Bead Haul 2013

Hey ho guys! As promised, here is my Bead Haul from a fair I went to a couple weeks back. I had such a great time with friends. We went to the fair and then shopping afterwards. I literally shopped till I dropped as I wore the wrong shoes! It was a tiring but mighty fun day. I hope we make it a habit every year!

I decided to make the most of the gorgeous Indian summer we have had and took my little hoard outside to find some interesting surfaces to use as backdrops.

I love all the beads I’ve got and I would definitely recommend going to some fairs and shows if you are interested because you can grab a great bargain and you never know what you will find!

For example, each of these strands was only £1 each!!!

Shiiny...

Here's some close ups with the pairings I thought of when I bought them.



Purple Crackle beads and Pink beads with gold marbling

I think all the strands I got are glass except the pink ones, which I think are plastic. I also thought the purple beads might go with either of these strands:




Crackle orange beads the same type as the purple and Green crystal beads

Sky Blue crystal beads, the same make as the green

Two tone beads - one side is gold, the other smoky brown!

One tip you must remember though is to have a budget in mind because it's so easy to go craycray with all the sparkly things! And also a rough idea of what you are looking for. I said I wasn't going to buy any rocks/minerals because they were also being sold there. I love to collect them but I have enough, so I said to myself I wouldn't get any. Then I saw a little basic full of polished, beautifully-coloured pebbles, for only 50p each. How could I resist?!

My cat also couldn't resist! :)

I plan to make a few bracelets, especially with the sky blue and two tone strands of beads and then use these to make one for my mum:

A little bigger than the green and blue crystal beads

The last thing I bought were these little boxes. They don't currently have lids so I will have to work around that :)

 



 

So that is my little haul! I hope you liked it. If you have any suggestions you would like to see me use the beads for, I'm open to everything!!

 

Have a good evening guys and I should see you soon for something crafty!

Take care!

Alice x



 

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Tip Top Tuesday #6

Hey guys! So for todays Tip Top Tuesday I decided to do a little DIY for you! Ever find all your scarves getting in a mess? Well, this is a really simple thing you can do to organize them using things you will already have!

What you will need:

• Coat hanger
• Saw
• Sellotape
• Bangles 

 

1. Take you coat hanger, it could be plastic or wood, even metal (for which you will need to use wire cutters), and make a cut near to the top. Try and make it as clean as you can. You can sand down the edges if you wish, like I did.

 

 

2. Then slip on the plastic bangles, the more the merrier really because when all your scarves on hooped onto it, it may become unbalanced. 

 

 

3. Then sellotape the cut for maximum security!

 

 



Voila! A place to hold all your scarves or belts this winter! Its so handy to have in your wardrobe and tidies it up nicely!

Tell me if you have found this helpful or better yet, show me on twitter! (The links below)

See ya soon!
Alice x

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Update #5

Hey ho! How are you guys? Today, the weather is pretty rotten. Autumn is now upon us and its time to bring out the scarves and wellies!

I just fancied a little chat today, keep you updated on what's been going on.

My Etsy shop is coming along great, got some nice items on there. So be sure to head on over, see what you like! I have a LOT more to list but I can't unless I sell some pieces first. I should post some photos on here shouldn't I? Then you can tell me if you like them and I can list them specifically.

As you can see, this blog is under a bit of construction! I'm trying out new ideas, seeing if they look right. I have one more that I want to try out next, I just have to get round to drawing it. ;)

The next posts you will see on here will be another Tip Top Tuesday, number 6 I think it is - an autumnal crafty DIY! Ooh exciting! Then I will post my Bead Fair Haul from the one I went to a couple weeks back. I need to take some stunning photos to match the stunning beads I got! (No pressure then teehee). And then I'm not sure what I'll do, it will be a surprise!

Over on Twitter this week I will be tweeting every day with an item from my shop! Follow me for first hand info and gossip!

So I think that's all folks!
Take care and wrap up warm!
Alice x

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MY NEW SHOP IS OPEN!

I am in a state of disbelief and joy at the same time. It has taken a while but my Etsy shop is finally OPEN for business! YAY! Please have a little look in, I only have a few items on at the moment but more will be added if the others prove popular. I have so many I want to show you! So have a look here: http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StarAliseJewellery?ref=si_shop and be the first to claim the discount revealed on my twitter account! @StarAliseCrafts

Please tell me what you think and how I could improve.

Love y'all and see you in my new shop; Star Alise Jewellery!!

Alice x

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I'M OPENING MY SHOP!

Hey guys! I am SO excited to reveal to you that tomorrow, Saturday the 24th of August, I will be launching my very own Etsy shop!!!!

