A touch of jewelry

 Hello again! Sorry it has been so long until my next blog. Have been under the weather for several weeks and am just getting back in the swing of things.

This bracelet is one that I made for my niece. Her school colors are green and white. This is made with beads strung onto memory wire. This is a single wrap and is what most school girls are wearing. I sell these bracelets for $3.50 each. I accept paypal. Pretty soon they will be on Etsy.com.

This is also for my niece. She bought the peacock paper for me to use. This is a composition notebook that I redesign and make it a one of a kind. It has the same paper on the back and has purple paper on the inside covers. This one has rhinestones to match the colors of the peacock feathers.
 

I attach a metal paper clip  and make a bead dangle to finish it off. These sell for $8.00 to $10.00. They will be available very soon on etsy.com.

On one of my earliest posts, I gave the directions to make these composition notebooks.



 

 This necklace is made from vintage beads from a necklace made
in the 1950s. It was a 3 strand that had broken. The beads are
plastic and are a brilliant avacado and sea foam green. You can't see it but, it has a barrel closure.

This was from mom's jewelry so, I recycled it. Will be on etsy soon.



                                                          

This necklace is made from a premade black and silver chain. I put a silver toggle closure and added a silver heart and key. I am pleased with the way it looks. The chain is 18 inches long.

This necklace is also made from a brown, amber and gold chain. I just fixed a pendant from a chandelier earring piece and some amber beads. The chandelier piece is silver. The beads are strung on gold wire. I thought it needed the silver color to make it stand out more. It is also an 18 inch chain. 

 

Chandelier earrings with white glass beads. This is reclaimed from chandelier earrings that were broken so, I started with new beads.

That's it for this time. Next time I hope to have some fall flowers and trees to share with you plus a craft or two. As always, keep safe. - Jan

 

 

Vintage Clothes Hanger Jewelry Holder

I bought some vintage wooden hangers at a sale that my friend, Cindy, and I went to in Branson, Mo. They were 3 for $5.00 so I splurged and bought six. Now to create!!

 

I am a pinner on Pinterest (Jan Hickman) and I saw that someone had made a jewelry holder from vintage hangers. Now, this is something I wanted to try.

 

A trip to Home Depot and I had the spray paint (Lagoon) and some cup hooks.

 

First I got a pizza box I had been saving (for some reason) and put my hanger in there, went outside and started spraying. Could only coat one side, so when that side dried, a flip and a spray and I am done until it dries.

 

I know that I should have sanded the hanger and predrilled the holes, but I cut a corner or in this case, two corners. If this doesn't turn out, then I will and predrill some holes. I just remembered that my dad and my husband, Barney, are always saying - Measure twice and cut once. That applies here. Sand and predrill first then spray and screw in cup hooks. Sorry guys!

 

Okay, below is the pictures from beginning to end. After the spray paint had dried (Rust-oleum Painter's Touch Ultra for wood, metal and plastic), I worked the copper wire and beads and got them twisted and ready to put on the hanger hook. It did take a few trying moments to get the screws in. I had to use a pair of pliers to get things going.

 

After all the hooks were screwed in, I wrapped the copped beaded wire around that hanger. Then I put some necklaces on it. It doesn't have enough hooks right now. I have some small ones to put on there for earrings and a couple of larger ones for bracelets. Kudos to whoever came up with this idea!! It is great!

Next week, I will be adding some One of a Kind jewelry, old dolls and vintage candy dishes to Etsy. Just stop by and check up on me and tell your friends. That's www.etsy.com. Just search for JansCollections. Also, check out my boards on Pinterest, under Jan Hickman. I have lots to share and so far I have almost 500 followers. Makes me feel great.

 

I am following Picker Cousins on Facebook. They just bought an older glamper that they are going to fix up. They will be adding photos soon as they start changing the glamper from a pumpkin to a fine stylish glamper. Go Picker Cousins!! Check them out and like then so you keep up with what's going on. They are doing some recycling with furniture, shutters, etc. that I know they are going to share.

 

In a few days, I will say goodbye to my Buster Brown. He is a year old and he is going to a good home with kids and a fenced yard. We are in the country and he chases the horses, goats and cars. I am afraid something will happen to him. But, he's going to a good home. I will miss that little boy!

