3D Printed Watch Face

The purple felt watch I originally made doesn't match many of our daughter's clothes so I wanted to make more, but it needs to be something that doesn't get yucky like the felt. I didn't want to spend forever sewing and turning little bits of fabric so instead I spent forever designing a stitchable watch face to 3D print!

I made a simple band out of fabric (3" wide x 8"long and interfacing if needed) that I folded both ends in 1/2". Then I folded 1/2" from each long edge, then again to meet in the middle. Then I played with the decorative stitches to hold down the centre seam and along both sides.

Next I stitched on the watch face - to make it extra secure since I'm concerned about it being a choking hazard - I did once around the large circle, went crazy tying a huge knot, then went back to cover the gaps before tying and other huge knot and repeating on the smaller circle.

Then simply add a snap or two to fit your child!

I've added this to Thingiverse if you would like to print your own - recommended for children over 3 years as it is a choking hazard.

Agate Pendants

Years ago I bought some polished agate on eBay to make pendants for my little sister and my sister in law. Then I came across the agate again while browsing on eBay, which has resulted in some lovely pendants for myself and as gifts.

The blue one at the end is my favourite and I wear it most of the time, it has pretty much replaced my tree of life wire wrap pendant that I used to wear. They are quite big (and therefore quite heavy) and as yet I haven't found a chain I like for them,one day I will find the perfect one!

I enjoy making these pendants and find that I make around five of them each time I sit down to make one, they are quite addictive little projects to make. Now that I've been writing about them and looking through the photos I really feel like making more. Unfortunately Christmas is not too far away and I still have a lot to do - and not enough time as usual!

Belly chain to bracelets

My mum brought over her belly chain the other day as it has started to tarnish and she can't get it clean.

Even though there are some badly tarnished sections, mum wanted me to make her some bracelets from the cleaner sections.

So far I have made two bracelets which look quite nice on - I just need to check if they are a good size for mum before I finish any more.

I found the belly chain to be made a lot differently to other jewellery I have pulled apart, which unfortunately means I can't nicely reconnect the different sections. Either way, it certainly has been interesting to pull it apart and see all the different techniques used!

And if you don't have any belly chains, you could easily try this with old necklaces!

Tree of Life Pendants

A few years ago I noticed a lot of wire wrapped tree of life pendants on the internet so I made one for myself! It is my favourite pendant to wear now - this is one of the few pieces that never goes into the jewellery box since it lives under my monitor so I can grab it as I'm leaving the house.

In September I decided that I should make a couple more so I wasn't wearing the same pendant every day.

The first one is my original pendant.

And after making another two pendants I still prefer my first one and haven't worn either of the new pendants! The last one I made using copper wire as the base, but unfortunately it doesn't really show through the wrapped wire. That pendant actually took forever to make as I used really thin wire.

Next time I will try adding seed beads as the leaves - I just need to buy more wire! I have also seen some really nice ones that use a cabochon as the background, but I think I need more wire wrapping practice before I attempt that.

Create for 365 days

I have been reading a lot lately about people who are aiming to do something everyday for 1 year. The most common goals are to take a photo every day or complete a drawing every day. I have been thinking how fun this would be, only I am no good at photography and certainly couldn't do the same thing every day. That and I would probably forget or it would feel like a chore doing the same thing each day.

So I am going to aim to complete something creative each day. It gives me the freedom to switch between my crafts as I normally do and allow for proper drying time. If I don't have the time then I can make something small like a phone charm or a piece of origami. It also allows me to do big projects little bit by little bit without feeling the need to rush them, while still having time to complete something else that day.

Instead of thinking constantly about finishing something for a whole year I am going to focus on a month at a time. So today I will start "create each day for March".

Today I finished a beaded bracelet. I have been making this style of bracelet for a few years now and have finally made one for myself! It is a lot heavier and bulkier than I would normally wear or even make. I'll see how it fares next weekend.

So that is one creation finished. I have made a Flickr account where I will try to add a photo of my finished item each day. Here's hoping that we have lots of sunny days for the next 364 days!

Cleaning Jewellery

I have been looking into cleaning my jewellery after seeing a UK show where they cleaned jewellery with alfoil, ‘soda crystals’ and water.

I tried it today and it works so well - one of my bangles has just been sitting for years and was black and now it is beautiful and shiny again.

After looking into it I found out that you are not supposed to do this with any jewellery that has precious stones in it. (I tried it with topaz and the stone looks fine to me, but I wouldn’t do it on an expensive or favourite piece of jewellery just in case.) 

