That Jolie Girl

Tutorial: Wine Cork - Ring Holder

 

When I started making felt flower rings a few months ago, I quickly realized that I would need holders for my rings. The first thing I did was go into my art room to see what I had laying around.  I stumbled upon a bag of wine corks that my cousin had sent me in my birthday package with a note saying "I figured you could do something cool with these". Finally I had the perfect project for these recycled wine corks. Everything else quickly fell into place.  

 

 

Supplies

• Box that will be your ring holder. I've started carrying a wine cork in my purse to help me find boxes at garage sales and goodwill.  
• Wine corks - ask family and friends to save these for you.
• Styrofoam - I hate to throw away styrofoam since it does not decompose. I have a large stash from all kinds of packaging and it's amazing how handy it can be. I don't think I could purchase styrofoam, but I'm happy to save it from landfills any chance I get.
• Toothpicks
• Dark felt
• Knife

 

 

Step 1 - Cut the styrofoam to fit inside of your box. I use the bottom of the ring box as a guide. Lightly score the styrofoam with your knife.

 

 

 

Once scored, it's easy to break the styrofoam in one clean motion.  It's messier if you try to cut all the way through the styrofoam. 

 

 

Step 2 - Continuing cutting styrofoam pieces until it fills the box to the height you'd like.

 

 

 I used the first piece of styrofoam as a guide for additional pieces.

 

 

Step 3 - Cut the felt to cover the styrofoam in the box. This is purely for asthetic purposes, so you don't see the white styrofoam between the wine corks.

 

 

Step 4 - Arrange the corks how you would like them. Corks are all different sizes. It took a few minutes to arrange them so that they fit nicely together. Also, my box isn't sized to fit the corks perfectly, so I cut a few corks in half with my knife to fill the side gaps. Note: You do want a little space between each row of corks.  If the cork is packed too tightly, there won't be space to fit your rings. I ended up taking the end row of half corks out, because I need more breathing room for my rings.

 

 

Step 5 - Break toothpicks in half. I did this with my fingers and I wasn't too worried if they weren't exactly perfect.

 

 

Step 6 - Insert toothpick into wine cork.Create a hole with the tip of the knife to make inserting the blunt end of the toothpick easier.  Put one half of a toothpick into each cork. I looked at each cork to decide what side I wanted facing up. Then I made my hole on the opposite side of the cork.

 

 

Step 7 - Insert each toothpick, with the cork attached, through the felt and into the styrofoam. This was best done in one clean fast motion. The toothpick made a popping noise when it pieced the styrofoam. Repeat until all corks are in your holder. I started on one end, took one row of cork out at a time, added toothpicks and inserted the outer corks first - leaving the middle cork last. Be careful that your felt doesn't shift too much. On the last row, my felt had shifted a bit to expose the styrofoam. It was easy to pull the felt back into place and insert the last row of wine corks.

 

 

Step 8 - Turn the holder upside down to see if any corks fall out. They shouldn't. I do this test to make sure there aren't any corks that need to be re-adjusted.

 

 

I did the same technique of adding a half of a toothpick to the side corks I had cut in half. Placement in the box is exactly the same as the whole corks.

 

 

Step 9 - Add your rings and start using your new ring holder.  

 

 

Here are a couple other ring holders I made.  They can be any size or shape.  The possibilites are endless. For this holder, I used two layers of corks and no styrofoam.

 

Surfacing by Margaret Atwood

 

Surfacing was the third book in my summer book project.  I've always had a love/hate relationship with Margaret Atwood.  I feel the need to read her full catalog, because she is such an important writer of our time.  But, I haven't loved everything I've read of hers.  I have really enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale, The Blind Assassin, and Oryx and Crake.  I really couldn't stand The Edible Woman.  I'm on the fence about The Robber Bride and I'm also on the fence about Surfacing. 

 

 

 I mainly picked it from my bookcase because of the sentence over the title "the most shattering novel a woman ever wrote".  Yikes!  That's a pretty strong statement.  I don't think I found it better than The Bell Jar (which admittedly, I read when I was a teenager).  While the main character does go on a journey to the island of her childhood, she is also traveling in her mind to past things that have happened and to other things that just happened in her head.  She does go to the edge of insanity, but I feel at the end of the book she is surfacing from those mental tortures and is ready to move on to a better life.  The end of the novel leaves the reader to determine the fate of the narrator.  

 

 

Printed in 1976, this book is much more modern that the first three I've read.   It was a nice change of pace.  It was also a very short novel at 224 pages.  I read the second half in one sitting which I think is best since so much of the book happens in the mind of the narrator.  It would be too confusing to only read a few pages at a time. 

I love that this book was carefully selected by the Popular Library Editorial Board.

 

 

The person who owned this book before me marked up almost every page.  I like to find these kinds of markings and to imagine what caught this person's eye to underline certain passages.  I think this book would get much better with a second reading.  Since I am on the fence about it, I don't know if I will give it another go.  Maybe, one day.

