My Shoe Chronicles — Aqua Dots

I love these shoes because they’re funky. I saw them and had to have them. They’ve even got stars and chains on them.

Another of the few pairs I bought new. They’re sort of nostalgic for the 80s and go with one of my favorite skirts. Oddly, I’d painted silver diamonds on the skirt to hide a few stains. The next week, I went to my favorite shoe store in Chinatown, and there these were on an end cap.

Yeah, as soon as I saw them, I knew they were leaving with me. My husband just rolled his eyes. He knew it to. In fact, he saw them before I did and then scolded himself for pointing them out to me. He’ll likely never learn not to point out silly shoes to me and I’m so glad!

My Dinosaur

My husband and I always joke that we have a moving boulder in our yard. It seems to crop up in all sorts of different places. This morning, there were two boulders where I only remember having one…

It is so totally Friday and I’m so totally glad for it. Not that my weekend will be laid back in comparison to the week I’ve had, but there’s just something special about Fridays for me.

In celebration, I’m going to go make a bunch more necklaces. Or maybe frolic with my walking boulder…aka Toad. (Yes, my tortoise is named Toad. Thankfully, he’s not smart enough to be confused by it.)

How To Make A Ribbon Choker Necklace — Part 1

I think it’s pretty safe to say that we all know ribbon comes in many different shapes, sizes, colors and in various ways. Sometimes it’s on a spool, sometimes it’s wadded up and shoved in the corner of a box long forgotten, sometimes it’s on cards or wrapped around a gift. My ribbon comes from all sorts of places. Some is old, some is new, some is plentiful, some is just a scrap. But I treasure it all.

In this series of posts, I’m going to show you how to make a ribbon choker necklace. I’m sure there are many other ways of doing it, but this is how I do it and I hope it helps get your creativity flowing in bigger, better ways, too.

Okay, step one: GET RIBBON!

For this series, I’m going to use the flowery ribbon. It suits my personality.

Step two: GET TOOLS!

I like to use fabric scissors because a clean, straight cut is very important. Sometimes I use a rotary cutter, but that’s mostly when I’m making several necklaces at once. I lay the ribbon on my cutting mat and do a few long slices rather than cutting each necklace individually.

While it’s possible to make a ribbon choker without having a tape measure or ruler, sometimes they really come in handy. Especially if you don’t always have the neck that you’re making the choker for. If you measure your sister’s neck that first time, write it down so you can make more for her without having to measure…unless she’s still growing. You don’t want her to outgrow your necklaces!

Here’s where things get a little tricky when it comes to tools. Pliers are a necessity, but the type of pliers can vary. I like to use one pair of bent needle nose pliers with a pair of straight needle nose, but you could easily use two straight ones. Basically, you need two pairs of pliers with small tips.

The red pair of pliers was specially designed for bending wire. There are plastic wedges on the nose so that when you bite down on wire, it won’t get scratched. While this pair is not necessary, I highly recommend it so that you won’t scratch up your metal ribbon ends.

Before I got these inexpensive pliers, I actually devised a rather strange way of using two small blocks of wood to smash the ribbon clamps closed. While that method worked and didn’t scratch, it was rather unwieldy. If you’re using textured ribbon clamps, scratches are easier to avoid…or at least they don’t show up as clearly through the design.

Step three: GET FINDINGS!

Ribbon clamps come in many different sizes. Since I make chokers out of a lot of different sized ribbons, I have an array of clamps which I can use. Some are textured and some are smooth. I’ve seen them sold in multi-packs, too. Basically, you need the one that most closely matches the size of the ribbon you’ve chosen to use. It can be a little bigger, but I don’t recommend going much smaller.

The main thing the clamp does is keep the ribbon from fraying. If the clamp is too small, the edges of the ribbon will start shedding and fraying. A clamp that’s too big just looks a little funny, but I’d rather it looked funny than have the ribbon fall apart.

Finally, you’ll need various necklace findings.

Jump rings, clasps, more jump rings (because I can be obsessive sometimes) and extension chains.

I like to use two different sizes of jump ring, but it honestly doesn’t matter. I’m mostly just trying to use up what I have. I use the extra jump ring to make the clasp line up better.

