Bead Organizing Tip

If you've ever bought plastic organizers with compartments to organize beads, findings and other small stuff this tip is for you!

I've literally spent hours separating and organizing all my seed beads so that when a project comes along everything is easy to find. After spending all that time making things organized nothing irritates me more than to have bead spilling underneath the dividers and mingling together anyway!

The quick fix is to run a bead of hot glue along the bottom of the divider before snapping it into place. The glue will keep your divider wall stationary (unless you really yank on it) and it will also keep your beads from sliding underneath the divider.

Handy Organizing Tip

Today I decided to work on a few chokers, which at this point require a bit of high speed sewing. So, my sewing machine gets hauled out of it's box and I set about finding just the right thread color for my bobbin.

What do I find when I open my little bag of bobbins? A huge mess!

The free ends have, of course, had plenty of time to intermingle and now I'm being sidetracked by untangling instead of getting on with my project of choice. I decided to fix the issue and this is what I came up with. All you'll need is one of those misbehaving bobbins and a piece of tape.

I'm using scotch tape, but I'm sure any kind will do.

Cut off a piece of tape and the fold one end over (sticky side to sticky side).

Then take your wayward thread end, lay it on top of your bobbin and place the remaining sticky part of the tape over it. The folded part of the tape will now act as an pull tab for easy removal and best of all no more loose ends!

Transforming Your Face - Digitally

During the latest course of mad internet browsing (the topic was microscope slide pendants this time) I managed to stumble across an interesting tool. Students at the University of St. Andrews have created a tool that will transform a face into a number of 'styles'.

The list of options isn't extensive, but there are a few artistic styles represented and the resulting art would look great as part of a collage or scrapbook. I tested this out with a rather blah photo of myself. Here's my favorite result in the style of Mucha:

2nd Costume

In an earlier post I mentioned a second costume that I wore for this years Renaissance Festival. Here it is!

The second image is the mask that was worn with this costume.

Mask Closeup

I had this handy, so I thought I'd post it. This is the mask I am wearing in my previous post.

Purse Makeover

I've been experimenting with a number of projects recently and thought it was about time that I posted one. This is an example of a purse makeover I did recently. The left side of the image is obviously before and the right side is the after.

A New Mask

I haven't quite decided if I completely finished with this one yet, but I'm posting it anyway. I may or may not be adding some paint detailing around the eyes. Until then, I'd love to get some feedback!

This is the first mask that I made solely with the intention to sell. I haven't decided exactly what the price tag will be though. (Feel free to email me with offers!)

In terms of it's details: the beads that drape from the top of the mask can actually be removed or replaced with other dangles via convenient little hooks on the back. I quite liked them myself but I wanted this mask to be versatile.