Rainbow Printable Box

This box was inspired by my friend Grace's daughter. She's wild for rainbows, and I thought she might like something like this. Click on the box for a larger version, print on card stock, cut out, score, fold, glue! I'm thinking of doing a couple other things to match like circles for cupcake toppers and printable cards.

I also posted a new project to Beadwork at BellaOnline today. A beaded thumb drive.

Still sick, but feeling a lot better now. I've actually gotten a few things done over the last couple of days! TG caught my cold with a vengeance and is not at all pleased about it.
I hope you are all doing well!

Gestalt prayer and new beadwork

Gestalt therapy is complicated and controversial, but this "prayer", and gestalt principles had a lot of resonance with hippies, so it was one that I did grow up with hanging in my home.

I do my thing and you do your thing.

I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,

And you are not in this world to live up to mine.

You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful.

If not, it can’t be helped.

(Fritz Perls, 1969)

The problem with it for a lot of people is that on the surface, it seems very selfish, but that's not how my mom took it, and not how it was meant. The basic idea is that people need to be self-aware, to view themselves as a whole person and to fulfill their needs in order to be completely functional and to really appreciate other people's needs. It's about making improvements in who we are by not living up to other people's expectations of who we are, and instead really looking in ourselves to see what we want to be and working on that.
(more about Gestalt therapy here)

Anyway, like I said, there was a very popular poster in the 70s that was in a lot of hippies homes, including mine. I decided for my version, that I'd use a photo of seagulls that I took recently.
Click on the image for the larger printable version.

You can share the top version to share on Facebook at Don't Eat the Paste Quotes.

Also! I posted instructions for filigree earrings!

Knotwork Coloring Page

I did this over a week ago and forgot to post it. I hope you enjoy this knot to color!

Also, new bead patterns up at Beadwork at BellaOnline!

Knot to color and embroider

This new two strand knot was a lot of fun to draw. Usually, I say "Feel free to use this for embroidery, pryrography or other craft purposes" but this time there is one especially for outline stitch embroidery as well as the coloring page. Click on the images for larger versions. The coloring page is transparent PNG, the embroidery page is gif format. The embroidery page is 2 colors, which makes the 2 strands of the knot easier to see.

New graph up at Beadwork at BellaOnline, and it comes with this example pattern, which is a set of lover's knots around a trinity knot.

Geometric Rainbow Box and Coloring Page

Because it seemed like a rainbow-y day and in theory, simple geometric designs are easy. I started this one thinking "Okay, I'll have it done in an hour or two" and well.. that was a few hours ago. Click on the images for the full sized versions. The coloring page is only 100 dpi. Hope you enjoy them!

In other news, on other sites. I posted a new beadwork project on BellaOnline Beadwork. 

Western style Red, White and Blue Printable Gift Box

I hope you enjoy this gift box!

Click on the image for the full sized version, 300 dpi, jpg.

Also posted recently at Beadwork at BellaOnline, click the links under the images.

Printable graph paper booklets for beaders

Peacock Herl Earring Tutorial

Beaded ornament and matching paper box

You can find instructions for the ornament here. The paper version is something I made up to make it easier to understand how the ornament goes together, but it would also make a good favor box I think. To make it, print out the template on paper or card stock, and glue the blank tab inside the other side of the box. Then tape down the tabs to close it. I lined up the lines so that it will all line up right if you tape them on the outside. I used paper for the version above and didn't score or fold the lines. 

Print at 100 ppi. Click the images for the larger versions.

The blank version is for you to decorate, I think it would be great filled with candy as a place card!

Patterns from my Facebook page

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you might have noticed the last few days I've had 2 different Halloween patterns as profile pictures. Here are the patterns as used on Facebook and the flat versions if you'd like to bead them. Jennifer B. already did one of them and if she gives me permission I'll post that photo later! Click on the images to see them full sized.

I posted a new article on BellaOnline, Copper washer necklaces!

Bat Cane- art and instructions

This is my spare cane. I picked up an inexpensive walnut cane from the grocery store to have as a back up, and couldn't resist decoupaging it. 

