Upcycled Denim Jeans Feather Earrings File

 Hello All!  Wow, it's been almost a year since I've posted!  I have been busy beating cancer!  I finished chemo in June and had surgery last month to have my ostomy reversed.  All scans are clear so I just have to go in every 3 months for bloodwork to make sure I'm really cancer free.  

I have also listed several new files in my Etsy shop.  If you get a chance, check it out!

I'm really trying to not spend a bunch of money on supplies in the new year since I have tons of stuff I haven't even used yet.  I've been wanting to try cutting denim with my Glowforge and made these really cute earrings.

These were made from a really old pair of jeans in my closet that should have been donated years ago!  The brand is D.Jeans.  Anyone heard of them?  When I googled them, they are only available on Poshmark or Thredup so they have probably been out of production for years.  Seriously, I think they are at least 20 years old!  Upcycling is really popular right now and if I can use free materials for some cute earrings, it's a win!

First I cut the jeans up using the inseam as the middle of the earrings.  I ironed the piece flat and put it in the Glowforge.  I then cut them using medium Proofgrade Leather as the setting but changing the speed and power to 180/Full.  Depending on your denim weight, you may need to use a faster or slower speed.  Try to place the seam in the middle of the design.  I held the denim down with magnets and I did mask but I don't think it's necessary to do so.

Cutting takes about 20 seconds and is the easiest part of making the earrings.  Then you have to fray them by pulling out the threads one by one... This is actually demonstrated on a keychain size piece.

Here's the keychain I made using the denim and wood charms.  I used an eyelet in the hole to make it more secure: 

Anyway, after fraying it, I added some bling!  I used some iron-on ribbon from Hobby Lobby that I cut into a single strip.  It comes like this:

And you can easily cut it to whatever size you want.  I ironed it using a Cricut mini press in the middle of the earring.  I love how they turned out!

You can download the svg I used for the earrings and keychain HERE

If the above link doesn't work - try THIS ONE

I hope you enjoyed this post and happy Forging!

Open Hoop Earring File

 

Hi all!  I'm back with a simple earring file after reading on the Glowforge - Jewelry Makers Facebook group that makers were having a hard time finding a file for open hoop earrings.  After I made the file I had a lot of fun making some unique hoops out of wood and acrylic.

I made these out of wood and engraved patterns on them with my Glowforge.

These are wood with alcohol ink and UV Resin

Acrylic

On the bottom pair above, I cut wood veneer and added it to the acrylic to hide the posts inside the clear acrylic.  For the green glitz pair, I used gold foil topped with UV resin to hide the posts.

To attach the posts, I drilled a tiny hole in the end of the earrings with my dremmel.  I then used a 21 gauge headpin and glued it in the hole.  The glue used for the wood earrings is DAP Rapidfuse.  I found it didn't work well for the acrylic earrings and ended up using UV resin to secure the headpins on the acrylic earrings.  After the glue/resin cured, I snipped the headpin to the appropriate length and sanded down the sharp edges created when I snipped them.  I think they turned out great!

I made 4 different widths and 2 versions, depending on how wide you want the gap in the hoop.  These are sized at 1.75 inches but of course you can resize as needed.  Thanks for looking!

Download the Open Hoop Earring File HERE

Funny Ostomy Earrings

Hello all!  It's been a long couple of months but I'm finally back with a freebie that will probably have very few downloads but I think they are fun and relevant to my life right now!  I had my surgery Dec 1st to remove my tumor and woke up with an ileostomy.  This was best case scenario because it is only temporary and will be reversible.  I was feeling pretty crappy for a couple of weeks but bounced back and I feel great now!  There were lymph nodes affected so I am now going through clean-up chemotherapy.  I go every other week for 12 sessions and should be finished this summer.  I'm ready to get it all behind me!

So anyway, if you know someone with an ostomy and would like to make them a cute pair of earrings - here you go!  Enjoy!

Download the CU OK Ostomy Earrings HERE

If you happened to land here but don't have a laser, I sell these earrings in my Etsy Shop.

Macrame Gnome Earring File and Cancer Update

 

Hello all!  Sorry I haven't posted in a few days but I've been busy creating some new earring files to list in my Etsy shop.  I made these adorable macrame Santa earrings and they'be been really popular.

So I decided to make a set of gnomes too and I think they turned out pretty stinking cute!  The file is set up to score the gnome's nose and the bottom of his hat.  This makes painting easy!  you can peel the masking off the part you are painting and you don't have to worry about going outside of the lines because the rest of the masking is still in place.  You can really get creative with the hat and paint or engrave a design in it.  I'm thinking a heart for Valentine's Day, snowflake for Christmas, shamrock for St. Patrick's Day, etc.  These really aren't my style but macrame earrings are really trending (think Boho).  

I used white embroidery floss for these and cut them to about 5 inch lengths.  Each section has 3 strands of embroidery floss, doubled when you make a larks head knot for each section.  I just made these for display purposes but if you are going to wear/sell them (and why wouldn't you?), you would probably want to put a dab of glue on the back of each knot so they don't come undone.

