DIY « Paper Jewels

Totally Tutorials – this is going to be fun!

Would you like to win FREE jewelry supplies – create a jewelry tutorial – and get your name out there? Keep reading!

One of the hats I wear is proprietor of Weekend Jewelry1 on Etsy – you already know I sell my extra supplies there, and some lovely vintage glass jewels, vintage chain, and other goodies that I find in my travels. Like these:

vintage glass octagon jewels in brass settings...at Weekendjewelry1 on Etsy

vintage patina brass fine curb chain...at Weekendjewelry1 on Etsy

and

golden mother of pearl claws or spikes, by the strand...at Weekendjewelry1 on Etsy

antiqued brass and amethyst glass cabochon pendant...at Weekendjewelry1 on Etsy

I just learned that a charming lady on Etsy has started a blog that is all tutorials – Totally Tutorials Blogspot. Her blog is full of techniques we can learn, and new goodies we can make ourselves!

Now this is a generous and lovely idea anyway, and then she came up with one even nicer – she’s asked some shops at Etsy if they’d supply goodies to make the creations in the tutorials. So – an artist gets to play with new (free!) supplies, AND teach us how she made her creation! And of course, the vendor gets credit too.

If you have a skill you’d like to share, and you’ve always wanted to make a tutorial and get your name out there – this is your chance! Go to Totally Tutorials to learn more about the tutorials. Or read this post to learn how you can win 🙂

Of course I couldn’t resist. Weekend Jewelry1 on Etsy is going to contribute FREE supplies to three winning artists!

How To Win!

There will be three, count ’em, three lucky winners!

You have a week to apply – all three winners will be chosen Thursday night, August 13, 2009. The only requirements for winning are that you make jewelry, can take clear photos of your work and create a tutorial, and that you have a blog or site (such as Craftster) where you can post the tutorial.

To be eligible, please post a comment on my blog here, or send me a convo through my Etsy shop telling me you want to be a Tutorial winner! Tell me what goodies you would like to win. You can select any supplies I have, up to a $12.00 retail value!

Please also include a link to the site where you will post your tutorial.

One note – if I’m almost out of something, I may ask you to make another selection. Or, if the winner before you selected exactly the same components, I’ll ask you to choose other pieces.

You don’t even have to pay for shipping. And yes, international artists are eligible!

I’ll contact the winners late Thursday night on August 13, 2009. If I don’t hear back from you by Saturday, August 15, I’ll pick another winner. So if you’re not going to be reachable, please tell me AHEAD OF TIME so I know why I haven’t heard back from you.

Please make your jewelry – and your tutorial – as soon as possible after receiving your supplies (no more than a couple of weeks, please). Post the tutorial, and include a link to my shop in the tutorial, letting people know where you got your supplies!

Send me the link to your new tutorial, so I can link to it from my shop – and show off the creation made with my supplies. 🙂

Please also send the link to Totally Tutorials Blogspot so she can post it too!

I think that’s it. Remember, there will be three winners – at no charge, even for the shipping. It’ll be easy peasy – and fun – and a cool way to get your name out there!

Still have questions? Visit Totally Tutorials Blogspot or my Weekend Jewelry Etsy shop and ask!

Reuse Rethink Recycle – Wall Art II (or is it 3?)

Talk about Do It Yourself – and original art ideas – and using low cost items to make a fabulous decorating statement! This is such a great inspiration!

It’s also made with paper coffee filters. Now that’s what I call DIY with style.

Giving credit where it’s due: this is from The Haystack Needle, and believe me there are tons more good ideas there.

Check this out!
Wall Art using coffee filters - reuse, rethink, recycle

I think it’s lovely – of course you can run with that idea and try all sorts of shapes and configurations… and it IS rethinking, it is low cost, it is truly DIY….. just a super idea!

Etsy Mini – my vintage jewels on Etsy

Thought I’d give a little peek at some of the yummy jewels (and brass, and pendants, and findings) I have in my Weekendjewelry1 Etsy Shop:

CD Jewel Cases as Art – Recycled – Paper too :-)

Now this combines several of my passions – paper (natch), recycling and even more important RE-USING… also art, making your home comfortable and attractive, DIY-ness…. lots of good stuff.

