Designer #2

Another person who inspires my beaded designs is my 8 year old.  I'll call her Kat.  Kat likes to draw princesses with long hair that cover one eye.  Kat is very possessive with her drawings and requires that I get her permission before I duplicate any of her work.  She also instructed me to give her credit whenever I use her work. 

Kat's princess drawing.

Transformed into a seed bead charm.

Thank you Kat.

About K - the designer

I have a jewelry designer of sorts...she inspires me with her drawings that I turn into beaded creations. 

K is 11 years old.  She likes to draw, read and write (see her blog at http://waveclan1.blogspot.com/).  She loves animals, especially cats.  K likes all things bright and colorful.  Here is her owl drawing.

Transformed into a beaded charm.

Stay tuned for more K designs.

Marvelous Mustache

Did you know mustaches are a fashion trend...actually, it's an artsy trend according to an Etsy Storque article I just pulled up.  I thought it would be fun to work on my own mustache (not a real one on my face).  Here it is...

Have a great day!

Santa Seed Bead Charms

Here is a set of cute handmade beaded charms I just completed.  The Santa design is a pattern I found online, created by Jennifer Creasey.  These Santa charms make a great accessory for the holidays and keeps you in a jolly spirit year round. Use charms for cell phones, bags, backpacks, key rings and more...

Find it here on Etsy and get 15% off using the coupon code 15OFF.



Simple Baby Pink Bracelet with Heart Charm

I just added this baby pink beaded bracelet to my Etsy shop.  It comes with a removable matching heart charm. 

The bracelet measures 7 inches in length (about 18 cm) with the silver plated spring clasp.  A fun gift for the young and young at heart. Great bracelet for layering with other bracelets from my shop.

Come and see my other items at Handmade Cute on Etsy and remember to stop by for the November 26 Black Friday Sale.

Please Enter for a Chance to Win...

Okay folks...here goes!  My first Handmade Cute Craft Giveaway! 

The prize is...

A cute, handmade Lemon-Lime Spiral Rope bracelet.  I love this piece for its bright, fresh colors.  It's tart, sassy and sweet all at the same time. 

This bracelet was carefully weaved by hand using the spiral rope stitch method.  Many tiny size 8, Japanese Toho seed beads were used to create this piece.  The total length of the bracelet is 7.25 inches.  Fasten the bracelet to your wrist with the pretty silver plated toggle clasp.  A yellow heart charm finishes off the look.

Rules:

1. Contest dates (Hawaii time - Time Converter)

Monday, November 8, 2010 at 7:00:00 AM

Monday, November 15, 2010 at 7:00:00 AM
2. Open to adults 18 and over from US.
3. Winner will be chosen by Random.org.
4. Winner will be announced Tuesday, November 16 and will have 3 days to claim prize via email.

How to Enter:  (Leave a separate comment for each entry).

1. Leave a comment below for one entry.
2. Follow HandmadeCute on Twitter. Leave a comment and your Twitter ID please.  1 additional entry ~ optional,
3. Share this on Twitter then leave a comment with your tweet link. 1 additional entry ~ optional.
4. Share this on Facebook and leave a comment with your link.  1 additional entry ~ optional.
5. Share this on your personal blog and leave a comment with your link.  1 additional entry ~ optional.
Okay, that's it!  Good luck and tell your friends about this giveaway.

More information and photos for this bracelet are available in my Etsy shop.

Thanks so much!


 

Candy Corn Bird

I've been missing my blog this week and haven't had time to create anything new for my shop but this was my latest creation - a little beaded bird charm in candy corn colors.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Little Bird Charm

Little Bird in candy corn colors.

Sumo Onigiri

My kids want me to make them those cute bento lunches that are so popular nowadays...musubi with faces, pickled vegetables in tiny portions served in cupcake liners, etc. I was inspired by the idea but since I'm better at beading than cooking, I made these non-edible version of Sumo Onigiris.

No Cat Bats. No Vampires.

No Cat Bats and No Vampire Cats.  I scrapped that project and instead I made spiders!

The Evil Cat Bat

Do you remember my vampire kitty sketch from my earlier post?  Well, I completely re-did my pattern and my vampire kitty is now a cat bat.  Here it is...

Vampire kitty gave me so much trouble...tangled thread, not enough thread, not the right colors, bent needle, cute but not vampire-ish (kids said it looked like a cat in a super-hero mask).  The last straw was when my entire tray of beads went spilling on the floor.  I say that vampire kitty was cursed! 