First I measured the circumference of the cane, which was right about 3 inches. Then I created the design. 5 inches long sounded about right to me. Click on the image to download the full sized 300 ppi version.

I printed that on a decorative paper. My choice was a coffee leaf paper that TerraCycle used to make and that I've been hoarding for special projects. A mottled, marbled, or other light colored design looks good for this. After printing, spray the design with a sealer.

Pull out the glossy Mod Podge. Cut out the design and check to make sure it wraps with the ends just meeting or just barely overlapping. Cover the back of the image with Mod Podge and glue it in place on the cane.

Then I cut strips from some of the remaining decorative paper, and glued them on to decorate, and to finish the edges. 

Cover the whole thing with a light coat of Mod Podge, going beyond the edges a bit to seal the edges. Let dry for a bit, repeat, repeat.

Let the Mod Podge cure for 24 hours, then I added an extra coat of sealer to make it very durable. I used a polyurethane spray because the color of the paper means some yellowing won't mess up the design. I sprayed it, let it dry for 10 minutes, sprayed it again,, let it dry for 10 minutes, sprayed it again. Using a high gloss polyurethane, it's very shiny! Let the polyurethane cure for 24 hours.

End result is a Halloween cane for about 10 dollars. If you don't have polyurethane or Mod Podge, it may cost a little bit more initially, but you'll be able to use them on canes for other holidays or canes to match dressy outfits. 

Other recent projects include this tassel necklace. You can find instructions on Beadwork at BellaOnline.

And these copper projects. The ankhs I made last week. The beaded messy necklace I made last night. They are made in copper and darkened with liver of sulfur. I wiped off the excess with a 3m synthetic steel wool pad. First time I used one, if you click on the image you might be able to see a couple bits of fluff I missed, but compared to regular steel wool on wire projects like this, there was very little shred. The size is a nice one for jewelry projects as well. Tiny little rectangle shaped pads!

More photos and a shawl pin project

The rose was taken today, the eagle a couple days ago. If you click on the images, you'll get the full sized version. You have my permission to use the image for scrapbooking and other non-commercial uses.

I posted a new shawl pin project at Beadwork at BellaOnline. This is what it looks like.

Busy Busy

Yesterday I did some stuff around the house, posted some new beadwork to Beadwork at BellaOnline and caught up on some reading. Plus working out some electronic stuph.

Currently I have a couple things in various contests if you'd like to take a look.
Slogan at Threadless.com, sign into Threadless to vote.

Cocktail fabric voting at Spoonflower, I'm very sure I won't win. There are some amazing designs in this contest. Go take a look and vote for your favorites! I think I wound up voting for 14. One of my favorite contests yet and I don't drink very often.

When I do drink, it's mostly locally produced micro-brews and just one, but we are going to try and go on a tour of the local mead brewery next weekend for my birthday. This weekend we are going to the local Saturday Market. Yay! The company my kids love best won't be there until next month, but it will still be grand.
I'm turning 39 on the 16th, the current plans are for my husband to grill chicken with my homemade teriyaki sauce, zucchini and mushrooms with his garlic butter/olive oil combination which isn't even vaguely healthy but tastes just incredible and to get a cake from the bakery I've been getting my cakes from since I was 12. My dad looks forward to my b-day just for those cakes. We are also talking about going out hiking. Look forward to lots of photos if it's warm enough.

I'm actually going to make 2 batches of teriyaki sauce. One will be my normal recipe, the other will be a sugar free variation for my uncle. I'll let you know how the sugar free one works out. I know he's very eager. He thinks Mike's grilled zucchini is one of the best things in the world as well.

Shiny new camera

Recently I got a shiny new camera. I've been wanting one for ages (well, last summer?) that I could take pictures of eagles with because my little camera with it's 5x zoom couldn't get more than vaguely eagle colored blobs. I'll admit though, I know very little about the art of photography, aperture settings, ISOs and all that. But I wanted those eagle pictures.
It looked like an DSLR was the only way to go, but then hybrid cameras started coming out. The one I have is the Fujifilm FinePix HS10.
It's a reasonable price, the lens is all inclusive with 30x zoom so no lens changing to get a nice close up shot. The question becomes, will it work for taking pictures of eagles for someone is keeps mixing up what all those photographer commands do.


