Big Cyber Monday Sale!

I have several items in the Bei Mondi shop marked 20% off for Cyber Monday.  That's a sweet discount to grab a unique handcrafted item for the holidays.  Here's a peek of a few items up for grabs.

 

 

My Etsy shop is on vacation today and these items can only be purchased through the Bei Mondi shop.  And there is free shipping on all items! 

Bunny Commerical!

Watch this video if you love bunnies!

Words, Words, Words and Cyber Monday Sale!

I'm going through blogging withdrawals.  I need to blog but I have another busy day planned.  First, painting pottery.  Miss Lauren will be painting a Christmas present for me with my husband's help and vice versa.  Then we're off to see "The Christmas Carol" in 3D.  I'm so excited about this movie.  I'm a sucker for Christmas flicks.

I thought I'd show you gals what I've been working on lately.  I'm sure you've heard me and others talk about the Charmsters group.  We all make charms for a specific theme and swap them.  It's always such a surprise to see what will be in your package when it arrives.  So the swap I am currently working on is called "Words, words, words!"  And here's my charms.

  

These charms were first metal etched and then I used a torch to add some color.  I used some oil on them before the torch and it made a tie dye effect.  They are a bit hard to capture in the photo if the light is not just right.  I then had my assistant (Lauren) cut out newspaper that we folded into envelope shapes (gotta keep with that word theme).  I like the way each one is unique and they all have an old look to them.  Hope the group likes them!  

I also wanted to tell everyone that I'll be having a big Cyber Monday Sale!  I'm taking 20% off half the items in the Bei Mondi shop.  There will be lots of goodies to choose from and if there is something you've had your eye on please let me know so I can make sure to add it to the list.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and a killer Black Friday!  Enjoy your weekend!

TGI...T???

I almost wrote TGIF!  It really feels like Friday.  This is Lauren's last day of school until after the holiday so it is her Friday.  I hope to do some girl things tomorrow and the Monday after Thanksgiving to take advantage of the extra days she has off.  We might go paint pottery again or maybe Monster Golf or try something new for a change.  Money is tight so even watching a movie at home while playing games sounds good. 

Anyone traveling for the holidays?  I wish you safe travels if you are.  I miss my family so much but, unfortunately, traveling is not on the agenda for us on Thanksgiving.  Instead, we'll be making the usual feast for only three.  The hubby has turned into a real foodie recently.  He can't get enough of Food Network so he's decided to put a spin on all my old favorites for the holiday.  At first I was a little annoyed, this is my day to shine, right?  But if he shows an interest in it and is willing to help out, then why not?  "Sure, I'll go along with pancetta in my stuffing.  Whatever you want, honey.  Just don't burn the house down."  I told him the turkey was off limits though.  I gotta draw the line some where.

Well, I feel quite guilty.  Here's the deal.  I signed up for this craft exchange quite a while back and I still haven't blogged about it.  I guess other things have gotten in the way but there's really no excuses.  I received two amazing gifts that I can't believe I haven't blogged about before now.  The first one is from Bonnie Fisher from Explorations of Color.  This is a mixed media piece that is simply brilliant.  I've never seen mixed media up close before, I've only seen pictures on the internet.  I know, how lame am I?  This piece is so beautiful!  I don't know how good my picture taking skills are to see the fine details so I'll tell you a little bit of what I see.  The lady pops out a bit, she's actually kinda floating above the piece and her dress has been painted yellow.  And there is very faint type beyond the painted background that I can't quite make out.  The lines at the bottom of the page are actually sewn on!  How cool, she sewed on cardboard.  Oh, I just can't say enough about her artwork.  I've never dabbled in mixed media before but she has me intrigued for sure.  If you have the time please send some blog love her way.  Thanks, Bonnie!

And the other art I recieved were these sweet little apple earrings.  These were made by Lynette from Every Day Jewelry.  They are simply darling apples made of clay!!!  How did she make these?  While looking at her blog I noticed she has an Etsy shop where she sells these.  Check it out!  These would be perfect to make a pair of earrings out of for a teacher's gift.  Thanks, Lynette!

Here is my art exchange gift that I made for Diana Frey.  I wanted to make her a unique little flip book on Pittsburgh.  Sometimes ideas work out better in our head them the real deal!  It ended up looking rather childish but I decided that I would send it anyway but include another gift as well.  So, I added in these earrings I made with some metal etched pieces, freshwater pearls, and Swarovski crystals.  If you follow Diana's blog you'd know that she has great style and a real flair for decorating.  I was very nervous about sending this to her.

 

Ok, I am off to finish up some metal etching.  Enjoy your Friday Tuesday!  ;)

Vintage Sheet Music Necklace Tutorial

I entered into the Totally Tutorials Exchange Program recently.  For those of you not familiar with the program, here's how it works.  A supply seller sends items to a recipient willing to write a tutorial using the items.  This offers free exposure for the supplier showing techniques on using their product.  And the individual writing the tutorial gets free stuff!  I decided to try out this program for my friends at Tanith's Odds and Ends. 

 First off I want to say that you really need to check out their Etsy shop.  They have some really unique stuff like sheet music and dictionary pages from the 1930's that would be great for mixed media projects.  My favorites are the paper beads and the felt wool beads.  I'll be showing off some of their sheet music paper beads in this tutorial.  So here goes!

Here's the materials. 

• 23 - 5 inch sections of copper wire
• 3 - paper music note beads (from Tanith's Odds and Ends)
  
• 19 - black czech beads in various sizes
• 1 - large black czech bead for focal
• 1 - Copper clasp

I used copper wire that was oxidized in liver of sulfur.  These were cut into 5 inch sections prior to dipping.  You can use any type of metal but if you decide you'd like a patina on your metal you must oxidize the metal prior to making the necklace.

To create a wrapped loop first start by placing the bead in the center of the wire.  Then make a right angle right above where the bead is sitting.

Slide the bead off and then bend the wire over the pliers to create a loop.

 

Finish by overlapping the wire to close the loop.

 
Next, grab the loop end with a pair of flat nose pliers with your left hand.  With another set of pliers in your right hand, grab the tail of the wire.

Wrap the tail end of the wire around the straight portion of the wire several times.  You can have these wraps tight and straight or go for a crazy look like I've done.

Now add your first paper bead and create another wrapped wire loop on the opposite end.

 

Connect another piece of wire to one of the wrapped ends of your bead creating another loop at the end of this wire.  Add another paper bead.  Repeat until you have three paper beads connected together.

 
Now start connecting the black beads in the same way by creating wrapped loops.  I added five beads on one side and two on the other.

 

Next, create a large wrapped loop on the end for your focal bead.  Add your focal bead and twist your wire to make a spiral holding the bead in place.

Create the other side of the necklace by wire wrapping eleven more black beads together.

Add a clasp to the end of your piece.

Here is your end piece.

 

Now you can use steel wool to polish up the wire and remove any tool marks.  This will create light and dark areas to your copper adding depth to the metal.  Voila, you're done!