Hotel for tea together 😀
