Category Archives: jewelry

June 23, 2010 · 10:15 pm

Handmade-chunky-bead-teething-necklace-part-2

In my previous post, LINK, I shared my mis-adventure when I sliced the top of my knuckle off with the edge of the belt sander. Ouch.

So, that posting was more of a ‘how NOT to’ than a ‘how to’…..

Luckily, my finger is growing back 🙂 and I have finished the chunky 3 bead necklace….

I left the beads to soak in a bowl of vegetable oil for a few days. Because grandbaby is going to be chewing them, I don’t want to use anything that could be dangerous to him on the beads.

And, that is why I am using organic cotton to spool knit the cords that hold the beads together. (Lion Brand Organic cotton).

I spool knitted 2 short cords and stitched them into the spaces between 2 of the beads, and one long one for the neck cord.

NOTE: The neck cord NEVER goes around the baby’s neck!!!

It goes around the neck of his grown ups, or is looped through the tie of the sling , so he can retrieve it when he drops it.

He only has access to it when he is being held and supervised, and not when he’s sitting in the car seat.

The big holes are great for chubby little fingers to hold onto…..

And those big beads are just so satisfying for a little guy to gum away on! (Well… to bite with his TWO new teeth!!!)

He absolutely loves the necklaces, and so do we.

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Tagged as baby teething necklace, handmade wooden beads, spool knitted cords, spool knitting, what to make with spool knitted cords

June 23, 2010 · 9:55 pm

Handmade chunky bead teething necklace part 1

Our gorgeous grandbaby is teething and is chomping everything in sight as he tries to ease the pain of those pesky teeth pushing on his gums.

My daughter asked me to make her a necklace with large wooden beads so our wee fella could play with it and use it for teething.

I made her one necklace that was a great success: Minoan Goddess of the Bees necklace

So, I decided to make her another one- this time with several big chunky beads to keep him interested.

I cut a length of my favorite wood: Arbutus (also known as Madrona) that my sister in law had trimmed from a tree in her yard. (She saves me all their arbutus twigs and branches, bless her heart!)

Then, I split my mini log into 2 sections on the bandsaw, and did some preliminary shaping with the saw.

Over to the drillpress to drill holes for the beads.

And, back to the bandsaw for more shaping…..

Then, over to the belt sander for more shaping…..

and then to the bathroom to staunch the flow of blood, when I sanded the first knuckle off, and sliced the top off the second one.

Well… that was a surprise! I have never done that before! And not something I would like to repeat! erg….

it’s been 3 weeks, and my knuckle is finally healing… wowsa that hurt!

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Tagged as baby teething necklace, chunky beads, handmade wooden beads, nursing necklace, one of a kind jewelry

May 17, 2010 · 3:24 pm

Garage sale treasures

I have to admit, blush, that I am rather hooked on garage sales. ( I should amend that to make it clear that I am hooked on ~going to~ garage sales, not actually having one myself. :P)

Why?

Well… I love finding old things that are useful, and even better, if they feel like they have a story to tell.

On the weekend, we went to 2 garage sales that were just great.

At the first one, I found a shelf thingie that is perfect for holding my husband’s sheet music. He has been questing for this for ages, and I was convinced that one was out there for him.

And, hurrah…. I found it! Yay! (sorry… didn’t take a pic of it)

At the second garage sale, I was ecstatic to find the table top display manequin for jewelry and the wonderful ‘shabby chic’ vintage table that it is sitting on.

There is a circle in the base of the table that just invites baskets and bowls and boxes to perch on it. (Nope… the basket didn’t come with it…. that’s one of my designs)

And, it’s sturdy enough to support my swift, even when it is whirling madly.

I have been hoping to find a jewelry display mannequin to help with photographs. It was serious happy dancing time when this one was sitting in the sunshine waiting for me to bargain a wee bit and then to whisk it off home and start dressing it up.

The neck was hollow, which wasn’t good, as it showed off the frayed bits inside. It was a little too ‘Sweenie Todd’, so I cut some circles of grey foam and popped them in to fill that gap.

