Graphic 45 Floral Shoppe House 'Pins'

I am in love with Graphic 45's Floral Shoppe. It's just so.... lush, gorgeous, beautiful, pretty. I can't say enough good things about it. Every sheet is a dream. Today I'm showing off some wearable art I created using this collection and the House Jewelry Pieces from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

I've used various Floral Shoppe papers for the backgound keeping some pretty elements (like those pretty birds) nicely framed as a focal point on some of the pieces.

I randomly stamped the base corners and frames with a floral design from Gilded Lily and applied gold embossing powder before gluing the frame and base together.

A few sweet words snipped from vintage books. 

Paper butterflies are added too.

Tiny eyehole screw is added to the bottom edge.

Pretty charms and beads are added.

What is it about those Antique Brass Ornate Metal Keys that is oh so appealing? Must have something to do with the possibility of opening new doors, or hidden treasure boxes.

I really like the range in size. From statement piece, to delightfully wee!

I was in a bit of a pickle when it came to finding pin backs for these pieces. The small house shapes are quite tiny so I wanted to use butterfly clutches rather than long pin backs but I couldn't find them anywhere! But I did find magnetic 'buttons'.

These won't hold in place on a thick sweater or coat, but these little magnets are quite strong (they were trying to stick together when I was shooting the group photos for this post!) and will absolutely pull together through thinner materials. Not exactly what I was looking for, but hey, now they can be used as magnets by those who don't wear pretty pins, buttons or brooches.

Want to make your own? Here are the supplies you'll need

Graphic 45's Floral Shoppe

Gilded Lily Stamp Set 1

Antique Brass Ornate Metal Keys

House Jewelry Pieces

Gold embossing powder

Acrylic paint

Beads, charms and jumprings

Small eyehole screws

Discarded books

Magnetic buttons

Leftover Bindrune Earrings

I am not a jewelry maker. I am only just finding my jewelry wearing self to be honest.

But I had leftover bits from my AlphaStamps design kit and they demanded to be used. 

So I made these earrings from Patina Brass Narrow Feather Charms, Wide Feather Charms and
42mm Bronze Key Charms.

The top bit is a bindrune combining the runes Fehu and Perthro. A bindrune is a symbol which combines two or more runes and sort of joins their meaning. Here I'm mixing luck and new beginnings with magic, hidden knowledge and feminine power. I'm hoping these give me a little boost when I where them. (There's some debate about the meaning of Perthro but I like that particular interpretation.)

Simply connected all the bits together with jump rings and the attached the top bezel to an earring post. Easy peasy!

Here's my supply list for this unexpected extra project.

Patina Brass Narrow Feather Charms
Wide Feather Charm - Patina Brass
42mm Bronze Key Charm
14mm Round Glass Cabochons
14mm brass bezel

Earring posts
Jump Rings

Super Simple Earring Organizer

This project is sooo easy AND you'll be able to make three with as little as just one product! Are you ready?

I've simply taken Gypsy Soul's Decorative Screen, applied a coat of paint, added a length of ribbon, and created an organizer for my dangly earrings. This is a serious improvement over plonking them in my jewelry box and creating a tangled mess. I just used the cut areas to hang my sparkly fake jewels from.

The Decorative Screen comes with three panels, and my little organizer only uses one, so you can use the other two parts for gifts, to sell, or if you have a bazillion pairs of earrings, to keep all to yourself. I've created three in three different styles.

You could put all the panels together to create a complete screen to sit on your dresser but I really like the hanging ribbon that lets me cart my jeweled bits all over the place depending on where I'm getting myself gussied up.

I'm certain you don't need any guidance for this project, but HERE is a video for creating the above Steampunkish version of this project.

The only extra bit of advice I'll give is that it's probably best to be a little restrained in your embellishing if you want this to be a functional item.

The bare necessities you'll need for this project:
Decorative Screen
Acrylic paint
Length of ribbon

If you want to get fancy add decorative elements such as Flourishes, or any shapes that suit your fancy. Additional elements I've used are:
Faux Metal Number Plates
Faux Metal Number Plates 1 to 25
Faux Typewriter Keys Symbol Set
Gears Shape Set
Stackable Labels Shape Set

Now, go make something perfectly suited to you!

Psyche's Helpers Painted Earrings

While reading about the surrealist artist Yves Tanguy, I came across these earrings he painted for Peggy Guggenheim.

Immediately I wanted a pair of my own painted earrings.

In my last post I mentioned the story of Cupid and Psyche, and wanting to explore that theme further. This seemed as good an opportunity as any.

In the story of Cupid and Psyche, Venus (Cupid's mom), gives Psyche seemingly impossible tasks. Psyche, in despair, keeps thinking that she should kill herself and be done with it, but at every turn she finds help. 

When told to sort a mound of seeds and grains, an army of ants come to Psyche's aid.

Sent to gather black waters from the underworld, Psyche considers jumping off the side of a ship and drowning herself, but Jupiter himself sends his eagle to assist her.

  

The earrings are made with furniture tacks, painted 1/2 Inch Brass Pendants, and elements recycled from old jewelry. 

I really like them and have already worn them twice.

Although I'm not actually a painter, I'm pretty sure I'll be making more painted jewelry. This was a challenging scale to work in, but I really enjoyed it. Same goes for my buddies Cupid and Psyche; I don't think I'm quite done with them yet.