I’m going to be using them as planters, but not before receiving a little makeover – tutorial to come!

Anyways, this lovely lot of beads showed up at my house the other day!

I got all of these for $20 from FireMountainGems.com – looooving their spring sale.

They stayed in their package for a couple of days, and then I couldn’t resist them anymore!  And I’m so glad that I got them out last night, because it really got me focused on my plans to launch my own summer collection!  YUP!  I can’t give you any details yet, but these pieces are just a teaser of what is to come!

This first piece is made with gold-plated brass chain, and some lovely Green beads that my friend Ashton picked up for me in New York and couple months back.

Recognize the background in these shots?  Yup, I used those boxes for a backdrop.  Gave it a nice vintage feel!

This necklace is made of gold-plated chain and coral mother of pearl beads.

The third necklace was made with the same type of chain and orange-yellow mother of pearl beads.

These earrings are made with freshwater cultured pearls that match the necklace above.

And here is my faaaaavorite piece.  I love it so much that I’m definitely going to keep it!

It’s one long strand of ocean blue freshwater cultured pears.  I just looove the colors.

These are only a sample of what’s to come!  These pieces won’t be made available for purchase until about mid-June.  If you would like to order one in advance or want to talk about a custom  order, please email me!

I can’t wait to show you more!  Until next time!

Marie Elena makes the most delicious cupcakes, and now she has the perfect apron to do all her baking in!  Visit her Facebook fan page Cupcakes by M.E. and check out all her yummy goodies!

Anyways, I can’t give her the actual gift that I got her for her birthday today (it’s still a big surprise) so instead I gave her an early mother’s day gift.  It is super cute, and super simple!  So anyone looking for a last minute craft idea for Mom – this is just perfect!

I first took this ADORABLE picture of Grace (her daughter, and lovely model from my first Men’s Shirt Redo) …

And turned it into this, usual this photoshop tutorial: Vintage Polaroid Effect from MyInkBlog.

Cute right?  Then I printed it out at 9″x7″ on card stock, and gathered the following materials.

• Glossy Mod Podge & Brush
• One 9″x7″ Craft Board/Frame Thing
• Acrylic Spray
• Wood Stain of your preference
• Sand Paper

First, I sanded the wood piece and wiped it clean. Then I applied a thin layer of Mod Podge to the wood, centered the picture on top, smoothed out all air bubbles, and let dry for about 15 minutes.  Once it was dry, I used the sand paper to ruff up the edges of the picture.  Don’t be afraid to make it look really worn!

Over the next half hour I applied two more coats of Mod Podge, completely coating the top of the picture/wood piece, allowing at least 15 minutes to dry in between.  After applying my last coat of Mod Podge, I let the piece dry overnight.

The next day, I used the wood stain I had leftover from the Buffet Makeover to stain the actual wood, and to give the whole photo a brown hue.  Stain as much as you like, I was going for a reddish brown look to compliment the hues of the picture.  And when the stain is dry, I applied a healthy coat of acrylic spray, to give it a nice shine and to protect the piece from little hands.

It came out just as I was hoping it would!

Another victorious craft using Mod Podge!

Happy Early Mother’s Day to all you lovely ladies out there!

I have really exciting news to share with you, and I need your help!

I entered my Ruffle Shirt that I made out of Jaron’s old shirt  into a Tops competition hosted by Made-By-Rae.com – and I found out today that I am a finalist!!

If you’re not familiar with this site, it is an AMAZING and inspirational blog amongst the many in the sewing and crafting world.  Rae has over 10,000 followers and for this competition in general, there were over 350 shirts entered, and mine made it into the top 60!!

So, what I need you guys to do is go to this link and vote for my shirt!  The voting bar is on the right hand side about half way down the page.  Voting ends about 7 am tomorrow – so I need all the help I can get!

VOTE FOR ME BY CLICKING HERE!

I’m so excited to have even been considered, and with your help I might even win!  Thank you again for your amazing support, and please, feel free to pass this on to your friends!!

Fingers Crossed!