Festive Flower Tutorial

So I have had this flower sitting in my uploads for awhile and I figured that I should just put it out there. It's not that I didn't like it, I just didn't think it fit in with what I was putting out at different times. I noticed after I made it that the concept of how I did it has been done, but it's not the same, so I'm going with it. I hope you like it! :)

:)

Puffy Heart Charm Tutorials

OMG! They are PUFFY and so stinking adorable. I absolutely love these hearts. It has to be the girl in me or something. I just love them! You should definitely try making one of these! It is normally on two looms, but of course, I have a one loom version available too. Check them out! :)

You can find the two loom version here:

And the one loom version here:

Make one! Enjoy! :)

Lovely Heart Charm Tutorials (One and Two Looms)

I put together another Heart Charm...I know I already have one that I think is rather fabulous, but hey, I'm a girl and I like girly things, lol. I have one and two loom versions available. I don't really know what else to say about this one...I'm really excited to show what I did with this charm though...next post! :)

The one loom version is here:

And the two loom version is here: 

Enjoy! :)

So Infuriating! Boycott this book!

Ladies and Gentleman, I have a request to make. This book pictured was published by Leisure Arts recently. I am asking you to BOYCOTT this book. Why, you ask? Looking at just the cover alone, it says that it contains "17 All NEW Designs"...which is a far cry from the truth. 

This book contains several designs by designers that we look up to and admire for inspiring us to loom on...and one of my designs as well. On the cover alone, you can see the Beaded Starburst ring designed by Made by Mommy. You can see the turtle, shark and basic action figure (though they made it a girl) all designed by Pgloomacy. You can see the double starburst with the braid up the middle which was originally put together by Larry Roberts who dubbed it the "hardest rainbow loom bracelet." On the inside you can see my Herringbone bracelet renamed the Chevron (a name I didn't choose because it was already taken.) 

I have yet to lay my hands on the book itself, so who knows what else is in there. What I do know is that several of the designs that were put in the book were not *NEW* as they were the result of hard work and creativity from other people. Leisure Arts has found a way to take advantage of the "little people" and profit from their designs without so much as a footnote in their book or compensation for the tens of thousands of dollars they stand to make. 

Leisure Arts has done this before, in another book published by them, they used justinstoys Hexafish bracelet with no credit to him whatsoever. They may have found a legal loophole, but ethically they are neck deep! When a person familiar with all the designs can't tell the difference when looking at it...you know you shouldn't call it new or original... Let this company know that they cannot take from the "little people" and get away with it! If you believe in what I'm saying, look out for future posts from me regarding this book and Leisure Arts. Thank you for reading!

S-Curve Bracelet Tutorial (One loom version too!)

Now this bracelet I consider a masterpiece, lol. I had been trying to get this design for awhile. It's one of my favorite to crochet for a bracelet, but I just could not get the banding for the longest time. It was crazy how long it took me to figure it out. I love how there are two sides to it and how you can add a bead in the middle if you want to. I almost called it the yin and yang bracelet, but I didn't want to limit people's minds when it came to the options of color. I think it came out fabulous! And of course, this is a multi loom bracelet, but I have put together two tutorials that way it can be made on one loom too!

This is the "normal" version.

This is the one loom version.

I hope you enjoy! :)

Headphones Charm Tutorial

After I had made my Baby Turtle, I saw the opportunity to make this charm. I know there are other headphone tutorials out there, but none of them looked like this one and I couldn't pass up sharing it. I think the combination of having that piece of design in my head and my son running around with the headphones that have the large ear pieces just made it too easy to put this together. I know in the beginning I may be a little confusing with what kind of connection you can make between the two headphones, but I was just trying to explain the options in case someone didn't have a paper clip or the bands required to make one of the options. Without further ado! I present my Headphones Charm tutorial. :)

Enjoy! :)

BABY Turtle Tutorial!

I absolutely love my Official Kaleidoscope Turtle, but ever since I was a little girl, it seemed like the smaller something was, the cuter it was...so I came up with a smaller turtle that is absolutely adorable! Little head and feet, tiny shell. I think it's absolutely adorable. And how it's made, it looks better almost if it is sitting on it's behind instead of on all fours. This is all done on one loom! Check this one out too! :)

Aren't they adorable!?! Love them! :)

Stacked Flowers Bracelet Tutorial (catching up again!)

