Art Charms All Finished

Finally finished up all my art charms for the swap I'm in this month. The theme was Blue, Silver, White/Clear. This wasn't too hard for me but I did sign up to do 2 sets like a dummy, so instead of only having to do 36 charms I did almost 80. That was quite an undertaking especially since I decided to use what I already had or could find around the house in found objects.

There are a couple that I really love, one is the crystal ladder charm and the other is the bullet charm. I had some steel bullet casings that I cleaned the primer out of and they worked perfectly. The crystal ladder charm is one of my own designs...you can find the tutorial HERE.

Today I created all the tags and tied them to each charm so that the person receiving them will know who made it.

Some of the other found objects I used were some old sales tax tokens from Washington State and some Transit token. I used what I had and I like them so well I ordered more from Ebay so that I would have more to use in a future swap. Other objects came out of my sewing box like safety pins, buttons and snaps. The snaps were fun to work with and they already have holes in them for the jump rings or to dangle other beads.

Another unusual piece I used was a glass fuse that I wrapped wire around (you can just see it in the basket). I played with wire creating my sun wrap, crystal ladder and butterfly as well as wire wrapping some beach glass.

This was a learning experience for me to not go out and just buy all the supplies I would need and instead reuse and re-purpose. That seems to be the new mantra these days. I know that my mother would probably say that is the way they used to make things and we are now just coming back around full circle.

Today was create day #18. Are you still creating?

BTW if you are interested in joining an Art Charm group to learn and swap charms here is the link to the one I belong to on Yahoo Groups.  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArtCharms/

Recycled Silver

So I joined this Art Charm group and it is all about making charms out of unusual objects and learning new techniques like resin, polymer clay and book making. Well in my brain storming I decided to make a charm holder and then dangles charms off of it. Instead of using some of my new silver wire I looked in my bag of silver scraps destined for the melting pot and out this came.

Kind of funky and definitely green and recycled.

Today I made nothing and took a little break...well not really. My mother and I went shopping, that qualifies as a break doesn't it. While we were out my wonderful hubby calls me to tell me we are going on a cruise in a few months.....woo hoo a real vacation. Needless to say our shopping took a turn and instead of shopping for some new fall fashions it was dressy cruise attire. It was so much more fun shopping with something in mind. Even better was the fact that all the items were on their summer clearance.

Have a great weekend folks.