You Guest It: Hectanooga

Welcome welcome! It's time for You Guest It! I just love this sweet series, you know? And not just because I get to be all lazy and slothful either - but also because I get to meet some really cool folks who make some pretty neat stuff. And then of course, there's the part where I get to share it all with you. That's pretty nifty too! 

Today's guest is Emi from Hectanooga. Let us see what this seriously busy woman has in store for us today...

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Video Tutorial: Stacked Paper Bead Necklace by Hectanooga

Hello! My name is Emi from Hectanooga and I’m passionate about crafting, designing, and recycling! And when I can do all three at the same time, I’m very happy! These stacked paper beads were inspired by a necklace I saw someone wearing on television. The necklace was similar in design - it was black metal - and I immediately thought: “Hey, I bet I could make that from paper!” These beads would look lovely painted black as well, but the print is a great conversation starter, and painting them would hide their origin!

Want to know how I make them? Here's the video that shows you how. Enjoy!

There are several reasons why I like to recycle. Here are a few:

1. Supplies are readily available, and there's no wasting gas going out to buy supplies! 
2. It’s free. No expense for the supplies themselves! 
3. It’s green. Making something useful from throw-aways is always a good thing! 
4. It’s a challenge. Thinking up ways to use these things is always fun! 
5. Middle-of-the-night crafting is possible. You can always find something to manipulate into something else! 
6. It’s eco-friendly. It keeps things out of the land-fill. 
7. It’s very rewarding! Making something from virtually nothing is a thrill!

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Such a simple and pretty concept, Emi. Your choice to leave them au naturel is lovely too, and what a nice complement for the black beads! Thanks so much for joining me on the blog today and sharing your tutorial with us. 

 As I mentioned up top, Emi is a do-er and a dedicated one at that. Her specialties include crochet, jewelry-making, and recycling - a woman after my own heart, eh? I don't like to compare myself to others but, honestly, I'm feeling somewhat sheepish in comparison. Not only does she have a blog, and three Etsy shops (Hectanooga, M.E.H. Art Gallery and Hat and Scarf Patterns), but her Hectanooga YouTube site boasts... you won't believe this... 595 videos. That's 5-9-5! Is that not amazing? I thought I was doing well with 3. I have some serious catching up to do apparently. So go on now and pay her a visit, won't you? I'll see you back here in 3 years.

♥M

P.S. Have an idea for an eco-craft? Consider submitting a guest-post idea to Michele Made Me's "You Guest It"! Check out the details HERE.

Tissue Box Valentine Take 2

You see?

It's a Valentine made from stuff found in the recycling bin, namely a tissue box and junkmail paper beads. A little different from last year's Tissue Box Valentine, eh? Find that older version right HERE!

♥M

Series 7 - Ornament-ED: Twig 'n Bead Trees

Welcome to Series 7 "Ornament-ED" Part Trois! I hope you're enjoying my little Christmas ornament series. I'm making hangy things like they're going outta style over here. I'm up to my bushy eyebrows in twigs and glue and paper and other stuff I won't mention - I don't want you to guess what I'm up to next. There'd be no fun in that now would there? And do not worry, I will clean up eventually. Sometime pre-Christmas perhaps? That's the plan anyway... Oh but let us not fret over a petite mess here and there. Naw. What do you say to a little craftiness right here, right now? Yes, OK.

Tutorial  ❉  Twig 'n Bead Tree Ornaments

You will need:

• Beads (to make them you'll need: paper, pair of scissors, skewer or drinking straw, and glue)
• Twigs with V shaped crotches
• String
• Pair of scissors
• Handsaw to trim the twigs
• Drill with tiny bit
• Large-eyed needle

Begin by scrounging around the neighbourhood for a few fallen twigs-slash-branches with v-shaped crotches as shown below. Trim off the excess wood according to the diagram. I've trimmed the sides of my "V" (technically, it is an upside-down "V" but I'm going to call it a "V" to keep things rolling...) to approximately 9-inches long. More will be taken off later on.

Next, roll up some paper beads. You know how to make these right? Here's a tutorial courtesy of Paper University just in case you don't. I used 8 to 11 beads for each little tree but it really will depend on how big you want your ornament to be. Go with the flow, roll with the punches, use as many beads as you like!

Now let's get to down to the meat and potatoes.

1. Grab your drill fitted with a tiny bit and your V twig.

2. Arrange your paper beads in a little tree shape within the V. You want to mark your twig with dots adjacent to the beads. You will locate your drill holes at the dots. You want an additional hole in the top and side of your twig to accommodate a hanger (where the arrow is pointing). Drill the 6 holes as shown in #2.