I don't know if you know this but I mainly like to make jewellery in my spare time so to begin with, I will be selling pieces of jewellery that I have handmade in the last couple of years. Bear in mind I did make the pieces a couple of years ago, and I hope my skills have improved a little since then. So the more items I had, the closer we will be getting to ones I have made recently.

All pieces will be unique and exclusive, and at hopefully reasonable prices, but I am always open to suggestions, which you can just send me via email.

PLUS, I am going to try and create a DISCOUNT CODE for the opening which will last a week!!!!! Follow my twitter to find what it is! (I'm not sure what it is yet! Teehee)

I can only accept Paypal payments at this time and I can only post within the UK at this moment in time, but special arrangements may be sorted out.

Thanks and I will hopefully see you there! Virtually of course.... XD

Alice x

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Tip Top Tuesday #5

Hello there! I am so sorry I missed last weeks Tip Top Tuesday so I hope I can make it up to you today!

This is going to be multiple tips around one theme: organizing your jewellery and hair accessories. Now I know how busy everyone is nowadays and we all just throw things into a draw and then, when we are rushed to leave the house, panic because we can't find anything or it's all tangled up! I can be accused of this, so I have taken action! Have no fear! It's so simple, as my tutorials always are.

What you will need:

Post-it notes

Coloured card
Clean food tubs
Tic Tac Box

1. Organize your jewellery into tiny post-it note boxes.

I used this tutorial from Pinterest: Origami Organizers with a little bit of inspiration from another.

It's just the perfect size for a single necklace or a couple of charms. Plus it looks so neat and colourful! No more untangling before heading out!

2. Cut out a square of card, any colour, and clip your hair clips onto it.

3. Store bobby pins/curby grips in a tic tac box.

 

4. Use empty tubs for the larger accessories.

 

 

And that’s it! Some very easy ideas that I find useful. If you do, please tell me! I'd love to hear that I've been of some help.

Gotta go, take care!

Alice x

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How to: Wrap a Cylindrical Present

G'day, Crafty Minions! I hope you are all alright and I just want to say a quick apology for missing Tip Top Tuesday last week! I thought it seemed a little odd but I thought it was this week! I promise I will do something meaty :) PLUS there is something a little exciting I'm planning, especially for you :D

So for my parents anniversary, I brought them a few gifts and one of them was this computer air cleaner thingy for my dad. As you can see, its a weird shape. How would you wrap this??

Well, I'll show you! :)

This is what you'll need:

               
Wrapping paper                        
Sellotape                            
Card                          
Scissors                           
and a pencil!

Sorry for the awful lighting and quality!

1. Draw around the bottom of the cylindrical present twice onto the card. Cut them out.


Aw man! They just keep getting worse! Sorry :(

                           
2. Place your gift onto the wrapping paper and roll it over once. This will give you an idea of how much is need to wrap the whole thing. Add an inch or two to overlap plus two inches top and bottom, depending on how big your gift is. Cut it out.

 

 
3. Next, fold an inch over on the top and bottom of the wrapping paper and cut little slits into it, like you would if you were lining a circular cake tin.

4. Wrap up the present and secure with tape.



5. Fold the tabs over on the ends, which is now much easier to do with the slits in, and tap securely.

6. Lastly, make a loop out of sellotape (a cheats version of double sided sticky tape, which of course you could use) and stick it onto one of the card circles. Then stick that onto the top of the gift, to cover up the end. Repeat with the second card circle and the bottom.

 

 

Du-du-loo Ta-daaa!! You're done! One neatly wrapped cylindrical pressie!

 

 

There you go! That was really easy, wasn't it? :)

 

Let me know if you have wrapped a present using this tutorial. I'd really like to hear if it's useful.

 

Don't forget, now you can follow me on Bloglovin' to make sure you don't miss a thing! There's some exciting stuff coming :)

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Tip Top Tuesdays #4

Hello there! This Tip Top Tuesday caught me out by surprise, I can't believe how fast 2 weeks goes by!

Today's Top Tip is a very quick one and it is something I worked on today. My crafty corner was getting a bit loaded down with rolls of wallpaper and wrapping paper shoved everywhere and, to be honest, it was driving me crazy because I have a kind of OCD when it comes to organisation. I'm not a very tidy person but I have to be organised, everything has to have its place. So naturally, I needed somewhere to store all these rolls of paper. And this is what I came up with:

Store wrapping paper and wallpaper rolls in a circular bin!

 

It's that simple and it looks really neat and you can see all the rolls you have and how much you have.

 

As you can see I have a roll of brown paper which, I must add, is essential in anyone's craft room. Presents always look better in it because its not fancy and it makes the gift even more of a surprise. Plus, it can be glammed up with ribbon, sparkles, or stamps. Sorry, just thought I'd get that in there!! :D 

 

Thanks for reading and I'll catch you soon with another How To!

