The Savvy Crafter

Beady and Rocker-y Links...

It's impossible for me to do all that Christmas shopping and not find one or two things that I absolutely cannot go home without.  A stocking stuffer for myself?  Why not.  At the time I feel a pinch of guilt, but it quickly goes away with how cute these little fellas are.  Do you recognize them?  Yep, mini Rocker magnets made in Jap*n. So sweet and curiously strong....just like Rocker!  And also stubborn now that I think about it (you will see in one of the pictures---it was hard getting everyone to do what they were supposed to do).  Here's this week's Bead Babe Blogger Links mixed throughout the Rocker Links!  Enjoy! 

About.com Jewelry Making 
New Year's Eve means it's time to put your big bling pieces on, and Tammy has lots of ideas to make you super sparklie.
http://jewelrymaking.about.com/b/2007/12/26/bling-time-jewelry.htm
Art Bead Scene 
The crew is on a short holiday break, but we hope you will come by the blog to celebrate with our special week's worth of the Best of Art Bead Scene posts from this past year.
http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2007/12/best-of-holidays.html

Jewelry & Beading 
One of Cyndi's designs was chosen for a new book on the Art of Jewelry ~ Wood. Come and see her necklace, called "Measure Twice, Cut Once"!
http://www.jewelryandbeading.com/2007/12/21/book-review-the-art-of-jewelry-wood/ 
Katie's Beading Blog 
Katie's getting ready for the next filming of Beads, Baubles and Jewels. This week, she shares a cool necklace idea using a chain bail and tassel.
http://katiehacker.blogspot.com/2007/12/chain-tassels.html 
Savvy Crafter 
No clue what jewelry you’re wearing to the big New Year’s Eve bash? Hop on over to Candie’s blog for an easy and festive fix!
http://candiecooper.typepad.com/savvycrafter/2007/12/new-year-jewelr.html

Snap out of it , Jean! There's beading to be done! 
Jean just had to repost these sweet necklaces that she made for the childrens' teachers as holiday gfts! They are just too yummy looking snuggling up aganst the luxurious rose velvet pouches she packaged them in. Happy Holidays to the VIPs in our lives!
http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/2007/12/holidays-and-teachers-and-wassail-song.html

The Impatient Blogger is busy experimenting with her new flip video camera thingy.  Go Madge!

Rocker on Christmas morning-no bows on the head, just around his neck.

New Year Jewelry!

Countdown to 2008!  Do you know what jewelry you're wearing to ring in the New Year?  Here's an idea.  This is a festive and free project of mine on the Simply Beads Magazine website.  This piece has crystal balls at the end of the chain.  I figure if you can't be at Times Square in NYC, you can at least have the ball (or balls as it were) drop around your neck! You could use colored crystals for a more confetti effect.  As I recall, I found the funky sparkly chain in the fabric/trims section in Hobby Lobby.  I love this lariat as you can wrap it around your neck as many or as few times as you like depending on what look you want.  Super dramatic!

Here's a direct link to the instructions.

Christmas...

This is what Christmas morning looks like for Candie and Butch, the Expats.  We called home so we could talk to everyone at my family's Christmas eve party.  It was fun to hear the background hustle and bustle with chatter and whispers of what Santa was bringing.   That night we did the same thing, calling Butch's family.  I can't really describe what it's like to spend Christmas away from home...or any holiday for that matter.  I did the same thing for 26 years until I moved here.  Will it ever feel normal?  I hope not.  It was easier this year, but I'm too sentimental to do this every year.  And besides, my Gram informed me I was coming home next year.  Don't question Grandma.

This is my dog on Christmas present crack.  By the second box, Rocker expected to find a gift or two for him in every box.  He even took to one of my toys from my Grandpa!  I hid it and he found it the next night!  Unbelievable.  I have pictures of him with his head buried deep down trying to sniff out his next present. Thank you everyone who sent Rocker presents.  He says he loves you even more.  He also said to me, "Grandpa needs to send over another panda Bear for you because this one is now mine."  I'd show you a picture of Panda, but it's too painful.