Clasps are also a thing of personal preference. I like lobster clasps, but any clasp will do.

Extension chains are not necessary, but they sure do help a lot. For instance, if you accidentally made the necklace too small, it’ll still fit perfectly with the extension. Also, an extension chain can facilitate where the necklace sits on your neck whether high or low. They aren’t absolutely necessary, but I highly recommend them.

You can make them out of old necklaces, too. Just cut 2 or 3 inches from a length of chain. If you’re in the mood, add a charm at one end as a nice little personal touch.

Up next will be how to use all these tools and supplies in turning a length of ribbon into a cute little necklace.

To see more of my work, visit my Etsy Store and my Artfire Store. If you mention my ribbon choker how-to blog series during checkout of any purchase from my shop, I’ll include a free ribbon choker necklace.

My Shoe Chronicles — Red Keds

I’ve had these shoes for about twenty years and it really shows. I used to wear them almost every day. They’re much loved and I’ll probably wear them until they fall off my feet completely.

In fact, when I was in high school, I even marched in a few parades in these shoes. Depending what year, I played flute, piccolo or bells. When we weren’t in full uniform, we wore our band shirts, white pants and whatever shoes we wanted. Well, these were those. I’ve marched many a mile in them.

My First Fair

Yesterday was a challenge. Could I really get my act together enough to start selling my necklaces at craft fairs? My best friend hooked me up with the opportunity, but it was up to me to figure out displays, and bags and signs and price tags and all the other little things you just don’t need when you sell online.

Challenge met:

Somehow, I pulled it off. I’m still not really sure how since I’ve had this stupid cold for the last week and a half (almost gone now…almost). I didn’t even have to go out and buy stuff to make it happen. Everything I needed was either in raw materials in my craft room or literally waiting for a rainy day.

Oddly enough, those picture frames are from the 99 cents store. I got them probably 4 years ago. I know it was a long time ago. The idea was to use them for photos my husband had taken during our trips all over England, Wales and Scotland which I displayed in my front room. I also had a bunch of Medieval images on postcards that I’d never send, so why not frame them? Well, I’d filled up all my larger frames and these little ones were left over.

Had it not been for a real slap-job cleaning the house, I would’ve completely forgotten them.

My husband and I were trying to figure out what to do with some acrylic grapes I’m storing our best friend. As I stood there grimacing in my front room, my gaze landed on a stack of two trunks behind our couch. I knew one was full, but the other? I cracked it open and managed to fit just about everything in there. Only a few things left.

There’s a Victorian trunk on the other side of the room, so I had my husband open it. It wasn’t just full, I couldn’t've added a piece of paper or the lid would not’ve closed. Almost nothing but picture frames. Some empty, some full. The memory of hoarding came back to me. They’d been nice frames for cheap. I couldn’t resist because “I knew I’d use them for something…”

That “something” ended up being my very first fair. All I did was pull out the glass and replace it with cardboard which I spray glued different fabrics onto. Something tells me my hoarding impulse paid off pretty big on this one!

My Twilight’s Fancy necklaces just don’t display well flat. They need a little gravity acting on them. To see more, click here!

My Shoe Chronicles — Peacocks

I call these my peacock shoes. I don’t know what possessed me to buy them, but they sure are fun to wear.

They’re not the best quality and I don’t know that they can sustain a lot of wearing, but they’re definitely strange and that was the main reason why I bought them. It doesn’t hurt that they’re one of my favorite colors, too. Weird, loud and colorful. My ideal pair of shoes.

I got these at the same store in Chinatown where I got those simple olive green leather shoes, too. These aren’t as well made, but what they don’t have in durability, they make up for in strangeness. Plus, its not like I plan on wearing them every day. Believe it or not, I don’t have that many outfits I can wear with them.

The Voltage Regulator Fried

Any time there’s a malfunctioning part on one of my cars, I like to save it. Sometimes it serves as inspiration, sometimes it just looks cool. Like, to help get over the expensive sadness of the engine I blew up on a very bad day, I kept the fried bearings. They’d gotten so hot, they’d melted. Yeah, molten metal in my engine. I don’t ever want that to happen again, so seeing those bearings reminds me to check the oil and all-in-all pay attention to what my engine sounds like.

