Poke, string, knot, glue = DIY Fabric Beads! PART 2

Last week I blogged about how I painted and made some of my very own fabric beads (and was thrilled with the response the post got, too!). But painting and glueing was only the half of it! Once I started making the beads, I was unstoppable and kept finding new and different ways to use fabric already on hand and unconventional items from the craft store!


After painting my own beads, I started looking through my fabric vault (aka big ole' tupperware storage bin) to see what else I could come up with. Though I had purchased some super rad polka-dot Amy Butler fabric back in LA in order to make a pillow, I figured I could sacrifice a little bit for the cause. After cutting the fabric down to 1x3" strips, I needed a new venue on which to plaster the fabric (in other words - a cheap form of a bead)! After searching up and down the aisles of Michael's, I think I found the perfect (and cheap!) solution: Styrofoam Balls!


So with my styfoam balls in hand and fabric Mod Podge ready to go, I just now needed a way to make the hole and hold the bead while putting on the fabric. Of course - chopsticks!

I first glued a strip around the bead long ways:

Then finished with two more strips that went diagonally along the holes on either side. And Voila! A bead!

After pairing them with some more fabric-wrapped ugly disco ball beads and some brown wooden beads, I topped the necklace off with some pink ribbon and had this:

Amy Butler Fabric and Wooden Beaded necklace with Pink Ribbon, $20 

But what's a necklace without a matching bracelet, no?

Amy Butler "Love" Polka Dot Fabric Bracelet, $10

I might just keep this one. 

And of course I didn't stop there (and in fact, I hope to make many more of these items... I love 'em)! I was also determined to make something with this random piece of scarf-like fabric I bought for $.50 in LA awhile back:

After cutting a piece of fabric that measured about 3"x1", I got my styrofoam balls back out and went at it: 

And knotted and wrapped the fabric around the balls:

And came up with this thing-a-ma-bobber:

I will admit, the turnout of this necklace is now exactly what I had hoped for. It's quite stiff and down's hang all that nicely at the bust. My fabric was too wide and not long enough - I would have liked to make more knots and added more beads but ran out of length, plus I don't like how much fabric hangs from the sides. It's for all these reasons why this item isn't on Etsy yet - I am not 100% behind it. I do, however, plan to show it as an example at my jewelry party in a few weeks and see what kind of feedback I get on it and go from there. Though I love Etsy, using the internet to sell certain kinds of jewelry takes away the touch and feel dimension that is often so crucial to a good purchase!


Then I figured - if I could use fabric, why not use ribbon, too? After looking through my ribbon stash, I found this rad yarn-like stuff and paired it with some wooden-disc beads that I salvaged from an Anthropologie necklace I bought on sale years ago:

(Needless to say, I totally ruined my manicure with all my glue-use!)

Which resulted in these (the one on the right is actually made of fabric I painted blue):

And then this:

Again, I didn't put this item on Etsy yet because I am not totally settled with it. Maybe I am waiting for a perfect component piece to come my way. Maybe I am waiting for a better idea for their final use. Maybe I am just too stubborn to list them yet! This will be another item that will debut at the jewelry party in hopes of some constructive criticism. Ah, and artist's work is never done. 


Next up - how I used random stuff found at Goodwill to create one-of-a-kind jewelry displays for the party! Keep posted :)

When Fabric gets in the mix...

Lately I have been a bit obsessed with textiles. First I have been a little more vicious in incorporating fabric in my jewelry, as seen in this week's new products:

Golden Bohemian Wooden and Fabric necklace, $17

White crystal with blue ribbon and silver broach necklace, $19

Green Gemstone, Wooden Beads, and Purple Ribbon necklace, $23

Party in Pink Faux Pearl and Pink Ribbon necklace, $12

Disco brown ball and lime green necklace, $17

Wooden Beads and Purple Ribbon necklace, $20

And my favorite, this little tulle necklace inspired by some random socialite I saw online

(more on that later this month):