3. Cut five pieces of string. I cut mine approximately 14 inches (36 cm) long.

4. Insert 1 piece of string into each hole pulling the string through each hole until it is doubled, as shown in #4.

5. Thread paper beads onto the three central doubled strings as shown.
6. Tie a knot in the collection of strings at the base of the central bottom bead.
7. Insert 3 more paper beads as shown in #7.
8. Bring one string from the base of each side bead into the center.

9. Again, tie a knot at the base of the central bead incorporating one string from each side bead in the knot.
10. Using the two strings set aside in 8, tie a small knot above the other big knot you just tied. Turn the ornament over and using those same two strings, tie another small knot above the big knot. Slip a final bead up the center strings.
11. Bring those two side strings down and around the final bead and tie knots front and back as in #10.
12. Thread those two knotty side strings onto a needle and pass the needle up through the final bead to hide the two strings. Trim the excess.

13.  Trim the ends of all strings at the base of the final bead, leaving a small decorative tassel. Using your small handsaw, trim any excess wood from the top and bottom of your twig. Finally, add a string hanger at the top.

Lookie there, a mini beaded country Christmas tree ornament! Ain't it sweet?

Here's my giant hand and morose face doing a closeup shot. Smile much?

You have a beautiful weekend. I will be back here on Tuesday and hope to see you then!

Earlier installments in the "Ornament-ED" series include ☛

• Spiral Notebook Binding Wreath Ornaments
• Twiggy Skate Ornaments

Make It Good with Mich L in LA: Candy Wrappers

Happy Friday!

Oh, I'm so glad you could make it. To be honest, I'm so glad I could make it too... It has been one of those weeks, you know? But I'm happy to report that it'll be ending on a high note because today I'm having another one-on-one craftospheric challenge, this time with the redoubtable Mich L. in L.A.! Do you remember the last one-on-one challenge? It was so much fun that I've decided to make it a regular feature called "Make It Good". But I'll get to that later. For now, to the challenge!

What is this challenge I speak of? Well, it's simple. Here's what happened. Michelle and I emailed back and forth. We picked a day (today). We had my previous challenger, Aunt Peaches, decide on a challenge. We each created a post with a link to each other's post, and that's it! Now your job is to check out what I made, check out what Michelle made, and you're on your merry way! No winners, no losers, just crafty crafters dancing all around.

Now if you haven't yet heard of my opponent Michelle, well hang on to your hats. She is a wonderfully inventive jewelry artist who creates the most beautiful and quirky pieces from the humblest of materials. She also hosts a regular spot on her blog Mich L. in L.A. called Guess the Mystery Thing! You MUST check it out. It's so much fun, and so is she! It is a great honour for me to be challenging her today. Also, she scares the daylights out of me (just a little bit), so if I make it through the challenge, I will be a stronger and better person for it.

Now let me summarize our challenge as decreed by Peaches:

The Challenge Material: Candy Wrappers!

1. Thou Shalt Stash Bust!... You will try not to buy new stuff.
2. Thou Shalt Honour the Niftiness of Yore!... You will draw inspiration from an outside source.
3. Thou Shalt Share Thine Treasure!... You will swap your results.

Thank you ever so much Peaches. Really. You will never know how much I struggled with this confuddling candy wrapper idea of yours. Let me just say that this week will be permanently etched in what is left of my quivering brain.

Okay Michele, enough chit chat! Let's see what you got.

TO SEE WHAT MICH L. IN L.A. MADE {CLICK HERE}

TO SEE WHAT MICHELE MADE {KEEP READING}

Tutorial: Candy Wrapper Beads

For my craft, I drew inspiration from geodes, those spectacular crystal-filled rocky orbs, such as these pictured below (source). See, I know how to follow rules!

And lucky for me, making candy wrapper beads requires only the simplest of supplies, all of which I found in my house:

• Candy wrappers of all kinds, paper, plastic, foil (whatever your little heart desires)
• Glue or glue gun
• A narrow stick (I used a kabob skewer)
• Ruler
• Exacto knife

1. Using your Exacto knife cut your wrappers into 1/2" (13mm) strips.

2. Fold the strips in half.

3. Coil the strips around your narrow stick, adding glue at regular intervals.

4. Remove the bead from the stick once it becomes large enough to work with on its own.

Make your beads as big or as small as you like. Or join a few together. The idea is to experiment and create your very own unique beads!

Make a ton and have some fun!!!

I joined a few beads and made a sunny-bellied snowman pendant...

I macgyvered some joyful jelly jar jewelry ...

And finally, here is the self-portrait pouch I put together. Like I said, hard week.

Now I really have to pop over and see what that 2-L Michelle made. Oh, it's going to be fabulous, I can feel it in my crafty bones! I'll meet you there...

And if you're at all curious about the "Make It Good" crafter vs. crafter, recycling challenge extraordinaire, please click here for details!

Now you have yourself a glorious weekend, and I'll see you again soon!