Cheers Necklace!

Bubbly Necklace Copyright Margot Potter 2012

This is another necklace set I created to wear to the shows.  Technically, I re-created it by adding more stuff to my original design.  I used vintage faux pearls, SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS and Beadalon's fab polyester chain.  The pearls are absurdly huge, which makes this a very fun design to wear.

xoxo
Madge

Introducing 2KGrey

2KGrey Caletco V Jean

You probably didn't know that I have two smart, savvy and immensely talented younger sisters.  Well...I do! 
My sister, Karen Lipp, is a world renowned Dressage rider and trainer.  She is launching her new line of couture denim 2KGrey this Spring!  My talented, smart and savvy mother Sharon Scanlin designed her logo.  Yup, we are all designing divas.  Visit my sister's website and check it out


I am so proud of her, she's a shining example of doing what you love and never, ever, ever giving up.  From the time she could walk she knew she wanted a horse and she made that happen starting with her first horse at age 11 and moving up through the ranks of the Dressage world. Now she's combining her passion for horses with her love of fashion and her talent for design.
Go Karen!

xoxo
Margot

iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts: I Heart U Valentine


iLovetoCreate Teen Crafts
I Heart U Valentine
Avalon Potter
"Teen crafted, Mom approved."

My mom has been making super cute Valentine's lately, so I decided to make one of my own! I love this pretty pink patterned paper and there were some left over scraps from the glittered gift bag she used for another project. You can use whatever papers you like, maybe even recycle some old Valentine's or use book pages...it's up to you. Aleene's adhesives make it easy to make wonderful projects super fast!


Materials
Patterned paper for heart
Gold glittery paper for arrow point and feathers (you can use gold paper and add Tulip glitter if you like!)
Pale pink cardstock
Black and white patterned paper for arrow staff
Small white doily for background
Aleene's Tacky Sticker Sheet
Aleene's Acid Free Tacky Glue

Tools
Fiskars Graduate Heart Shape Template System (Or hand cut a heart)
Paper friendly scissors
Craft knife
Ruler
Computer and printer to print out I (Heart Icon) U.

1. Print out I (Heart Icon) U on a computer. The heart icon is a less than symbol followed by the number 3.   I used a French Script MT and sized it at 48. 2. Cut out the large heart and small heart using the template and shape cutter. The large heart is the largest on the template and is 3.5"x3.75". The small heart is 1"x1". 3. Use scissors to cut the arrow shaft to 4"x1/4". Cut the arrow feathers to 3/4"x1 1/4". 4. Cut out words and cut a frame out of the pink paper as a background. 5. Cut a small slit a little bigger than 1/4" diagonally using the craft knife at the top and bottom center of heart. The distance between the two slits should be about 2.5". This is where your arrow will go.



6. Thread arrow into slits.


7. Attach doily to back of heart using sticker sheet.  Attach arrow point and feather with Aleene's Tacky Glue and allow to dry overnight.

8. Layer words and frame and attach to center of card.  (Write your sentiments on the back of the Valentine.)

Runway Design Reveal

Twisted Crystal Jewelry Set for Beadalon Copyright 2011 Margot and Andrew Potter

A while back I shared a sneak peek of a runway project for a manufacturer and today I'm revealing the whole shebang! This is not for the shy or retiring.  It features huge freeform tendrils organically wrapped with large vintage faux pearls and SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS. I made the necklace and earrings and Drew made the coordinating bracelet.  It was a wonderful, intuitive process. I really didn't want to go into it with relentlessly specific plans, I just started playing with the wire and eventually got to this.  What's great about this thick gauge of wire is that it's much more forgiving and looks fabulous hammered.  I can't wait to see pictures of these on a model!

To make something similar, you need 10 gauge tinned copper Artistic Wire, 22 gauge silver plated German style wire and an array of large and small faux pearls and crystals. Then bend, hammer and wrap to your heart's content! The core of the necklace is Remembrance memory wire, which is perfect for heavier necklaces because it's tempered steel.

xoxo
Madge

Evolution of a Design

Crystal Vine Take One Copyright Margot Potter All Rights Reserved
Crystal Vine Take Two Copyright All Rights Reserved Margot Potter