Gold netting and purple pearls necklace, $19

In fact, you can count on more fabric jewelry coming your way - I just signed up for a FABRIC BEAD-MAKING class at the Art Institute here in town and can't wait! (In fact, can I just start my life over and be a professional art student - man all the classes that are offered are SO tempting!). 
Meanwhile, I have been working with the fabric I bought in the garment district in LA, starting with some much-needed curtains for my craft room. I didn't really go into the project with a plan, but one day I was rummaging through my random fabric collection and was reminded of a very random piece of long remnant fabric I bought at a $1/pound store:

Amy Butler "Woodfern Kakhi," though I found it for a ridiculously cheap $.75, you can also find it here on Etsy :)

The fabric was basically being asked to be transformed into curtains - it was literally 5" long and about a 2" wide! I simply folded the fabric long ways, cut it in half, and skipped the sewing machine all together and just pinned the top over on itself to make a little loop for the curtain rod. Voila!

But I had this little lowly piece left:

Which I of course didn't want to go to waste. I had just the solution - a wrist pincushion! Thing was, I had no clue how to make such a thing. Here goes nothing...!

I knew I needed a base so as to prevent the pins from hitting my wrist when worn. The base would also function as the shape for the thing. So I started glue-sticking the fabric on the cardboard...

Then sewed it on to double reinforce it...

And then crammed some stuffing that was left over from my previous pillow project and sewed it shut...

Next was the wrist strap... I used some trim from some other Amy Butler fabric that will be used in a future pillow project (as seen here). First I turned it inside out and sewed it down the side...

Turning it back inside out was the hardest part since it was so thin, and once I figured it out, sewing the fabric together with a stretched elastic piece inside was even harder. Man, I have a WHOLE new respect for those scrunchies that were OH SO popular in the 80's! 

Next I sewed the wrist band to the stuffed topper thing...

And had me a brand new pincushion wristlet!

On that note, if you dig fabric crafts, do check out my friend Linsday's new Etsy shop and her GIVEAWAY with Etsy It Up! Let's wish her well, y'all!

I love you, Wednesdays.

Because, seriously, Friday is still 2 days away. I love you, Wednesdays is my bloggin' attempt at a.) shutting up about my products and sharing the love of others' with others! and b.) sharing sources of inspiration that often stands behind my jewelry and creative process. First of all, happy 9.9.9! (so less creepy than 6.6.6, huh?). I was all ready to make this I Love You, Wednesday's report about how I spent all of Labor Day catching up on some long overdue scrapbooking. About how I used to work at a scrapbook store and have invested more money than I care to admit on scrapbook supplies throughout the years. About how I take pictures FOR my scrapbook, not make the scrapbook for the pictures. About how I have yet to finish my scrapbook for a trip I took to Italy two years ago this week, and the last two years of school, and all that was our wedding. And about how I put all my jewelry making stuff away this weekend and got cozy in the craft room again. About how I started making a dent in my scrappin' again this weekend! I was going to blog about scrapbooking, until I stumbled upon this super fabu website: morecloth.com/. I swear people create this stuff with my addictive personality in mind. The website is a host for fabrics listed on Etsy, all listed by color range, like color swatches. So if you are looking for a pink-ish color that has some green in it, just click on the hue of color you dig and voila! There are a bunch to choose from, and in single, double, or triple color combinations, all posted neatly on a black background. Needless to say, I spent more time on this site than I am willing to admit :) Though I do have a sewing machine and a mad addiction to Project Runway, I am not much of a seamstress - YET. And all the while I was looking at these fabrics, I couldn't help but notice how I was attracted to bold, chic, yet somewhat retro prints (much like my love for Marimekko and Amy Butler prints!). And that the combination of lime greens, teal blues, and magenta pinks seemed in tune with what I have been going for this fall in terms of new jewelry creations. Here's what I came up with:

mountainofthedragon, fabricpalooza, sewlovefabrics rainbowfabrics, afabricoutlet, fabricsupplies fabricsupplies, cottonthreadfabrics, cottonthreadfabrics downshadowlane, fabfabrique, mountainofthedragon

I never realized the depth and scope of the fabric industry on Etsy until this super-fun search! And the more I looked at these swatches, the more I couldn't help but think how FABU they would also look as scrapbook paper! Now if only I could justify buying more scrapbook paper...!

