Vintage Earring Redux

I love me some vintage jewelry.



Especially the kind that's been loved a little too much - i.e. paint chipping, rhinestones missing, broken chain. It gives me creative freedom to rescue these pieces, just like on the show American Pickers.  Except I'm like an American Jewelry Picker. I like to dig through piles of forgotten treasures at yard sales and flea markets and re-imagine pieces in a new light.



These earrings, however, came from my Grandma's closet. I was given them to "do with what I wanted", and I obviously had to glam them up just a bit! Using a bit of sparkly nail polish and Swarovski flat backs gave these vintage gems a whole new look. Doesn't a bit of Swarovski just fix everything?!



As you know, I love anything that has a story. Vintage jewelry (or anything vintage really) is a passion of mine. In a lot of tutorials, you'll see me using chandelier crystal taken from a broken 1930s lamp. I reuse these as beads and pendants to have the "spirit" of the lamp move on!



This tutorial really allows for customization on your earrings. Look below!



Step 1: Gather materials. You will need vintage earrings, nail polish, super glue or E6000 glue, Swarovski rhinestones and nail polish remover, just to be safe.



Step 2: Paint sections of the filigree with nail polish. I only chose to paint some, to keep a vintage look. Glue on rhinestones with the E6000 glue or super glue.
 

Step 3: Keep adding gems until you reach the desired look. On the silver earrings, I used Super Glue - it's not necessarily recommended, because Super Glue leaves a white haze on the gems upon drying. But, you can easily remove this haze. Simply use a Q-tip dipped in nail polish remover to wipe the top of the crystal, completely dissolving the white haze and leaving your rhinestone sparkly as new!



Feel free to adorn as much or as little as you want. Let the design of the piece inspire you!



You could also use this technique on pendants and such.


I like the mix of colors and textures. I almost always use nail polish as a quick fix to add a lacquer-like finish to metals and such. It's a cheap alternative to enameling.



These would totally be a retro-glam accent to any outfit. Don't you agree?! If you follow this tutorial, post your final product to Instagram and tag me @quietlioncreations. I'll repost you!



All photos copyright Allison Beth Cooling. Do not post or reuse without crediting me and linking to me!

Swarovski Innovations 2016

So you all know I love me some Swarovski. And there's definitely a lot to love in their Innovations Spring/Summer 2016 line. Courtesy Cousin Corporation, I was sent a sample-sized collection of Swarovski crystal goodness to preview. I feel like they went totally bohemian with this collection, and I'm not complaining. Taken straight from the Swarovski website:

"Swarovski, the global leader in cut crystal and fashion jewelry, introduces its dazzling new loose crystal assortment of cuts, colors, effects and line extensions for Spring/Summer 2016. Inspired by the season’s inspiration, ‘Between Heaven and Earth’."

Their new Buddha Fancy Stone, Hand of Fatima Fancy Stone, Pure Drop Pendant and Greek Cross Pendant are some of my favorites. Plus, I'm really feeling topaz this season. I never have really used "yellow" or topaz-hued beads in my designs before, so I think it's time to try. Be on the lookout for new tutorials and creations with these components!

Photos copyright Allison Beth Cooling. Do not post/reuse without crediting me!

Sparkle Shells Anklet

My recent trip to Florida as part of the 2015 Cousin Corporation Ambassador Retreat totally inspired me to create my latest tutorial - my Sparkle Shells Anklet! If you read my last post, you'll see why I decided to make this beachy-glam accessory; the shells I used were the ones I picked while walking up and down the sandy shores of North Redington!



It was great these shells already had holes in them, which made it super easy to create jewelry from. Instead of using the shells in their natural form, I decided to gild them in gold for this piece. And, if that wasn't enough shine, rimming them with aqua crystal flat backs completes the totally luxe look.



After that, it's simple stringing to create the finished look. All of the beads, findings and stringing materials are Cousin brand, of course. This is a perfect summer accessory to wear on the beach, out to dinner, out shopping, anywhere, really. Bring the fun of the ocean everywhere you go!



Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are round nose pliers (and wire cutters), gold 4mm closed jump rings, gold crimps, crystals (I used 10mm Cousin Aqua faceted mirror beads and 6mm Cousin green faceted mirror beads), shells, Cousin .45mm gold beading wire, Cousin M'bellish crystal aqua flat backs, Cousin 26g gold wire (not shown, I used wire scraps from other projects!) and E6000 glue (or superglue if gluing on the INSIDE of the shells). If you want to gild your shells with gold, you will also need gold spray paint.



