trying a new medium - fimo beads

Over last summer and during the winter rounds of the craft fairs I was really taken with the bold shape and coloured jewellery avaliable (I fell in love with this maker's work at the time).  At the time it was hard to decide what to buy, then after admiring a friend's homemade christmas decorations I was inspired to give fimo a go!  I kept it simple this time, for a trying out craft this is really cheap, easy and requires very little time (or patience, which I lack!).

Fimo Beads
I shaped by beads by hand, then used a cocktail stick to make the holes in the beads.  I also added ribbed detail to the triangles by pressing down with the side of the cocktail stick.  I baked them at 110 degrees for 30 mins on a piece of baking parchment, then allowed to cool.  For the triangle necklace I plaited 1mm leather string and wove the beads in, I used an existing silver chain for the balls.

I noticed my hands got glittery very quickly when using the metallic fimo, this did transfer a bit to the other pieces but I quite liked the effect.

quick updates - washi tape bathroom storage

My teeny 1 1/2 bed house has a whopping 3 bathrooms, to my mind you really don't need more toilets than people that live in the house but clearly some folks think different!  Our downstairs toilet come wine cellar is was intended for visitors but at the moment is still home to a mountain of bottles from our wedding (we even hosted new years and still have not drunk it all yet, yikes)!  We have had to result to keeping the other 2 bathrooms pretty and guest friendly, and as we have a houseful in a few days I thought I might spruce them up with a bit of colour and indulge my washi tape addiction at the same time!

Boxes - brown paper wrapped glossy boxes
Cups - dishwasher cleaned nutella jars

a quick cheap make - diy geo frame

Just after Christmas I bought 3 frames intending to paint them with white patterns (chevron, dot) but the paint was awful and did not take well to the frame.  After a few attempts I worked out that if using tape (I used washi tape as it is nice and thin, but any masking tape will do) to mark out your designs then 1 thick layer of paint is by far the most smudge free.   I tried out a few things from around the house, but by far the best turned out to be nail polish, I tested them out on the back of the frame to see which colours worked best then painted in and let dry for a few minutes before peeling back the tape. I originally intended to neaten the edges with a cotton bud dipped in polish remover, but this removed the varnish so I outlined the edges in gold permanent marker instead!  Hey presto, a simple Geo Frame!