Hearthstone Earrings

These were my very first make when I jumped into the world of geeky crafts. They are extremely simple to make and look great on, I have received many compliments wearing these even from people who have no idea what they are.

Items needed:

General items
Am-Tech A3 Cutting Mat
X-Acto X3601 No.1 Precision Knife & Safety Cap
6" Long Nose Pliers For Bending And Cutting (Pack of 2)
For the Earrings
Staedtler Fimo Soft 8020-0 Oven Hardening Modelling Clay 56g - White
100 Silver Plated Earwire Hooks Earring Findings 19x18mm x 2
100 6mm silver plated jump rings x 2
100 x Small Tiny Mini Eye Pins Eyepins Hooks Eyelets Screw Threaded Silver 8mm x 2
Decoration
Cake Decorating Sugarcraft Modelling Tool Kit 8 Pieces (optional)
CHILDRENS WASHABLE PVA GLUE 5 LITRES
Scola Artmix Ready Mix Coloured Paint 12 x 600m (Pack of 12) (white, grey and blue)

The first step is to cut two equal size pieces of the Fimo, I recommend weighing them as you don't want one side weighing more than the other. Work the first piece of clay slightly between your fingers to make a little more pliable and then shape into an oval-esque shape. Do the same with the second piece trying to keep them equal in width and size.

You then want to work the Hearthstone swirl carefully into the main body of the stone, for this I used the cake decorating tool kit that I used to use when I baked. Any blunt edged item should have the same effect, just make sure it isn't too thick. It might take a few attempts to get the shape how you want it, I lightly imprinted the swirl I wanted before putting any real pressure on it. Once you are happy with the design you will need to bake the clay in the oven, follow the instructions on the packet for your oven. I have a fan oven so bake mine at 100°c for 10 minutes.

Take them out and allow to cool. Once cool, take the eye pins and gently screw them into the top of the Hearthstones.

Now you can paint, I added a layer of white first just so it had a base coat (and the clay picks up any little bits of dust, dirt etc). I then mixed my grey to the shade I wanted it to be, painted the sides and one side first and allowed to dry before painting the other side. I repeated for a second layer of grey to ensure it was well coated. I found holding the eye pin with the pilers meant I could paint the top of the stone neatly. Once it has completely dried you used a very fine brush to paint the swirl blue.

Next go over the stones with a couple of coats of PVA glue, this adds a nice shine to them and gives them a little bit of protection. You can always give them a spray with sealant like Plasti-kote 1138 400ml Super Clear for that extra layer of protection.

After the glue (and sealant) has dried take you jump rings and open them slightly using the pliers, loop them on to the eye hooks, then add the findings to the jump hoops and close them using he pliers. Be careful not to squeeze to hard as you will distort the rings. Allow to dangle to make sure they sit right; so when worn the swirl is facing forwards.

Ta Da!! Your funky new Hearthstone earrings are ready to show to the world. You don't have to just do Hearthstone; I plan to make myself a set of Pokeballs, red and green mushrooms from Mario and Mr & Mrs Pacman; as soon as I find the time.

For my pair I used antique bronze coloured jewellery pieces as they are what I had ordered in for other makes. These will look fine with the silver ones I have recommended at the top of the blog or any other colour you want to do them in.

Let me know if you give these a go, I'd love to see pictures of you wearing them and I will answer any questions in the comments.

See you soon x

Egg-cellent Eban - Cracking down on crime.

This is not so much of a "how-to" post but just a little one about the homework my son was given this term at school. He is only 4 and the theme has been superheroes which he and his fellow classmates have loved.

They have had to come up with their own hero, think of their powers, design their logo and then create the costume. If I am honest I had to hold back on how much I did with this, they specifically stated that firstly we were not allowed to use ready-made costumes (I wouldn't of) and mentioned using towels as capes etc which I am assuming was to put all parents on a level playing field. One parent knocking together a costume with a sewing machine is a little better than someone who shoved pants over the child's trousers and tucked a towel in to the back of their t-shirt. So I didn't go all out with Ebans, left him to do a lot of it.

