Alcohol ink is one of my favorite mediums to work with.

It's versatile - you can do so much with alcohol ink from all the standard craft applications  to practically anything you can dream up.

But alcohol ink can be messy - so wear gloves unless you want heavily stained fingers!

This project is one of my latest ideas for using alcohol ink with aluminium foil. I have explored this before and my videos showing how to make my 'Moon Glow' pendants have been some of my most watched, most popular videos on YouTube.

To see my previous posts using alcohol ink, click on the links below.

Alcohol Ink Pendants - Faux Dichroic Glass

Alcohol Ink - Oh My Word!

Alcohol Ink On Aluminium Can - Beautiful pendants.

How To Make alcohol ink Moon Glow pendants

Black alcohol ink has never really shaken my world but oh my goodness, it came into its own in this project!

If you want to see the video tutorial I made for this project, you can see it by clicking here. You can see how I got the beautiful results for the paper bead tile bracelet using black ink.

All I had was the idea (while running on my treadmill which is my ideas machine!) but I didn't really know how it would react on the aluminium foil.

You can see that although I only used black alcohol ink, the tones that developed when I used the alcohol ink blending solution on the aluminium foil are absolutely gorgeous.

These tiles were colored entirely with black alchohol ink and alcohol ink blending solution.

The aluminum foil on the right shows what effect you get when you use alcohol ink to color it.

I made two different sheets for this project but the sky is the limit really, you could blend whatever colors you want in as many combinations as you want to get all sorts of colorful effects.

If you think you would like to have a go at this project...

...but don't know where to get supplies, you can visit my craft supplies page on Amazon.

Click here to go to my page.

I try to link you to the same products I use or, the closest I can find.

This project has probably been one of my all time favourites.

Once you have made yourself a selction of colored foils, you can experiment with making card tile beads in different colors to contrast with your hand-inked foils.

If you want to make really gorgeous hand-crafted items from card, inks, and aluminium foil, (like the necklace below) watch my video to learn the basics of how to get started.

It's really easy and a relatively inexpensive wasy to craft, once you have invested in the alcohol inks.

You can experiment with using junk card from food packaging if you don't want to buy craft materials. Aluminum foil is really inexpensive to use because you get so much on one roll!.

The main investment is in the inks, the blending solution and the Glossy Accents glaze.

I hope this post and my YouTube video have inspired you to make some beautiful, fun jewelry!

If you do have a go at this project, don't forget the take care of yourself and the surfaces you work on. Alcohol ink is strong smelling, it stains skin and work surfaces so be sure to use rubber gloves, a face mask and plastic table cover.

Paper Bead Templates speed up the paper bead making process if you are a crafter who likes to create your own bead strips.

If you are fed up with measuring and drawing out triangles - the paper bead templates in this kit will be perfect for you. And the two paper bead rolling tools that come with the kit save you even more time because they are easy to use; when used properly, the tools will result in paper beads that are firmly wound and come off the shaft of the tool with ease.

If you have landed here and you haven't see my video over on YouTube where I use the paper bead templates in a project, click here to go see the video. But don't forget to come back to see where to get the kit.

And if you have landed here from YouTube and want to know where to get the paper bead templates and paper bead tools, click here to go to my Etsy shop.

For links to the individual products, see the Etsy links at the end of this post.

When I first started making paper beads, many years ago, I didn't have anything like these paper bead templates to help me along.

Looking back, I can't believe how I used to spend hours measuring out dots along the top and bottom of sheet of paper and then go through the boring job of making the lines. So I started making my own paper guides to copy but it was still time consuming.

Then I thought how brilliant it would be if I had a sheet containing all the template sizes I use regularly - but all I did was dream about it.

Eventually, because I needed to speed up the part of my paper bead making workshops where people create their own strips to hand color, I spent ages trying to make a sheet of four paper bead templates that I could reproduce without massive expense. I wanted my students to be able to use the paper bead templates in the class and then take them home.

And that was how my paper bead templates were born.

My paper bead templates are so easy to use - and once you have cut your strips, you can use either of the two paper bead rolling tools to roll your beads.

The four templates on the single sheet have base sizes of 1inch, 3/4inch, 1/2inch and 1/4 inch.

To use the them, you simply turn the sheet over, run some strips of removable sticky tape down in between the templates and then gently stick the sheet to whatever paper you are using for your paper beads.

 Whatever your chosen bead strip size, you simply lightly draw inside the relevant triangle template with a very sharp pencil (and it must be lazer sharp) in a color that will be easy to see for cutting.

You can repeat this across your paper, carefully positioning the sheet to maximise the use of the paper's surface area.

The two paper bead rolling tools that come with the paper bead templates make core holes of either 3mm or 5mm.

The 3mm tool is used to make beads with a smaller hole that will take finer threading materials such as beading elastic or cord. The 5mm tool is used to make beads with a larger core hole to take a thicker threading material such as the bracelets used to make European Style jewelry. The 5mm tool is ideal for people wanting to make beads that have the same shape and look as beads seen on Pandora bracelets but with a teeny fraction of the cost!