I created this necklace for one of my design clients. I began with 10 gauge tinned copper wire, hammering and forming it into a simple choker, then added a sprinkling of SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS sew on stones attached with a thinner gauge of wire. (This is the design I'm wearing in the Create Your Style video.) I was really going for something simple, striking and primitive here with a big nod to Alexander Calder's wire jewelry work. Unfortunately the client didn't like the first version and asked me to cover up the wire wraps and the exposed hammered wire at the front of the design. I had to work and rework and rework the piece because it's all secured with tension and has to be wearable or it's pointless. Yes, I can be patient, though it usually involves a smattering of juicy expletives.  The two arms of the thicker wire actually create the tension that secures the necklace around the neck, so the smaller stones had to be out of the way of that action. The large stone had to go, unfortunately, but that gave the design a more curvilinear feel. Honestly, I like both versions, but they're very different. Alas, after the rework and though the client genuinely liked it, they asked me to scrap this one and start over using different techniques and materials.  So...I'll be wearing this at some upcoming events.  This is part of the deal of being a freelance designer, not my favorite part, but one that can't be avoided I'm afraid.

What do you think, the first version, the second version or neither?! What do you think about editing your work? How do your designs evolve?

That's a prompt for you to converse with me! Be not afraid. Oh and, Tune in tomorrow, I've got a giveaway!

Cheers,
Madge

iLoveToCreate Retrofabulous Crafts: No Kiddin' Around Upcycled Valentine

No Kiddin' Around Upcycled Valentine Margot Potter for iLovetoCreate

iLoveToCreate Retrofabulous Crafts
No Kiddin' Around Upcycled Valentine
Margot Potter


Today's Retrofabulous Craft is another upcycled vintage Valentine idea. I took new scrapbook paper, a glittered gift bag from Christmas, red cardstock and combined them with a section of a vintage card. You can substitute any used Valentine here, it's a great way to re-purpose them! I had a blast making layered hearts with the Fiskars paper cutter and Aleene's dry adhesives made putting it all together a breeze! No waiting for glue to dry. I added some Tulip Beads in a Bottle gems for dimension using Aleene's Acid Free Tacky Glue (I recommend this for paper crafts.)


Materials
Red cardstock
Black and white striped or patterned papers
Small doily
Gold glittered gift bag (or just use Tulip Glitter on gold paper for the same effect.)
2 Red Tulip Beads in a Bottle Studs and Crystals
Aleene's Tacky Dot Runner
Aleene's Acid Free Tacky Glue

Tools
Fiskars Graduated Hearts Shape Template (or measure and hand cut graduated hearts)
Fiskars Interchangeable Scalloped Edge Punch
Bone folder
Paper cutter

1. Cut red cardstock to 7"x11".

2. Fold card in half to 7"l.x5.5"w. Use bone folder to make a sharp crease in edge.


3. Use edge punch on top edge of card.


4. Cut out layered hearts with papers.

5. Cut out your layered hearts. Before you cut, make sure you center the image you want to use! I stacked the 4" heart followed by the 3.5" heart and finally the 3" heart for the center heart. The top right heart stack is 1", 1.25", 1.5" and 2". The bottom left heart stack is 1", 1.5" and 2". For inside of the card stack 1.5", 1.25" and 1" hearts.

6. Print out your sentiments. I wrote "No kiddin' around, Valentine." and "I love you." using a vintage style font.

7. Layer a doily and the center hearts using Aleene's Tacky Dot Runner. Add the top right and bottom left heart stacks. Attach a faux gemstone using Aleene's Tacky Glue to the center of the top and bottom heart stacks. Allow to dry.

8. Cut out your sentiment and layer it on one of your papers, cut and adhere to bottom right of card front using Aleene's Tacky Glue Runner.


9. To make the inside of the card, stack your hearts and add the sentiment to the center.




iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts: (P)upcycled Valentine Card

(P)upcycled Valentine Copyright Margot Potter for iLoveToCreate

iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts:
(P)Upcycled Valentine
Margot Potter for Avalon Potter
“Mom crafted, teen approved”

Avalon was buried in school work this week, so I’m stepping in for a little retrofabulous infused teen craft. This can be either a card or an invitation to a Valentine's Day party!  You can upcycle any old Valentine you may have in your collection. I had this adorable little vintage card in my coffers that was begging for a new life. Arf, arf. I loved the way the edge punch looked centered on each of the four sides of the pink square, gave the layer purrfect doily style appeal. Tulip Glam-it-Up Crystals and Beads in a Bottle gave it all a little dimension and Aleene’s glue made quick work of putting it all together. Nothing fishy about it, this is, as Avalon says, “Adorbs!”