It consisted of a white t-shirt which had Velcro attached to the shoulders for the cape and the front for the logo he coloured in (so I could remove it and reuse the t-shirt). A pair of black trousers tucked into his wellies, a cape cut out from an old tablecloth I used for craft fairs with a crack drawn on, a mask provided by school and a pair of cardboard wrist bands. I bought some Polystyrene Eggs (Pack of 10) before Easter for a previous dress up day (world book day, he went as the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk), coloured them in and attached them to his belt and one to each wrist. The eggs on the wrist had string attached so he could "shoot" them as that was one of his super powers. They attached to the bracelets again with Velcro. He loved it.

I thought I'd include a photo, just because he was so proud of it.

 

So there you have it, Egg-cellent Eban.

What has brought me to blogging?

So while I am still getting this set up and sorting through the things I have made to start filling my blog with, I thought I'd do a quick blog to say what has brought me to this.

Obviously in my first blog I mentioned that all things geeky and crafty is a passion of mine but the idea to actually blog about it came from a place called The Money Shed. After replying to a post about genuine working from home opportunities on The Netmum's Forum I was contacted by the owner of TMS. He told me to pop over to his forum where there are loads of ideas about making money online. He referred me to a company that I now work 15 hours on a evening for as my main source of income but I have been reading up on other sources; this is when I came across blogging.

I have tried blogs before, mainly as a motivational tool to try and stick to a diet but it has always failed; I have realised that it is because I am blogging about something that I really don't care enough about to put the time and effort into. Whereas geek crafts, I love to make them and I am more than happy to offer advice and tips to others who would like to replicate the items.

With the help of many experienced bloggers on TMS forum I have now set this up. I am just waiting for my husband to create me a header/logo and for me to adjust the background accordingly then I am ready to get going.

Blogs that are coming up include;

My Son's homework: Egg-cellent Eban - The Superhero
Hearthstone earings.
Zelda Triforce bracelet.
Skyrim Rune bracelet.
World Map coasters.
Purple and silver circuit board nails by Polished not Perfect.

Want to know more about getting into blogging or just how to make money online? Then follow the Doctors orders:

A geek of many crafts, master of none.

Hello and welcome to World of Geekcraft.

I have tried to keep up with many a blog but none of them I have ever been really passionate about, mostly weight loss.

This one is a little different to those. I enjoy being crafty, more specifically anything that is a little geeky. I have been a geek for many years now; I still remember being sat at the new family PC learning how to use word, excel and run games via MS-DOS while my friends were playing football outside on the field (this was almost 20 years ago).

My first interest in crafts was baking, I became obsessed with cupcake baking several years ago. I spent a long time practising my skills and eventually started selling my cakes. Due to an over-saturated market I had to drop the decision pretty quick, I also became frustrated at how much family time it took away from me too.

I still wanted something crafty to do, I was hoping to be able to do something at home that I could sell and help bring some funds into the household. This is when I was introduced to a Youtuber called Dodger by a friend. Besides being a gamer, she makes awesome geeky craft items. As soon as I finished watching all of her videos I decided that this is what I wanted to do.

I planned to sell these items but soon lost interest because of the cost it would take to get a portfolio together in order to sell to people. I then figured out that it was the fact I wanted to make money from this that put me off, I wanted this as a hobby rather than to make a living.

This is when World of Geekcraft was conceived. I could quite easily incorporate a blog with my hobbies and show other people what I can make but more specifically how to make it themselves and what/where to buy.

Over the coming weeks I will add all my makes so far, with what you will need to make them, where I found the ideas so I can give credit where it is due and be able to answer any questions via the comments. It won't just be crafts I share but all my hobbies; so baking, gaming and my most recent desire: nail art. I can guarantee that it will all be geeky.

Please feel free to follow and share my blog, follow/like/subscribe to all the socials but bare in mind that I am still getting this up and running.

Thank you for reading.

Chammy