Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Did you know? 1 5/16" necklace blanks and so much more!

Did you know we just added 1 & 5/16" necklace discs to the website? Did you know can make it all to match? 2 styles of necklaces, 4 types of bracelets, a ring, 2 types of earring (post and dangle), tons of colors, great prices and all in one place!

Now you do and it's
www.craftchameleon.com!!!

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Free Gift with Order through 2016!

Flat Leon is having so much fun selecting and giving gifts, it was decided - free gift with purchase for the rest of 2016!

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Beautiful Acrylic Bookmark with Crosses



Hi Everyone, I’m  Faye Mitchell and truly excited by Jamie’s request to make a guest blog post.  I’ve decided to make a fancy charm and bead bookmark using mostly Craft Chameleon supplies.  A few items have come from other stores.





Items needed:
Acrylic Bookmark - Craft Chameleon
1.5” Acrylic Cross - Craft Chameleon
15/16” Acrylic Circle - Craft Chameleon
Lobster Clasp - Craft Chameleon
Triangle Bail - Craft Chameleon
Jump rings - Craft Chameleon
Extension Links - Craft Chameleon
Tassels - Craft Chameleon
Charms - Craft Chameleon (not pictured)
Beads
Headpins
SVG Design Program
Vinyl
Jewelry Making Tools  
Diamond Reamer - Craft Chameleon

The first thing I did was make a template of my acrylic bookmark in Silhouette Studio Designer Edition so I could make sure I cut my vinyl out in the correct size.  The acrylic bookmark from Craft Chameleon is 1.5" x 4" so I drew a rectangle with these measurements. 

As you can see I actually drew the rectangle at 4.5” and then put a small line across it at 4” and
put the circle/hole in it.  This part is not necessary but I did it to help me envision the final product.

The next thing I did was decide on what pattern I wanted on my bookmark.  Since my bookmark is for a friend who lost her sister I decided to go with a cross design.  I searched the silhouette design store and found the perfect cross shape and purchased it.  Once I had it purchased I edited it to the size I wanted and duplicated it multiple times so that it formed the design I wanted and covered the entire bookmark.  My actual bookmark is clear but so you could see the design in the Studio I changed it to black for the picture. 




Now I decided on what quote I wanted to put on the bookmark.  I decided to use a bible scripture for comfort.  Using the text tool I typed out the quote and selected my font and sized it to fit the bookmark and charms.  I used the font “Maxwell Bold” for all the wording.  I used the templates from Craft Chameleon to get the sizing correct.  In order to prevent waste of vinyl I used the subtract feature under modify to cut the cross background pattern down to the size of the bookmark.






Once I finished all my designing, I cut and weeded the vinyl and lastly applied it to the acrylic pieces.


 


Make sure you peel the clear plastic coverings off the acrylic pieces first before applying the vinyl.  Then you take your transfer tape and pick up the weeded vinyl pieces and place them onto the acrylic pieces.  

After I have the vinyl applied to the pieces I poke the hole in the acrylic with the diamond reamer I purchased from Craft Chameleon.  I also rub it around the edge of the cross and bookmark acrylic pieces to trim off the excess vinyl from the backs.




Now that I have all the vinyl applied I sit them to the side to cure while I work on assembling the hardware findings and make the bead dangles.  

To start I usually go ahead and attach the triangle bail to the bookmark even though it doesn’t have to be attached right away.  Mainly I do this just so I have this part done and I don’t have to worry about a little helper getting a hold of the triangle bail and putting it in his mouth or just running off with it. 





Next I move onto the bead dangles, once again to prevent a certain little helper from getting ahold of little pieces and scattering them around the house.  Bead dangles are pretty easy to make.  To make a bead dangle you first take your headpin… the ones I use are just plain 2” headpins that I picked up from a big box store.  



You then just thread the beads (also gotten from a big box store in this case) onto the headpin. 



Once you thread your beads onto the headpin comes the tricky part.  You take your round nose pliers and bend the end of the headpin around to make a loop. Once the loop is formed you can trim the excess and manipulate the wire to your desired shape and size.  Then you use a jump ring and attach the bead dangle to the lobster clasp. 





Next I move onto attaching the charms, tassels, and small acrylic pieces.  I do this with a combination of jump rings and extension links depending on the size of each of the pieces and how I want them to hang.





After the vinyl is cured I typically seal the small pieces with either mod podge or clear nail polish.  Once your sealer is dry you can attach the beaded charmed piece using the lobster hook to the triangle bail on the bookmark piece. 


TA-DA you have a finished your fancy charm and beaded bookmark to enjoy the next time you read a long book!!!







Monday, August 1, 2016

This is just the tip of the iceberg...


Yes for the month of July we added a new shape every day.  There are so many that we have a heading in the menu. Don't miss out in August....more shapes and items to come!