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Marvel, Muse, Manifest, Materialize. Welcome to February Jones: The Blog. While you're here I might challenge some of your opinions, show you something you never knew before, or if you're lucky, I just might melt your brain and bring you a new way of viewing the world and your place in it. And I have accessories to help you remember these new ways of thinking! View my Etsy shop items just to your lower right in my CraftCult widget, or by clicking on the Merchverse tab above. See what some of my customers think in the Testimonial section, and check out all on my interweb featurettes in the Media section. You can even watch some awesome Etsy videos in the Etsy Fun! section. I hope you enjoy the World of February Jones and come back often, things are always changing.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Fan Expo Adventures!

You may have noticed a lack of regular posts recently- I've been creating stuff like a possessed crafter in every free moment that I could find in preparation for Fan Expo which I attended as a vendor this past weekend. With attendance of over 70,000 fans it was an amazing experience to finally attend as a vendor. The first time I went was 5 years ago, and it was also my first date with James who is now my beloved fiance and partner in crime and crafting- so this weekend marked our 4-year anniversary, and I can't think of a better way to have celebrated :) . He helped create some comic-themed collage notebooks and sketchbooks which were a hit at the show, and of course, also encouraged me through many a late night and didn't complain about the craft-nado that had struck our small living room. Well, onto some photos of the big weekend!

 
The February Jones table in Artists Alley

 Me and my Partner in Crime and Craft, James
All of those notebooks were sold, save the one on the far left :)

 A close up of the small notebooks, larger journals, and sketchbooks


 
My brother Wesley on the right with his friend and co-conspirator Jason- they are 2 of 3 members of an indie videogame development team. They presented the game in a panel on indie game creation, and it is based on an online web series called Mind's Eye. Check it out here! mindseyeseries.com


 Typical amount of Artist's Alley traffic on the weekend. What a crowd!

Promo spot for a new dance game- great to watch the people testing it out, but with only 5 available songs for the beginner level, and 2 of them very popular... well, lets say that I don't want to hear them again any time soon.


And of course, this convention wouldn't be complete without some amazing costumes.... Unfortunately, I didn't get many photos. I was too busy selling ;)

*Maria

Monday, August 8, 2011

Stacked Button Rings (with tutorial!)



I spent this afternoon making Stacked Button Rings, and I had a ball! They're pretty easy, and I love the end result. I've amassed quite a collection of buttons and have been finding fun ways to use them. You can find buttons at your local sewing shop, sometimes they have discount bins that you can sift through. If you have any dollar stores nearby that have scrapbooking supplies, you might find buttons there as well. It's so much fun to mix and match different colours, and if you have a wide assortment you can make rings to match any outfits, or you can be cute and dorky and make some to match your favourite nail polish colours. *The pink and white ring was my fingernail matching creation :)

Want to make your own? Read on for the tutorial and some accompanying process photos.... Once you have your supplies, this project only takes about 15-20 minutes!

Creating Stacked Button Rings


-Flat nosed pliers
-Wire cutters
-3 buttons of different sizes that will stack atop one another
-Ring blanks for as many rings as you want to make
-About 12" of 24 gauge beading or jewellery wire

 1) Measure about 4" from one end of your wire and bend nearly in half.

2) Stack your buttons.

3) Thread the wire through 2 opposite holes from the smallest button to the largest button (ie insert wire at the top of the stack). Both ends of your wire should be coming out the bottom of the stack.

4) Using the longer wire, thread it back through the holes that the shorter wire is coming out of. Your longer wire should come out the top of your button stack. Pull tight!

5) With the longer wire again, thread it through the opposite holes back to the bottom. Pull tight to secure the stack!

6) This is how the bottom of your stack should look after securing the buttons together.

7) This is how the top of your stack should look after securing the buttons together. Pull the wires tight again to make sure the buttons are securely stacked.

8) Place your ring blank between the two wires and thread each wire through the ring, pulling tight again to secure.

9) Wrap the shorter wire around the ring, beneath the button. Thread it through the ring again to secure it more if you like. Do the same with the longer wire. Cut the shorter wire and use the flat nosed pliers to push the cut end towards the middle of your wrappings (see image 11 for a detail of that step).

10) Wrap longer wire around a few times, always pulling tight.

11) Push in the wire with the piers, toward the center of your wire wrapping. Thanks basically it folks!

You now have a super-cute, endearingly dorky accessory customized to your colour wishes!
I'd love to hear what you think about this tutorial. Please leave any thoughts or feedback in the comments :)