Crafts Unleashed

Bead Soup Bangle

This cuff is meant to be random, free form and unstructured. It does not require a great deal of concentration and if you like to multi-task, you can listen to a book on tape or watch a movie while working and you’ll be done before you know it!

Materials Needed:

Bead Soup * (this one has tiger [...]

Tips for Using Darice’s Wood Burning Tool

I have never used Darice’s wood burning tool or any wood-burning tool, for that matter.  I was excited for the opportunity to use a new crafting tool.  I opened the package; it comes with the wood burner, a stand, and several different wood burning tips.

I experimented with the tips on scrap wood for several [...]

Bead Spinner by Darice

We love gadgets that make our crafting easier and more fun, and the Bead Spinner by Darice fits the bill. Great for jewelry makers and knitter/crocheters alike, the Bead Spinner makes it easy to load seed beads onto wire, thread, or yard saving you time and effort. Take a look at the demonstration video below.

It’s [...]

Jewelry Trends at CHA Summer

Granted, the summer show of the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) is mostly geared toward paper crafting, but I DID see some jewelry. Again, the trend that first prevailed at the winter show is still going strong- mixed media is still all the rage.
So what does this mean? Well a couple of things!

Mixed metals are [...]

Coiled & Caged Choker

Coiled & Caged Choker
As a follow up to last months Coiling Gizmo product review, here is a quick and easy jewelry project that incorporates the coiling gizmo, some wire and a few pretty beads!

Materials Needed:
• coiling gizmo
• clamp (available at a hardware store)
• tape measure
• wire cutters
• round nose pliers
• 20 gauge wire
• 18 gauge wire
• 6 mm beads
• 10 mm focal bead
•
• Using the [...]

Recycle Crafting: Use Blue Jeans to Make Stretched Canvas!

If you have one or several old worn pairs of jeans, I have a wonderful suggestion for you before throwing or giving them away. Jean material makes an excellent canvas material to stretch and use the same way you would use and treat traditional canvas when making your own canvas frames.
Materials needed:

Old jeans.
Spray White Gesso
Canvas [...]

Craft Product Review: Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paints

Discover an affordable acrylic paint that’s worthy of your money.

Jewelry Making: Intro to Swarovski Crystals and Components

Swarovski is the brand name for precision-cut crystal glass, produced in Austria.  The company was founded by Daniel Swarovski in 1895, after he invented an electronic glass-cutting machine that can cut crystals so precisely – they are of extremely high quality, and nearly identical.
Swarovski is well known for elegant crystals, especially the beautiful crystal figurines [...]

Mini Bowdabra Review and How to Make a Loopy Bow

The Mini Bowdabra is one of my favorite bow-making tools.  I have been using both the  Mini Bowdabra and the original Bowdabra for several years to create bows for seasonal themed crafts, wedding bows, hair bows, and kid crafts.  Â
When purchasing the Mini Bowdabra I would recommend purchasing the Bowdabra Bow Wire.  The Bowdabra Bow [...]

Craft Tool Review: Coiling Gizmo

Here’s our first post by Jewelry Designer Eva Sherman- the first of many great posts to help you make stunning jewelry!
Working with wire just happens to be one of my favorite forms of creative expression so the Coiling Gizmo is the perfect place to start my review of jewelry related products!Â
The box contains 12 [...]