Beaded Button Rings - Tutorial!

Hi everyone,

I have a new tutorial for you! This one is super easy, and kind of similar to one of my earlier tutorials, also for button rings, but I personally like this one better, and I think it has the coolest result for something so simple. It's actually my new favorite project, since the end result is so pretty. So, wanna see what I made? ^^



This one is my favorite, because it just has that cool, medieval feel to it, which I love.



This is an old, Austrian military button, which I like because it's tiny and cute, while also having the fun crest on it.


And this one is a button with the crest and motto of the Order of the Garter, a very prestigious order, which goes back many years...Prince William is actually a member of it, which I think is pretty cool.

Now, on to the tutorial...all you need are scissors, elastic string, a fun button, big or small, and a handful of small beads (you'll want them to be bigger than seed beads, though). You'll also want some clear nail polish to dab on the knot at the end.

First, choose your button.



Then, cut a piece of string about an inch longer than you want it to be to go around your finger, then slide it through the hole in the center of the button.



Now start stringing on your beads...



When you're finished stringing on the beads, tie a tight double-knot.



Finally, put a drop of clear nail polish (or any other color will work as well) on the knot to seal it. Then, slip your finished ring onto your finger and wear your unique piece of jewelry with pride.



Cute, huh?(: be sure and let me know if you try it!!

Have a lovely rest of your day! Tonight I'm going with a couple friends to see the new Harry Potter at midnight...should be fun, but I expect to come home thoroughly drained! Then in the morning I'm leaving for an overnight vacation with my family...which will lead to a packed, though fun weekend.(:

~Vicki

Collaged Painting

Hi everyone,

Only five more posts until 100! I think I mentioned it in my last post, but I am on a painting kick right now, and it's virtually all that I do, haha. There's just something exciting about slapping paint across paper (or canvas, or whatever, haha), and it's a great stress-reliever, too, especially if you're painting abstracts. Anyway, a couple of days ago, I discovered a few pieces of cardboard, which I decided would act as a kind of canvas. ^^ I covered it with a collage of phone book paper, sheet music, and book pages, outlined the edges with a black pen, then went crazy with my purple hued paints. After that, I had to decide what would go on top of the painting, and I decided that I would turn it into a reminder of what the Bible says to and about women. So I wrote almost the entirety of Proverbs 31, about the qualities of a virtuous woman, in script, then took one of my Victorian paper dolls and added it to the forefront, along with a doily. Then, I took little strips of paper and wrote some of my favorite Bible verses towards women on them, then added them to the empty spaces. I really love how it turned out...what do you think?



And here's close-ups of the verses:





What do you think?(: I really love it...^^

Have a lovely night!

~Vicki

Miniature Masterpieces

Hi everyone,

How has your day been so far? It looks like I'm also going to have to take fall quarter off from school, as we just found out I was supposed to apply back in April, so I may not be going back until January. My first thought -- "What on earth am I going to do with myself until January??" Well, I always find something to do, and whatever happens is God's will for me, which means that the ultimate result will be a great one.(: I also had my hair cut today....I said, "Take off an inch." Now half of my hair is gone! I really do love my hair long, and I just wanted my split ends trimmed, but....oh well. I'll have fun experimenting with different ways to style it, and something cute is sure to come out!

Anyway...lately I've been playing around with painting, and while I love it, let me tell you that I am NOT a painter. My talents do not lie in that area, as I've discovered. But, this project turned out looking really awesome.



What did I do to make it look as though I'm an accomplished painter? I cheated.

I cut out some photos from magazines and glued them onto some cute little mini canvases I had bought, then took my paints and attempted to turn the photos into art nouveau paintings. Once I finished, it just looked just like a painting! Well...it is, but then again, it isn't. I don't even know what you would call this technique...haha.

But I love them.



This was my first one...I gave her new hair, a new dress, and a bright yellow background.



This was my second one...and it's also my favorite. I really love how her hair turned out, along with her outfit. I'm also very proud of the clouds I painted in the background, haha. I always wanted to paint clouds!