Please note - you will need a separate paper template to make European Style beads like these.

You can download the template from my Etsy shop.

The bead rolling tools and the paper bead stencil templates can all be bought separately or, they can all be bought togther in a kit for a massive saving of £5.99 (that's the bead tool stencil free!)

The prices for the items are:

3mm Easy Beady paper bead tool - £7.00 plus p&p

5mm Easy Beady paper bead tool - £8.00 plus p&p

Paper bead templates - four size sheet - £5.99 plus p&p

Easy Beady paper bead making kit containing all three items above - £15 plus p&p

If you want to make beautiful, creative paper jewelry, these tools are ideal for anyone just starting out.

And once you get going, you can really let your creativity run wild dreaming up ways of making junk mail look really pretty! You can make gorgeous handmade gifts that people will love and wear, instead of putting them in a cupboard feeling annoyed that you gave them some second rate homemade tat!

You can even make beautiful pieces to sell at craft fairs or online. Once you have bought these tools, the costs of making beads is reasonably low because you can use throwaway magazines, brochures, booklets, even books to make your paper beads.

Have a look at these previous posts to see what sort of jewelery you can make.

How to add cores to European style paper beads.

How to make a paper bead charm bracelet.

If you go over to my YouTube channel, don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell icon to get regular updates when new videos are posted.

And remember to visit my craft supplies page on Amazon to get many of the products I use in my projects plus lots of other crafting supplies.

Have fun making beads - the Easy Beady tools and paper bead templates really do make your crafting life much easier - I know, that's why I designed them - happy crafting!

Craft with toilet paper rolls seems to be one of the most popular craft activity searches online.

And a quick look at what is already online throws up a ton of cute characters, from dogs to cats to spiders, all made with toilet roll tubes.

But that isn't what I wanted to do - I wanted something different.

Metal recycling is so exciting because if you think about it, what it actually means is free craft materials! Yipee! We all love free stuff! Yes?

Well I do if I can make recycled materials the centre of my project.

I suppose technically they aren't free because we pay for the food packaging but, I class anything that would normally get thrown out as being free.

Metal recycling in my crafts is one of my favourite things at the moment and so I produced this project for YouTube to show you what I'm doing.

Click here to see the tutorial on YouTube.

(There may be a delay between publishing the video and this blog post - please try again in 15 minutes if the video link isn't working yet.)

You can use the holder with the reflector...

...or without.

Metal recycling or upcycling?

First of all, I'm not sure if what I do with food cans is strictly metal recycling.

Metal recycling, according to all the research I have done, is about taking your cans and tins to a recycling point to be collected and turned back into other steel or aluminium products.

Apparently there is no limit on the number of times steel or aluminium can be recycled and it can take as little as six weeks for a can you take to a metal recycling point, to be back on the supermarket shelf.

Metal recycling saves the earths resources and cuts down on Co2 emmissions. If you are very eco minded, you can read some interesting facts about metal recycling here.

So I'm kind of thinking what I am doing is upcycling. I'm turning a tuna can into a candle holder without any melting down processes being involved - that has to be good... right?

Aluminium...

...steel.

Is your metal recycling (or upcycling!) project steel or aluminium?

If you want to know what material you are using, try the magnet test. The tuna can I used in this project stuck to the magnet so I'm guessing it's steel.

But the tin can I used was not drawn to the magnet which probably means it's aluminium.

Either way, I saved two tins from the recycling process and made myself a beautiful candle holder that I am already using.

What made this project fun for me was adding the bead and brad detail and to do that, I used my very useful I.8mm punch pliers (see below).

People are always asking me where they can get this brilliant little tool and readers of this blog will know I do try to help readers source materials and tools.

For readers living in any country serviced by Amazon.com, I have an Amazon storefront where you will find some of the key items I use, such as this tool.

You can find the tool and many other craft products and books by visiting https://www.amazon.com/shop/rainbowlane

The punch tool I used in the video is on there if you want to get one.

I have also put a direct link to the tool on this page.

You can read my Amazon Affiliate Statement here.

If you like this project - please do watch the video and have a go!

You can experiment with different ideas once you have seen what I have done. The tutorials I do are designed to get your creative juices flowing so that you can come up with your own ideas.

Metal recycling (or upcycling if you'd rather) is great fun - so have a go and see what functional, gorgeous  little crafty things you can make with empty food tins.

Art and craft ideas using upcycled materials can produce very impressive results, such as this beautiful pendant made partly from cereal  box cardboard.

As cool crafts go, this unusual artsy looking pendant is a great example of just how cool you can get by upcycling what would otherwise become junk to be thrown away.

And once you see how to treat cereal box cardboard to make it into a solid pendant base, you realise how valuable scrap cardboard is when coming up with new art and craft ideas.

Click here to go to the video I made showing exactly how to make this upcycled pendant.

Click here to see the video showing how to make this pendant from upcycled cereal box cardboard.

If you are new to crafting and are looking for good art and craft ideas to begin with, this is a great project because the results are quick and stunning.