Also, this may be the last post for awhile because next Tuesday (Dec 1st) I will be having surgery to remove the tumor and a big section of my colon/rectum.  I met with the surgeon last week and he stated the surgery could take up to 6 hours.  They are going to try to do it robotically but if they run into complications they will have to open me up.  Obviously I would prefer robotically because there will be smaller incisions and easier recovery.  Hoping for the best!  I will be in the hospital for 3-5 days and due to Covid I can't have any visitors!  Once they wheel me into the OR, I won't see my family again until they pick me up at the front door 3-5 days later.  I have to say, I am a little terrified.  I'm not afraid of the surgery or even the pain.  I am worried that the recovery will take too long and I won't enjoy Christmas.  But it needs to be done and I will be glad to have it behind me.

Ok, now for the reason you are all here, the freebie.  I have had a few comments on facebook that some people cannot download my files.  I would suspect it is because your browser is blocking it.  It is a direct download from Google Drive.  If you cannot download it, please try allowing pop-ups or try a different browser.  Hopefully that will allow you to download them!

Download the Macrame Gnome Earring File HERE

If you don't have a Glowforge but would like to make these cute earrings, I sell the blanks in my Etsy Shop.

I also sell the Santa wood blanks!

3D Snowflake Earrings - Free Laser File

Happy Saturday everyone!  It's starting to get cold here in Illinois and although we haven't had any real snowfall yet we all know it's coming soon!  I had some fun creating thse little 3D snowflake earrings and I think they really turned out cute!  There are two different versions in the .zip file.  There is one for proofgrade acrylic and one for 1/8" wood or other brands of acrylic that might be a little thicker.  After they are cut you have two pieces.  I painted these and added a bit of glitter:

The wood version has a bigger slot and depending on your materials there may be a little bit of leeway when you piece them together.  I just use one of these tiny brushes and add superglue to the area in red before I slide them together to secure them.

Then you just need to add your hardwear and they're ready to wear!  I hope you enjoy them!  Commercial Use is OK with this file!

DOWNLOAD THE FREE 3D SNOWFLAKE EARRING FILE HERE

 

Happy Veteran's Day! Free Laser File

 

Hello and thank you to all Veterans out there!  I appreciate you all year but today is your day!  I created another free sign file today for the occasion.  This one is about 11ish by 6ish inches but of course you can make it any size!  Probably the only thing I hate more than painting is gluing a bunch of tiny pieces and trying to get them lined up correctly on the backer board.  So this one is all one piece!

Just cut, paint or stain and glue.  Easy peasy.  I didn't add hardware to hang it because I was just going to lean this one.

Included in the .zip is a distressed Veteran flag that would be better suited for engraving.  I didn't have time to engrave it but here's a mockup I did in Photoshop.

Thanks for reading and enjoy!  Commercial Use allowed with this file!

Download the Veteran Flag File HERE

***********  Edited to Add **********

What to do with 50 tiny stars? 

Add tiny earring posts to them and make cute star studs!

First Post

Those of you who followed my blog many years ago know that this isn't really my first post.  I deleted all the old posts and am starting fresh!  None of the old links to the digital scrapbook freebies worked anymore and while I knew I needed to update or delete the blog, I just kept putting it off.  I decided today that it was finally time!  I am not going to write a big long post tonight but wanted to update anyone who may have read the blog 10 years ago on what's going on with my life.

I retired in April 2019 from the police department after 28 years of service!  My first few months after retiring were spent doing things I never seemed to have time to do.  I cleaned the grout in my kitchen, organized the closets, did lots of puzzles, went to the gym... I love retirement!  I picked up a couple of odd jobs walking the neighbor's dog and I worked for the Census in the fall of 2019 canvassing addresses.  I also continued to work on my Etsy shop and it kept me busy enough that I didn't pursue another full time job.  

In February of this year I bought a Glowforge laser and I'm having a blast with it!  I mostly use it for jewelry for my shop but I've also made signs for several family members and friends.  When people learn you have a laser they come to you with all kinds of projects!  I plan to share what I'm making and some free .svg files that can be used with a laser or electronic cutting machine.

Cut to March - COVID shuts everything down! I was scheduled to start back up with the Census but they weren't sending enumerators out because of Covid.  I had kind of forgotten about it when they called and wanted me to go to training in July.  My heart wasn't really in it at that point.  My mom had just had back surgery and I was staying with her while she recovered and driving back and forth to my house 45 minutes away.  But I went to the training and figured I could make a little Christmas cash.  That was a Saturday.

On Monday, July 27th, I had a colonoscopy and woke up to some terrible news.  There was a tumor in my rectum and I needed to have a CT scan right away.  I was escorted from the recovery room across the hall to the CT scan.  I don't remember much of the rest of the evening.  What a shock!  The following weeks I had another CT (chest) an MRI, and multiple appointments with the Oncologist, Surgeon, and Radiologist.  I had 6 weeks of radiation and chemo and had minimal side effects.  I had wonderful care from all my providers.  Now my body is healing from the damage of the radiation and chemo.  In early December I will have surgery to remove the tumor.   Hopefully I will be recovered and feeling good again by Christmas!  

I hope you all will continue to follow my blog and my journey.  Thanks for reading!