All of the following pictures were taken using the factory settings and auto-focus.







Well, we went out to where we saw the eagles nesting last summer. There were birds to be heard but none to see there but I took a couple pictures of the trees where the eagles were last year.

See the arrow? That's the tree the eagles nested in. This picture and the next were resized to 25 percent, but otherwise, I didn't muck with them at all.

And this is zoomed all the way. If an eagle were there, I think it would have shown up as an eagle. Not an eagle colored blob.

So, I'm impressed. Next question is how will it do for the pictures I need to take for my sites? Well, the current project on my beadwork site is a simple wire cage pendant.

This is using the flash from a few inches away.

This is simply the best camera I've ever had, and people who really know how to use all the functions are getting simply amazing shots, so it's a good camera for me to learn a lot more about photography with, but still usable while I learn more.

This loses a lot of detail in resizing. If you want to see the full sized picture that I took last night, click here.

Loving my new camera so much! I'm looking forward to lots of pictures this summer!

New computer- getting caught up

Sorry I haven't answered comments over the last week. My computer decided suddenly it didn't much like having USB ports and started spitting out anything I put in them. After hours and hours of working on the problem, I finally decided it wasn't worth the time and frustration for a computer I was planning to replace anyway. So Mike and I discussed the budget, figured out what we could spend and got me a shiny new Windows 7 computer.
I should be back to my regular posting schedule starting tomorrow.
I did post a pattern for a cute ring yesterday on Beadwork at BellaOnline-

One of my daughter's favorite musicians is a lady who does a lot of video game covers and writes songs for snails. She plays several instruments and mixes her music herself. She also has a whole bunch of completely free songs available. Auriplane's Music

Awareness Ribbons

Everyone in my family wears a red ribbon. Mike and the teens wear the stick on kinds and have them on all the jackets they wear with any regularity. It's the only accessory type thing Mike wears on a regular basis. No bracelets, necklaces, rings or pins. Just that awareness ribbon on the jackets he wears. Mike and I have friends with AIDS and we've both lost friends to it.
I wear lots of jackets or no jacket at all and decided to bead myself one that I could move from jacket to jacket or pin on my purse.

I'm not saying it's the only cause we support, but it's the one we wear ribbons for. I know other people wear other colors of ribbons. This is the pattern for the ribbon. Make it in the color you want, and if you want to make them for sale to raise money for your cause, by all means do. I did mine in brick stitch.

Since I knew I wanted to post this pattern, I also made up some boxes that you can package items you sell to raise money/awareness. There are so many ribbon colors to choose from, I chose red for AIDS awareness, yellow for the troops and pink for breast cancer. There is also a greyscale box that you can re-color in a graphics program. If you don't know how to do that and really want a specific color, just let me know.

Click on the images for the full sized versions.

Currently... (heart bead pattern)

I posted a review of Jean Campbell's Steampunk Style Jewelry here. Just before Valentine's Day while I was working on bead patterns for the holiday, I graphed this heart with gears that I didn't wind up using. Hopefully you can!


For recent finished objects, I made a pair of earrings and a Legion flight ring.

I'm going to work on a non-trademarked ring in the same style as the Legion flight ring to post on BellaOnline. Something fun and springlike.

Recently posted reviews on Amazon:
Craft and Cookbooks-
Steampunk Style Jewelry by Jean Campbell
Chocolate Cakes- 50 Great Cakes for Every Occasion by Elinor Klivans
The Little House Cookbook- Frontier Foods from Laura Ingall Wilder's Classic Stories by Barbara M. Walker
My 1 inch circle punch, it's made by Uchida and this is the punch I used for the bottle cap necklace project.

Music-
Jamie Anderson's Three Bridges- a folk album Mike got me last year. It's one of my favorites
Boca 2008: Best of College a Cappella- a great collection of pop songs done a cappella
Jill Tracy's The Bittersweet Constrain another favorite album.