And here's the third one. This one is actually just a tracing paper butterfly with a collaged background. Once upon a time, it was meant to be a painting too, but somehow that painting ended up looking like a little kid's first self-portrait....it was really, really bad. So I covered it up, and made it into something pretty.(: I actually really like the end result.

Well, have a lovely day! Be sure and watch for my next post in my countdown to a hundred!(:

~Vicki

Happy Blogaversary to Me....

Hi everyone,

I can't believe it, but it seems that I have now been blogging for exactly one year today! In some ways, it feels like I've been blogging for years, but in others, it seems like just yesterday.(: and now my blog is one year old!

Now...that is an occasion to celebrate. And what am I doing? I'm going to do a post a day for the rest of the week until I reach my 100th post, which is another major milestone.(: There will be tutorials and then a few projects that I've been meaning to show off for ages now, but haven't. I thought of doing it all in one day, but then thought that it might be too much, so I'm doing it over the rest of the week, which is also a bit more relaxing for me. Also -- if there's anything you want to see, or see more of, on my blog...say more outfit posts, more tutorials, you name it, let me know, and I'll get to work on it! So post a comment (I do love them, and I read every single one), detailing what YOU want to see on my blog.

And, since it's summer, and the sun is actually out after a long winter, bringing with it bright and colorful blossoms, I thought I'd do a mini outfit post in one of my refashioned tops, along with some of my earlier flower pictures of the season...(:













And I always like to remember this poem...

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
-Cecil F. Alexander


Soooo...let the party begin! I hope you have as much fun reading my posts as I do writing them....and thanks so much to all of my super followers!

Have a great day, and remember to comment with any suggestions you might have.(:

~Vicki

Silver Falls

Hello everyone,

While I was on my vacation, we visited a state park with a trail of ten waterfalls, collectively called Silver Falls. It's a lovely place, and full of gorgeous scenery. It's also full of lots and lots of uphill hikes, which aren't exactly thrilling for an out-of-shape person such as myself. We hiked for four hours, the longest I have probably ever walked in my life, and by the time it was over, I was ready to collapse. Still, the waterfalls were absolutely magical. Looking at them almost made me forget the aches in my legs and feet. The next day, we did a very short hike up to Multnomah Falls, which was probably my favorite...600 feet tall and with two tiers...it's really gorgeous. And standing on the viewpoints, you can feel the cooling spray of the water as it crashes down. One thing I learned is that waterfalls are really, really loud. It's a literal roaring, and it completely fills your ears you can't hear much else. They're incredibly powerful, beautiful, and...they can also be deadly.

At Silver Falls, we were able to actually walk behind some of the waterfalls, which was probably the most amazing part of it all. One had a whole cave behind it, another wider one provided a curtain that provided an impressionistic look at the forests.

Here are photos of some of the waterfalls that we saw. All of the pictures, except the last one, were taken by me.(: The last one was taken by my aunt at Multnomah Falls.



















Aren't they pretty?? I'd love to go back someday and see the waterfalls that we missed.

Have a lovely day!

~Vicki

The Oregon Garden in Macro View

Hello everyone,

How has your week been? Mine has been full and busy, and right now I'm enjoying a pleasant time of relaxation. I went on a three-day vacation with my auntie to Oregon, and we filled our time there with gardens, hikes, and...of course, shopping! Hm, I'm sure you can't guess which was my favorite part of that time...(; Oregon is the home of the Goodwill superstore...which is apparently where they house all of the fashionable clothes that you ordinarily have to hunt for in another thrift store. So we visited two of those, and then there was the outlet mall...which was great.

Anyway, at the Oregon Garden, I took lots of pictures of all the pretty flowers that they had growing. I particularly liked the rose garden that they had. Other than that...it was a nice garden, but very commercialized, and not too natural looking, which disappointed my aunt and I...especially after the entry cost was so high.

...but I did manage to get a few nice pictures of the plants.(: & best of all, the flowers were all covered in tiny, crystalline droplets of water that shone after the recent rain.



















So many pictures! I decided to share them all, since I couldn't choose my favorites.(: I really love the roses, though! Especially the bright red ones!

I still have more pictures to share, so stay tuned for tomorrow's post!
Have a lovely day!

~Vicki