 

I close by showing you a picture of my nanny goat, Nellie. I was outside taking photos and she was so curious about what I was doing that I got a close up of her, looking at the camera. See all of you in a few days. Be safe!

 

Getting My Bling Together!

I didn't realize 10 days have passed since my last post. Been trying to get lots of things done, but that's no excuse.

How many of you are familiar with Pinterest? I have only been on there since mid June, but I have found out that it can be very addicting. I have several boards with things that interest me and I am shocked at the number of people who are following me to see what I am posting. Time consuming you ask? Yes it can be. I check my email every morning to see who is following my pins or a board. Then I go to their boards and see what interests they have and if I want to follow a board or follow all their boards.

Anyone can get on there. I didn't have an invitation, so I just requested to be on board. It took almost a month before Pinterest got to me. I am glad they did. I get to show off some of my jewelry and the things that interest me.

My latest interest is Glampers. That's a new word created for bling up the older little campers. Two of my friends and I just bought one and are getting anxious to get it here and start the makeover. Will try to get photos and post them on here for you. Wish us luck! We are going to have to roll up our sleeves and get creative.

We have gotten some rain since my last post. The grass is starting to green up. We still are feeding our birds and of course, our hummers. We have about 40 birds eating and keeping us busy with one feeder. We have 4 hummers and I love watching them. Here is a picture I took of them.

This is just three of them. They like to buzz each other. I am finally able to get close to the feeder and they buzz by my head to get to their feed. Watching them and the birds is so relaxing. I use to think I would never have these feeders out and look at me now.

Want to share this flower that is in one area of our yard. Actually, it is climbing on an old piece of fence. I don't know anything about this, but I love the bloom.

The flower comes out of a green pod. We have been in this house 10 years and they were here then. I didn't think they were coming back this year, but after this last rain, only 2 flowers have appeared.

Around mid June, my husband rescued a dachshund. The owner couldn't be found and the church camp was going to have to send it to a pound. So, enter my husband. She is a beautiful color and has quite a neat personality. We call her Blossom. One week ago, she gave birth to 3 boys and 2 girls. Now, until they are old enough to give away, we have our hands full. Here is a picture of her and the babies.

Not the best picture. She is black. All the puppies are black and have white on them in different places. Hmmmm, wonder what kind of dog the dad is??? They get off the pillow and back on the pillow. They are fun to watch.

Ok, on to the jewelry portion. Have you ever been to Michael's and looked through their 10/$10 bins? Last year I found packages of butterflies that had a hole all the way through them. There were four to a package in two different colors. I bought several packages and just put them away for 'later'. I found them the other day and decided they would make perfect earrings. I put a small bead on my head pin, then placed the butterfly. Next I added some beads to the top of the butterfly, cut the wire, made a loop with round nose pliers and attached it to an ear wire. Here's just one pair of them.

Aren't these cute? They are lightweight and a one of a kind.

While going through all my jewelry pieces, I found some leather tubing. Don't even know why I have it. I got to looking at it and discovered memory wire would slide into that tubing. So, I cut random pieces of tubing and got some glass beads and made a bracelet. I just cut the memory wire, made a loop on one end and fed a bead, tubing piece, bead, etc. all the way to the end of the memory wire. Made another loop at the end and added a bead onto each of the loops and here is my newest bracelet.

I made another one using brown tubing. Now, that I am hooked, I plan to make more of these. They look good and don't use as many beads.

This is another one of a kind necklace. The salmon beads in front are over 45 years old. The 3 sections of wood discs are about the same age. Also, the amber beads are vintage. All part of broken pieces of jewelry that my mom had saved. Even the chain used in the back is vintage. Wow! I just recycled!

This necklace is made with crystal beads and glass beads. The piece in front is from a broken chain necklace of moms.

This set is mint green, purple, amber and multi-colored blue beads. The necklace is in links. I used all the bead colors in the bracelet. Both have toggle closures. The chandelier earrings are 3 rows of beads plus holes 2 & 4 have a link of connecting chain. Loved designing this.

Every girl needs some bling! I originally designed this for the cowgirls in our area, but I think any girl would like it. The big clip is to hook on your jeans belt loop. The beads hang down about 3 inches. All beads are glass and some are vintage. The vintage smiley face charm sets this off. If you want, you could clip it to the handle of your purse. Am waiting to get the pieces in to make more of these. Slow mail!!

