Monthly All Girls Craft Group - January 2013

Yesterday was the first monthly all girls craft group we had and it was soooo much fun!!! And from what I heard from the ladies, everyone had a blast! This will definitely have to turn into a regular thing! ;)

We had it at my bff's house and had 2 long tables and 1 card table set up... There were 9 of us total, and everyone pretty much had their own things going on from playing with clay to learn new techniques...

I love all the pieces she made!! Especially the first attempt at the faux knit technique!! Isn't it fantastic?! And that owl is just so cute!!!

There was some work done with perler beads:

Scrapbooking was getting done. Yay for getting baby books worked on!!:

There was teaching even when Airon wanted to learn crocheting from Sarah since neither one of us can figure out how to get past that first chain stitch row!! (She's gonna have to teach me that later ;)):

And of course, like any good woman now-a-days, we can multi-task!!:

Airon ironing her perler bead flowers while having a beer. Definitely my kind of crafting!! ;)

Here's the few things I managed to get done myself. The left shows the 2 handwarmers/wrist wrests for using a mouse and the right picture shows the hand stitch closing. The pink was first so a little messy, but I feel the white is a little less conspicuous.

The next 2 pictures are the corners of the neckwarmer/wrist wrest for using a keyboard. I decided to try an all-around stitch so I could make it look a little more professional and to also not have to hand stitch the open end closed!! What do you think?? Can you tell that's what I did? ;)

 I did get a bunch of other pieces cut to just sit down and sew/fill later, so that's good at least.

With me trying to get some of my scraps used up, the other thing I decided to do when I couldn't cut the bigger pieces anymore is to cut 3" squares and set them aside so when I've got a good supply of those, I can make a sort of patchwork piece to cut other patterns out of for other projects. I'm actually a little excited to do that and see what it looks like and what I can make out of it... ;)

All in all though, this is definitely going to have be a regular thing!! Thanks to everyone who came out and hope to see you next time as well as some new faces!!

The Monthly Craft Challenge!!

I've seen this type of idea on other people's blogs where they have a weekly or a monthly challenge that they invite others to join in on. This can include people that already have those supplies, or maybe have to go out and get supplies so they can participate.

For me, I already have a ton of supplies just not getting used. I feel more like a Jackie of all trades, master of none. My goals in doing this challenge is to attempt to become more of a master at the crafts and hobbies I have delved in. My supplies currently are stored away in their boxes or drawers, wasting away, and that just makes me sad! The following should give you an idea of what all I have: 

Clay - clay, pasta roller, blades, carving tools, toaster oven, bead baking rack with pins, pearl ex powders, cutters:

Resin - clear resin (2pks), white resin (1 pk), tons of glitter, mylar flakes, transparent and opaque color dyes, molds, mold release

Candles - double boiler, thermometer, 3 color dyes, 6-pk scents, wicks, 10lb slab of wax, stearic acid, vybar:

Beads - seed, large seed, bicones, wood, glass, crystals, shells, cubes, colored wires, fireline thread, memory wire, jump rings, head/eye pins, earring hooks, clasps:

Scrapbooking - stickers, more stickers, gel pens, stamps, 4 pairs of edging scissors, mod podge glue, mod podge dimensional magic(to compare to resin), papers (singles and pads), ribbon:

Embossing - powders, resist ink, embossing ink pad, heat gun

Sewing and String Crafts - yarn, embroidery thread, spools, needles, crochet hooks, sewing machine, tons of fabric, patterns:

This isn't even all of the supplies I have, but it is a majority. I've been collecting supplies, as well as hobbies to go along with them, since before I was in High School. As such, I've clearly amassed a collection worthy of 5 crafters at least!

To try and whittle this stock of supplies down into actual items, I will attempt to challenge myself monthly with making things using the supplies I currently have, with only buying new things if it's something like more sewing thread mid-purse, or more yarn to finish the latch hook I'm doing, etc.

I'd like to try and do this all year, but let's see how long I can keep this up. Is there anyone else out there with a massive supply stock that wants to join me?? Or even if  you don't have a supply list like I do to choose from, is there anyone that wants to challenge themselves to either learn new methods of crafting and use the challenge to hone those skills, or even just get better at skills you already have? Let me know in the comments!

Howdy Hello Hi!!

Hi!!

My name is Teresa and I am the person behind "BeadsByCelleste". I came up with this name when I was 18 and not entirely sure where I got it from except that I liked the name Celleste (named my new cat this) and that I made jewelry at the time and wanted to make my own beads eventually. I currently live in the Cedar Park, TX area, am 27 years old and hold down a day job at a computer that makes me so anxious to just go home and craft most days!!

My personal interests include but are not limited to: jewelry making, scrapbooking, crafting, resin, polymer clay, mod podging, candle making, latch-hooking, cross-stitching, sewing, glass bead making/flameworking, DIY, riding my motorcycle solo or with my bf (he has his own, he doesn't ride passenger on mine!), playing videogames, watching movies (all genres), reading fiction and more!!

I learned how to make jewelry from my Grandma (G-ma) when I used to go over and spend the weekends with her in 6th grade since she lived just down the road and we'd spend our time playing SNES games, watching movies and crafting. For the record, this means that I've been crafting and making things for about 15 years now and I hope to continue crafting as long as I can! She has been my crafting role model and who I always blame (credit :p) for my addiction to the world that is Crafts/DIY! She taught me straight beading, then a beading technique I called figure-8 for years until I only recently discovered it was a double 'needle' right angle weave, how to make basic jewelry pieces, how to latch hook, how to decoupage and fabric painting/embellishing. Somehow she had the patience to do the sequin/bead designs and fabric prints that she'd cut around (all those details!! yikes!!) so she could put on a sweatshirt and paint on. She unfortunately passed in 2004, but I feel I carry on her spirit in all the crafts I do and all the new things I learn to do as I know if she were here today, she'd be just as excited as I am on what all there is to make and how!

Nowadays, I cruise Pinterest and I seem to have a board for everything... until I realize I in fact don't have a board for this, or for that, and then I create one!! This my friends is how you get up to 48 boards (and counting...) on your profile!! Yikes!! Please feel free to follow me if you'd like or just check out my pins/boards if you're interested or ever bored one day! http://pinterest.com/kiwikitty531

I wanted to create this blog so that I could share the projects I endeavor on as well as document the mishaps as well as the successes I have as I learn and try new things and grow as a crafter and DIYer and invite you to share along in my journey! With this in mind, I hope to see you back soon!!