Missy's Miscellaneous: Crafty Creations!

Hello! It's been awhile! I graduated in May, so life the weeks before and after were a bit crazy. Most of my time since graduating has been spent trying to find a job. I have spent a lot of time reading as well! It's so nice to read for pleasure instead of reading textbooks! I am currently reading my 9th book since graduating! (I finally decided to read the Harry Potter books and I love them! I am on the 7th book now!) I have found some time to complete some crafty projects too and I want to share some of those with you today, so you can try them if you would like.

Calendar
I have this pad of scrapbook paper that has paper designs to fit with each month. I had always wanted to do some sort of calendar or something with them, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. Last week, I suddenly had a great idea! I bought a cheap (like $2 or $3) 8x10 frame at Wal-Mart and then used the frame insert to cut each of the papers that I had chosen to the correct size. I stacked all of the papers, with the June design on top, and placed them into the frame. Now I can write on the glass with a dry erase marker for a great monthly calendar! Hopefully now I won't forget birthdays and other special events!

Collage Display
I had seen this scrapbook holder at Michael's multiple times and wanted it, but I wasn't sure how I was going to use it.

I had also wanted to create picture collages by year, but I wasn't sure what to do with those either. Then I had the great idea to combine them!

I used PicMonkey to create picture collages for each year since I moved to North Carolina and then had them printed by Scrapping Simply (http://www.scrappingsimply.com/). I LOVE how they turned out!

I created a "cover page" and now have all the collages displayed. LOVE this!!

Wire-wrapped Rings

Some of my friends and I went on an art walk through some of our city's galleries and at one of them we found these super cute wire-wrapped rings. I thought to myself..."I could make those!", so I spent part of the next day looking for instructions on websites and shopping for supplies. I got most of my supplies at JoAnn's because they had the best prices and selection. The rings were pretty easy to make, but it does take some practicing if you want it to look perfect.

Here are some of the websites that I found

http://kimberliekohler.com/1798/wire-wrapped-rose-ring-tutorial/

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/blog_post/BrainofJen/3379/easy_wire_wrapped_ring_tutorial

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Simple-Wire-Wrapped-Ring/

http://www.julieannart.com/2012/11/wire-wrapped-rose-ring-tutorial-by.html

If you would like a wire-wrapped ring, but don't want to make one yourself, check out my Etsy shop (I am always open to custom orders if you want different colors.)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JCMCCreations?ref=si_shop

Plastic Canvas Clutch

I was wandering through JoAnn's one day and found these plastic canvas forms that I figured out were meant to made into clutches.

There were no instructions or anything, but I figured I could find something online to help me out so I purchased a couple and headed home to do some research. It took me awhile to figure out the best technique to hide the most plastic, but I was finally able to finish a couple that I was happy with. I still want to try some other patterns and colors, but here is the one that I am currently using.