All the while this week, I've been needle felting.  This is my clean kitchen table that I promised myself I wouldn't craft at anymore.  That idea lasted about ten minutes.  I hope you're all having fun playing with your new crafty toys and such.

Merry Merry!

Greetings Friends,

Just wanted to drop a note wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.  I'm always amazed at this whole blogging thing...and the internet.  So much has come into my life because of it; old classmates from high school, funny notes from my family, people who like my projects, fellow designers dropping by and more.  Thank you for all your notes of hellos, encouragement, love and care.  Rocker says thank you for always telling him how cute he is too! 

I hope all your stockings are filled with sweets be it skeins of yarn, findings, glittery hot glue sticks, gummy bears or chocolates!

Love from Ch!na,

Candie

Crafting by Candlelight...

Last night we watched movies and I crafted by candle and Christmas tree light.  It was so enjoyable.  I was needle felting and I feel I should mention that if it's your first time trying the sport I don't recommend doing it in the dark especially while watching TV.  I stabbed myself about 10 times. Thank you Tetanus shot. 

We watched the first Harry Potter and Christmas in Connecticut.  Christmas in Connecticut is a sweet old movie my friend loaned me before she left starring Barbara Stanwyck.  This was the original released in 1945, but I saw on IMBD that there was a re-make directed by Arnie Schwarzenegger in 92.  I also saw where they are planning to release another re-make in 2009, but that was all the details.  If you like charming, black and white movies add it to your Netflix list.  Or if you live in the States, it's probably been shown on the classic movie station six times by now.  For those of you who have seen it, I thought Uncle Felix was hilarious and I could only dream of putting that much tinsel on a tree. 

Links, Links, Links...

About.com Jewelry Making
Still in need of some last minute jewelry gifts? Earrings are the way to go, and Tammy has some super easy projects to help you out.
http://jewelrymaking.about.com/b/2007/12/20/last-minute-jewelry-gifts.htm

Art Bead Scene
Elaine wraps up the Art Bead Scene 12 days of Christmas with a joyous rendition of a classic holiday tune, updated with our favorite beading goodies! Come sing along!
http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2007/12/12-days-of-beading.html

Jewelry & Beading
It's not too late to make a super-easy sparkly pin for Christmas!
http://www.jewelryandbeading.com/2007/12/18/making-a-sparkling-pin-for-the-holidays/

Katie's Beading Blog
Visit Katie's blog this week for links to a fun podcast interview, last-minute bracelet idea and the final (for now) installment of Ornament Thursday.
http://katiehacker.blogspot.com/ 

PearlEsq.
Track Robin's travels to the traffic-laden trickiness of NYC and the tasty trinkets she turned up at Tinsel Trading!
http://pearlesq.blogspot.com/2007/12/tinsel-tastic-tuesday.html

Savvy Crafter
Scurry over to Candie's blog if you've got gifts to wrap in a hurry! This idea puts the pedal to the metal in more ways than one when it comes to wrapping gifts!
http://candiecooper.typepad.com/savvycrafter/2007/12/wrapping-savvy.html

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean shows a new necklace for her chain maille gallery for her book, Links: all the great beads are made by Cathy Lybarger!
http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/2007/12/cathy-lybargers-beads-on-my-necklace-in.html

The Impatient Blogger
It's the final installment of Ornament Thursday and Margot pulls out all the stops with four fabulous ornament ideas! Check out what this week's roster of talented crafters has in store for you!http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/2007/12/final-ornament-thursday-2007.html

Wrapping Savvy Style....

This night finds me with about 27 pieces of peanut brittle in my stomach.  I couldn't help myself.  And it's strange because I've never been drawn to peanut brittle before.  It was in a lovely box of goodies from Butchie's parents.  Did I ever tell you my husband's name is Butch?  It's his real name, I'm pretty sure.  It suits him perfectly.  Butch, Butchy, Botch as my Italian neighbors used to call him and the folks here call him Bush....in case you were wondering.  Anyway, peanut brittle.  The name suits it well too as it is brittle.  We didn't need to bust up the pieces one bit.  It must have been a bumpy ride to the other side of the world for that little package.  I'd also like to thank the postal workers who did their part to help with that.  Made eating it a lot easier and faster.  My teeth hate me right now.