This article from Sunset.com shows an example of re-using old CD jewel cases as “frames” for your art:

Used in multiples, they make a great graphic statement. And you can use a common theme – pics of your friends? landscapes? alien bugs? you name it – or all images in blue, for example. Truly it can be tailored to exactly what you like, or what you want to say.

And of course the graphics you use can be recycled, too. Gorgeous flower pics taken from old magazines? old pattern images?

How about cutouts from your kids’ drawings? Talk about a special, personal, and way fun decoration for your kitchen or alcove? I love that idea 🙂

DIY Armoire from Bookcases

It’s amazing the things you can find on the web when you start looking around. I found a beautiful armoire, see the pics, which was made from two bookcases – and it’s entirely do-able!

She found two matching bookcases on Freecycle! so these are even being recycled and reused – and they were free! The bookcases are hinged together with piano hinges, clear plexi is added to some of the shelves to keep things in place, and the drop-down desk is hinged too.

And look how much organization and storage she’s got inside!

DIY Armoire from bookshelves - lots of organization and storage

So useful but equally as important, stylish and decorative. You could use any sort of paper to decorate the outside – make it shoji style, add a mirror, you name it.

Talk about inspiration! You can check out more directions on Ayoska’s Blog. Lots of green ideas there too 🙂

Reuse – Recycle – RETHINK

I meant to post this yesterday for Earth Day but kinda missed…. but this doesn’t need to just be an “Earth Day” idea. We can all learn to see with new eyes. To “rethink” – how can I use this? do I have to throw it away to just fill up a landfill, or can I do something totally new with it?

You know, usually we CAN.

I ran across this picture (sorry didn’t save the link, I was having a leaky brain day) – if you know where it’s from (or it’s yours!) please let me know so I can give credit where it’s due! Take a look at this terrific basket:

It’s made from rolled-up newspapers, and I don’t have directions so will be experimenting myself. Roll the newspaper tightly to make tubes – lots of them. Start to coil your basket, securing the coils with cotton string? Clear fishing line, IF you already have some and would not be buying new…. Or, maybe colorful cotton strips torn from an old sheet (okay, CUT from an old sheet – sheets are tough and strong!) Or yarn you have anyway? Anything that could be used to “sew” the coils together.

The basket would be lightweight and strong (paper is very very strong in compressed layers). I bet there are lots of adaptations we can think of, using this general idea.

Recycle, reuse, rethink 🙂

Wallpaper as Art – Do It Yourself

Another very cool way to add art to your space – use wallpaper 🙂

Okay, this is not a new idea. But it’s one worth revisiting. And I recently found a cool pic that shows a great example:
Wallpaper on Artist's Canvas - Do It Yourself Wall Art

The full directions for how they made it are on SquawFox.com. She actually stretched her wallpaper pieces over artist’s canvas, which makes it a bit more three-dimensional and more “genuine art” (whatever that means!). But you could simply glue the wallpaper onto foam core, or tack it directly to the wall – add a border (paint, ribbon, lath strips, you name it) and you’ve got yourself some framed artwork that can be customized to your exact space and color scheme.

Even better, you could use scraps left in the basement – or use wrapping paper (I know I’ve talked about that before), or make a collage with the wallpaper, or – well, you see where I’m going with this. Everybody can cut and paste. Now everybody can decorate on the cheap 🙂

Paper as Art – and Do It Yourself, Too

Wow. I found an incredible artist who works in paper – you won’t believe the intricacy. Take a look:

Intricate Hand-Cut Paper Art by Auyama Hina

My source is Paper Forest, a nifty blog that features paper in many incarnations. Another of her recent features is a fun do-it-yourself box:
– and yes, she includes “how to”s.

Check out her blog – and have fun 🙂

Gemstone Turquoise – Real or Fake?

Turquoise is one of my favorite gemstones and I’ll bet money (Monopoly money anyway!) that it’s one of yours too. It’s gorgeous, it’s flattering, it’s not hard to find, it looks good all year round and with all skin tones…. you know what I mean!

And sometimes it’s hard to know if you’re looking at the real deal, or a pretty fake. Of course if it’s pretty enough you might not care – unless you paid for Sleeping Beauty Turquoise and got assembled crap instead. (And if you paid for Sleeping Beauty Turquoise, believe me, you’ll care).

