Quiet Lion Creations - Page 56 of 110 - DIY Jewelry and Craft Blog by Allison B. Cooling

I have a LOT of shells laying around. I collect them from beaches I’ve been to, and sort of just save them up, for, well, things like this. I already did a post about Mermaid Trinket Dangles where I mixed these seaside offerings with vintage chandelier crystals and pearls. But, here, is art you can wear; golden, gilded hair clips.

This tutorial was inspired by these Valentino Shell hair clips, from the designer’s 2015 Spring/Summer show. You know I love a designer look for less, and these practically cost pennies to make. Plus, it’s super easy too.

I made one big comb and two smaller bobby pins (I merely decorated crystal bobby pins from Claire’s stores I got for 50 cents). Obviously I love sparkle, so I think the gems add the perfect touch. Don’t use skinny, regular bobby pins because the shells will just plain fall off. I’d use a think clip, plastic hair comb or something sturdier.

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are small shells, E600 Glue or hot glue, gold spray paint, hair clips or combs.

Step 2: Simply spray your shells with gold. Wait till dry, then glue to clips! If your shells aren’t flat, I sometimes use hot glue to fill up the shell inside and glue to the plastic comb. It works better than E600 glue. Don’t choose a real skinny clip or bobby pin either. It won’t hold!

Pretty straightforward right! You don’t just have to stick to hair clips here; glue them to cuff bracelets and mix with crystal flat backs for a total luxe look. Hmmm, maybe my next tutorial?! We’ll see!

All photos copyright Allison Beth Cooling. Don’t post or reuse without linking to me and crediting me!

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spotlight, vibes

love your bedroom - photo inspo

May 2, 2015

Whoa….
In case anyone was wondering or curious of The Quiet Lion’s abode, I’ve got a little photo montage here of my creative space - my bedroom.
Instead of giving you one big picture, I’m breaking it down into small elements, the ones I like the most. I’m not even gonna show you my bed, because that needs a re-model. I always love those crisp, white linens that I see in a lot of high-end bloggers Instagram posts, and my bedding is far from that. A setup from luxury bedding company Parachute would totally get me on that VIP status. And, their cool linen decorative pillows would the look with a pop of color.
But aside from just my bed, multiple other components combine to create this space, and I’m giving you a small offering of them below. Are you ready to take the journey?

What you’re looking at above is my, um, wallpaper. Yes, I peeled apart every fashion magazine I own (mainly Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and Elle), curating a collection of my most favorite photography and advertisements from the issues. Images that are most inspiring to me, images that have great color palettes, images that “pop” the most are always selected. I switch out the “wallpaper” in batches (I probably switch it once per year) because, well, the ads get old. With each new refresh, an entirely different mood forms - different hues, forms and shapes, overall aesthetics and design styles of the ads contributes to the overall feeling of the set. A chinese lantern bought in Chinatown Chicago is just a must - my handmade bunting made from recycled tees adds a hippie vibe, and the multicolor Italian lights are not just for Christmas people. I’m a more is better person - pile on the stuff.
Yes, these are all tacked up with thumbtacks. Not ideal. However, these thumbtacks do provide great hanging space for all my necklaces. On the left, you can see my entire wall covered in necklaces. Ceiling to almost floor. A mix of my handmade ones with store-bought. That’s basically my room - a mix of handmade and machine-made elements.

Aside from just necklaces, jewelry of all sorts is dotted about. Here, not handmade, but surely still cool bangles. I often wear mixed metals (as you probably know by now) and hate things that match. I use scarves (I have many scarves as well) as table cloths (or in this case, nightstand-cloths) which is something you should try with your room! If you’ve got some you’re not wearing, why not use them as a cool table decoration?!

Oh, and mobiles. I like mobiles or random things that hang. I have a huge shell one (not pictured in this post) I got in Florida that hangs in the corner. I also have my Crystal Eclipse mobile showing in the window, along with some other odds and ends. On the right, feathers, and another scarf-as-tablecloth.

And going with the more is better theme, this is my latest project (more to come soon), my victorian goth lamp. I took an old, decrepit lamp from a Greek wedding hall and re-vamped it. It was a gross tarnished brass color, and literally falling apart with a fringy, stained lampshade. The crystals though, upon a nice washing, were totally sparkly and looked like Swarovskis - they were definitely high quality vintage glass. I fixed up the hardware and spray-painted the whole thing black. Black is my favorite color, as you may know. I added a modern shade and called it done. Here, I have my Mermaid Shell Dangles also decorating the lamp, well, just because. Then, a Himalayan salt lamp and skull incense holder to complete. Nothing really goes together, have you noticed?

In the corner sit my guitars (no, far from Les Pauls but that’s ok) - and…. CATS. You know my obsession for cats by now if you are a reader. Here’s a little taste. I have many cat figurines (here a waving lucky cat from Chinatown in Chicago again), a lucky sleeping cat and cat charm. My buddha and money frog make an appearance too.