Wrapping.  I've done a fair amount of wrapping this week.  Each year I try to come up with something fun, but practical.  This year was paper bags.  I bought some cute ones at Ikea.  They came in an assortment of sizes, but I needed more of the small size.  I found some brown paper food bags in Sham Shui Po over in Hong Kong that worked swell.  But compared to the Ikea ones they were bland like mashed potatoes without pepper or gravy.  I tried stamping them with a snowflake stamp.  Salt.  Then I got savvy and put them through the ink-jet printer.  I'm probably the last one to figure this one out. 

Jingle All the Way to Jean....my mom.

I used clip art from Dover Publications free sampler for the bag art.  I'm not so clever with graphics and stuff so I did all my image sizing in Word. It worked for the most part with a few experiments.  Zip it up by folding over the top edge and zig zag stitching it closed.  For some of the bags, I stitched snowflake sequins in at the same time.  Make a bow and hot glue it to the top.  Done.  Cute.

Ornament Thursday Part 5-Ornament Flashback

Today is our final installment of Ornament Thursday....It's been such a fun thing these past few weeks.  I've done a fair amount of thinking about ornaments over this time too.  I think I've made more this year than ever before!  Each Christmas, I add a few more to the tree and pack a few more into the box after the holiday is long gone.  The next year I carefully unwrap them, surprised at how many I forgot about.  That's the best part, isn't it?  The forgetting and remembering.  Our tree is filled with ornaments from our trips, from my grandma's store, things I've made, ornaments from swaps and gifts.  Some evoke a certain period in our lives like a song can---good times and bad.  Over the years, I've hung them on supermarket tree lot trees, fresh cut from the farm trees, vintage silver tinsel trees, tall trees, trees in a pot, one year we got the tree, but never had time to trim it (that was sad), bamboo stalks tree, and this year a $10 fake---which compared to previous years here feels like a million bucks!  Oh, I do a lot of reminiscing and reflecting when I put up the ol' family tree.  You probably do too.  My sister just sent me a cute email about growing up in the 70's.  I was looking at our tree and this Polaroid picture ornament caught my eye.  I'm pretty sure my mom made it and I had to share.  I just got up to check the date on the back and it says, "Christmas 1993," in mom's fancy writing.  I laughed out loud.  Sorry mom.  This must have been from 83,' because in 93' I was a freshmen in high school and if that isn't enough proof for you, look at my older sis's outfit.  Nothing screams 80's like a pink and white checked bandanna around your neck!  That was also during my Little Orphan Annie wannabe days-note saddle shoes and red sweater. 

Ah, see the memories!  That's what Christmas ornaments are.   There are some I look at and think, Lord, I'm glad those days are over!  Others, I laugh about or I wonder how that person is doing.   A Christmas tree no matter how scrawny or brawny celebrates Your life and memories.  Thank you to everyone who has jumped in and shared their ornaments at our virtual craft night.  Seeing what you're making definitely made me not feel so far away from home.  Have a very merry Christmas and we'll see you next year!  Or hopefully sooner!