Next book: The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone

The Monkees

 Photo by Connie Schlecter 

Last weekend, I got to see The Monkees in concert.  This was kind of a big deal for me.  The Monkees seem to have always been a part of my life.  Besides Simon and Garfunkel (who I amazingly got to see a few years ago), The Monkees have always been at the top of my wish list of artists to see.  

 

 

This picture was taken when I was in th 7th grade.  I would come home after school each day and watch reruns of The Monkees on Channel 12.  I recorded the songs from the TV to my tape player.  Then I would record a trimmed down version onto a master Monkees tape.  I was so in love with the power of my dual cassette boom box; I thought I was pretty state of the art.  It's amazing to remember the work I would put into acquiring these songs when in today's age any song is available with the click of a mouse.    

 

 

The first time my husband stepped into my car, I was playing this mixed Monkees tape.  I had no idea he was also such a huge fan.  It was 1993 and we were living in the heart of grunge.  The fact that we both liked the Monkees is one of the little things that brought us together.

 

 

 Photo by Connie Schlecter 

 So last Saturday, my mom-in-law (who won tickets to see The Monkees 44 years ago which was her first concert at age 13), the farmer, my husband and I made the trek up to the Clark County Amphitheater to see them.  I was expecting the show, sans Mike Nesmith, to consist mainly of their mainstream pop classics such as Daydream Believer and Last Train to Clarksville.  They did play those hits, but they also sang many of my very favorite songs that came out later in their career.  Songs such as Going Down, The Porpoise Song, Randy Scouse Git  and Circle Sky were such a joy to hear live!  I never thought that would ever happen.  With a 8 member band to back up the 3 remaining Monkees, they put on a great show.  I was most impressed that Peter Tork walked to the edge of the stage and told the audience that they didn't care if we took pictures or video and shared them with friends or the world.  Wow!  The cameras came out and people felt at ease approaching the stage for pictures.  What a treat.  Check out these 4 songs and re-discover The Monkees.  They wrote 3 out of the 4.  The 4th was written by Carole King.  They could easy fit into today's hip indie music scene.

 

 

 

 

This video gets better as you go along; it's pretty rocky for the first minute.  I felt it's worth posting because it's nice to have a sense of them in their prime.  Please note: there is footage of the Vietnam war in this clip. 

I Heart Art: Portland - Mixer Match on Aug 17th

 

I did it!  I bit the bullet and applied to the next I Heart Art: Portland Mixer Match.  They held their first one last year and I was honored to be a Superstar.  They second Mixer Match was geared towards galleries meeting fine artists.  I volunteered that night and it was so great to meet and help calm the fears of many great artists.  This event, on August 17th, will again be for crafters who will have 2 minutes to pitch their creations to 20 different local stores.  While I'm a complete nervous wreck about these kinds of situations, this is such a wonderful opportunity that I just can't let it pass by.  There is something completely freeing about only having 2 minutes.  That's it!  What a relief!  Small talk is usually pretty awkward for me, so only having enough time to give a pitch is the perfect jumping off point for me.  I am also comforted by knowing how great the organizers of this event are.  They are all so nice and friendly; they truly want to see everyone succeed.  Having that kind of support surrounding this event makes me feel safe enough to take the plunge. 

If you would like to apply to be apart of this revolutionary and fun form of networking, you can find the application here.  The deadline is July 22nd, so don't think about it too long.  It's a simple application and not scary at all. Some applications can be quite intimidating.  They select participatents by a lottery system which I love.  It can be hard for new crafters to be accepted to popular events when applications are juried.  If you are selected there is a $20 fee.  I Heart Art is dedicated to making these kinds of connections for artists affordable.  

 

 

 

If I'm accepted, I will be pitching my felt flower rings at the Mixer Match!  I'm excited for the opportunity to take another step forward in my goal to market myself this year.  

 

Felt Flower Tutorial

 I've been a bit obsessed with felt flowers for the last few years.  It started when my sis asked me to make her wedding bouquet and 3 bridesmaids bouquets.  I posted a tutorial on how I made her bouquet that you can see here.  I'm so glad I got to create something so important for my sis's wedding.  It was such a wonderful labor of love.  I've gotten so many comments on that post asking how to make the actual flowers that I wanted to post this felt flower tutorial.  

 

I use the Sizzix Big Kick Machine to cut out all of my flowers.  I highly recommend the Big Kick and I've had no issues cutting thousands of flowers with it.  One nice thing about this machine is that you can cut 2-3 pieces of felt at a time which is a great time saver.

The embroidery on the petals of the flower is what really makes these flowers shine.  Here are just a few individual flowers to help show that the possibilities are endless.

