DIY Fashionista!

Hey! I am featured this week as a DIY Fashionista over at Cut Out + Keep... go check it out!  

There's a little interview about my DIY style and a mini-tutorial on my DIY necklace.

Back to Beading

Sooooo... recently this blog (and my extracurricular activities generally) have been all about sewing. I've been quite smitten (nay, obsessed) with sewing.

Not that that's bad. It's just that my other hobbies are jealous...

After Colleen asked me what accessories I was planning on wearing with my leopard peplum blouse, it got me thinking that I'd been neglecting my beads and jewelry-making. I mean, the last time I made a piece of jewelry was over a year ago, for the Jenneth wedding spectacular (to be fair, I made six earring/necklace combinations for that affair, no small feat!)!!

I decided straight away that I should remedy the situation by incorporating more jewelry-making into my crafting schedule. And maybe some more cooking, too, while I'm at it.

What happened next, you might ask? In search of inspiration, I fell down a Pinterest rabbit hole, foraged through my beads for several hours, got overwhelmed and ultimately decided to start with something simple.  I decided to answer Colleen's question by making something to go with my leopard peplum!

A necklace made from round hematite beads alternating with short lengths of chain for about 30 inches, with pairs of little triangle-shaped glass danglies in between for movement.

Turns out this baby might be a bit too matchy-matchy... it basically blends in with the top when I'm wearing them together. But it's pretty and sparkly anyway and I imagine I'll be able to wear it with other stuff, too!  Plus it got me thinking about beading/jewelry-making again, so mission accomplished!

Layered Necklaces

Amy called me and asked me to bring her a necklace that she can wear to her brother-in-law's upcoming wedding.  She needed a colorful statement necklace to wear with her simple black cross front dress.... after my success with Chuck's multi-layered bead and chain necklace from a couple years ago (I've seen her wearing it at least twice!), I drafted up this cheerful number for Amy in the same style:

While pouring over my beads to find some for Amy's necklace, I stumbled on this necklace I had made before I left DC, also in a similar style.  It must have gotten lost in the moving shuffle, but I was excited to rediscover it.  I like how the black chain contrasts the super bright beads:

Seed Bead and Chain Necklace

I saw a link to this necklace tutorial from A Bit of Sunshine on Pinterest (and that tutorial is also based on a necklace seen on Pinterest... man, that site is addictive).  I thought it was pretty cool.  I love the combination of the simple seed beads mixed with shiny metal chain.  Plus, stripes.  I love stripes these days.

I had a ton of old-school seed beads (old school meaning I think I may have been dragging these things around since middle school), but I didn't have the cool gold findings- the rectangles and end bar links- so I improvised with some gold bead caps instead.  It doesn't have the flat, ribbony effect of the Bit of Sunshine necklace, but still looks pretty nice, I think! 

My only complaint is that this project reminded me how much I hate working with those tiny little beads.  My fingers hurt!  And now my back's gonna hurt because I just pulled landscaping duty.

Necklace and Earring Set for Amy

Gold chain, deep gold glass pearls... perfect for wearing to a job interview in Australia.