While making the Armadillo Bracelet, I saw the opportunity to make this bracelet by just changing the banding a little bit. It's amazing how different they look! I really like it though. It looks like flowers, snow cones, ice cream cones, someone told me the other day it looked like flip flops. This is also a one loom bracelet and not too difficult to make. Check it out if you haven't already!

Enjoy! :)

Crazy how time flies by....

It has been awhile since I posted and I truly apologize for that! Family obligations and the holidays always seem to take a ton of time to recover from, lol. That, and the fact that it is kind of overwhelming to take care of all the social media involved with putting out new designs, answering questions, helping kids make things that don't understand how to make something. And I definitely haven't been able to record as much as I have wanted to lately, but I will be putting out some things tonight, after I play a little catch up that is. I think I also hit a little not so much creativity block, but more an "I wonder if people will still like what I put out if it's not the extravagant bracelets I have done in the past" or "is this just a rip off of my own design, is it not new enough to entice people to want to watch it?" I guess that I'm just doubting my creativity and ability lately.


Anyways, what has been new with me. I made 100 cupcakes for my son's boy scout troop which they then sold to raise money for all the activites that they do. I wasn't super impressed with my job, (I set some pretty high standards for myself which isn't always a good thing! lol) but I'll share them anyways. I think that I spent too much time putting some of the elements together that I got either bored or just rushed to get them done.

 This is kind of the overview of what each box held. I told you they weren't very fancy, lol.

 This was the bunny. The ears are chocolate dipped pretzel spoons, the eyes were from Wilton, nose is an M&M, whiskers are Twizzler pull-n-peel and the smile was just piped on frosting. I had high hopes for them, but they weren't as polished as I hoped. I think my carpel tunnel played a part in that too...squeezing piping bags for hours with chocolate and frosting is not fun for the wrist/hand.

 I made these butterflies with Wilton's stand up butterfly molds. However, either I didn't wait long enough or they just suck...and pretty much all the stand up parts broke off so I had to improve the body with the Twizzlers and eyes. Most look goofy, lol.

 These were supposed to be Easter eggs, but what a pain, lol. I took some plastic Easter eggs, broke them in half, coated them with a bit of shortening on the outside and then just drizzled or dotted different colors of melted chocolate over them until they were firm enough to withstand me removing them from the egg shell. They were cute and they tasted good, but they just seemed too messy in appearance. I loaded the inside of the hollow shells with M&M's for a little surprise. I had originally bought edible Easter grass to put around the outside to make a kind of nest, but it just wouldn't stay put. The little bunnies are from the Easter grass package. They are like a thin ice cream cone in texture and they didn't have a lot of taste to them, but they weren't horrible.



These last ones were the result of running out of the bunny ears and eggs to make the other cupcakes. I didn't want to make more of the butterflies so I just melted some chocolate into this other scroll/ shape mold from Wilton. They were alright, but kind of an odd ball in the mix.












So, yey! Cupcakes!


I also was busy with helping out a company that provides role players for the military to use in training exercises. I had done it several years back and they called out of the blue as they were in a pinch and needed help. It's actually a pretty neat process for those involved. Role players are given crappy clothes to wear, they have professional make up artists apply make up to match the scenario being trained for. This last one involved pretending that there was an explosion and the release of a toxic gas. So the role players get make up resembling broken bones, gashes, blisters, burns, things that could really happen. Then they are instructed to play out their roles in a real manner...broken leg? don't move it, act out the pain, be hysterical, be helpful to others, be in shock....it's fun. The military then responds and has to treat you as if you have the injuries you show. I'm usually behind the scenes, but this time I ran through a few times. I love getting the make up on, lol. And it's actually kind of fun to be carried and carted around on a stretcher while you pretend to be unconscious. I do not however like the decontamination process where we strip (or they cut off your clothes if you're unconscious) down to bathing suits (real life you'd be naked!) and then get doused with cold water...no fun at all, lol.


Other than that, it's just the crazy busy world of a mom with 4 kids and a hubby to boot, lol.