Workshop Wednesday - Crocheted Flower Earrings Tutorial With Jennifer White Designs

Today marks another installment of my weekly blog series titled Workshop Wednesday. Each Wednesday will feature either a tutorial by yours truly or another talented artist or artisan, or a snapshot of an artist's creative process. This week's Workshop Wednesday features Jennifer of Jennifer White Designs. She has graciously put together a tutorial on how to create crocheted flower earrings.

Crocheted Flower Earrings Tutorial

You’ll need:

●Less than 1 ounce of yarn. I used Sugar ‘n Cream cotton in color Faded Denim, but any worsted weight yarn will work.

●Size G Crochet hook

●2 surgical steel earring hooks

●2 decorative beads or buttons

●Sewing thread in a color that coordinates with yarn color.

●Sewing needle

●Jewelry pliers

●2 3in. head pins


Stitches Used:

Chain stitch (Ch): Yarn over, pull yarn through loop on hook.
Double Crochet stitch (dc): Yarn over, insert hook into next stitch, yarn over, pull yarn through stitch, yarn over pull yarn through two loops on hook, yarn over, pull yarn through all remaining loops. One loop remains.
Slip Stitch (sl st): Insert hook into next stitch, yarn over, pull yarn through stitch and loop on hook.

Making the flower (Make 2):

Make a slip knot with yarn. Place the loop onto crochet hook and chain two. Turn.
Round 1: Work 5 double crochet in second chain from hook. Slip stitch into next stitch. You now have a small circle.


Round 2: Chain 3, (dc, ch 3, sl st) in same sc, (sl st, ch 3, dc, ch 3, sl st) in each sc around, sl st in first sl st to join–5 petals. Fasten off. Weave in any loose ends.


With thread and needle, sew decorative button or bead in center of flower. Repeat for 2nd flower as well.


Now take one of the 3 in. Head pins and use pliers to cut it in half.


Discard the flat end, (assuming you’re using the kind with a loop at one end) Next, slide head pin through the top stitch of one of the flower petals. Then, using pliers, bend pin up and toward the loop so that petal is secured onto head pin.


Next, take earring hook and attach the head pin loop to the bottom loop of hook.


Repeat for other earring and enjoy your funky new jewelry!!


Be sure to check out Jennifer's work in her Etsy shop! If you're interested in being a part of future Workshop Wednesdays, please feel free to convo me in my Etsy shop or comment on this post. Have a great day!

Workshop Wednesday

Today marks another installment of my weekly blog series titled Workshop Wednesday. Each Wednesday will feature either a tutorial by yours truly or another talented artist or artisan, or a snapshot of an artist's creative process. This week's Workshop Wednesday features Karen of TuscaloosaRoad. She has put together a great tutorial on how to create an eco-friendly cuff. I posted this tutorial in March but it's one of my favorites and I wanted to share it again.

Eco-Friendly Sweater Cuff

What You’ll need:

Sweater fabric - Your local Goodwill or other thrift stores will carry sweaters of all kinds in fairly good condition. Choose sweaters that have a tight weave - cashmere works best because it’s natural and VERY soft. You’d be surprised what you’ll find while at the thrift shop. They carry some very nice items, and you could easily spend hours there. You’ll have to remind yourself to keep on track and repeat to yourself, “I’m shopping for sweaters, I’m shopping for sweaters!”

Yarn - This can also be found at your local thrift shop.

Embellishments - anything will do…a favorite button or pin, or a stash of beads works nicely.

Step 1:

Gather your sweater fabric together and choose colors that you feel will go together nicely. Here I have 4 sweaters in a creamy cashmere, a taupe cashmere, a camel colored cotton cable knit (say that three times fast!) blend, and apple green mohair blend. I ended up using all sweaters except the taupe cashmere on this project.


Step 2:

Now your ready to design the length, style and circumference of your cuff!

Cut several strips of sweater fabric of the same length and lay them out, making sure there are enough strips to cover the circumference of your forearm.

I find that if you use the ribbed areas of the sweater, it holds nicely when you sew the pieces together.

Choose the yarn you’ll be using. Here I’m using bright mustard, rust and olive colors in a 100% wool blend. Notice that my yarn contrasts with the natural colors of the cuff material. You can use whatever yarn color suits your fancy.