Vampire kitty has been transformed into Cat Bat but this is as far I have gotten and it's my third attempt.  I am still using my bent needle.  Hope Cat Bat will cooperate with me.

Pumpkin Kitty - Done!

It took me a few tries to complete my Pumpkin Kitty because of tangled thread, uneven beads, experimenting with bead colors and disatisfaction with the final result after following my original drawing (previous post).  I made a few changes and this is my final result using my new pattern.



I'm going to work on my vampire cat next.

Halloween Kitty Sketches

I usually start out my projects by sketching an image. Here are my Halloween sketches of kitty cats - a black kitty, a pumpkin kitty and a vampire kitty.

The sketches makes the image in my mind more real and helps me keep count of the beads when I do work on my project.  It also reminds me when to add details and change bead colors.  The end result may not necessarily match the picture in my mind and if it doesn't, I usually start over.  I'm excited to get started with this project.

I use the brick stitch graph from No Easy Beads. 

Sneak Peek

I'm working on a new fishy-fishy design. You may notice that the orange fish is made with frosted beads. The frosted beads have a "creamy-dreamy" look. I like mixing and matching beads but sometimes, the bead sizes are not consistent or the differing lusters do not produce the look that I desire. In this project, the orange fish will return to the sea.

Dress Code Violation

It is quite clear which kitty is in violation of the dress code. I think he just enjoys standing out from the crowd.



Seed Bead Ninja Kitties in Orange and One Black.  Materials used includes
Size 11 Toho Seed Beads, Nylon Thread, Silver Jump Rings and Silver Spring Clasp.  Great as a cell phone charm.

Grab the code

<div align="center"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/4947460902_093d766ccc_m.jpg" title="Handmade + Cute Crafts" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/4947460902_093d766ccc_m.jpg" alt="Handmade + Cute Crafts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Pumpkin Patch

Seed Bead Pumpkin Charms are here!





Like this? Grab the code.
<div align="center"><a href="http://handmadecutecrafts.blogspot.com/2010/08/pumpkin-patch.html" title="Handmade Cute Pumpkin Patch"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4927108585_bc316da72f.jpg" alt="Handmade Cute Pumpkin Patch" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Using Grab My Code Button Generator

Welcome August

We're back from our Kaua'i vacation. We stayed in Kapa'a town and had a hotel room with a beautiful ocean view.  The beach fronting our hotel had lots of Portuguese Man of War washed up on the sandy shore.  Needless to say, we didn't go swimming but we popped the Man of War, took beach strolls, collected shells and swam in the hotel pool.  Our vacation was a great way to end our summer days and I will especially miss the hotel house cleaning service!! 

Black Pot Beach, Hanalei, Kauai 

With the travel laundry almost complete, I've had time to squeeze in craft time.  Here is a beaded project that I am working on.  It is teenie-weenie hearts charms made from Japanese Toho seed beads in size 11.  I'm still working on the blue heart...

Seed Bead Heart Charms

I'm a bit sad that summer with my kids has gone by so fast but I look forward to working on my crafts and the exciting activities coming up in the new school year.

Making Christmas Ornament Earrings

I'm going to show you how I made these Christmas ornament earrings. This is not really a tutorial but you may be able to fill in the blanks and make your own "ornament earrings".

These are the materials I used.

Ear hooks, glass pearl beads and jump rings (not shown).

Toho seed beads, size 11 in transparent Siam ruby and silver lined frosted crystal. 

Just a note, although both bead colors size are 11, the silver lined beads are a little bigger than the transparent beads so if you plan on using it in the same project, the beads may not look uniform.  In this project, the different sizes do not really matter.

Now, using fishing line (monofilament), I tie on a red bead and string it through the pearl.  I double the fishing line to reduce the "stretchiness".

Then I add seven red beads and once again I string it through the pearl so that the red beads wrap half way around the pearl.

I keep doing this until I have seven strands around the bead. Then I top the bead with 2 crystal seed beads. For strength and holding power, I thread through the pearl once again and tie off the line.

I add a jump ring and the ear hook and I am done.  Make one more and you have a set of Christmas ornament earrings!

You can make various colors of these earrings and use different shades and kinds of beads for the center such as acrylic faceted beads, metallic beads, etc.  Once you've done one, you'll see how easy it is and you'll come up with your own designs.

Have fun celebrating Christmas in July!