So, what inspires you today?

I love you, Wednesdays.

Because, seriously, Friday is still 2 days away. I love you, Wednesdays is my bloggin' attempt at a.) shutting up about my products and sharing the love of others' with others! and b.) sharing sources of inspiration that often stands behind my jewelry and creative process. It's been a great week here at the Bead Up house. For starters, last week's Fashionably Friday post got me some great "press." As usual, I posted the link to the new blog entry on both my personal Facebook and my Bead Up Facebook accounts. Within minutes of posting the entry that features Project Runway's Korto Momolu, I got a status update letting me know that Korto herself "liked" the blog post! I immediately friended her on Facebook (it was the real her) and she accepted. And if it couldn't get cooler, I noticed that some of my blog traffic was coming from HER professional website - turns out she listed my blog entry as the first listing of "PRESS" reviews on her website! Holy moley - the power of Facebook (I still am determined to one day do a blog entry on how Facebook has been vital to my shop's success)! Check out Korto's press section of her website here! And to add to the coolness, I e-mailed her on Facebook thanking her for the feature and asked if she bought beads online and if so, where. Here is what she had to say: "I actually get some cool bead finds on amazon. But I am a touchy feely kinda girl so I stock up everytime I go to nyc. Littlerock has really great bead stores too, that's where I still live. Loved the post and I always show love for my positive bloggers! U will def love my new collection of jewelry since it pays homage to my pr finale pieces so I will let you know when I load them. It'll be right before pr allstars. Thanks again and let's stay in touch I'll keep a lookout for beadsites for ya. ~Korto" Doesn't get any cooler than that, my friends. Ahhhh... Though the good vibes keep rolling in. The giveaway I hosted with Today's Giveaway a few weeks ago went really well, and one of my previous customers won the pair of earrings! Karen even went as far as to write a glowing review about the earrings she won on her own blog - be sure to check it out (thanks, friend!). Since finding Today's Giveaway and other similar sights I have taken a liking to entering every giveaway I can find that offers products I dig. Well, wouldn't you know, I won 2 giveaways this week! The first was from the website in which I held the giveaway just days earlier - turns out I won an oven mit and potholder set from the super cute shop "The Cherry on Top." Sweet! And if that couldn't get any better, I got an e-mail yesterday telling me that I won yet another giveaway, this time on Fabulous Fun Finds' giveaway blog! I am actually thrilled I won this one because I was very tempted to buy the item anyway - it's a camera strap! And not any camera strap - but a Amy Butler fabric camera strap! Great prints + photography + free = LOVE! I am actually in love with Amy Butler's prints. Maybe even in lust. I swear, this women knows both color and the history of floral prints, as she has MASTERED pulling them all together without going the tacky 60's route. I am beyond inspired every time I see her print in use - she forces me to re-think color combination and even manages to make pastel pink HOT! Her website itself is inspirational, as she makes a point to include an INSPIRATION section filled with pictures and photo shoot snapshots. Additionally, her site also includes FREE downloadable sewing and craft patterns to be used with her beautiful printed paper and fabric. It's love.

I dedicate this I Love You, Wednesday to you, Ms. Butler, for your rad sense of style and for gracing the world with your visions! (Above is an example of some of her prints - I ordered the camera strap in pink... also as a way to irritate my husband when I ask him to hold my camera - which happens a lot!). It of course comes to no surprise that Amy Butler's fabrics are all over Etsy, and sometimes in the most unusual ways...HazelnutDesigns, sweetirie, theprinttree, PersnicketyHome KatiebugBoutique, downstairsDesigns, ImogensGarden, BeanPickleSprout jrene, littleellie, littleellie, JiJis girlbyAileen, ByJudianne, littleellie, BeanPickleSprout

Let's see - Eye Spy a baby blanket, a crayon rollup, a kitchen towel, and iPod holder, and a pot holder! Make sure you visit their Etsy shops for Amy Butler amazing-ness!

So, what inspires you today?