Can't wait to share these bracelets with you. I wanted an 8" bracelet and this took trial and error to get it to work out. I used a length of chain (mine is durable but dainty looking) and cut it into 1 1/2" lengths. Then I added a barrel closure to put those pieces together. That's half of the bracelet. Next, I connected the male end of two barrel closures on each end of the chain. I threaded beads and even linked some beads to create the top of the bracelet. Lengths are from 3" to 3 1/2". Then I added the female part of the barrel closure on each side. They are fastened to the bracelet back and you have just made a bracelet. You can see that if I only had one bracelet, I could have six different bracelets by changing the bracelet top. I have the gold tone barrel closures and the beads picked out, so that is what I will work on next.

Time to get off here and get busy! Got most of my housework done so, I am ready to make jewelry. I love doing this! It keeps my mind functioning better. My medicine hasn't been working very good this past week so keeping very busy has helped me not dwell on my headaches.

Glad you let me come into your home. Check me out on Pinterest by Jan Hickman. Also, JansCollections on etsy.com. I have mom's vintage jewelry on there.

It's Jewelry Making Time

Got up feeling good, so have worked all day in my office making jewelry. I am behind on the designs I want to get done. I do write them all down and sketch them out in my Idea Book, but if I don't get on them right away, I seem to let other things get in my way - like husband, housework, animals. Normal every day stuff!!

This bracelet is made with glass beads. They are brown with a splash of green, blue, black, tan, lavender and yellow running through the beads. I really like these beads, so decided a bracelet was in order. The small glass beads in between look brown and when the light hits them, they look somewhat purple. They were perfect for this bracelet. Normally I would put a gold toggle closure on here and not the silver. However, silver is such a great color with everything and I am seeing more silver closures than ever before. The bracelet is strung on tiger tail wire and crimped.

This is another glass bead bracelet. Some of these beads are vintage and were part of broken pieces that I kept after my mom died. It is strung on elastic that is just for jewelry. You will notice the two odd beads showing in the front - those are there to show you the back of the bracelet. That is where they bracelet is tied and glued. I put this there on several bracelets I made for a lady so she never had to worry about the bracelet 'breaking'. If it is in this location, it doesn't get as much pull on it, if it is elsewhere on the bracelet. It's just a matter of preference. Some ladies do not care anything about where it is put together.

Another one of those bracelets with the silver closure. The beads are glass. They are brown and the spacer beads I used are light amber. When the light hits those beads just right, they sparkle. This bracelet is put together like the first one.

Well, isn't this unusual?? I had a piece of cool looking lace that I use to glue on to glass bowls and jars and decided to try to make a bracelet with it. I cut a piece of memory wire and thread it through this lace. I made my 2 loops at the end of the memory wire and put a crystal bead on each loop. My plan is to make crystal bead dangles and hang throughout this bracelet. Tell me what you think of this design. I have never found anything like it anywhere. It is one that I would definitely wear.

This picture doesn't give this necklace a great look. Sorry about that. It is made with heavy glass beads. I put each bead on a eye pin and cut the end and looped it. Did this for all the beads. Then I got small gold jump rings and put all the pieces together. The four round beads in the front are totally different from the other beads. I used them as the focal. The closure is a gold grape leaf and the long piece that hooks into it, has a bunch of grapes stamped in the metal. If you wanted to, you can move this necklace some to get the closure showing on the side, then your four round beads would be on the side of the necklace. Just a different way to wear it.

You talk about unusual beads and color! These beads look pale pale pink with purple in them. Then, depending on the light, they look white and black. That's why I bought them! The bracelet is strung on stretchy elastic, is tied with a surgeon knot, glued and the ends are cut and pushed back through some beads. I plan to glue the beads together where it is tied.  Had just enough beads left to make a pair of earrings. They have a seed bead on the very end to keep the larger beads from coming off the wire.

How about this bracelet holder? Last year I bought some tulle to make tutus for some stuffed animals. Well, that didn't happen. So, I have recycled it today to help with my beads. These are two memory wire bracelets. They are singles because the tear drop beads couldn't take the pressure of the wrapping of the bracelet. It is a clear glass tear drop with a black glass bead and a lavender glass bead. The back almost comes together and it has the black and lavender beads off the bracelet loops. I may have to keep these. Don't know yet.