Christmas cookie - Jennifer Heynen  www.jenniferjangles.blogspot.com

Christmas tree finger labyrinth - Hali Chambers  www.labyrinthgal.blogspot.com

Ring in the New Year - Kriss Cramer http://www.art-interrupted.blogspot.com/

Quilty pieced snowman - Linda Augsburg http://cs.makeitminemag.com/mimcs/blogs/makeitmine/

Simply striking sparkling spheres - Margot Potter http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/

Beaded memory wire - Elaine Luther http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com/news

Wire & beaded tree - Lynn Kvigne http://beading.consumerhelpweb.com/blog/

Beaded sun catcher - Debba Haupert http://www.girlfriendology.blogspot.com/

Jolly and yummy ceramic candy - Melanie Brooks Lukacs http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com/

Polymer snowflake embedded in resin - Melissa Lee http://www.strandsofbeads.blogspot.com/

Beaded candy canes - Candie Cooper http://candiecooper.typepad.com/savvycrafter/

Polymer clay gift tag/ornament - Heather Powers http://www.polymerclay.craftgossip.com

Twisted blues - Lampwork Diva aka Cindy Gimbrone http://lampworkdiva.blogspot.com

Holiday spiral tree & party pixie - Art Bead Scene http://www.artbeadscene.com

Wire bird's nest - Rebecca Peck http://vintagegirlmodernworld.wordpress.com/

Plush gingerbread doggie - Jenny Harada http://pomly.livejournal.com/

Swell ornament - Alexa Westerfield  http://swelldesigner.blogspot.com/

Holiday paper crafting - Brandy Lung Gill http://accesstoexcess.blogspot.com/

Shaving cream & chipboard ornament  - Michelle McGee http://fromichelle.blogspot.com/

Easy needle-felted orb - Katie Hacker http://www.katiehacker.com/index.htm

Christmas Kitsch Ch!na Style...

C'mon, you know you want one!  Do you love these bazaar little Santas with exagerated pink boots?  I've never seen anything like them.  A couple weeks ago, my friends and I took a trip to the "tree farm".  We were all feeling a little low on holiday cheer.

There wasn't any spiced cider, but the spirit was definitely present.  Every square inch of space was filled with something tinsel-y.  We had so much fun sifting through the goods.  And don't you love it when your face hurts from smiling and giggling?!?! 

The rest of the elves...   

We jammed the van full of trees, baubles, and cheer then giddily headed for a festive lunch.  Thank you girls for a very fun day.

On the plaza...

Rockefeller Plaza in NY has an enormous Christmas tree.  We have an enormous Santa with an even bigger mug of beer.  I have to say I did a double take when I first saw this sight.    It's just that I never pictured Santa as a beer drinker.  We also have a building with a huge light up scene of a reindeer rubbing a magic lamp and a Genie-Santa coming out of it.  Santa's arm toggles up and down and you guessed it!  He's drinking beer.  There's a first time for everything and living here, brings many firsts.

Links...

Here's your bead lovin' links for this week...

About.com Jewelry Making 
Tammy at About.com's Jewelry Making site has a long list of ideas for jewelry makers to give and get this holiday season. http://jewelrymaking.about.com/b/2007/12/13/jewelry-gifts-for-jewelry-makers.htm                                                      

Art Bead Scene 
As a thank you to our loyal readers, the editors of Art Bead Scene present 12 Days of Christmas: 12 free projects using art beads, running over the next two weeks. These projects are quick and easy gift ideas, perfect for the holidays! http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2007/12/12-days-of-christmas.html

Bead Arts 
Cyndi is continuing the countdown to Christmas with a link to a new project every day! All with beads, of course.
http://www.bead-arts.com

Jewelry & Beading 
Stunning jewelry and other artwork are featured in an interview with Penny Purdie, one of Cyndi's favorite artists in the Swarovski Design Contest! http://www.jewelryandbeading.com/2007/12/13/artist-profile-penny-purdie/                   

PearlEsq. 
Check out the travels of Robin at Tim Holtz' Holiday Hideaway! http://pearlesq.blogspot.com/2007/12/creativity-abounding-in-az.html                                                                                                                                                                                 

Katie's Beading Blog has a fun idea for some "summer in winter" earrings too!                  