This post just gives a few examples of the good and the (not as) good. Take a look below – here’s a couple examples of real versus not:

and

Only one of these examples is real turquoise – the teardrops at upper right. I know they’re genuine because (1) I bought them in Arizona in person, and (2) I do this for a living and after a while you can tell.

The other pics show very attractive beads – they’re just not real turquoise. Upper left is ‘turquoise magnesite’, a much easier to find stone and it fools a lot of people. Lower left is dyed howlite. Once again, easy to find, and it’s pretty – but not turquoise. The lower right is what I think of as “felt” in the stone world – it’s stone dust (probably howlite again), dye, and glue, and all pressed together. Pretty. Not turquoise.

Tricky, ain’t it?

Buying Jewelry for Investment and Source of Emergency Fund

Is it a good idea to invest in jewelry? How about using them as a source of your emergency fund?

Some people think so. Particularly because the value of gold and precious gems can appreciate through the years. So it follows that it is a good investment, right?

Well, that’s not necessarily true.

Jewelry as Investment
Jewelry prices can be quite subjective. And the value of precious metals and gems, such as gold, silver, and diamonds, are incredibly volatile. If you’re looking for a trustworthy place that has decades of experience in buying and selling gold, silver, and other jewelry made of other precious metals. Their experts will be sure to help you out and give you the best price for your jewelry.

In fact, their prices go up and fall down at a greater pace and magnitude than the stock market. This makes it relatively a more risky investment that stocks.

Here’s the 100-year historical US Dollar price of Gold. Notice how there’s no significant trend to the price, or at the very least, it’s just a sideways movement.

And here’s the 100-year historical price of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is like the Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index. While the price fluctuates, it nevertheless shows an upward trend.

Both charts are inflation adjusted, and thus accurately shows how investing in gold is more nerve-wracking and panic-inducing, especially for long-term investors.

Additionally, as I’ve observed from those who like buying jewelry, most of them actually have no plans of selling them for profit, especially when gold prices are up.

If that’s your mindset, then whenever you buy jewelry — you’re simply acquiring an asset and not an investment. Because an investment should make you money.

In fact, the only time they’d consider selling their jewelry is when they really need cash. Which brings us to the second reason why people foolishly buy them — as a source of emergency funds.

Jewelry as Emergency Fund
When you need money, you can pawn your jewelries to get cash. But is that a smart money move? Apparently not.

Pawnshops will only give you up to 70% of the value of the jewelry as cash. And you need to pay the interest if you want to get it back.

So wouldn’t it be better to just put cash in the bank as your emergency fund? This way, when you need money, you can get 100% value and there’s no interest fees to pay. If you need intant cash try selling gold jewellery Adelaide

Of course, there’s also the option of selling them.

But there’s a financial emergency and time is of the essence. This means you’ll most likely sell them at a discounted price, that is if you can find a buyer at all, which is another challenge in itself.

In the end, having cold, hard cash saved in the bank or tucked away in a low-risk investment is still the best option for an emergency fund — not jewelry — and similarly, not designer bags, not luxury watches, not antiques, not artwork.

In Summary
There’s nothing wrong with buying jewelry. Go ahead and buy them if you’re fond of wearing them, or as a gift for your loved ones. One of the most recognisable luxury watch brands, Breitling has been making exquisite watches since 1884. With a talent for precision chronographs, Breitling soon established itself as an industry leader with a reputation for innovative and beautiful watches. If you want more inflammation look it out Breitling guide on NanaDC.

Here at La Gold Buyer Exchange we buy your coin silver gold any year and any condition we are number one at los angeles California for coin buyer near me.

But never buy jewelry if your mindset is to have it as an investment or a source of emergency funds. It’s better to just invest your money in paper assets or keep your cash handy in a savings account.

Paper Jewels

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Totally Tutorials – this is going to be fun!

Reuse Rethink Recycle – Wall Art II (or is it 3?)

Etsy Mini – my vintage jewels on Etsy

CD Jewel Cases as Art – Recycled – Paper too :-)

DIY Armoire from Bookcases

Reuse – Recycle – RETHINK

Wallpaper as Art – Do It Yourself

Paper as Art – and Do It Yourself, Too

Gemstone Turquoise – Real or Fake?

Buying Jewelry for Investment and Source of Emergency Fund

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