 

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Just a quickie: Bloglovin'

Hey guys! It's just a quickie today because I have a super busy weekend planned. Just to say that I now have a Bloglovin' account so you can follow me on there! If you just look for StarAlise or www.craftyalise.blogspot.co.uk you should find me :) or I will try and include a link to it on the bottom of this page. Alternatively, click the box to the side of this post!

So what do you have to look forward to? Well, my next couple of posts include my Tip Top Tuesdays, how to wrap a cylindrical pressie and my Bead Fair Haul!!

Stay Tuned!
Alice xxx

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Tip Top Tuesdays #3

In my first Tip Top Tuesday post (found here), I didn't mention anything about these top tips all relating to crafts now, did I? Teehee, crafty by name, crafty by nature! Anyway, today I will be sharing a top tip that I found on the amazing virtual-hoarding site that is Pinterest.

It is:

To find out whether your freezer has turned off and then come back on again when you've been away, which would thaw and then refreeze your food  (not good as it will make you ill), fill a glass jar with about an inch or two of water, then lay it on its side in the freezer until it freezes. Once frozen, stand it upright.

If your freezer does play tricks on you, you can catch it out by referring back to the glass jar. The frozen water will now be at the bottom of the jar and not frozen to the side.

Ta-daa!

Simple, quick, and inexpensive! Save ya a few bob on food as well.

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I'm Sorry

I'm really sorry but there wont be a tip top Tuesday today because I'm not very well. I will try and get it up as soon as poss and I hope you will understand. I'm sorry. :(

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How to make: Antique Map Coasters

Hello crafty minions! Today I am going to talk through something I made a couple of weeks back for my brother. He likes old maps you see and I picked up on this craft craze and decided to try it out for myself.

To make some vintage-looking map coasters, you will need:

• Paintbrush
• Scissors
• Pencil
• An existing coaster (Psst! Nick one from the living room!)
• Used soggy teabag
• Sandpaper
• A map
• Ageing/Antique Varnish (optional)
• Modpodge (there is no substitute I'm afraid. If you don't have some or can't find any, then, as a last resort, use PVA but I would really suggest getting some because it is more than just a glue; it adheres, seals and finishes.)
• Now you can either use cork board like I have, or you could use pre-made cork coasters (I found some on Ebay for you here) or you could buy some old coasters from the charity shop to re-cover.

This tutorial will be for making some coasters from scratch.

Lets get started!!

The first thing you need to do is to trace around your existing coasters onto the cork board, of course you could do this freehand too. Then carefully cut them out.

 

Now I found the edges to be rough and uneven so that's why I've suggested to use sandpaper to smooth these edges down. I also rounded the corners for safety. This makes a big mess so I suggest sanding the coasters onto a sheet of paper or cloth to catch all the bits.

Place your coaster onto your map (I got mine from the charity shop for about £1) and trace around it. You could chose a map with special locations on for you to make it personal. Then cut it out.

 

Then glue it! :) Simples eh?

 

Rub the wet tea bag over the coasters and wait for it to soak up, whilst you make yourself a fresh cuppa!

Keep layering up the tea stain to build depth and make it look antique. Equally, now would be the time to paint on a layer of antique varnish.

Then, once that is dry, paint with a final layer of modpodge to seal in your creation and make it more waterproof and durable. I would also paint the edges of the cork to avoid the map coming away from the coaster.

 

Leave to dry overnight and voila! An antique, vintage-looking coaster made with your own hands!

Foolishly, I sent them away to my brother before taking a proper picture, sorry!

If you decide to make your own version of this design, then please send me it over twitter or email! I'd love to see them!

Thanks! See ya soon!

 

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Tip Top Tuesdays #2

Woop woop, second in the series! Here it is, just a quickie:

If you are right handed, have your desk lamp/light source (i.e a window) to your left. Or if you are left handed, have it on your right. This will mean a shadow will not be cast over your work as you work.

Ta daa! Next one in 2 weeks!

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New Series Launch! #1

Good afternoon! How are you doing?

Today is exciting because I want to launch my very first regular blog post series!! Woohoo! Wanna hear what it is? O-K! *makes the letters like a cheerleader*

Starting today, I plan to do semi-monthly (every two weeks, at least) blog posts with just a quick top tip. Something short and simple. A little snippet of advice that I have either discovered myself or have found it out and then tested it.

I've collected a little stockpile that I really want to share with you because they are so useful! Feel free to share them with everyone else as well because who doesn't like free stuff?

