Author Archives: karlakrafts

Feb13

Valentines with Vivi

Posted on February 13, 2023 by karlakrafts

We made valentines and valentine jewelry, tonight. We ate chicken noodle soup because Vivi wasn’t feeling well. She persevered to get her valentines ready for school tomorrow. No store-bought cards allowed.

Vivi said this was her first piece of “sophisticated“ jewelry. She usually puts some beads on a string and ties it. She learned about crimps and jump rings, and this was her design.

Feb6

Brace Yourself!

Posted on February 6, 2023 by karlakrafts

Brace Yourself!

I’ve gone bracelet-making crazy!

Unakite with a hand sculpted mushroom button

Dragon’s Blood stone with a TierraCast button, This one was for Adrianne. She picked out the colors.

Two for me! Sodalite and Gray Agate with an AB (aurora borealis) coating

The buttons have been in my sewing drawer for years!

Rhodonite with black leather and pink cord

Unakite and 1.5mm leather, just to see. Another hand formed mushroom closure

Fancy jasper, natural turquoise leather, rust cord and a serene polymer clay button

Sunstone with a polymer clay button and Moroccan red leather (orange)

Red jasper, brown leather, and a vintage brass French horn button

Mookaite, burgundy leather, and a vintage button from my button basket

Morganite, white metallic leather and a sewing box button

Black agate, black leather and a TierraCast button

Rhodonite, black leather and an old sweater button

Gray agate with an AB coating, Chandi (lavender) leather and a sweater button

Aventurine, metallic ocean green leather, and a polymer clay button

Wood opal (petrified wood,) dark brown leather and a vintage button from my button basket

This one was on tv! Susan Thomas showed it on The Circle on JTV extra. The theme was Western World. She talked about it on the Jewel School broadcast, the next day, too!!! Stones are mahogany obsidian. The button is TierraCast.

Mookaite, burgundy leather, and a polymer clay button I made myself

Aventurine, ocean green metallic leather and a handcast polymer clay button

Dec21

Latest Bracelet

Posted on December 21, 2022 by karlakrafts

Latest Bracelet

The button is handmade polymer clay, cast from a fondant mold.

The beads are 6mm red tiger’s eye from JTV.

The leather is turkey red by Leather Cord, USA, and the nylon cord is an unnamed rust color from Bead Smith. Both were ordered from artbeads.com.

Unhinged, I think it looks like a snake skeleton! Thanks, again, to Tracy Proctor from Tierra Cast for teaching me this stitch.

Dec16

Once upon a time…

Posted on December 16, 2022 by karlakrafts

Once upon a time…

I bought a kit and knitted a bracelet. Then I went crazy and bought different cords and number 6 seed beads in every color I could find. The original was gold, and the second was hot pink. The third was silver-lined crystal knit on silver cord. I lost interest, or a life thing came up, and I never added a clasp.

Today, I found that silver bracelet bagged up with its leftover beads!

I found it in this pink gift bag, and inside are at least a dozen other zipper bags with beads and matching cords!

Now, to find the pattern!

Dec15

Gold and Silver

Posted on December 15, 2022 by karlakrafts

Gold and Silver

Buttons!

The skewered one is a hand sculpted mushroom. The rest are from molds.

I used jump rings for shanks this time. The others have holes.

Dec5

Fresh from the Oven!

Posted on December 5, 2022 by karlakrafts

Fresh from the Oven!

No, they’re not chocolate! They’re polymer clay buttons! Some are shaped from molds and some are molded by hand. (the acorn, the zuni bear, and the mushrooms, for example)