Savvy Crafter 
Candie takes a walk down Candy Cane Memory Lane.... See two different versions of beaded candy cane ornaments on her blog. Yum! http://candiecooper.typepad.com/savvycrafter/2007/12/candie-cane-lan.html                                

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beadng to be done! 
Jean displays a little parallel chain style chain maille and borosilicate bracelet for her chain maille gallery on her site: Margot Potter has the perfect name for it! http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/2007/12/thank-you.html                 

The Impatient Blogger 
It's week three of Ornament Thursday! Margot offers a simply lovely and quick idea in this week's post, plus links to the amazing ideas of the rest of our talented participants!
http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/2007/12/ornament-thursday-take-three.html

Candie Cane Lane...

First off, THANK YOU all for the lovely and sweet comments about Ornament Thursday.  It's been a treat to look at all your spectacular ornaments!  I feel so lucky that we have a secret br0wser that allows us to look at bl0gsp0t blogs----but the other side of that is I feel like a real a-hole because I can't leave you notes to tell you how much I adore what you made.  It's weird, but it comes with living here.  See note of sorry at left...

It seems that the end of the year always brings crazy frantic work deadlines before the new year rings in.  I've heard it from more than one person the past few days.  It's a juggling act between wrapping up work stuff and wrapping up presents. As a freelancer, I'm just so grateful to have work and a supportive husband who helps wrap presents and chips in to help make the salad for the holiday party. He's great like that.

With the holiday festivities and work stuff I was feeling drained. I needed to make time to play.  I know, but often forget this about myself.  I feel all creativity get sucked in by pressure if I don't take a couple of hours to do something absolutely just for fun.  So, Friday, late afternoon I headed with a bag o' yarn and tools to Starbucks to meet three other friends for coffee.  I'd been wanting to try out the pom-pom makers by Clover.  As it turned out, one friend brought her knitting, another brought a beaded candy cane ornament kit.  Before we knew it our little table was packed with beads, scissors, pliers, and balls of yarn, all of us working on something.  We weren't there more than an hour and a half, but the laughs and happy crafts gave me the energy to go back and tackle some more work! Ok.  The latte helped  too.

   

Old School and New School Candy Cane Ornaments

Let's take a stroll down Candy Cane Memory Lane.....  The candy cane ornament kits my friend brought to coffee got me thinking about some we made back in elementary school.  We used pipe cleaners and plastic beads.  For this one, I used a slightly different interlocking bead (is that sad I remember what bead we used way back from 3rd grade?) and a red tinsel pipe cleaner.  Take 6 minutes to string it up and hang it on your tree!  As I was looking at my tree, I noticed all of my candy cane ornaments are facing the same direction.  Hmmm. I feel like that should be a question on a personality test.  "Do you prefer your candy cane hook going to the left or right?"  Who cares, just take time to play!

Candy Canes with glass bead Ornament Kits by Westrim Crafts

Bead Merry and Bright-Ornament Thursday Pt. 4

Hello Ornament Thursday!  It's been quite a crafty week to say the least.  Saturday, was Second Saturday where we decorated picture frames.  Saturday afternoon there was a holiday bazaar of sorts at the international school.  Then on Sunday at 9:30, the brunch with Santa kicked off.

Me and my pal Meg helped the kids make Shanghai Snowman ornaments.  We cranked out 56 snowman ornaments in an hour and a half!  That's a lot of snow, er, spoons as it were.

The kids did a great job picking out their parts and pieces; snowflakes, felt hats, scarves, buttons and so on.  There were a lot of decisions to be made.  And I learned that carrot noses look good pointing in any direction.  My favorite part was when they put on the face.  We used Sharpie markers so they could draw smiley faces or dots or whatever their little minds came up with.

Last night we had a little Christmas gathering at a friend's house.  I had 20 Shanghai Snowman ornament kits left so I took them along.  It didn't take too much crackin' of the crafty whip to get the men in on the fun.  One of the guys was positive he hadn't crafted since first grade. Love that.

Me Crackin' the Crafty Whip!

By the end, we were all smooshed around the table making snowmen ornaments.  The crafty bug is very contagious as you know!  You can see from the first photo, each ornament has it's own personality.  We had some good laughs and everyone got to take home ornaments.