Isn't this neat looking? I made this using a large oval memory wire. I have a large wrist and this is perfect for me. It could also be used as an ankle bracelet. The 'pearls' are inexpensive so I used a dark brown and gold flower bead that's glass to give it an even better look. Each loop has a glass flower bead as a dangle. I had to take it apart 3 or 4 times before I got a pattern that I liked, then when I was on my last round, I realized I messed up on the pattern almost to the other end. So, I had to take it all apart and start over.

This bracelet is made from a broken vintage necklace. The stones and chain are over 35 years old.The stones are turquoise chips and the chains are a wonderful silver color. No tarnish. It is 3 strands linked with a silver toggle closure. I really like this bracelet. Just recycling more of mom's broken jewelry pieces.

I leave you with this 3D picture. My friend, Jim Bradshaw, and I loved this kind of art and was always sharing it when we found it online. Jim passed away several years ago and when I found this, I decided to post it for him.

Isn't this great? The bike is not balancing on the board. It is an illusion. People that saw this on FB thought she was crazy to be looking into that hole. That's what makes this art super! Several artist do this type of sidewalk art all over the world. Soon as I find some more, I will share with you.

Well, I will close for today and go feed the horses and goats. They are calling my name. Hope everyone has a great week!

In answer to some questions: Yes, I do sell some of my jewelry. Prices are very reasonable. You can email me at jghickman60@yahoo.com, find me on etsy.com at JansCollections, or I am on Pinterest at Jan Hickman.

 Until next time - Be Safe! Don't text and drive!

PICTURE AND NECKLACES

I know you are probably tired of reading how hot it is, but today was very warm and tomorrow it's suppose to get up to 105! It's my great niece's birthday party and I don't think I can get out in this hot, hot weather. Will make that decision for sure tomorrow.

I have been busy making some necklaces and working on a picture of Neela. Let me share that first:

I found a free printable on the Internet and made several copies of it. The song title is Smile and Show Your Dimple. It is part of a church Easter program. I don't know how old the song is, I know it was just what I needed.                                   

I found the picture I took of her with a big smile and her dimples showing and after much copying, cutting, I finally got the black and white photo just the way I wanted it. Only part of the song is here but it has the part about her smile and her dimple.

Then I just put it in an 8x10 picture frame. I had to cut the picture down from an 8 1/2 x 11 so that is one reason I had to copy so many pictures.

I am so pleased with the way it turned out. The frame is a beautiful gold and I am thinking about putting some red dots on the frame, since her feather bow is red. Just a thought!





Now for the jewelry fun. I see people designing lots of necklaces with all kinds of things attached to them, whether it be beads, broken pins, etc. I don't usually do this because I like simpler things. Well, I stepped outside my comfort zone again and here is what I made.

I must stop and apologize for how awful my pictures are lined up each time. I just can't seem to get the computer to do what my what I want done. Must be me because other people don't have this problem.
Top and bottom left: Just a simple beaded necklace that I had and I added a broken bracelet piece in the center, then I had vintage crystal beads that I linked for dangles. The flower piece is from a pair of earrings that I found. So simple but I think it makes a statement.

Top Center: I made the necklace from a piece of vintage chain that was my mom's. The hang down is an earring. On the left, is a diamond shaped pendant that is 925 sterling silver with what looks like a black onyx stone. Under that is a vintage earring from the 60's. Now the piece on the right side of the necklace is most unusual. I don't remember where I got it. It's a piece of broken jewelry. The little piece dangling down is black chain and rhinestones. I used 3 black jump rings to hold it to the necklace. I wanted it to have freedom to move around.

Top Right: I had some green chain, green toggle closure, 2 pieces of beads that were hooked by loops, (They were broken off of some necklaces), a gold buckle off a shoe and a beautiful dragon fly pendant piece. The buckle had 5 holes on top and the same on bottom, so I just used jump rings to attach the dragon fly to the bottom of the buckle. The two beaded pieces were different lengths but that didn't matter. I connected them into the first and last holes of the buckle. Before I connected my green chain, I looked around and found 2 pieces of what was a plastic candy ornament. One is pink and the other is blue. I made loops in them. Then I found 2 unusual glass beads to finish the look and made loops in them (with head pins). On one side, I connected the bead, then the candy piece and on the other side, I put the candy piece, then the bead. Finished it all off with the green chain.

