Memorandum Monday

It's Monday again so it is time to pop over and see Sian at From High in the Sky and give her a wave.

The weekend kicked off on Friday with a trip over to Tunbridge Wells to see the Proclaimers.  It was an early birthday present for Mr P - he isn't easy to get presents for as anything he needs/wants he just goes out and buys it for himself.  So for the last ten years or so I have always taken him to a gig/show/play sometime between May and July.  I managed to keep it a secret until we drove past the venue and phew he was thrilled when he knew - I had a hunch that he would be pleased as he has most of their albums.  And I really enjoyed the gig too, I had forgotten how much good stuff they have done over the years.

The rest of the weekend has been laid back and quiet - Mr P has been nights all weekend so I have just pottered around quietly downstairs.  Sunday I made some quiches to put in the freezer ready for all those salads we have started to eat (though judging by today's weather I think I need to go back to casseroles and winter warmer meals).  I also cooked up loads of chicken drumsticks, again for quick and easy salads on hot days when I don't want to have the oven on.

Then whilst the oven was still warm I decided to have a play with some beads and have another go at making enamel dots by melting beads.  Some of you may remember my unsuccessful attempts from two years ago documented in this blog post.  After discussing and laughing about it on UKScrappers someone suggested that I try the EKSuccess branded perler beads.  Well I did and I am thrilled to report that they actually worked this time!!!!!!

I even managed to make smaller sized ones by cutting the beads in half.   I did them for 35 minutes on 160C (baking tray lined with parchment paper, not greaseproof) and it really worked this time, I think out of 250 beads melted I had about 6 or 7 rejects.  I now need to order more perler bead mixes to make other colours.

So Monday finds us with typical bank holiday weather - dark, cold and windy, definitely a day for staying home.  My Avon order was delivered earlier, so that needs unpacking, but first I must finish making my Beat the Christmas Rush cards, I'm a bit behind and I need to blog them later today.

Have a great bank holiday Monday whatever you are up to and hope you have a good week ahead xx

Birthday Bracelet and earrings

For part of Mum's 70th birthday present I made her a new crystal bracelet with matching earrings.

 

And the matching earrings

 

 I was so pleased that she really liked them.

June's See It, Pin It, Do It - those pesky Hama Beads again!!

After my big fail last month with trying to make enamel dots from Hama Beads, Fiona came up with an idea to help me use all the unused beads - this lovely braided cuff

I had plenty of memory wire so set about making one - the instructions are lovely & clear and easy to follow - what could go wrong?????

Well here it is -

It looks a lot smaller than the original and this might be because my memory wire is only 55cm.  It does fit my wrist as they are quite tiny at just under 6" but it is the most painful and uncomfortable bracelet I have ever worn and this is why -

 You end up with these large metal loops gouging chunks out of your flesh!!  I started off making dainty tiny loops like those in the instructions but there is one problem, the beads have a large hole and they just shoot straight over the loops and ping everywhere. 

I might have another go at making this if I can find some larger diameter memory wire and will also look to see if I can use some spacer beads to act as a stopper so that I only need to turn small loops.

Looks like my niece might end up getting this bracelet as she has really teeny tiny wrists - hopefully she might find it more comfortable to wear!!

If you would like to join in with Fiona's See It, Pin It, Do It then take a look at her blog on how to share your Pinterest inspired creations.

May's See it, Pin it, Do it - a sorry tale of failure!!

It's the end of the month so just time to join in with Fiona's See it, Pin it, Do it

And sadly a big failure for me - I have had six attempts at it and still can't get the lovely results that so many people on Pinterest are getting.  It has certainly kept Mr P amused over the last two weeks and has confirmed to him just how bonkers crafty people are.

So what am I waffling on about???  Well I wanted to make my own enamel dots by melting beads - every pin and blog that I have looked at made it look so easy, so even I could do it - couldn't I???????

ATTEMPT 1 - failure, but might have been because I used non-branded perler beads and as I didn't have any parchment paper I used greaseproof paper instead.  They totally stuck to the paper and didn't melt down any further than this.

I then read on a couple of blogs that it was the branded Hama beads that worked best, so Hama beads were ordered and I got some parchment paper.

ATTEMPT 2 -

Right so now I am using proper Hama beads and the correct paper - what temperature to do them at???  Well every pin and blog seems to differ on this with temperatures ranging from 150 to 220 C.  I figured hot might be best so I plumped for 200 C.

 

This took about 35 mins and I managed to get a small handful to melt properly.