Step 2: Lightly spray and cover your shells with spray paint and let dry. Then create wrapped loop charms out of them with the gold 26g wire. I made 5 charms total.



Step 3: With your E6000 glue, rim the edges of the shell and then press in your flat backs. This tackier glue is better for gluing on the outside of shells - if you wanted to glue on the inside, you can use superglue (this might create a white haze, but rub off with nailpolish remover to fix).
I rimmed all five of my shells with the crystals.



Step 4: With a piece of beading wire 1.5 times your desired anklet length, slide on a crimp, jumpring, then back through the crimp. Flatten to secure. Then, alternating crystals, bead on your faceted rounds (I used closed gold jump rings as spacers, to bring out the gold color) and shells until your desired length and pattern is reached. Finish by adding a crimp, jumpring, then thread back through the crimp. Flatten to secure, and add a lobster clasp to close.

  

I obviously stuck with a green and blue scheme here, to mimic the colors of the ocean waves. Pick any color story you like!



If you have extra shells, make matching earrings or even a pendant necklace. This is where you could glue rhinestones to the inside of the shell, creating a glasslike surface. This works better for single pendants because the sparkle factor is super intense!



Whatever you choose to do, happy crafting! If you follow this tutorial, be sure to post your final project to Instagram and tag me @quietlioncreations. I'll repost you!

All photos copyright Allison Beth Cooling. Do not post or reuse without crediting and linking to me!

Cousin Corporation Retreat 2015

If you follow my IG account, you already know about my travels to the Cousin Corporation offices as part of the official Ambassador Retreat 2015. Me, along with the six other Ambassadors, were gifted with a trip down to sunny Largo, Florida to connect with Cousin employees, work on projects, design, and have fun!

It was a 60 degree, rainy June day in Chicago when I left earlier this week. After a short flight, I was greeted with the humid heat and balmy palm trees of tropic Tampa Bay, Florida. Us Ambassadors all met at the airport, and were shuttled straight to our beachside hotel resort, where we would be spending two nights during the trip. We were given goodie bags, which included beads (of course), snacks, and other gifts, including this bright purple embellished towel, obviously for using on the white sand beach!



The first thing I did after unpacking was head out to the beach. Yes, it was 90 plus degrees, and yes, I was wearing a hockey jersey. Plus thermal leggings. Those of you who know me and my Blackhawks obsession will understand. I walked up and down the beach, collecting shells and looking at the bright blue waters. It was also the perfect opportunity to rub in the Hawks' Stanley Cup WIN while in Tampa Bay! I did catch some flack from the natives there, but that was kind of my point.
Congrats Blackhawks! ♥♥♥



Here are some of my specimens. Cool abalone, and shells with holes already in them. I have some ideas for how I'm gonna be using these!



Appreciating the bright foliage and tiki bar, I snapped some pics of these Floridian flowers; the eye-catching fuchsia color totally set the mood!



Yes, I walked all the way down to that pier and back!



Traveling up to the second floor deck, also the view from my room, Hawaiian-blue umbrellas dotted the perfect, cloud-like sand and boats whooshed by. The festive sound of reggae music flowed through the air, and I was definitely NOT ready to start working!

 

Alright, the first night there was no "work", but there was a reception later on the Sunset Verandah, where we re-connected with the employees and got time to talk with them.
    

The night ended with a pastel pink sunset and of course, a photo-op. These are all the Ambassadors: (top row, left to right) Lisa Crone of A Bead a Day, Shelly Owen of Raziela's Rant, Jennifer Priest of Hydrangea Hippo, (bottom row, left to right) me-duh, Rebecca Utermohlen of My Girlish Whims, Dawn Doucette of Bella Amore Jewelry and Rachel Nielsen of Adventures of a DIY Mom. We are also from all over the US, which I think made it much more fun, as we all had different perspectives. Lisa's from Ohio, Shelly from Mississippi, Jennifer from California, me from Chicago, Rebecca from Philly, Dawn (originally from Wisconsin) recently moved to Florida, and Rachel from Utah. After our meet and greet, we all went back to our rooms and rested for Day 2.



Day 2 was "All About the Beads"…. we again toured the Cousin facility, checked out the bead walls and new collections, traveled the warehouse, and were involved in store visits and meetings/roundtable discussions.



