Inspiring Wearable Art jewelry Finds on Etsy

'Inspiring Art Jewelry' by BluKatDesign

Inspiring wearable art jewelry finds on Etsy

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

3 Ways to Use Pantone Emerald Green in Your Spring Wardrobe

Pantone Emerald Green is the color of the year 2013! Here are 3 ways to use the jewel tone, Pantone Emerald Green in your Spring wardrobe:

This first look is a dressier, monochromatic look with a vintage twist; great for evening or wedding.

Animal prints are in this Spring;  try adding colorful accessories to a neutral outfit for casual look.

My favorite color combo is blue or navy, yellow or mustard and emerald or jade green. Here is a fresh look for Spring. Try blending some old vintage with the new for a unique look!

My vintage style green dangle earrings, made from lightweight vintage lucite beads, can be found in my Etsy shop, BluKatDesign.

Upcycled Jewelry on Etsy with Tara Mackey Photos

       

      Just when I finished decoupaging my new mannequin, Tara Mackey contacted me about modeling my original handmade jewelry for me.   I thought this would be a great opportunity to get some awesome photos; see my jewelry come to "life" and to show people how fun my upcycled bobby pin jewelry can be!   Tara is a talented model, photographer, singer and songwriter and has a new video, Visual Exchage

 I love my new mannequin but I think Tara wears it so much better!

All photos (except my mannequin) Tara Mackey

Be sure to check out Tara's Beauty Blog, My Organic life  

Follow: Tara Mackey on facebook

 Tara Mackey on Tumblr

Tara Mackey music on Twitter

Handmade Christmas Paper Straw Wreath

Paper Straw Wreath

This year,  I actually got to make sheet music decoupage ornaments and this easy paper wreath before Christmas! Being a jeweler, I don't get a whole lot of extra time for the fun stuff just before Christmas.   I was lucky to be able to fit some crafts in this year!

See my earlier post about making a fun flower burst wreath or paper straw wreath tutorial for directions.

Recycle, Reuse, Remake, Repurpose... Upcycle!

The original upcycled bottle cap mosaic

A repurposed blog post about upcycling upcycled art!  I just had some fun with photos of my upcycled bottle cap mosaic. See directions on my original post about  bottle cap art to make one of these yourself!



I took a bunch of photos and got this blurred one that is perfect for the background on my Tumblr blog! I am lucky I have a mac and just used iphoto to increase the saturation and reduce the noise to get an interesting effect.

The cool thing about 3-d art  you can take pictures at different angles that can be reused for various things or you can just frame it and hang it!

This one I used Gimp, a free photo editing program similar to photoshop, to posterize and play with the hues.  I really like how it looks but I am not sure where I'm going to use it yet!

So, whether it is a blog post, art or photo it is okay to upcycle or repurpose! How do you reuse or repurpose? Please share you ideas here!

Decoupage Christmas Ornaments DIY

I kept seeing these fun decoupaged ornaments on Pinterest. Since I had some sheet music left over from my decoupaged mannequin project,  I thought I would give a try even though I still have an ocean themed tree this year.

 I used  styrofoam balls; these are kind of expensive at $5 a bag!  Be sure to bring your Joann's coupon to save a bit or better yet,  find some super cheap plastic ornaments with the hangers already on them at a dollar store. You can find sheet music super cheap at thrift store. Some papers tear easily and others you may want to cut; about 3/4 to 1" strips.

I diluted some decoupage glue; 2 parts water to 1 part glue in a bowl then dipped strips of sheet music and wrapped them around the ball, it wasn't easy at first but when the ball is almost all covered you can smooth it with your hands.

 Or stick it in a plastic bag to smooth:

 Or roll it on a cutting plastic board:

Once they are almost dry you can smooth them more; rub the bumps with your fingernail  or roll on the board.  I added customized names I printed our on white paper ( you might want to test to see if your ink runs. If it does, you could seal it first with a light coat of clear acrylic spray.) Then paint a coat of the decoupage glue to seal them and sprinkle some glitter on and let dry.

For the hangers, I glued ribbon with a hot glue gun and stuck a few pins in to hold.

Right now they look great in a bowl but may have to get a second tree!

DIY Decoupage Mannequins for Jewelry or Accessories Display

DIY Decoupage Bust for Jewelry or Accessories Display.  I just love this vintage sheet music bust I saw on the blog, The Polka Dot Closet. Since I make both vintage and modern jewelry I decided to use just regular sheet music I found super cheap at a thrift store. The form including shipping was under $30,  I ordered from Barr Display. For more details and how to make it go to  The Polka Dot Closet

And here she is modeling my modern upcycled jewelry!

 I have a lot of sheet music left over! You only need about 1/2 of  book so I think I will be making some customized Christmas ornaments, so stay tuned!

My mannequin head modeling some of my fun earrings

 This mannequin head was my first. I got the form from Sally's Beauty Supply for under $5 and just used the crossword puzzle and comic section of the newspaper. Being the crazy artist I am,  I got a few more of these heads to decorate just for fun for another project!