Now I thought about calling this series, rather light-heartedly, 'Tip Top Tuesdays' as a little play on words (top tip → tip top see? :P) but also because, here in the UK, we have a delicious foodstuff called Tip Top. On the tin it says its a 'light and creamy topping' and I remember having it on top of trifles and canned fruit when I was younger. Its like a combination of evaporated milk and cream and its so yummy!

I will always do a blog post for it but be prepared for just a sentence or two! And depending on how long the tip is, I will tweet it too.

Are you ready for the very first one?? O-K!

If your scissors are getting blunt, sharpen them by cutting up some tin foil.

 

It really works! Just make a mess of lots of little shards of tin foil (preferably straight into the bin) and your scissors will be ready to use again! This tip works for all types of scissors: nail scissors, kitchen scissors, craft scissors etc. Just take care afterwards because they will be sharp.

Hope you enjoyed that little top tip! Stay tuned for more in this series!

xx

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An Explaination

So I need to explain a few things. One, I'm sorry this blog has been neglected recently. I have been really busy finishing off my final college project so I was trying to make the most of it and savour the last days of innocent education. Then I had to tie a few lose ends up, namely college projects with unsatisfactory grades and days full of plans.

Secondly, I wanted to show you a list of things I plan to do on this blog. Then, I have promised it to you and I will have to do it! Of course, I won't give everything away but I will tell of some instalments I aim to post next in chronological order so you (and I!) know exactly where we are. Lets get rolling!

1.) I will post things I have already promised on my Twitter account, such as something using maps and modpodge.

2.) Then it will be a tutorial on how to wrap a cylindrical present, because this is an essential piece of knowledge everyone must know about :P

3.) Next I will work on revamping this blog, i.e. a new header, background etc. A complete, spangly, and professional look is what I’m aiming for.

4.) Then I will talk about my final project at college, show the results and upload the photos onto my dA account (this is turning out to be a very detailed list isn't it?...)

5.) Next, I have a really big project I want to do with my mum. I don’t know how long that will go on for but at least a few months!

6.) After that I have a whole other list of crafty ideas that I get really excited about when I read through it!!

Oh! I've also got a super exciting plan to post something every other week but I'll explain more about that next Tuesday!

Most of the things I have mentioned here, I revealed first on my twitter account (click here -> @staralisecrafts). I would highly recommend following it (teehee) because its easier to update and you will get to hear of things first on there. Plus, I like to tweet little motivational sayings and quotes that I find, so that's another reason to tag along!

I hope you do follow me as this blog grows from a seedling into a blossoming tree and that you enjoy the journey with me! It's going be to a crazy fun one! Don't forget to follow me on twitter and keep on eye on the other pies I have my fingers in because I like to mix and match things. It makes life exciting, you know?

Have a great day! See you soon!
xx

 

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Top 'nanas! (SurveyMonkey)

Why Hello there! Long time, no blog post hey? I'm just sitting here on the end of my bed, gazing out my window absentmindedly, and oh! what is that I see? I'll give you a clue. They're noisy, athletic, they make a mess and they are a sign that summer is coming!! Any guesses?

That's right! They're swallows!!! Woop woop.

They're great to watch and to think, they have come all the way from far off lands, bringing the sun with them! Oh what sights they must've seen.

Anywho, deviating... I wanted to draw your attention to a survey I have created today on Survey Monkey and I would really appreciate it if you had a look and filled it in. You don't have to include any personal information, just your gender and age if you want to, and its just about Jewellery. I made it to help me with my college course, so I know what to make etc.

It would make me squeal out loud with delight if I got at least 5 responses!! :3

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen a tweet that mentioned a crafty DIY using maps and Modpodge. This is still in production, so look out for it heading your way!! The photos are done, just need to write about it :D

Follow me on twitter for all my juicy gossip with a few secrets thrown in! Right...here!

Oh! And you might like the link for the survey, mightn't you? Teehee :P That be...here!

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it. :D

Toodaloo!
Take care.
Alice x

Beach Memory Jar

The summer holidays are something long to be desired during the cold winter days so why not ignite those bliss memories with this super easy memory jar!

All you need is a fancy glass jar. It could be any size or shape, just anything that you have to hand. I got mine from a friend. If you only have an empty marmalade jar then you could paint the lid or cover it in glitter if you wanted.

Then fill the jar half full with sand collected from the beach you visited in the summer or plan to visit this year.

Next, neatly arrange your beach-combed shells and pebbles in the sand.

 

 

 

Pop the lid back on (you could glue it on for maximum security if you wish) and Ta-da! You have a beautiful jar filled with memories you can now relive over and over. Place it somewhere sunny, like on a windowsill in your bathroom or kitchen so it can shine and be enjoyed!

Tweet me your versions if you try it!! @StarAliseCrafts