Anna (in above picture) made a bunch of super cool snowmen, including this one.  She's a very creative and crafty girl after my own heart.

We've got nearly 30! people participating in Ornament Thursday Virtual Craft Night this week.  Yowza!  Check em' out and feel free to join in next week~the last ornament Thursday before Christmas!

Sara Naumann http://blog.paperwishes.com/sara/
Lynn Kvigne http://beading.consumerhelpweb.com/blog/
Candie Cooper http://candiecooper.typepad.com/savvycrafter/
Katie Hacker http://www.katiehacker.com/index.htm
Margot Potter http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/
Linda Augsburg http://cs.makeitminemag.com/mimcs/blogs/makeitmine/
Melanie Brooks Lukacs http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com/
Art Bead Scene http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/
Cindy Gimbrone http://lampworkdiva.blogspot.com/
Suzanne http://suzanne-catching-up.blogspot.com/
Humblebeads http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/
Polymer Clay Craft Gossip http://polymerclay.craftgossip.com/
Alexa Westerfield from http://swelldesigner.blogspot.com/
Debba Haupert http://www.girlfriendology.blogspot.com/
Elaine Luther http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com/news
Melissa Lee http://www.strandsofbeads.blogspot.com/
Rebecca Peck http://vintagegirlmodernworld.wordpress.com/
Jean Yates http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/
Michelle McGee http://fromichelle.blogspot.com/
Jenny Harada http://pomly.livejournal.com/
Jennifer Heynen http://jenniferjangles.blogspot.com/
Hali Chambers http://www.labyrinthgal.blogspot.com/
Kriss Kramer http://www.art-interrupted.blogspot.com/

Lisa Liddy http://lisaliddy.wordpress.com/
Brandy Lung Gill http://accesstoexcess.blogspot.com/

Button! Button! Who's got the button fever!?!

If you're a lover of buttons, you might want to add this book to your wishlist for Santa.  Now that I think about it, you may want to add buttons also because this book has 50 button blooming projects!    Last Spring I contributed four designs for this---one of them is in the upper left corner of the cover.  It was fun to work on because I used up and got to add new buttons to my ever growing button box.  That's a good thing! 

Bead Merry and Bright...Part 3

Happy Ornament Thursday!   This week's ornament celebrates peace, love and thrifting! Over the summer I rescued a broken wind chime from the local thrift store.  A bag o' birds for three dollars?!?!  I couldn't resist.    I didn't really know what I'd do with them at the time, but recently I have found they make for perfect ornaments!  With their dove shape, I painted them all white with metal paint.  This one actually has a coat of pearl paint on it although it's hard to see in the photo.  This afternoon I took it to the studio to finish and here's what I came up with:

Peace Bird Ornament, 2007

A few beads, ribbon and a peace charm----done! I was inspired by a a wall hanging at my grandparent's house that's been there for as long as I can remember. It's all white and made from metal that has a slight rusty patina and spells PEACE vertically with a dove hanging at the bottom.  Now if I could just get it to rust a little around the edges! 

Material Notes:  Peace Charm from the Artgirlz , beading wire from Beadalon, lustery pearl Adirondack paint by Ranger! 

Want to see more tree bling?

Rebecca Peck http://vintagegirlmodernworld.wordpress.com/

Melissa Lee http://www.strandsofbeads.blogspot.com

Melanie Brooks Lukacs http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com/

Margot Potter http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/

Linda Augsburg http://cs.makeitminemag.com/mimcs/blogs/makeitmine/

Lynn Kvigne http://beading.consumerhelpweb.com/blog/
Kriss Kramer www.art-interrupted.blogspot.com

Katie Hacker http:www.katiehacker.com

Jenny Harada http://pomly.livejournal.com/

Jennifer Heynen http://jenniferjangles.blogspot.com/

Hali Chambers www.labyrinthgal.blogspot.com

Alexa Westerfield from http://swelldesigner.blogspot.com/

Michelle McGee http://fromichelle.blogspot.com/

Art Bead Scene http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/