Ms Mannequin wasn’t wearing the amber necklace when I bought her…. that’s one of my pieces that I made a couple of years ago. It’s crocheted copper wire with a huge hunk of ambler. I’ll be putting the necklace up on etsy and was in need of a way of photographing it, so the timing on this was just poifeck!

Yay!

So, that’s why I can’t resist the siren call of the garage sale…. treasures await!

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Tagged as garage sale treasures, jewelry display, shabby chic, vintage table

May 7, 2010 · 7:43 pm

Yes that is my necklace design on the Lion Brand site

A new design went live on the Lion Brand website today. It’s for a spool knitted Celtic Interlace medallion necklace.

A very beautiful Celtic Interlace necklace, even if I say so myself….

😀

Since the pattern went live,

people have been saying:

‘Hey… Noreen!

Have you seen this? It looks just like one of your designs!’

And, with a grin that

reaches all the way round…

I have been responding:

‘Why yes! I have seen it…. and yeppers… it IS one of mine!’ LOL!

Here’s the link: Celtic Interlace Medallion Necklace pattern on the Lion Brand site

Spool knitting works beautifully for making jewelry, and I have designed lots of wearable pieces in spool knitting.

It was a pleasure to design these necklaces for Lion Brand. I used their ‘Vanna’s Glamour’ yarn, which is very springy and stretchy, so it works well for making lightweight, very comfortable jewelry. The touch of glitter in them is great, and I like that it is really soft, and not scratchy, like some metallic yarns.

Because of the flexibility of spool knitting, you don’t need fittings or closures for the necklace.

If you want to add beads, you can certainly do that, too…

I also wrote an article for Lion Brand about spool knitting, too:

Article about Spool knitting on Lion Brand Site

One lady wrote to me, after reading the article and asked exactly what spool knitting is, and how is it done.

To see what you can do with it, and to see some video tutorials on how to do it, click on

Spool knitting on Crone-Findlay Creations (the video links are at the bottom of the page)

Happy Spool Knitting!

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Tagged as Celtic Interlace spool knitted necklace, Lion Brand

April 12, 2010 · 12:42 pm

Talisman necklace with spool knitted cord

A few months ago, our daughter was very sick and needed surgery. It was VERY challenging- we were just wrenched by the trauma of having our beloved daughter going through such a rough experience right after having her beautiful baby.

The Demeter/Persephone story resonated deeply with me (by the way, ‘Traveling with Pomegranates‘ by Sue Monk Kidd and Anne Kidd Taylor is a great book to learn more about Demeter and Persephone).

For many years, I have been delighted with the images of the Minoan Dewdrop or Bee Goddess images that relate directly to the Minoan Goddess of the Bees, and have made lots of things in homage to her, including shuttles and necklaces and other treasures.

I asked my daughter if she would like me to make her an amulet or talisman necklace with the Minoan Goddess of the Bees on it, as a reminder of my love for her. It’s always nice to have a physical reminder of that love, after all!

She said yes, but not a metal one, as the baby loves to grab and hold onto anything she wears, so she would prefer wood on a soft cord.

So, I drew the Minoan Goddess of the Bees onto a piece of wood, and burned it, and sanded and smoothed it. I didn’t varnish it, just in case the baby puts it in his mouth. Olive oil or bees wax will do nicely for a baby safe finish.

Needless to say, we wanted to make the cord baby safe too, which meant using an organic cotton. I used Lion Brand’s Nature’s Choice Organic Cotton in ‘khaki’. It spool knits beautifully.

I used my Cordelia cordmaker Link and spool knitted a 36 inch (90 cm) long cord.

I joined the ends of the cord and made a lark’s head knot to attach it to the wooden piece.

(How to make a Lark’s head knot: Either make a fold in a cord or join the ends to make a circle. Push a loop of the cord through the hole. Pull the other end of the cord or necklace through this loop and pull up. Lark’s Head Knot completed!)

I love making gifts that are an expression of my love, using techniques that I find very comforting and soothing. I hope that that feeling of love and soothing energy will be carried in this necklace and that it will serve as a reminder to my beautiful daughter that she is loved and treasured!

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Tagged as amulet, how to make a Lark's Head Knot, jewelry, Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton, Minoan Goddess of the Bees, necklace, spool knitted cord, talisman necklace, wooden jewelry