Step 3:

Using a very simple overstitch, stitch your cuff pieces together lengthwise. This step takes a little while. I’d say this cuff took me 2.5 hours to stitch. Grab a cup of tea, put on your favorite TV show, and stitch away.

Make sure to overstitch the top and bottom of the cuff too, to deter any fraying.


Once you finish sewing, you’re almost done! Notice how pretty and sinewy the stitches contrast against the fabric on your cuff. It will look very organic and if some of the ends fray a little bit, that’s o.k! It will add to the character of your cuff.


Step 4:

This is my favorite step. Gather together some trinkets for embellishing your cuff. I found these at garage sales and on Etsy. I chose the enameled calico cat pin for this cuff. I’ve decided to name him Cecil. I love the mustardy yellow color on Cecil the cat’s fur. I used him as my cuff’s center-of-attention.


Step 5:

Your done! Now you have an eco-friendly cuff that will look beautiful with a sweater and a pair of jeans. And it will keep your wrist warm too!





Be sure to check out Karen's work in her Etsy shop! If you're interested in being a part of future Workshop Wednesdays, please feel free to convo me in my Etsy shop or comment on this post. Have a great day!

Workshop Wednesday - Recap

Each week I run a blog series titled Workshop Wednesday. Each Wednesday features either a tutorial by yours truly or another talented artist or artisan, or a snapshot of an artist's creative process. Unfortunately today's featured artist has had a family emergency come up, so while she and her family are in my thoughts, here's a recap of all the past wonderful Workshop Wednesday features.

1/14 - How To Create A Resin Finish On A Wood Tile, by Allover Art
1/21 - Handmade Dog Collars With GoneDoggie
1/28 - Handcrafted Wooden Toys With McCoyToys
2/4 - Pet Portrait Process With Allover Art
2/11 - Photoshop Tutorial With McGuinness Photography
2/18 - How To Make A Canvas Collage, by Tangente
2/25 - How To Create A Reversible Headband, by Zemphira
3/4 - Crocheted Flower Earrings With Jennifer White Designs
3/11 - How To Create An Eco-Friendly Cuff, by TuscaloosaRoad

This is an ongoing series, so be sure to check back every Wednesday for a new feature. If you're interested in being a part of future Workshop Wednesdays, please feel free to convo me in my Etsy shop or comment on this post. Have a great day!

Workshop Wednesday Recap

Each week I run a blog series titled Workshop Wednesday. Each Wednesday features either a tutorial by yours truly or another talented artist or artisan, or a snapshot of an artist's creative process. Here's a recap of all the past wonderful Workshop Wednesday features.

1/14 - How To Create A Resin Finish On A Wood Tile, by Allover Art
1/21 - Handmade Dog Collars With GoneDoggie
1/28 - Handcrafted Wooden Toys With McCoyToys
2/4 - Pet Portrait Process With Allover Art
2/11 - Photoshop Tutorial With McGuinness Photography
2/18 - How To Make A Canvas Collage, by Tangente
2/25 - How To Create A Reversible Headband, by Zemphira
3/4 - Crocheted Flower Earrings With Jennifer White Designs
3/11 - How To Create An Eco-Friendly Cuff, by TuscaloosaRoad

This is an ongoing series, so be sure to check back every Wednesday for a new feature. If you're interested in being a part of future Workshop Wednesdays, please feel free to convo me in my Etsy shop or comment on this post. Have a great day!

Workshop Wednesday - How To Make A Canvas Collage With Tangente

Today marks another installment of a new weekly blog series titled Workshop Wednesday. Each Wednesday will feature either a tutorial by yours truly or another talented artist or artisan, or a snapshot of an artist's creative process. This week's Workshop Wednesday features "How to Make a Canvas Collage" with tangente.

Tutorial - Collage On Canvas

My walls were still bare after living in the same house for 2 years. It was time for a change so I decided I would make my own art. I started by buying a blank canvas at Micheals, some Modge Podge and a book from Salvation Army I got for 35cents.

The canvas was already primed so I just needed to do 2 coats with some leftover basement paint. I realized that I was out of paint stir sticks so my handy boyfriend improvised and found me some chopsticks.

While I let the canvas dry, I started cutting out various circle shapes.

Once the paint was completely dry, I started gluing the circles in various positions.

I decided to leave a bit of the canvas blank and honestly at this point I had had enough! The very last step was applying 2 coats of Modge Podge all over the canvas. At this step, I learned lesson #1 - paper circles need to be properly glued to avoid bubbling and curling. Thank god the paper is old so it kinda blends in.