 

 

Felt Flower Tutorial

1. Design your flower
   • Select the color and sizes of the felt pieces you want to use. (3 to 5 pieces works best)
   • Select a bottom piece with no hole.  (this prevents the bottom piece from falling off)
2. Decide which pieces you’d like to embroider and the stitches you will use.
   • Every other felt piece is a good rule of thumb
   • Balance between elaborate and simple stitches.
   • There are lots of free embroidery stitch guides on the internet.  I also find watching YouTube videos is extremely helpful.  Used embroidery books are readily available at thrift stores.
3. Choose embroidery thread
   • 3 feet is a good length.  Longer thread is harder to work with and to keep tangle free.
   • For a more delicate look, split the thread apart and only use 3 strands instead of 6.  Less than 3 strands makes it hard to see stitches on the felt.
4. Embroider felt pieces
   • Thread needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread.
   • Always start from the back when embroidering so your knot won’t show.
5. Select buttons for the middle of your flower.
   • Arrange in the order you want buttons to be in with the smallest button on top.
   • Pick 1 or 2 buttons for the back side of your flower.
6. Assemble Flower
   • Take 1 green floral wire or (any wire about 18 inches long) and loosely fold in half.
   • Take the smallest button, right side up and put one green wire end through one button hole and the other wire end through the other hole.
   • Slide button all the way to the wire’s middle.
   • Repeat with all buttons, except the button(s) for the underside.
   • Bring the ends of the wire together and thread your felt pieces through starting with the top piece of your flower.
   • If the middle of a felt piece doesn’t have a hole, carefully work the wire ends back and forth in the center of the piece to pierce through the felt.
     • Be careful not to hit your fingers! It only takes a few second to pierce the felt.
   • Remember!  The very bottom felt piece should not have a pre-made hole in the middle.
   • Slide the remaining buttons on the wire.
7. Create the wire stem
   • Take both wires and cross them as close to the bottom button as you can.
   • Hold the flower in one hand and with the other hand start twisting the wires until they are completely twisted together.
   • Take a wood bead and slide it about 1” to 1.5” up the stem.
   • Fold the end of the wire up so it looks like a U with the wood bead in the middle.
   • Wrap the end of the wire around the stem right above the wood bead using needle nosed pliers to secure the wire ends.
8. You now have a gorgeous felt flower!

 

I would love to hear from you!  Send me pictures of the flowers you make.  Be forewarned, these little flowers can be come quite addicting.

 

A Visual Tutorial

 

 

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Felt Flower Tutorial was first posted on Handmade in Portland.  I put this tutorial together for the Make Something Awesome table at last year's Summit of Awesome organized by Hello Craft.  It was such a fun project that I wanted to post the tutorial here as well.

New Items in My Meylah Store!

 

I've added a few new rings to my Meylah Store!  You can always access my store by clicking on this button on my sidebar.  All rings are made with 100% Pendleton Wool.  The Felt Flower rings are 1.5 inches in diameter and the Felt Circle rings are 1.25 inches in diameter.  They are big and bold for a stunning look.

 

 

If you don't see something that screams your name, you also have the option of creating your own ring with 16 different colors to choose from.  Use this free ring sizer to find your size. The possibilities are endless!  There is definitely a ring for everyone!  I'd love to hear from you.  Email me if you have any questions or are looking for something extra special.

 

 

If you haven't heard of Meylah yet, it's an online storefront similar to Etsy.  I like that this platform is completely free.  No fee for posting items and no fee when an item is sold.  You can read more about why I decided to start using them here.  It's definitely a great option for people wanting an affordable online store.

 

Anna Karenina

 

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy was the second book in my summer book project.  Honestly, I picked it second because I figured it would be best to get such a large book out of the way.  It's definitely not short at 868 pages.  Anna Karenina contains two parallel stories.  Anna Karenina is suffering with a husband and lover while Constantine Levin is longing for marriage with his soul mate.  These two stories are polar opposites of each other and are entangled throughout the book.

 

I liked this book much more than I had expected.  I was resigned to a dry, boring read.  This was so not the case.  Tolstoy wrote this in a more modern style with action happening as the book opens.   I was immediately interested in the characters and vested in their outcomes.  Although, Anna really got to me after awhile.  I grew tired of her at the end and was ready for her story to be done.  On the other hand, I fell in love with Constantine Levin.  He is a hero to be respected.  His devotion to Kitty and to his farm are so opposite of Anna who seems to only think of herself.  It's said that Constantine and Kitty's marriage is based on Tolstoy's marriage.  It establishes a level of sanity which showcases how crazy Anna really is.

 

 

I found this book extremely easy to read.  In fact, the easy reading made the story so much more enjoyable.  I had stumbled through Adam Bede which used different dialects at times and an older English with many common words spelled different.  For example, it took me ages to realize that "canna" meant "can't".  Those differences made for choppy reading.  With this translation, Anna K read like a modern novel.  I found that I could dive deeper into the story and characters when I didn't have to navigate through the language.

 

 

One huge aspect to this translation was the handling of names.  Russian names are quite confusing and based on a complex system of who you are related to.  In other Russian novels I've read, names were very long and often extremely similar to other characters.  Also, character names would change based on who was talking to that character.  In this translation, names became a little more informal and consistent.  This was very helpful in a book that had 160 different characters.

 

 

I thought it was interesting that this book had a 6 digit Library of Congress number and not the standard ISBN numbers of today.

After I finished the book, I treated myself to the Masterpiece Theater 2000 production of Anna Karenina.  Reviews said this 4 hour version stayed very true to the book. It was great to see the characters come to life.  I still want to see Greta Garbo's version soon.

 

Next book: Surfacing, by Margaret Atwood