Materials
Red Cardstock
Baby pink Cardstock
Tiny Heart Scrapbook Stickers
Fish Scrapbook Sticker
Printed Letter “u” in Campbell or similar vintage style font
Upcycled Valentine
Aleene’s Acid Free Tacky Glue
Aleene’s Tacky Dot Runner
Tulip Beads in a Bottle Pink Glitter
5 Tulip Glam-it-Up Crystals

Tools
Chain Nose Pliers, Tweezers or a Crayon to pick up and place crystals
Scalloped Border Punch
Ruler and Scissors 
Pinking Shears
Word Bubble Punch

A sampling of some of my collection of vintage Valentines.

1. Print a letter ‘u’ in Campbell or a vintage style font size 14.

2. Cut your cardstock to 5.5”x5.5” or dimensions that work with your Valentine.

3. Use pinking shears around edge of pink cardstock.


4. Center border punch and cut out scallops inside of all four edges of paper. (Don’t punch the edge off, this is just to add a little doily style window. Save punched dots to use with word bubbles.)

5. Punch or cut word bubbles, I cut the little talking tag from the bottom since these are thought bubbles in this card.

6. Use glue dot runner to attach pink layer on top of red background and card to center bottom of pink layer.

7. Attach heart sticker to card.

8. Use pliers, tweezers or crayon to lift crystals, dip into glue, tap off any excess and place on card. Crystals go in each of the four corners and in center of the small heart.

9. Attach word bubbles with tape runner. Add hearts, fish and ‘u’.

10. Punch one scallop out of the white paper you used for word bubbles and save the tiny punched out circles. Use a toothpick to dab a small amount of glue on card where you want your paper dots leading up to word bubbles to be placed and gently place dots on card.

11. Use Beads in a Bottle to add dimension to edges of the pink layer on your card.

12. This is a flat invitation style Valentine, you can opt to make a folding card if your prefer.

Queen of Hearts Wire Earrings

Queen of Hearts Earrings Copyright Margot Potter
(Make sure you click on the pop up window of this image to read the text.)

Queen of Hearts Earrings
Copyright 2011 Margot Potter

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Love it or lump it, you can’t escape it! Love may come and love may go, but friends are forever. Why not remind your best girlfriend how much she means to you this year with a lovely pair of wire and crystal earrings and a funny card to make her smile? Attach the earrings to a card for a two for one by punching a small hole for each ear wire using a pin and threading them on the cover!

The image is from my personal ephemera collection, and I couldn’t resist adding a little text...

Materials
20 gauge annealed iron wire
6 8mm fuchsia SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS faceted rounds

Tools
10mm dowel
2 pairs chain nose pliers
Chain nose pliers
Memory wire shears
Chasing hammer
Bench block
Bench block pad
Spool of thread

1. Cut off a 5” segment of 20 gauge annealed iron wire with memory wire shears. Don’t use regular wire cutters, this wire will eat them up!

2. Use chain nose pliers to bend a sharp bend in the center (this is the pointed side of your heart.)

3. Round the wire ends into a heart shape, use something round to maintain the curve, an average sized spool of thread works nicely here!

4. Use round nose pliers to turn a small loop in both ends.


5. Use a small segment of wire to bind the loops together as in photo. I wrapped them three times, cut the excess wire and tucked the tail under with chain nose pliers.

6. Hammer the shapes flat using your chasing hammer and steel bench block.

7. Create matching ear wires bending a 1.5” segment of wire over a 10mm dowel. Turn a loop in one end and make a small curve in the other using round nose pliers.

8. Hammer front side of ear wires flat with chasing hammer and bench block.

9. Thread each crystal with 22 gauge gun metal wire, loop one end and coil the other.

10. Use the 10mm dowel to create two jump rings with the 20 gauge black wire. Hammer these flat using your chasing hammer and bench block.

11. Attach the ear wires to the top of each heart using chain nose pliers. (Attach them on opposite sides to create a left and a right earring.)

12. Attach the jump ring and dangles to the bottom of each heart using your chain nose pliers to open and secure the ring closed with tension.

