The Pink Hare

I'm home from artfest ! And in a few days i will post a load of pictures and finish the tin jewelry tutorial !

Part two will have to wait

I kind of forgot how soon Artfest was . So part two will have to wait till I'm home . I have been making trades and getting ready like crazy. This year I decided to make singed fabric flower hair clips and brooches as trades . Here's what i've finished so far.

How were these made ? they're super easy !

What you need :

 Sheer melt-able fabric things like organza,crepe,polyester . Mine are made from organza and organdy

Pare template of circles in various sizes

and candle

needle and thread

beads ans sequins .

Cut the fabric and then carefully burn the edges with a candle . Be quick or the circle will catch on fire! Melting the edges will cause the piece to no longer fray and it'll curl up !

Stack your singed fabric in any way you like . i went from largest to smallest

I then tacked the ting together with a stitch or two and the embellished with sequins and beads but you always sew on a button or glue a rhinestone .

I then backed each flower with felt and attached a bobby pin . TADA pretty spring flower accessory . 

Part two of the simple tin jewelry should be up as soon as I'm home .

Taking apart your tin , the simple tin jewelry tutorial part 1

Ok so you want to try making recycled tin jewelry right ? Where to start ? taking the tins apart of course !

Here's what you'll need          

Tins ! I get mine at thrift stores from friends and flea markets . Some times ou can even get gorgeous imagery from spice tins !

heavy duty tin snips . The ones that are straight ! the curved ones are for cutting curves and thats not what we want .

detail tin snips . I'm pretty sure these are just rose shears but you can find them Here  .

a hammer for beating the tin flat

and not pictured a box . You will want a safe secure place to put all those clippings . these things are razor sharp !

So why is the can opener in the picture ? to remind me to mention that while you can use it to open round tins it will not work for oval or square and it will leave a strange scratch all along the bottom. yuck !

 Big Giant Note of caution !!!!!  I don't use gloves . As these bits are razor sharp ,it'll cut through them. Be aware of where  your hands are in relation to sharp bits !  

That bit said lets get started .

The first thing we're going to take apart is the lid . Pull it off ,sometimes there hinge ,I find bending it back and forth will cause this to snap off .  take your heavy duty shears and cut a wedge in the lip of the lid like so. 

put the wedge in your sharp bits box and then go around the entire lid with your snips. Your cutting away the lip of the piece . Periodically cut off the sharp bit and throw it away.

 

this is what your left with   

We could stop here but let's take apart the rest of the tin.

This parts a little harder to explain. Flip your tin over and holding the snips at a slight angle begin to cut off the ridge . This does require hand strength. Just like the lid your going to cut the lip off all the way around the tin.

 

As the part your cutting away get longer snip it off and toss it in the box. Nothing hurts like having that piece cut the back of your hand .

So after cutting off lip this is what your left with  

Now look for the seam . on tins with corners that usually where it is . We're going to cut just along one side of the seam to open up the tin . 

Once thats done this is what your left with . but we're not done yet . With your hands carefully straighten the piece out .Now your going to want to cut off the seam

Take your detail shears and cut off the inner rim . If you cut continuously and not let the blade fully close you'll be left with a much neater edge .  

Your going to do the same to the other side . this neatens the piece of metal up and cuts off any stray burs  that could cut you later .

Ok tomorrow I'll show you what to do with your  tin !

Running around like mad

 I'm getting ready to go on my yearly trip to Seattle and then Port Townsend for the incredibly fun Artfest ! woohoo. So this means running around trying to gather all the supplies and making trades. I've decided to go with a small number of trades this year . I'm going to bring about 25 singed flower hair clips . As the theme this year is fairytales and what fairytale  princess wouldn't wear flowers ?

I've also taken pictures of and started to edit the HUGE amount of pictures for my simple tin jewelry tutorial. See , I promised I would do it and I will . Part one will be how to take apart your tins as thats really important . Look for part one tomorrow .

Singed fabric flowers and Cinderella

As I grow out my thick super straight slick hair I've been getting bored with plain ole ponytails . So I decided to start spicing them up with a bit of hair bling . These were beyond easy to make .

All you do is cut circles of various sizes out of synthetic fabric . Then you take a candle and a circle and rotate it near the flame . the heat seals the edges and makes the fabric curl up . Then you sstack the circle from biggest to smallest ,sew it up and TADA flower .   I also tried my hand at making rolled fabric roses .I've made two so far but the other isn't finished

 

I can't wait to wear the pink rose to the symphony on Wendsday ! I may have to do my makeup to match !

I've also completed my second fairytale themed piece of jewelry . For this one I went with Cinderella . It's a memento piece so that she never forgets how she met her beloved prince .  It uses a watch face and hands so that she remembers that fateful  midnight clock strike,crystal cut from her slippers ,and a tiny vial filled with mouse bones and cinders .

 

I better start getting ready for artfest !