And again, jewelry. And perfume. Most of my perfume is the free Nordstrom vial sort, but I also like Lush perfume. In the back stand my other two favorites, Versace Yellow Diamond and Vera Wang Princess. The only thing missing is my absolute favorite, Prada Infusion d’Iris. Crystals and perfume match so well. Oh, and these metallic dishes? From Goodwill. I always go there to get props for my jewelry photography and they end up being useful to hold all my other miscellaneous items when not in a shoot.

A touch of handmade - my Prada copycat sign. My tutorial for that is here. And more lights. I really like these fairy lights which I found on Ebay. If I could cover the entire room in those I would. Maybe I will.

More cats, my all time favorite shoes!! And glitter shoes too. Again, scarf as tablecloth. Get the theme here?

Alright, that’s all you get to see today. I’ll leave you, hopefully inspiring you to create a space that you totally dig!

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

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jewelry, tutorials

emoji luv necklace +diy

April 29, 2015

So I’m pretty sure all of us are obsessed with emojis by now. I need like emojis everywhere in my life. As a graphic artist, I totally believe in the idea that images speak louder than words. Hence my love for The Emoji.

So when I was at Target one day, and spotted a package of - what?! - Emoji stickers?! I was super excited. Who knew these existed?! Did you?! Why didn’t you tell me?!

So anyways, I totally grabbed a pack and decided to get to work. I knew I wanted to make some sort of kitschy-style statement necklace, because, well, why not? Emojis have attitude, and while I usually don’t love super-bright, in-your-face colors, they totally work here.

To turn these stickers into charms, I turned to one of my favorite materials: polymer clay. Backing these stickers with clay, then baking, creates cool components with some serious style. For this necklace, I picked out my very most favorite emojis: the 100, the Skull, The lightning bolt, the Peace Sign, the Lips, the Sly Guy, the Shining Star and the Money Stack. It just so happened that these emojis all shared the colors red, white and yellow. Even better. Color palette, check.

Adding these emoji charms to chunky chain from Cousin Corporation, and mixing with rhinestone pave beads, totally completes the look. It’s a little over-the-top, but totally on purpose.

I’ll show you exactly how to make your own below. The hardest part might just be finding the emoji stickers. I’m telling you, you need them. I have a list of places that sell them below in Step 1.

Are we ready?! Let’s start.

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are pliers, polymer clay, a tissue blade or Xacto knife for cutting, clear gloss glaze, a paintbrush, pave rhinestone beads, chain, a clasp, headpins, and the pièce de résistance - the Emoji stickers. I got these from Target! You can also get them from Amazon and Urban Outfitters.

Step 2: Choose which emoji sticker you want as your charm. Take a marble-sized piece of clay (I’m using white here for a clean look. I used yellow for some of my other charms. Use whichever colors you like!) and gently roll out (I literally used a sharpie like a rolling pin). Roll till it’s about 3mm thick. Make sure it’s evenly rolled out like a nice little pancake!

Step 3: Gently peel off your sticker, and stick it right on the pancake. Press down and burnish gently. Start trimming the excess clay away with your tissue blade or Xacto knife.

Step 4: Continue trimming, using your Xacto blade to get right up against the sticker. Smooth out the edges by rubbing gently with your fingers.

Step 5: Carefully make a vertical hole in the clay with a needle. Make sure this hole goes all the way through the charm. I leave this needle (or sometimes I use headpins to make the holes) in the clay as it bakes to make sure the hole stays put.
Repeat the above steps for any other charms you want to make! Go ahead and bake these in a toaster oven at VERY LOW HEAT. I had my dial turned down below the 125 degree mark. You don’t want to bake these at a high temp because of the sticker. I baked my charms for about 20 minutes or so. When finished, let them cool fully.

Step 6: Coat all your charms in clear gloss glaze. Let all air dry.

Step 7: Add your charms to headpins and create wrapped loops. Start laying out the orientation of your necklace, and making charms out of the pave rhinestone beads. I stuck with yellow, white and red rhinestone beads to keep the color scheme coordinating.

Step 8: Simply add your charms and rhinestone bead charms evenly across your chain. I used jump rings to attach my charms to the chain links, which made it easier for me to sort of play with the right amount of charms, and where to place them. I alternated my rhinestone beads with my charms. There is no right or wrong way. Play around and see what looks best to you! To finish, add a clasp at the end of the chain.

Are you lovin’ this as much as I am? I like the contrast between the fancier sparkle beads, fun icons and industrial-type chain. What’s also great is that you can switch up the colors based on the emojis you pick. You could also use gold chain instead of silver if you prefer.

Make a matching bracelet if you want too. Might as well. Go all out.

If you make one of these, I say to with the punk vibe - a rocker-chic outfit of a long black tunic top, leather leggings and combat boots works totally well. I’m gonna leave you with two closing pics to inspire you. If you make a necklace using this tutorial, post pics to your instagram and tag me @quietlioncreations! I’ll repost you!