Friday, February 20, 2015

BluKatKraft Moving to Wordpress


It is official...I think...I am moving over to word press! My blogger blog was my first blog but I had so many problems with it, I had to start my Wordpress blog because Blogger was unusable at times. For a about a year I've had two blogs, just didn't want to give up Blogger! Check out my new Wordpress blog:

BluKatKraft: Art and Craft Blog


I invite you to come on over and follow my Wordpress blog by email;  look in the upper right corner to sign up! Thanks so much everyone for all of your support and comments here and am looking forward to seeing everyone there!

-Heather

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Handmade Button Jewelry: Statement Necklaces, Pendants and Earrings Made With Buttons, Upcycling


Button Jewelry


Check out my handmade repurposed button jewelry on Etsy! From cute button pendants, unique earrings and rings for everyday to one-of-a-kind statement necklaces and bib necklaces.  I love to create colorful jewelry with new or vintage buttons making interesting color combinations that go with casual, modern and retro fashion styles.  All my upcycled jewelry is super fun, stylish and easy to wear, you will get lots of compliments wearing it too.



button pendant
Button pendant for everyday


statement necklace
Button statement necklace with zipper flower


Vintage necklace with buttons and zipper flower



Button cluster dangle earrings



Be sure to check out  my fun button magnets too, they make great gift sets!

Which is your favorite? Like the idea of using buttons in jewelry? Comments welcomed below.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Wearable Art Jewelry – Wire Wrapped Fabric Necklaces and Earrings

Fabric Art Jewelry Check out my new line of fabric or fiber wearable art jewelry on Etsy!  I make these using scrap fabric, ribbon, lace and even pipe cleaners then wrap with wire and sparkly glass beads!  So colorful and loaded with texture, also lightweight and fun to wear!



Fiber art jewelry heart pendant


Fuzzy blue earrings




Mint green fabric necklace with buttons



To keep up to date with my new designs please like and follow BluKatDesign on facebook.



 I would love to see your comments on my new line of jewelry below!

Friday, December 12, 2014

Simple Repurposed Bulb Fabric Ornaments DIY

repurposed ornaments
Repurposed bulb ornament with scrap fabric!

Repurpose old and ugly glass or styrofoam  bulb ornaments into something new!  A super easy project using scrap fabric, ribbon and old ornaments.


upcycled ornaments
Upcycle old ornaments


Depending on the size of the bulb, you might start with an 8x8" square piece of scrap fabric. Make sure you have a cord attached for hanging then form the fabric around the bulb and tie a bow!  Carefully trim the excess fabric off without cutting the hanger and you have a super simple upcycled ornament!


easy DIY ornaments
Upcycled fabric ornaments


cristmas crafts


handmade ornaments


Be sure to see my upcycled jar lid photo ornaments and follow my Pinterest board: Christmas Ornament!

Do you upcycle at Christmas? Comments welcomed!

Sunday, December 7, 2014

DIY Upcycled Photo Christmas Ornaments

DIY photo ornaments



DIY   Christmas Ornaments, holiday crafts made from upcycled jar lids, scrap ribbon and mini metallic Christmas trim with photos of friends and family. You can also find cool free vintage prints online to download or  recycle old Christmas cards!  I especially like the gingham lids from jam. 

Materials:
jar lids
hot glue 
Mod Podge
glitter or fairy dust
various trims, ribbon and cords
bells or something fun to dangle
tiny ornaments
photos or prints

Tools:
glue gun 
drill
scissors

1) Figure out the diameter you want for the photos using a photo editing program ( I used Mac Pages) I made extra in slightly different sizes just in case they didn't work. Leave enough space for any trim (about 1/4" ) print  and cut out the photo so they are circular and will fit in the lids.

2) Drill holes in lids; one on the top and one on the bottom; thread the cord you are going to use to hang them ( I like the stretchy gold ) add the bell then tie an knot on the inside of the lid and hot glue it. Do the same with the hanger, I tie a knot on the outside too.

3) Using Mod Podge, paint the lid on one side and a trick is to let the Mod Podge slightly dry by blowing on it for a minute or two then place your photo on it....this should keep the paper from crinkling and keep it nice and  smooth. Repeat on the other side and do all your other ornaments. I let mine dry about 1/2 hour before putting a coat of Mod Podge over and dusting with glitter or fairy dust.

4) When dry,  you can add the trim, hot gluing it in place and adding other ornaments like a bow.



Here is one I did for Abby,  from the The Vintage Inspired Passionista Blog made from the last pickle jar lid in my house:



Vintage Inspired Passionista




jar lid ornaments
Upcycled ornaments with free vintage printables on the backs




upcycled ornaments





Christmas ornament DIY


These look even better on a tree! Next year maybe I can save enough lids for my own tree!

Do you like upcycling Christmas ornaments, what do you make for Christmas? Comments welcomed!

Friday, October 24, 2014

Jewelry Photography - How to Photograph Earrings

photographing earrings


I am no expert on photography and photographing jewelry is not the easiest! Most earrings look best hanging but even though I like to use props like vases or jars to hang them from, they can be distracting for the first photo in my Etsy store. For that shot I like to have my earrings dangling from what seems to be nothing with a plain white background:


handmade earrings



 I finally built a heavy duty earring hanger from shelf brackets, scrap wood and dental floss. I used to have fishing line attached to my Modahaus Table Top Studio  with flimsy coat hangers so the earrings would droop and slide around but with these sturdy brackets and dental floss, I can get the line nice and tight and makes setting us so much easier! ( That's 50% of the shot right?)  Now my next project is to find brighter lights and maybe some sturdier lamps, it seems a lot of photo lighting is made very cheap and breaks almost right away!

Some other tips:

I use two lamps on either side plus a handheld light that I can move to get the light just right.
Besides using iPhoto for editing photos, I will use FotoFuze, a super simple way to get the background truly white then I will run all my photos though iPiccy a free online photo editing program that is fairly simple to use also.  iPiccy helps make my photos more crisp and pop! Even if you don't have any fancy equipment you really need to try these photo editors to get your photos looking their best!

Do you have any photo tips you want to share? Like this article? Please comment below:)