I even saved the warped and cracked valve out of my convertible ‘68 Mustang…and the busted exhaust manifold has spent time as a pen holder on my desk although not anymore. It got replaced when I unearthed my Ziggy pen cup from when I was little (It says “Genius at Work” and is likely copyright 1980!).

So, anyway, when my ‘68 Mustang Convertible was still running rough even after the engine swap, it was time to figure out why. The battery had died a few times, too.

That should’ve been my first clue. That, plus the dim headlights, flickering interior lights and the general rough ignition problems. The funniest part of the whole thing is how simple of a part it was, but how quietly it broke. It’s not the kind of thing that goes Ka-Pow! and suddenly the car stops or makes awful noises.

Changing it out was real easy and now it sits on my shelf of odd tidbits…including the busted rocker stud from my husband’s ‘66 Corvette and the interior build sheet from my ‘68 Mustang fastback, etc.

Tortoises are awesome

My desert tortoises are contemplating coming out of hibernation, but the weather just hasn’t been too cooperative. One day, it’s warm enough that my big guy stirs and even comes out of the garage, tanks up on water and starts mowing the lawn. The next, he turns back into a boulder. Poor guy. The little ones have hardly stirred at all.

Awhile back, I read an article about a two-headed tortoise and sent it to my husband. He replied with his own customization:

I laughed for awhile. But ultimately, I’m still missing my tortoises.

Fast forward a few months. He was reading an unrelated website and there was a great tortoise pic…which he knew would cheer me up–especially with customization!:

Okay, so he was on the right track.

And today, despite the cold weather, the sun was out and Toad was walking around in the backyard. He didn’t have much ground clearance, but he was cruising around. Here’s to summer!

My Shoe Chronicles — Antique Boots

They really are Victorian shoes. I collect antiques and I couldn’t resist these shoes being in a wearable condition after all these years.

They definitely have that witchy thing going on. It’s too bad the other shoes in the picture are for display only because they’re in such bad shape after losing a heel and then someone brutally hammering it back on.

My black ones seem to have hardly been worn at all. What amazes me most about shoes from this time period is the sheer amount of time required to lace them up. Like, I seriously have to allow a good fifteen minutes or so because they have so many holes. Once they’re on, they’re on and I don’t take them off unless I’m sure I’m not going out again. And if I do go out, I rarely put these back on. Yes, they’re that annoying to lace and unlace, but they fit like gloves.

And they look great. People stop me now and then, asking if they’re real. Because they’re so old, I only wear them maybe once a year on sunny days only. I keep telling myself that I’m going to display with some of my antique dolls, but I never quite get them set up. Oh well. Maybe someday soon.

Repairing an Antique Doll part 8

The last bit of work was at hand. I poked the hip wire all the way through after patching the tear it made that first time and got the other button on.

As I admired my finished job, I noticed something… Yeah, the doll just had to “one more thing” me. As if that surprise wire tear wasn’t enough, she had to “one more thing me”, too.

The stitching at her crotch had dry-rotted and torn. No sawdust had come out, but if that seam didn’t get reinforced immediately, there was no guarantee that her sawdust would stay in.

I got out the glue and patched her up with one last piece of kid leather.

Now she was really done and ready to be redressed.

I forgot to put her cameo necklace back on when I took the following picture.

In fact, I still hadn’t remembered when I set her back on display where she came from.

The only difference between “before” and “after” is cameo and no cameo. Oh well, I put it back on her shortly after I took the picture. Again, all the damage was hidden and there’s really no difference in what she looks like on the outside. The biggest difference is my peace of mind. Now I know she won’t leak any more sawdust just standing there.

On a side note, the doll on the left is the celluloid one whose arm fell off in my hand and I immediately put her back together. The one on the other side is one I consider haunted…well, she was when she first arrived in my collection. At some point I’ll post the EVP I got while investigating “who” was with her. In short, because she was so troublesome, I had to move her from where she was in my hallway to this location just to get her to quit being so cantankerous. (Not that she was running around, doing cartwheels or anything, but being a sensitive, I was particularly irritated by her antics.)

But I’ll get to her later…

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