Still not as perfect as the lovely ones I had seen online but better than the majority which looked like this -

 Hey ho back to the drawing board.

ATTEMPT 3 - maybe 200C was too hot, so I turned the oven down to 170C, I also read on UKScrappers that you should lay them on their side, not stand them upright - ok, lets try a few of them like that (I can tell you that everytime I picked up the tray the little blighters that were laying on their sides rolled everywhere - never mind it is giving Mr P a good laugh to hear me swearing at beads in the kitchen!!!!!)

Errr so this how they turned out after 40 minutes - the ones on their sides just become an oblong blob!!

But I had put some of the unbranded ones in (I only have those in black, grey and white) and they were not too bad (still not as good as the ones being blogged/pinned everywhere)

 

 Hopefully you are still with me - I'm not a quitter you know!!

ATTEMPT 4 -  next bright idea - what about if the beads are smaller and I try to melt them really fast???  So I cut a load in half and did them for 30 minutes at 220C

Nope that isn't working either!!!!!!!

Now I am really beginning to get a bit cross with it all but I am still determined to make my own enamel dots!!!

ATTEMPT 5 - I wonder if it is the oven????  I have been using the top oven, but maybe the bottom oven would be better.  OK lets try again and with the oven at 200C as the best results so far seem to be with a hotter oven.

Very mixed results - the unbranded ones at the front have melted a lot slower than the Hama beads, so I am going to have one last attempt at cracking this!!!

ATTEMPT 6 - right this time I am going for a hotter oven (220C) with just the unbranded ones as they do seem to need more heat.

And again another big fat fail!!!!!  The white ones started scorching and none of them lost the dimple in the middle and they stuck to the parchment paper too!!

So I'm throwing the towel in for now and going to stick to what I do best with ovens and that is baking cakes!!!!!!!!  If anyone has done this successfully can you please let me know your secret!!

Amethyst & Pearl Bracelet - September's Monthly Make

Sorry I haven't been doing many blog posts recently - I am a bit bogged down with getting ready for my first fundraiser of the year for Children with Cancer Fund next Monday.  So very little crafting has been happening here apart from making stuff to sell on the stall. 

I did last week take a little break from the fundraiser stuff to make something for the Monthly Make Challenge.  I had a couple of broken amethyst chip bracelets that have been languishing in the bottom of a jewellery box for years.  I decided to give them a new lease of life by turning them into a memory wire bracelet and a pair of earrings - I just needed to add some seed beads and freshwater pearls.

I just love it when you can breathe new life into something old - these are currently my favourite bracelet and earrings at the moment.  And now to think of what to make for October - I might just surprise you all and do something other than jewellery!!

Flutterby Bracelet - June's Monthly Make

A bit of a late dash in with my entry for the Monthly Make.  I have had this bracelet kit from Spoilt Rotten Beads for ages and had attempted to make it ages ago - got to the end and didn't like the huge knot that you got from tying all three strands together as it was too large to hide in an adjacent bead.  I later found a triple hole metal bead that was just perfect for hiding the three knots in.

Even though the bead is larger than I would really like, when you are wearing it, it really doesn't notice on the underside of your wrist and actually looks like the bracelet has a clasp.

I can see myself making some more of these in different colourways!!

Monthly Make for May

I am loving making my own jewellery at the moment - so far I have only attempted memory wire braclets as my manual dexterity is not great (if there were medals for clumsiness, then I would be Olympic standard!!).  But as my confidence grows in using the tools then I am hoping to make some other things.

I am still taking part in The Felt Fairy's Monthly Make Challenge and decided to make a bracelet to match my outfit that I will be wearing at the weekend at my dear nephew's 18th birthday party.  My top is aqua and seagreen with a little seagreen bolero cardigan.

Turquoise and aqua seem to be my favourite colours at the moment so I am looking forward to showing off my new bracelet on Saturday!!

A new crafting addiction

Since I made this bracelet for February's Monthly Make I have become addicted to making memory wire bracelets.  In the last week I have made all of these

I am very tempted to keep them all for myself

But I will be good

And just keep two for me

And the rest will be for the two fundraisers that I do later in the year to raise funds for Children with Cancer Fund

February's Monthly Make

I am taking part in The Felt Fairy's Monthly Make and am trying each month to do something a bit different to cardmaking or scrapbooking.  So this month I made this lovely beaded memory wire bracelet with a kit that I got from Jillybeads

I really enjoyed making this bracelet and didn't find it too difficult even for my clumsy hands.  It was pretty quick to make so I am going to make some more ready for my two fundraisers later on in the year.

All the makes for February can be found here