Wooden Flower Necklace

Sheesh, I let two days go by without a post...it's criminal! Hahaha.

Anyhoo, you have probably noticed the picture of this necklace in my header. I made it probably about a year ago. It's really simple, just some necklace wire strung with green and brown beads and a wooden pendant that I found at the craft store...not much at all. :)

Reward Post: Elegant Pink and Silver Dangles!

13 followers! Thank you Ryn! Remember, I'm having a giveaway when I get 15 followers!

Here's another pair of Valentine feeling earrings! Notice the little hearts at the end of the eye-pins. ^_^ On each of those eye-pins is a sparkling pink Swarovski crystal and above that a chain of chainmaille...haha. :P

Pink Flower Earrings

I made these cute earrings yesterday with a Valentine's Day mindset. :) The chainmaille design is called a mobius, which I personally love the look of.

And I noticed yesterday, after I had made these, that Shealynn has a pair of earrings similar to these listed in her shoppe! Click here to check them out!

And in other news, I'm up to 13 followers (reward post later today ;-)! Come on, only 2 more until I have a giveaway!

Reward Post: Ever Wonder...

...where my logo came from?

12 followers! Thanks Monica! Only 3 more for a givaway!

So, where did the logo come from? I was playing around with my wire and peg-board when I came up with this simple design. Then, when I was setting this blog up, I realized that the last loops could be made into an 'L' for Leia. Yep, short true story. :D

Reward Post: Ocean Blue Wire Pendant!

I'm up to 11 followers! Only 4 more until I have a giveaway! Thank you Cor Mariae and Maria!

Here's another wire pendant. To this one I added a blue, oval shaped bead. Not much more to say, the pictures speak for themselves. ;-)

St. Joseph

I was taking pictures for my mom this morning and really loved how this one turned out. :-)

More Chainmaille!

I dug up some pictures of a few of my older chainmaille projects. So, this is sort of a continuation of my last chainmaille post. ;-)

This is a pair of the "many chainmaille earrings" I mentioned before.

This bracelet was my first complete piece of chainemaille jewelry.

(terrible picture :P) I used the last of my jump rings (of that size) while making these...hence, single earring. I love the look.

Reward Post: Floating Pearl Bracelet!

As of yesterday I have 9 followers! Thank you Christina!

I made this floating pearl bracelet a couple days ago. It turned out a little bigger than it should be, so I'll probably end up taking it apart and remaking it soon. Other than the size I really love it. Floating bracelets are so simple, yet so elegant at the same time. I love them, to say the least. ^_^

Celtic Cross Pendant

This is sort of  Celtic cross, but the bottom 'beam' isn't technically long enough to be a Celtic cross. I added the glass bead to the bottom and put it on a chain. Voila! :)

And I have nine followers! Reward post tomorrow, so check back. ;-) Only 6 more followers for a giveaway!

Green Teardrop Earrings

More wire spirals. Lol, I've been making a lot of them. I need to work on some for challenging wire projects than these simple little spirals. *roles-eyes at self*

Sacrifice Beads

I made my first sacrifice beads when I was in probably 3rd or 4th grade. Gold pony beads, cord, and plastic Crucifix and Miraculous Medal. About three months ago I found this site. I played around a little bit with it, but I didn't ever complete a set because I didn't have any medals. Then, exactly a month ago, Shealynn posted the tutorial that the above site had. I still didn't have any medals though, so I forgot about it again. Last week, after I had made hundreds (ok, not that many) of wire spirals, I decided to ask my mom if she had any medals I could use. Yhese Sacrifice Beads were the final product. I'm planning on ordering some more medals this week, so I'll have more pictures later. :)

A little note. To promote my blog, I have a challenge for you, my readers. For each new follower I get, I'll have an extra post. Which means that instead of the every other day posts (I'm trying to keep to that schedule :P) that I've been giving you, you'll have the chance to get one everyday. Additionally, I'm going to have a giveaway as soon as I have 15 followers! So tell your friends about me, grab my blog button!

First Attempt Ring

It actually turned out! I love it. :D

Classy Swirl Earrings

I made these simple silver and black earrings today. I got the cool black shell beads for Christmas and I made the simple wire swirls to go along with them. I really like how they turned out.