Well, that's it for this time. Keep checking back with me. I am working on some more projects to share with you. As always, be safe! Jan



Newest Bracelet

Good morning! Hope everyone is doing great on this Saturday morning. It's warming up outside, but my plans are to stay inside all day and get housework and laundry done.

I found a bracelet pattern that I loved and so I pinned it to my Pinterest board (crafts - jewelry). If you aren't familiar with Pinterest, go on www.pinterest.com and check them out. You can check out lots of boards. I am JG Hickman on there. A board is what you call your 'bulletin board'. It is things you like, vacations you want to take, whatever best fits you. When you post those things, they are opened up and you will get followers who are interested in things you are interested in. They can choose to follow you and all your boards or just you and one or two boards. When you are searching the web or pinterest pages, you can 'pin' what you like and send it to your board.

I use to make copies of everything, now I can just go to my board and pull up what I want. My family follows me and now I have about 10 people who are following me. Some people have 200 or more following their boards. It's free, so check it out.

Now let's get to the bracelet. Photos please:

Top left:  I cut a piece of chain that was long enough to cover the back of my wrist. Then I cut the chain in half and added a barrel closure. To the chain, on each end I added an 'outie' portion of the closure.

Top right: I took some bracelet wire and strung enough beads on it to cover the top part of my wrist. I added and 'innie' portion of the barrel clasp to each side. Now the bracelet just hooks together on each side and you're done.

Bottom left: Then I took beads and looped them together to make another bracelet 'top'.

Bottom right: See where this is going? I looped different beads together and made the third bracelet top.

I must prewarn you - this will become a habit instantly! You could make a bracelet for a friend and give it to them along with 7 tops (one for each day of the week).

Special note: It is easy to make the bracelet too big. I forgot to include the length of the barrel closures and had to cut part of the chain.

Have fun and share your pictures with me. Want to see what you have done!!!



Cuff Bracelet and Flower Pot

Hi everyone. I just came in and it was 102 on our covered back porch. I can't stress this enough - please be careful when you are outside.

I did get some housework done this morning then I worked on two projects and will share those with you. The first is my latest cuff bracelet. It is still in the drying stage, so won't know if it needs more things added to it until it is dry and I can put it on.

This is my first time to use lace on a cuff bracelet. I found this at Hobby Lobby and it was perfect for trying out my latest idea. I used glue that bonds rhinestones and metal to fabric. It takes longer to dry. We'll see how it turns out.

The double heart in the center is an old pin that was broken. On the left is an old earring and the same with the pearls on the right side. I glued just the base down so the pearls can move around when you are wearing the bracelet. The tiny gold flower between the hearts and the pearls is a 12K gold piece from an earring. Then I added a heart with a butterfly on it. Then came some rhinestones, old buttons and a couple of ribbon flowers. This bracelet will have 3 buttons lined up that you can fasten with. I decided to do this since not all wrists are created equal. My friend, Cindy, helped me think this through and I thank her for that.

Cindy and I are known as the picker cousins on Facebook. If you get a chance, go in and see the ideas that we have on taking junk and turning it into something great! Don't forget to 'like' us. I am a Junk Gypsy fan. Cindy and I like to junk with her daughter (and my best friend), Jessica. We have a ball and come up with some pretty neat things. It's fun to look at something and the three of us see the item turned into different things.

I wanted something cute to sit in my office and keep my bracelets in, after they were completed, but not packed away. So, I got busy and turned an old dirty flower pot into a bracelet hideaway.

You will need a flower pot, a foam brush, a disposable cup, some pretty tissue paper and either Mod Podge or Liquid Laminate. I am a big fan of the liquid laminate. I get it at Hobby Lobby and you use to be able to order it from beacon.com.

Start by putting laminate in the cup. Now tear big pieces of the tissue paper.

I keep straight edges along the top. Use your brush and apply the laminate, put your tissue down and brush laminate over the top. Get the  laminate on your fingers and start working the wrinkles either out or work more in. This is the fun part. Continue doing this until the outside of the pot is covered. I don't put tissue on the bottom of the pot.

