Purple Ruffle Purse

Naztazia made a tutorial video (click the link) that I found for a ruffle purse, so I had to go get some yarns to make this. I like the way it's turning out so far.

What I want to do is attach clear acrylic circle handles to the purse; I'm not sure how to do that. Hmmm....

EDIT - Here is the finished bag:

Decoupage!

OK I must do this too.

Decorating Jar Candles

I must do this!

Now, to figure out how to refill a used jar once the original wax is all burned up....

EDIT! How to make concrete votive candle holders!

A Lesson....

...in chemistry. I have discovered how various inks hold up in the face of Mod Podge.

In the center of this picture is a blue and white striped bead:

When I took this picture, the bead was simply rolled and ready for glazing. I used a blue magic marker to add color to the paper before rolling it up. Note how crisp the blue and the white is on the bead.

Last night I added some Mod Podge to this bead. Given that magic marker is water soluble, it ended up with a rather watercolor looking wash to the bead, like so:

Which does look nice, so I might very well continue to use this technique, it's just that I'll have to be aware of how this ink responds under Mod Podge.

I also noticed that highlighter ink doesn't seem to do this. I wonder if using Sharpies, which are not water-soluble, will also remain colorfast when Podge'd. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.......

Paper Beads!

Yay, I've made paper beads! This was quite fun. I like making beads and doing jewelry (although I haven't been doing as much of it lately) because this is something that can be worn in hot weather such as we have a lot of in Florida. Crochet is very fun, but here in the sunny South it's often too hot to wear crocheted items.

So here are the beads I made this past weekend:

And here's the technique I used to make the beads...

It's actually very easy. Admittedly mine are not as perfect as Lindsey's but they'll get better as I make more. I am running low on bead ends, but I don't necessarily have to use bead ends every time I make these.

I have tried making other beads with different paper, and glazing them with clear nail polish. They are drying at home, and I haven't had a chance to get a photo of them yet. I must admit - I like the ones shown above better. I like the quality of the paper, I like the embossed finish better than the clear nail polish, and I like the silver bead ends I used.

I decided to use two of the smaller red ones as accent beads on a fat necklace I have...

Kinda cute. Gives a slightly feminine touch to the fat Thor's hammer! LOL!