March and April... Shake and Make

Hey all... alive here...

So I've decided to do 3 posts that get me caught up. At this point I either get back up to date or stress myself out about making detailed posts about every single thing I have done in March and April (not going to happen...). To be honest, this has been a fantastic lesson in itself. I think I will feel really good about just getting caught up and back on track. I apologize for the lack of detail and when I get a chance I will come back and elaborate. In the meantime, if you have questions about what something is or how I made it or what links are... please comment and I will let you know. Here we go!

In this post I am just going to upload pictures of things that I have made over the last two months (honestly I do not remember the exact dates.) Also... there are more so I will continue to add pictures. Some things I gave away so I will have to find a way to get pics. Thanks for your patience! 

Photo I took at my sister's house. Edited with Instagram iPhone app.  

Made this crocheted wrap bracelet for my sister for her birthday.

This crocheted wrap bracelet for St. Patty's Day!

Made this T-shirt scarf for a friend for St. Patty's Day

This is an old braided leather belt that I strung chain
through and added a finished end and a snap.

Crocheted hippie headband with a large button for added pizzaz!

Flexible metal ring with gold string wrapped for a summer wrap bracelet!

Another crocheted headband with large button.

4 different kinds of chain connected to create a staggered necklace.

Green and brown T-shirt scarf - kickin' it old school.

Part of a chain cut, leaving 2 rings with gold string wrapped for a wrap bracelet.

Green t-shirt necklace - crocheted part doubles as a headband.

Crocheted summer wrap bracelet with metal bead.

Crocheted wrap bracelet with pear-like bead for closure.

Old belt made into mens cuff with the word "possible" stamped in. Made this for a friend who shares the obsession with all things possible!

Two strips (soon to be cuffs) made from sewing scraps sewn together.
This is really cool and is made using water soluble paper! Link to come. 

This is a small bag (maybe used for cosmetics?) made by ironing old plastic shopping bags together.
The designs are pieces of yarn and small cutouts of words from magazines. I put them between the plastic bags that I ironed together. After ironing it all together I sewed a button on for closure :)

This is made of strips of magazines woven together and then taped in place using clear packing tape. I think I could use it for the cover of a notebook or as a placemat? Other ideas?? I have 3 of them.

This is a simple old industrial chain with strips of leather from my dad's shop
 woven though it. It makes a cool wrap bracelet.

Simple yellow T-shirt headband.

This is a close-up version of a T-shirt scarf. I don't love it but it is something I wanted to try to do for a while. Instead of weaving one shirt I took 2 different shirts and wove them together. I think I would like this one better if I had the lighter color on the inside. Thoughts?

This is a sampling of all of the leather belts that I have scored. Time to make more stuff from leather belts! I swear I'm not a hoarder! My mother taught me to always claim "collector." :)

January 14, 2012: It's a Wrap!

Today I revisited an old project that just did not end up quite right. To make this wrap bracelet originally, I took apart an old, black, braided leather belt. I took one of the strips of leather and hammered it and stretched it until it straightened out a bit. Once it looked straight and had the "worn" look that I was going for, I painted over the strip with turquoise acrylic paint. Once the paint dried I took either side of the strand in my hands and stepped my foot on the middle of the strand with the painted part hitting the bottom of my shoe. Then I moved the strand side to side, scraping it on the bottom of my shoe to make the paint peel and rub away. This gave it an old, beat-up look, which I love! When the strip of leather had the look I was going for it was time to figure out how to close the bracelet on my wrist. I punched holes in either end of the leather strip and added a rivet reinforcement. At the time, I added a silver chain and a crab-claw clasp. This was very difficult to close around my wrist. So, the bracelet sat around and I stared at it once in a while wondering how I could make it easier to close so I could wear it. Well, when I was in NYC recently I found some magnetic clasps. This was the answer to my dilemma! So now I am excited because my bracelet is much easier to take on and off :). I will probably be producing a bunch of these in the near future so stay tuned for an Etsy or Facebook link to purchase one if you are interested!

January 5, 2012: Wrap it up!

One of my favorite jewelry trends is the wrap bracelet. And, as I have mentioned before, I have been collecting old leather belts from thrift stores and rummage sales. Also, this is a great time to mention that I am a huge fan of upcycling, so you will see much more of old things becoming new things!...For this brown, leather creation, I took apart one of those braided leather belts and stretched and hammered the strands until they were somewhat straight and softened (not too straight though because I like the worn, rugged look of them). As you can see, I made two separate bracelets; one is braided with chain and the other contains two plain strands. I used little clamp ends that you basically just hammer closed on the ends of the leather. then I attached magnetic fasteners, which are fabulous! A frustrating thing about wrap bracelets is that they can be a pain to close... not these ones! I found these clamp ends and closures at a Bead World on Broadway (around 37th street) in NYC. My favorite thing about these are the fact that you could wear them separately or you can use the opposite magnetic ends and make one large wrap bracelet or even a funky necklace (with the braided chain one hanging in front and the plain one behind your neck). Cool look :)