While the laminate is drying (and it doesn't take long) cut a circle to go down in the pot if you arent' doing to use it for flowers. Then I just glue the tissue on with a glue stick, cut out a bigger circle than the cardboard, clip all around the tissue, turn it over and glue stick it to the back. I do not glue the circle to the flower pot bottom. I might decide to plant a flower next year.

After I started looking at the inside of the pot, I decided some Martha Stewart gold acrylic paint was what it needed. I washed the foam brush and put paint in my cup and just painted the inside. No worrying about seeing the lines or anything because, I took a slightly damp paper towel, waded it up, and dabbed all over the inside to give the paint a different look.

Don't know if you can see the gold paint on my tissue. I just pounced some on and blotted it with my paper towel. Just here and there to give it a antique look. And below is the finished product.

What do you think? If you want to, you can buy wooden balls that are flat on the top. You will need 4. Cover them with tissue or paint them gold and hot glue to the bottom. Now, that you've gone that far, get the base that this pot would sit in, paint it or tissue it (get the ball feet and top to match), and add another knob to the base (turn it upside down) and you have a lid for your pot.

I have made these and filled them with bags of hot chocolate mix and put a cup in a bag and given as a gift. I can see the wheels turning.

I am glad you are reading my blog and I will be back in a few days with more things for you to make. Until next time - Jan



Thunder and Crafts

Wow! We got thunder today. It didn't rain where we live, but about 20 miles away, they got a shower. I turned the TV off just so I could listen to the thunder. Haven't heard it in quite some time.

Then, tonight I go outside and I see a beautiful full moon. My husband tells me it has been full for several nights. Ok, I don't get out at night. I don't like the dark!

My great grand daughter will be '1' this Sunday. Just seems like yesterday when she was born. My grandson's finance' also has a birthday Sunday. July is a busy month at our place for birthdays!

I have had a productive craft/jewelry making day. Let's start off with a recycled peanut butter jar. When I worked at Walmart, we had peanut butter and bread in our break room and we saved the jars and recycled. One year we filled 200 jars with craft kits (that we created) and took them to our local youth center for them to hand out to the kids. Once, we filled jars with items for one of our nursing homes.

I needed something to put the jewelry strands in that I planned to work on next. I had this jar in the kitchen, so I cleaned it up and decorated it.

I just cut scrapbook paper with 2 different patterns and glued them around the jar. I used a purple piece of cardstock and traced around the jar lid and cut the paper to fit. After I glued that on, I found a die cut flower, so I finished lid with this decoration.

Then I glued on a paper label. I didn't want to write on it since I might use this jar for other things. I went through my scrapbook supplies and found a necklace sticker. Perfect. As you can see, it didn't take me long to fill the jar.

The bracelet above is made with glass beads. As you can tell, some beads have black stripes and some have black polka dots. I used a large gold toggle and small black beads as spacers.

     

Several years ago I was shopping the clearance at Hobby Lobby and found this patch. It was just the

the patch. I found it while looking for something else and got some chain together and an old earring and made a necklace.

Punched tiny holes in the patch and added the two pieces of chain to the bottom. Then I added a long piece of chain to the top of the patch. The chain wasn't the same style or color but I thought it looked good. To top if off, I added an old dangle earring to the bottom. It hangs in front of the two bottom chains. Now, to figure out what I am going to wear it with. Or, who to give it to as a gift. Decisions! Decisions!

My latest necklace. I have been so wrapped up in the charm bracelets I am making that I decided to put together a necklace using beads that are left from other projects. They are various styles, colors, lengths, etc. The chain is currently 30", but I plan to cut it down to 26" or what length do you think it should be? Let me know what about this project.

How to make it: Get head pins, asst. beads, jewelry wire cutter, round nose plier and regular jewelry plier. Also, jump rings in your choice of size.

I just started loading the beads on the head pin and when I got the length I liked, cut it, made a loop, attached it with a jump ring to the necklace chain. I put two of these in each length. I didn't want to go all around the chain. I made this so you can wear it under your collar and the chains will show underneath. Or, just put it over a tee and have fun!

Hope you enjoyed these projects today. Please leave your questions, ideas, comments in the box below. Have a great evening and a fun tomorrow. Until next time - Jan