The Introverted Crafter

Back from holiday, and back to crafting again! I've had a lovely holiday, would recommend the Isle of Wight to anybody, but it's back to work tomorrow so I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little crafting before it's back to reality. I dug into the new Beadhaul box (itching to do that when I was on holiday) to make a few items. The first was some hot air balloon earrings. Easy enough to make, I used two of the yellow beads and one blue bead on an eyepin, then attached the hook earrings and balloon charms.   The second item was a necklace. I loved the bunting necklace on the tutorial but wanted to tie it into the earrings. The solution was using beads on head pins to go between each flag.   I will say that the flags were a bitch to put on. The jump rings were not working for me at all and they kept falling off. Got there eventually.   Finally I used the velvet necklace, and the clock connector charm. Connector charms are not traditionally u...

Another month (two actually) and it's time for a Beadhaul box! The theme of this box? Pastel Fantastic!   This is a picture of all you get in the box.   The description of the box - I have to admit I had my reservations about pastel.   Rose gold jump rings. Nice addition - it's a colour I don't have.   Acrylic cubes - don't really like these.   A silver plated enamel chain.   Rose gold eye and head pins - nice that they included both.   A gold plated bracelet chain - pleased that we have a bracelet chain A copper ball chain - love these things.   Ice cream charms - another thing I don't really like. That being said, I do have an idea of how to use them for somebody else. Truth be told, if I liked everything in every box I'd never gift any jewellery to others! Crystal glass bicone beads   Natural grade B agate. Beautiful colour and a nice weight to them.   Ear...

I've said before I have a lot of stuff. A lot of clutter. There are two types of people with regards to clutter; those who love it and those who hate it, and I very much fall into the former camp. I did contemplate that whole Kon Marie thing that people raved about last year, but I don't really hold with that emotional attachment thing in quite the way she does. Perhaps it's because I've lived so long with depression but I don't find joy in items. I don't really find joy in much to be perfectly honest. So, decluttering is off the menu on the whole. On the occasions I do attempt it I give up quickly because of the sheer enormity of the task, but I have found recently, as with everything else I have a modicum of success with, that doing little bits at a time works better. So I might wake up one morning and pick up one item to get rid of. This week I've managed to get rid of a bin bag of clothes and a few old mementoes. The other solution to this is of cour...

I've made a couple of things over the last ten days, none finished till yesterday which is why I've not posted till now.   First things first, a pair of earrings. I found some crown charms, and attached some of those arrowhead beads from the last Beadhaul box.   If you notice here, there are little bubbles on the crown. There were holes in there before, which I didn't like, so I used glossy accents a few times. You have to do it a few times or the bubble will be flat.   Next up is a wooden box I got when in Plymouth in March. I painted it with acrylics (first time ever) using a sponge to get a nice blend of colours. I then used crackle texture paste. Warning there, it does tend to yellow out acrylic paint a little, especially if you lay it on thick.   Here is the top. I glued a double sided piece of paper on the underside so it showed through. There is a grungeboard swirl, painted gold, covered in crackle paste then a few drops of gin...