In the morning, we traveled to JoAnn fabrics, Michaels and Walmart. Our job was to evaluate the Cousin sets there and point out anything (good or bad) that we wanted to note. Suggestions on new products, staging or really anything that we had comments on was fair game. Then, we went to Charming Charlie and Forever 21 in the mall to do some research on finished jewelry, to gain inspiration on trends and accessory styles. We brought all this back to Cousin for our afternoon routable meeting.
After this, a presentation about Swarovski was given, and then the actual jewelry designing began. We got to choose our products from the infamous Cousin product wall, and were told to create a full jewelry set embodying our personal style.



Last retreat, I created my Cosmic Chic set, using black and blue beads and wire in an edgy silhouette. This year, I was inspired by turquoise strands I found to create a woven dreamcatcher-themed set I entitled Hippie Dreams.



I mixed silver and antique gold metal for a totally bohemian look, and created wrapped beaded links to add movement. Crystals were added for sparkle and overall it's totally a design I'd wear over and over again!
After this design session, we were brought back to the hotel and then went to dinner. We were all pretty exhausted from the long day!
  

On the third day, we were designing again. I chose agate pendants and glitzed them up with Swarovski flat backs and metallic tattoos, to create totally beachy, gypsy-like layering necklaces. We shot videos showing our special projects. Shelly did her signature wire wrapping, Rachel created a beaded necklace, Rebecca wire wrapped-rings and Jennifer made simply chic earrings. We had one more meeting about Prima Bead, Cousin's partner online bead store.
Then, it was time for the famous "Bead Run"- we all got to fill USPS flat rate boxes with as much beads as we could from the Cousin bead wall. We were scrambling around in our 10 minute allotted time frame to get as much beads as we could! We stuffed our packages with chain, pearls, crystals, metal beads and more!
After the whole whirlwind trip, it was time for all of us to go back to the airport, to leave this tropical escape, to go back home!
   

So, back home to Chicago it was, and back to the colder, rainy weather. I gained a lot of knowledge, inspiration and ideas that I will be using going forward. Be on the lookout for more tutorials, projects and creations that I will be making and sharing with you all.
I want to extend a warm thank you to all the wonderful people at Cousin who planned, were involved in, and who made us feel welcomed at the trip. Also, to all my fellow Ambassadors, it was great to connect with you all again, and let's all rock on and push this program into the future and beyond!



All photos copyright Allison Beth Cooling.

firecracker daisy earrings +diy

A bright pop of color! These super cute Firecracker Daisy earrings only take a simple technique to create dazzling bead-woven beauties!



These earrings are a little longer, but if you want to stick with just the top flower that's ok too! I've chosen to mix a hodgepodge of colors here to give it that twinkling look - you can choose to use only certain colors if you're making these for a specific outfit or something!



These give off such a summery vibe, and would be great to wear to summer parties, picnics, or other get-togethers. Most of the beads and jewelry supplies I will be using are from PandaHall, but you can find similar materials and such at your local craft store.



Let's get started!



Step 1: Gather materials. Needed is 24 gauge wire (mine from Cousin), gold earring hooks (18mm long iron fishhooks from Pandahall), wooden beads (4X6mm colored wood oval beads from Pandahall), glass crystals (sky blue faceted 4mm bicones from Pandahall), seed beads (size 8 opaque mixed color beads from Pandahall) and pliers (flat nose, round nose and wire cutters).



Step 2: To make the smaller flower, start by cutting a 5" piece of your wire. Thread on a wood bead and a seed bead. Thread the end of the wire back through the wood bead (picture 2), keeping most of the wire on the rightmost side. Thread on a wood bead then another seed bead at this long end, and thread back through that wood bead, pulling tight to your first wood bead. It should look like the rightmost picture.



Step 3: Continue with this technique, adding "petals" until you have 6. To finish, twist both free ends of wire together tightly and then cut off the excess. Repeat for a second flower.



Step 4: Make another flower, but this time, add two wood beads per petal and make it 8 petals. To add the crystal centers, cut a 5" piece of wire and thread on 5 crystals; twist together to create a loop. Wrap around the center of the large flower, weaving up and down and in-between beads to secure. Add one more crystal in the middle and wrap again. Twist the ends and cut.



Step 5: Add a crystal center to the small flower, only using 3 crystals this time. To adhere your flower to the fishhook, use a small cutting of wire and thread through one of the seed beads. Create a wrapped loop and attach a jumpring. Add that jumpring to the fishhook. Do the same with the bottom petal of the small flower, and the top petal of the large flower to finish. Connect both with a jump ring.



These are super summery and fun. Nothing I would personally wear (with favorite colors black, black and more black) but my mom would love these. I'll give 'em to her!



All  photos copyright AllisonBeth Cooling. Do not post or reuse without crediting me and linking to me!