Lesson #2 was a bit more difficult. As we were hanging the canvas on the wall, I noticed that the canvas was warped. I'm not sure why I didn't notice this earlier. After an hour and a half, my boyfriend finally figured out a way to hang so it wouldn't show. Phew!

As you can see, I'm no expert at making art collages but it's still a great way to add a bit of character to your walls for under $30.

Thanks tangente! I have a suggestion for the warping issue. For those worried about the canvas panel warping, you could use canvas that is stretched over stretcher bars. This will most-likely elevate your cost a little bit, but will solve the warping issue.

Be sure to check out tangente's Etsy shop and peruse her unique handmade collection of scarf tops, women's clothing, and accessories! You can also read more about tangente on her blog. If you're interested in being a part of future Workshop Wednesdays, please feel free to convo me in my Etsy shop or comment on this post.

Workshop Wednesday - Photoshop Tutorial With McGuinness Photography

Today marks another installment of a new weekly blog series titled Workshop Wednesday. Each Wednesday will feature either a tutorial by yours truly or another talented artist or artisan, or a snapshot of an artist's creative process. This week's Workshop Wednesday features Jen of McGuinness Photography, and I'm super-excited about her Photoshop tutorial "How To Tone Your Photos In Photoshop."

How To Tone Your Photos In Photoshop

Here is a quick technique you can use to tweak the colors of your photos. This is particularly helpful if you've underexposed an image or it's a cloudy day.


This is a test shot before a photo shoot of the lovely Mimi. It was cloudy outside so the colors are not as sharp as they could be. Her mouth and nose especially are very dark.

First I'm going to set the black and white values of my Levels. (In Photoshop, go to “Image” ‐‐> “Adjustments” ‐‐> “Levels”.) Photoshop will preload levels for you. You can change the values by double clicking on the black or white eyedropper. Let's start with black. I set my RGB values to "10" for each one. Then click OK.


Now double click on the white eyedropper.


I set my RGB values to "245" for each one. Then click OK. You'll be left with the levels window. Click OK to close. Now there is one more step to take. Go to Window‐‐> Layers.


A new box will show on your screen. Right click on the ying‐yang image at the bottom of this box. Select "Threshold."



Your image will turn to black and white.


Now when you slide the little arrow to the right, your image will turn to black. In my case, a little bit of white remains. This is the brightest part of my photograph. (If no white appears for your image, slowly move the arrow back to the left until the first white shows in your photo.)

When you move your mouse to go over your photo, a little eye dropper will appear. Hold down the Shift key and click on that white space. This will leave a cross hair on your image as a marker for later, as seen in the next example.


Now you'll do the same to find the darkest part of your photograph. Slide the little arrow to the right. Your photo will turn white. Now slowly move your arrow back to the left until something black appears.


Move your mouse to that part of the photo and hold down the Shift Key and click. Now you will have another cross hatch. When you are finished, click OK.

Now that we're done using the "Threshold" feature, you can go into your Layers box and delete it.


Click and hold that layer and drag it into the trash can icon.

Now you'll have your photo back. Go back to "Levels" by going to "Image" ‐‐> "Adjustments" ‐‐> "Levels" and the Levels box will come up.


Now click on the black eye dropper and find your cross hair (in this case, it will show as cross hair 2 on my photo).


Click on that space. Your image should change in tonal values (also notice how the Levels graph changes after you click).

Now you just need to tone the highlight.


Click on the white eyedropper and then click on your first cross hair.

When finished, click OK.

The cross hairs will still show on your image but will not show when you go to print your photo.

If you still want to play with your image, you can do other things in Photoshop, such as playing with Curves ("Image" ‐‐> "Adjustments" ‐‐> "Curves").


In here you can also play with how dark or bright the photo is by moving the graph up and down.


Thank you to Allover Art for inviting me to do this feature! I hope you find the above tutorial helpful! :)

Please be sure to check out Jen's work in her Etsy shop, McGuinness Photography! You can also find Jen in her other Etsy shop Fairy Crystals, in her Artfire Shop, and on her blog. Are you on Twitter? Check Jen out at username JMCPhoto.

**Interested in participating in future Workshop Wednesdays? Please convo me on Etsy or leave me a comment on this post.