My Wonderful Discovery of Chainmaille

I found it quite ironic that Shealynn was the first to comment on my last post, as she is how I discovered chainmaille jewelry. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with it.

I first found Shealynn's blog sometime this past summer and was completely captivated by her chainmaille jewelry. So that's when I began my research and found out about UnkamenGifts, and also found a few useful online tutorials. Though, I must say, there really aren't that many websites about chainmaille jewelry out there (most of the hits I got were for full body chainmaille armor). My first project was a short chain of the helm weave.

After that I didn't really make that much because I didn't have any cool colored jump rings. But, for my birthday I received a sample package of jump rings from UnkamenSupplies. That's when I really began playing around with it. Unfortunately you can't really make anything but earrings and necklace pendants from the sample pack, so that's what I've been making a lot of.

For Christmas got a few different colors and sizes of jump rings and I've actually been able to make more complete things (though I haven't yet made anything complete, just played around a bit). You probably noticed the green and gold bracelet in my header, made entirely of jump rings. It's actually not mine. My confirmation sponsor (or my fairy-godmother) had ordered a kit for herself from Unkamen but she wasn't able to figure it out, so she commissioned me to make it for her. I took one look at the picture and said "I can make that! I don't even need the instructions!" And so I did.

That's pretty much all there is to it. A huge thanks to Shealynn for opening up my doors to the world of chainmaille jewelry! :D

Rosary Bracelets

I *think* I made my first rosary bracelet back in late Spring/early Summer of 2010 after my mom requested that I make something for the silent auction at our local Catholic homeschool conference. I have made rosaries previous to these, but I simply fell in love with the rosary bracelets as they are so quick and easy to make.

I only have two currently that I haven't sold or given away, but I think these two might be my favorites (it's probably the Swarovski crystals :D).

<---This is my lavender rosary bracelet, it was actually the prototype so-to-say. ;) Made with Swarovski crystals and sterling silver findings. --->

<---And this green one is my most recently made rosary bracelet. It's for one of my out-of-state friends, but I still haven't sent it to her...(bad Leia, bad). Also made with Swarovski crystals and sterling silver findings.

Have you noticed that I love Swarovski crystals? Practically every other  (ok...maybe not quite that much, but close) jewelry item I make has at least one Swarovski crystal in it's design. I broke a few in some of my earlier projects, but once I learned how to handle them properly I was under a spell. It's a pity they're so expensive.

I also wanted to add two of my most prized resources. My mom and I found these sites when I first started making rosary bracelets. They're both online stores that have huge selections of religious medals. They're where I found the small one's used for these bracelets. So, without further ado, the links!

JMJ Products LLC and Madonna Shops Online. :)

Check back soon for...simple drop earrings and my discovery of Chainmaille jewelry.

Celtic Budding Spiral Earrings

I made these as a gift for someone for Christmas. My mom and I searched around online for different Celtic wire spirals, and this one caught our eyes. I wrapped the wire on my peg board (it's a really neat tool, I'll have to post about it later),then adjusted them until they matched, and finally pounded them with a hammer to ensure that they kept their shape. Hammering them also scraped away at the base layer of silver, so the copper underneath shows through a little bit. I thought is gave it a cool effect. I also added a pink Swarovski crystal to the bottom link of each spiral for an extra element. :) 

The pictures aren't as good as I would have liked, I was rushed in taking them because my mom had to send the package.

Welcome!

So, you have happened upon my humble dwelling space, now what? Well, I'll give you a little..tour of sorts. ;) This is my craft and photography blog. Why have a blog apart from my personal blog you ask? Well, I felt like maybe, just maybe if I had a dedicated space for my crafting, I wouldn't forget to post things. And that, my dear friends, is why you are here today. Just a few things I'd like to explain before I start posting my creations.

1) My blog's name. Leia is a play on my name, and boutique just made everything sound fancier. :D Actually, I plan to *eventually* start an online store and wanted the name to carry over nicely, thus the word 'boutique'. So, it may not quite fit the purpose of this blog right now, but just you wait. ;)

2) My lovely banner is the result of I don't know how many days work. It really didn't take that long to make, it just took way to long to figure out what I wanted.

3)And last, but not least, I love comments. Don't hesitate at all to leave me even the littlest note, you'll make my day!

I shall return soon with a post about at least one of the many projects I'm working on. :)