I'm Back!

If you didn't notice that's OK, but I'm back from vacation now. We had a great birthday week down in the Keys. Sooooo much shopping, swimming, shopping, food and sleeping (and shopping)    :)

Here are some family photos for you:

This was our backyard. You can't even see most of it because they bought the neighbor's lot just for the pool!

Why yes, that is a water jet pack. Possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Me and my mom.

Matt and me hiking at the Bahia Honda State Park.

Top of the Bridge!

Matt, my dad and brother at Sloppy Joes

And my poor, car sick puppy on the long way home.

DIY - Luv Aj Jewelry Tutorial

Honestly...WTF posted this great tutorial by Amanda Thomas of Luv Aj Jewelry. I pinned this pretty much immediately and have been fixated on it ever since. I bought several kinds of chain this weekend but settled on something thin but strong for my bracelet. While Amanda made one that was more bad ass, I wanted to make one that was light and delicate but with lots of layers.

I made the bracelet part our of 3 chains, the handpiece from 4 chains and decorated the ring with an explosion of Swarvorski crystals.  Every time I move the chains sway a different way and it's very shiny and eye catching. I'm in love!

I thought that I wouldn't even make it halfway to work before I had to yank this off my wrist but driving with it was fine and typing with it is nothing. It is defintely a little awkward to walk with my hands down - I have been keeping my hand sideways so the ring doesn't slip off. I think if I have used a thicker chain for the bracelet and made it a little tighter around my wrist this wouldn't be an issue. I love how it fits though and this isn't a big enough deal for me to stop wearing it. I will hopefully make a few more variations, including some fancy colorful beads and some varying chains.   :)

Here's a cheat sheet on the pieces of the bracelet:

My chain was pretty tiny so I added 4mm jump rings to the ends of everything and attached the pieces together with larger 6mm rnigs. I added clear glass beads to each large jump ring, you know, for a little something extra. Last thing I added was the cluster of crystals and glass beads on the ring using head pins. The only challenging part was figuring out where to connect the hand chain to the bracelet chain since I had to add teeny jump rings there too. Other than that, this project took only a few minutes to complete! So in love!

Sept DIY - Bow Cuff Bracelet

Project #1 from my September Top Pin list is this super cute Bow Cuff Bracelet.This was a great first project because it came together in minutes and once I was able to find the correct fit of the first one, I cranked out 3 more! You can see the tutorial on Oh The Lovely Things and start making your own in every color! The tutorial has great photos and is very easy to follow.

 

The tutorial uses leather for her bracelet but I was fresh out! For my practice one I used some felt to get the idea of how round I wanted the corners and how long and wide I really needed it to be. I started out making the bracelet 4" wide, trimmed it down to 3", but in the end I preferred it 2" wide for a more delicate bow. I used a light blue/grey suede since the edges don't fray but I also think it would be really nice in any fabric, you'd just have to sew a front and back inside out and turn it to hide raw edges. Might try that next!

I also couldn't help myself and decided to embellish 2 of my suede ones with some glue on stones.

Here's an artsy shot of my favorite one:

 I am definitely adding this project to my list of Handmade Christmas Gifts!

Shopping - Labor Day Sales

I really took advantage of a lot of BOGO and 50% off sales this weekend at Joann's, Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart. Thank god I didn't make it over to Michael's or I'd really be in trouble. Not pictured above is what I got at Wal-Mart: 5 yards of light sweater knit for $3 (!!!) and a giant bag of poly-fil stuffing for $6. I already refilled my dog's bed to the point of bursting :) I didn't have room to throw the bolt of fabric up on the table for pictures but don't worry, projects coming soon!

I blame this on my mom and grandmom because they kept handing me birthday money while I was already in the store. How do you fight that??

Projects:
The black and brown knits will be tops soon. The red home dec with be the lining of my up-coming Fall bag. The striped cotton will be a scarf (get ready for a HUGE scarf project taking over the entire month of October).  All the chains are planned for different necklaces, bracelets and earrings, which also covers where the tassels, feathers, crimps and clasps will be. So excited for all my projects!!

These might take me a while since I already have a bunch of work planned and no weekends to do any of it!

Who else has a HUGE list of projects?

Store Update - Charmed Keycains

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BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

JESSALYNNE NOW SHIPS ALL ITEMS GLOBALLY!!!

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Super Sale in the shop today for these brand new Charmed Keychains ~ Each one is only $4! Snag them before they're gone! Each one has a different color tassel, a large silver star charm and some beads. Includes clip-on ring and key ring.  Attach to your purse for some extra flare!

Light Blue

Blue

Green

Black

DIY - September Top DIY Pins

I'm sure you're all already aware that September is the best, most fun, and awesomest month of the year, but in case you dont remember why: 4 day weekend, boyfriends birthday, my birthday, birthday vacation, our 6 year anniversary, and therefore lots of parties and presents! I know - Whoa that's a lot of super amazing stuff packed into one month. To celebrate I picked a few quick DIY's for the month (mainly because all my weekends are GONE).  These projects have few steps and provide me with the instant gratification that I crave. Happy September!

1. Leather Bow Cuff by Oh The Lovely Things

2. Cute little zipper pouch to match my envelope bag by Noodlehead

3. Feather Earrings as sold at Francesca's Collections

4. Ruffled Belt by Days Like this