By the time you have finished working your magic on an empty cereal box, you will see just what a strong and solid object you can create with a flimsy piece of junk and you will find art and craft ideas flowing from your crafty mind.

You will never throw away another cereal box again and you will start looking at other junk differently as you wonder how you can turn more trash to flash.

From trash...

...to flash!

The pictures above show how my mind works since I focused on getting art and craft ideas from the smallest scraps of trash (or rubbish if you are English).

I saw this bland and insignificant piece of scrap wallpaper in a rubbish bin at The Range a while back while I was wandering around looking at craft supplies.

My immediate thought was the challenge of how I could use it to make something pretty and wearable and so I asked if I could have it.

I think it stunned the young guy who was cleaning scraps up off the floor in the wallpaper area when I asked if I could have it. I couldn't even steal rubbish from a bin!

If you want to see the post I wrote on what I did with that scrap of paper, click here.

Children love art and craft ideas that use junk too and this cardboard pendant project is a lovely one to do together to perhaps make a beautiful upcycled gift for someone.

For any teachers reading this in these times of limited resources in many schools in the UK, you've probably already figured out the value of scrap cardboard boxes.

These kinds of projects are great for getting children thinking about recycling while being creative with the earth's resources.

It does fire the imagination when you can turn something so mundane into a piece of pretty jewelry that no-one would even guess is made from cardboard junk.

Of course you will need other items to make the pendant in my video.

You will need some good PVA glue because it's the PVA that ultimately gives the cardboard it's strength and makes it completely ridgid, like a light wood.

You will also need a design for the front of your pendant and although I used a mandala design from a coloring book (click here to see the post and video on using your coloring book work in crafts), you could easily find a stunning design to punch out of a magazine; unwanted magazines are another great source of inspiration for art and craft ideas.

For help in sourcing craft supplies, visit my Amazon storefront where you will find products similar or the same as those used in my videos, visit my storefront at https://www.amazon.com/shop/rainbowlane

I update my Amazon storefront with new links each time I make a new video, to help people find the resources they need to try out the projects.

Watch the video through to the end to see the unexpected blip I had a couple of days after I finished the pendant.

See how I fixed it and then tell me, in the comments section under the video on YouTube, what you think I could have done to avoid the blip in the first place - I love hearing other people's ideas because there is always more than one way to climb a mountain!

Thanks for reading and let me know in YouTube comments if this helped you with your art and craft ideas - see you next time on Rainbow Lane - the YouTube channel to get you creating.

Faux Silver Bracelet - The Perfect Crafty Make For Valentine's Day!

With the dawn of the New Year comes my newest craft idea - a faux silver bracelet that looks and feels like metal. But guess what - it's made from silver tin foil and card!

Use these simple materials and tools...

...to make this gorgeous faux silver bracelet!

Faux silver bracelet mania has been growing in my workroom since I discovered a reel of sticky-backed silver tin foil.

Like many crafters, my craft toom is stuffed full of materials and tools that I've forgotten I had (and can't recall where I got them!)

So, the roll of sticky tinfoil tape I used to make my faux silver bracelet beads has been hanging around for absolutely years.

I think my husband used it for something and then passed it my way because he knows how much I love using non-crafting materials in my projects.

It has been used in a couple of my projects but not for awhile, so I decided it was time to dream up something really pretty with it for Valentine's Day.

Handmade gifts are truly personal, so why not get busy making some beautiful presents for friends and family?

If you are keen to make some inexpensive handmade gifts, then this easy to make charm bracelet will be ideal for you.

The template I used for this bracelet is my own design and is available for instant download in my Etsy shop - click here to find it.

You pay £2.40 (including VAT) and once you have downloaded the template, you can print it off for your own use as many times as you want.

Just think of everyone you could make handmade gifts for on your birthday list - how many are there? Ten, 20, more?

Once you have the template, you will only need to buy charms and split rings to put on them because the beads themselves are made from the template that you can print off again and again.

Unique handmade gifts are a lovely way to give presents that mean something.

Handmade  gifts are a great way to show friends how much they mean to you. And when we don't have loads of money to splash out, spending our time making something special instead can be good fun.

If you want to see how to easily make one of these beautiful bracelets from my template, you can see step by step instructions over on Instructables or watch the full YouTube video here. 

Finding supplies for your handmade gifts can be time-consuming so why not visit my Amazon storefront where you will find links to many craft supplies.

These are just suggestions for supplies if you don't have easy access to them but if you are lucky enough to have a craft sore near where you live - have a look round there to see what you can get.

The products listed in my Amazon storefront are a guide to what you should be looking for.

The products are the same or similar to those I use.

One that I can recommend first hand is the Glossy Accents as I use it all the time. The rest of the products are my suggestions but do shop around further to compare prices and read reviews.

Regarding the bead tool I use in the video, I manufacture my own 5mm, large hole bead tool called The Easy Beady. They are handmade to order in my workshop and are available in my Etsy shop for £6.50 plus shipping. I ship to Europe and the US.

I hope my YouTube video and Instructable tutorial are helpful to you in producing some first class handmade gifts with that personal touch.