Kanzashi Flowers

I've seen the templates for the Kanzashi Flowers on different sewing websites, so when I saw them in Beverly's when we were in Modesto, I knew I needed to have them. They said they were easy to use, and they weren't kidding.
You pretty much place a piece of material on the template, then close it. Cut around the template, then with a needle and thread, you follow the numbers. Easy peasy. Once you get to the last spot, you'll undo the template, and pull on the thread. This gathers the material into a petal.
Mine are all the smaller templates. I should have bought them all, but I thought that of course I'd not use them. Boy, was I wrong. I can see using these with some machine embroidery to make different gifts.

We'll see what types of things we can create from these!!

Heart chain necklace

My sister-in-law wanted me to update this heart chain that she found at the bead store. She loves the chain but thought it looked a little too plain. So she purchased some crystals and asked to see what I could do with it. And this is what I came up with.
Since the beads she purchased were the same size, I thought I'd add the larger pink glass beads to it because the crystal beads looked a bit too small.
And she had some beads left over, so of course we needed to make her matching earrings.

I hope she likes it.

Giants and A's Earrings

A few years ago I made some Giants earrings for my cousin using Giants earrings she had from her store. They were just the Giants logo with the earring wires. They were pretty popular, so I decided I wanted to make another set. But I couldn't find the earrings I quite wanted to use.

So, while at the flea market this month, I found these:
I thought to myself, man, those just aren't cute, and what is up with the big gold bars and the hoops? But then I had a lightbulb moment. I didn't care what parts they were on, I just wanted the Giants/A's logo. So I bought them. And turned them into these:


Much better! I love the crystal beads way better than the gold bar and hoop. Now I have a couple of pair of great big hoops that I'll figure out how to incorporate into another project. These are gonna make great Christmas gifts! ;)