Also you have to make sure it is sterling silver (it should have a stamp saying 925 if it is) – I cleaned my charm bracelet and now it seems the jeweller didn’t use sterling silver solder on one of my charms and that spot has turned black!

This is not a method for regular cleaning – if you want to clean your jewellery regularly just use a jewellery polishing cloth. The more you wear your jewellery the less likely it is to tarnish due to the oils in your skin. 

Leaving them sitting around will cause tarnish due to the air and moisture. Store your jewellery in a velvet lined jewellery box or in little zip lock bags. To absorb the moisture you can use chalk (you know that you write on blackboards with) or those little packs of silica you get in your shoe boxes, vitamin containers, etc.

And of course jewellery is the last to go on and the first to be taken off! Perfume, deodorant, hair spray, etc. is not good for your jewellery.

Please note: While I have researched this and tested it out myself, I will not be held responsible for anything that happens to you or your possessions if you decide to give it a go...

You will need:

• Boiling water
• Bi-carb soda
• Salt
• Alfoil
• Heat proof container (I used a pyrex bowl)
• Wooden chopsticks
• Sterling silver jewellery
• Soft cloth
• Polishing cloth

Method:

1. Boil the kettle
2. Line your container with the alfoil
3. Put your jewellery on top of the alfoil (it is best to have each piece on the alfoil, not just a pile of jewellery)
4. Put in equal parts of bi-carb and salt – about a teaspoon each should be enough depending on the size of your container and how much jewellery you are using.
5. Now be careful not to breathe in the gases - Pour the boiling water on top and it will start fizzing and bubbling up.
6. Because it works best with the jewellery being in contact with alfoil you may need to flip the jewellery over or swish it around for things like chains.
7. Once it looks clean take it out using your chopsticks and rinse it well – PUT A PLUG IN THE SINK!
8. You will need to dry the jewellery using a soft cloth or by waiting patiently.
9. Once dry use your polishing cloth to make it shine like new and then safely store it away.

Wedding - Part 2

Well I took the last photos if my wedding crafts, so here are the rest of my ideas and craft projects.

I love growing chilli plants, purely because of the way they look and luckily the colour of chillis matched the red theme for our wedding! So for my centerpieces I wanted living plants. Originally I considered bonsais but I don’t have much experience with those. Then I decided to use some glass bowls I found at Ikea to make a kind of terrarium with chilli plants and succulents. Unfortunately the plants didn’t grow as fast as I hoped so they had no chillis on them for the wedding, they had started flowering which was better than nothing!

I also made little origami lights using vellum then popping leds connected to batteries inside (basically LED throwies). They took me forever to fold as I made 50 of them but I now know how to make them without the instructions and they are easy enough that I can watch tv at the same time!

I didn’t want a normal wedding cake because we were already having dessert so not many people would eat the cake anyway. I was considering cupcakes, and also cheesecakes with all different sauces that people could put on themselves. Then I decided that lamingtons would look cute and they tasted so good especially since I got them with jam inside. I also got a lamington cake purely for the cake cutting. Best thing was it only cost $100 for the cake and about 60 lamingtons from a local bakery!

I bought a bamboo cake stand which did have a pole handle on the top section so I just bought a bolt to hold the top plate on without the pole. The cake covered it so no one even knew.

The cake toppers, I originally wanted those rhinestone letters and started making them. Then I changed my mind and started making little clay pandas with a bamboo stand. But that didn’t work out too well and I never bothered to finish… maybe one day so I can add it to my panda collection. In the end I used a set of salt and pepper shakers that my big sister bought me - they are kissing pandas that have magnets for mouths to hold them together.

To add to my little addition of chillis to the wedding I made little chillis of out marzipan that I coloured with food dye. They were quick and easy to make and looked cute sitting on top of my lamingtons. I made them a couple of days before the wedding as they absorb moisture easily.

For my invitations I spent ages designing and carving  a bamboo stamp for the invitation and another one for the envelope. They worked well until I super glued them onto pieces of wood – I guess it needs to stay flexible. In the end I just scanned the image into the computer and printed it off at the same time as the invitation text.

My favourite DIY from the wedding was the jewellery! I used swarovski crystals, black onyx, moonstone, myuki seed beads, metal spacers and lampwork beads and more I am sure. I learnt a lesson when making jewellery – give your hands a break otherwise you can’t get anything done because your fingers are so sore after days of twisting wire!  I actually didn't get any specific photos taken of the jewellery I made for the wedding but afterwards I took photos of what I made for myself in case I lose them or break them.