Case for Knitting Needles

You know I love to knit. I do not knit as much as I make jewelry. My jewelry tools are more or less organized. Every tool has it's own place, but not my knitting tools. They can be in the cup with pencils, in the box with yarn, or somewhere else. I needed to organize them too! And I did!
I spent all day doing this important job. My husband was not allowed to disturb me. Dinner was cooked by him as well ... OK, at least he started it :))
Did I mention I made two cases? To make the first one, I use my hubby's jeans (his price for dinner) and piece of colorful fabric with butterflies. I bought that fabric years and years ago to sew something good for my daughter, but I did not. I killed It took a half day, probably, to finish this first case. It has 28(!) pockets where you can put long and short items (needles, crochet hooks, scissors,  brushes, rulers, etc)

Playing with Polymer Clay Again

Last weekend, I bought 'Premo' polymer clay because it was on sale at Michael's- for only $0.99. Well, I needed to make something with it. My 7 y.o. daughter helped me rolling clay in my pasta machine. Conditioning clay, to be exact.
To make long story shorter, I will show you my results. OK, not every single item ( I made 7 pairs of earrings, 3 pendants, and dozens of buttons.)
This pendant reminds my Picasso's art. Don't you think? My daughter sees olives, ham , fried eggs and peacock feathers. Hm-m-m... Did I feed her?

Zigzag of Luck

Hooray! I just got the Step by Step Wire Jewelry magazine with my article in!

I submitted my design of Zigzag of Luck

April-May 2012 issue.

Knitted Cup Cozy

I love hot tea. My husband likes iced tea. My friend loves hot cocoa. Often, the beverage cools down/warms up too quickly. Now, the problem is solved!

Hand-knitted cabled cup cozy will keep your drink hot (or cold), and keep your hands comfortable. It wraps around your coffee or tea mug and closes with a button.

This cup cozy stretches to fit most sizes of cups and mugs, including travel mugs. Keep a cup cozy in your bag, so you won't need to use a disposable coffee sleeve.

A perfect gift for everybody.

If you have some basic  knitting skills, you can knit your own cup cozy. Follow along with my tutorial to make your very own! 

Happy Woman's Day!

March 8th  is one of my favorite holidays. It is officially known as a International Women's Day. It is loved by many and is widely celebrated in Eastern Europe.

Most of my followers and readers of this blog are women. So, my friends, I want to congratulate you on this beautiful Day!

This day only, on March 8th, I have a SALE at my GoodWeather and AroundBeads shops. Use promo code HAPPY20 to get 20% off on any item!

Grandma's Garden- Crayon Art

It's hard to find a good present for our grandma (actually, she's my mom, but Anya's grandma).

"I have everything," she says always.

Ok, we will not buy a present, we will make it!

My mom has a beautiful garden in Russia. She grows everything there: potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, apples, strawberries, black and red currants, gooseberries... and it's not all. Her favorites are flowers. Her garden is full of flowers.

My mom's birthday is in February. No flowers yet :) Well, we will give her a garden of flowers made of...crayons!

To make a piece of art, we used canvas (12"x12"), crayons  (we used 3 boxes to pick only greens), artificial flowers, glue gun and hair drier.

Glue crayons to the edge of canvas with a glue gun.

Turn canvas upside down so crayons are pointing down.

Upcycling Sweaters. Part 2 - Coasters

I made a lot of stuff out of felted sweaters: bags, gadget cases, little cute toys ....And I had a lot of small scraps that I felt sorry to throw them away. What else could I make out of little pieces? Well, they are not tiny-little, something about 4"-5" (13cm) across....
Coasters!!! They do a fantastic job protecting your furniture from those inevitable water rings made by our drinking glasses and coffee mugs. Right? So, I made coasters, and they are double sided!

Tucson Jewelry Classes

I wanted to let you know that you can find me in Tucson this winter! I'll be available to teach classes at Tucson Electric Park/Kino Sports Complex at JewelryTools' Tool Tent, #ES14.

You can see all the classes and days I'm teaching here: http://www.jewelrytools.com/classes/albina-manning /

Classes start at just $99 and will be held January 28-February 12, 2012

You can find directions to Tucson Electric Park here: http://www.jewelrytools.com/classes/tucson2012-directions

Hope to see you there! 

Christmas/New Year sale

Hello, my friends!

I am holding an annual Christmas/New Year sale. Save 20% on jewelry, holiday decor, and tutorials at my Around Beads store.

My second shop, GoodWeather, has nice "warm"gifts for you, your friends, and collegues.

 

To save 20%, use coupon code MCHNY20 (MerryChristmasHappyNewYear20) during checkout (press "Apply shop coupon code").

Also, first three shoppers at each store will get a free gift from Santa (I have an agreement with him ).

Everything is ready to ship, so you will get your Christmas gift in time!

Custom orders are welcome!

Discount coupons are active now and will expire on December 31st at midnight.

Vegetable Turkey

This recipe is not new, but maybe some people have not seen or tried it before.


A dip has to be prepared a couple of days or at least an hour in advance.
For the dip you will need:
~ 400 grams of cream cheese
~ 4 table spoons of sour cream
½ cup of finely chopped parsley
1/4 tea spoon of black or white grinded pepper
2 tea spoons of grinned lemon zest