Beadalon's Wire Mesh

Mesh Poppies Copyright 2011 Margot Potter for Beadalon

This is a design I created recently for Beadalon to showcase their fabulous new Artistic Wire mesh and their stunning antique brass finish chain. Oversized SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS polygon beads gave it a little sparkle to reflect the understated metallic color palette. It was a very intuitive design born from play.  Some of my best work comes from not having an agenda.  I'm quite pleased with how this turned out, very bold, simple and striking.  These mesh poppies would work nicely on accessories: headbands, shoes, hats or purses.  I used felt to back them and give them a little stability.  (I'd sew around the edges with a 26 or 28 gauge matching wire to keep them from fraying if using them on a bag or shoes.) 

Love
Madge

Valentine's Day Dollar Store Craft: Sweetheart Foam Necklace

Sweetheart Foam Necklace and Earrings Copyright Margot Potter 2010

I have plenty of romantic projects in my crafty coffers, so I'll be bringing them out over the next few weeks and introducing some new ideas as we lead up to the oft dreaded holiday of St. Valentine. This one is so quick and easy and of course, depending on which foam stickers you select, can be adapted to suit any occasion! You can find the step by step instructions with lots of pics here. What's not to love about that?

You can find these foam stickers at the discount chains, craft and dollar stores. 

If you'd like the original set, it's for sale for a song in my Etsy shoppe!

Love
Madge

The Case of the Neon Pom Poms.

Let me preface this post with the acknowledgment that nothing below amounts to a hill of beans in the big picture, but it's some food for thought as we endlessly traverse the Brave New world of the interwebs and we navigate the complexities of inspiration versus intellectual property infringement. So what I'm sayin' folks is, I'm just puttin' it out there..

SomedayNewYorker Pom Pom Dress, Nicki Minaj Pom Pom Dress

I wrote a weekly Teen Crafts column for iLoveToCreate for a year. It was fun and challenging coming up with DIY ideas I thought teens would enjoy. It helped having a super awesome stylish teen at home off of which I could bounce my ideas. She's since taken that column over and as you know, and I'm now focusing on Retrofabulous Crafts. A while back I saw a picture of rapper Nicki Minaj sporting a colorful pom pom encrusted ensemble at New York Fashion Week. At the time I mentioned it to my husband, because it reminded me of the Pom Pom bib necklace he helped me construct back in July of 2010, see pic below.  This design is kinda funny for many reasons.  I just had to make it, even though I knew it bizarre and it has been an oft searched post on my blog for the past few years. It lives on the mannequin in my studio and makes me laugh every time I look at it.  I knew it was so out there people would either love it or hate it.

Margot Potter Playful Pom Pom Necklace July 2010 for iLoveToCreate 

This blog gets a lot of interesting traffic. You'd be surprised who lurks behind the scenes here. Big manufacturers, retailers and design folks you would surely know if I named them. They are, like many of us, always out there looking to see what is new, what is happening, who is doing what and...they are seeking inspiration.  My work has been copied, I've seen it in catalogs, magazines, blog posts, winning design contest entries and even in showrooms in NYC.  Does it burn my biscuits, yes, a little.  It would be nice to get some credit, but at some point things just get out there and no one knows who thought of it first.  What can I do.  I just keep coming up with new ideas.

Gluing pom poms (or alternately pom pons) to felt and making it into jewelry is not an amazing feat of creative ingenuity. I admit I thought myself rather clever and it did take some thought figuring out what substrate would work best for both strength and comfort, how best to array the bib of felt circles, what adhesive made sense and how to connect it all together so it hung properly when worn, but it's really not a giant design stretch. And let's face it, most folks would probably not follow through with an idea this...well...utterly defiant of good taste. Lord knows, I am not afraid to dance on the edges of Tacky Town. I have had pom poms in my crafty coffers for years and this idea was rolling around in my head for a long, long time before I finally decided to try it. Had I seen this idea anywhere else before posting this project? Nope. If I had, I would have credited the inspiration source. It's how I roll. 

So imagine my surprise when I Googled 'Nicki Minaj pom pom outfit' yesterday and found a slurry of articles from this past October including this one on Perez Hilton's Coco Perez site in which another designer very publicly accused Minaj of pom pom plagiarism. You can see the two outfits side by side above and it's obvious there are distinct similarities, but also some notable differences.  Nicki's vest looks almost like a funky version of a traditional costume you'd see somewhere in Russia or Mongolia with patterns and stripes in various colors, the top next to it has more of a funky club kid vibe and is all from the same bag of pom poms (I know because I have the same bag.) You will also note the similarities to my bib necklace.  Ms. Rogers claims that she was contacted by Minaj's stylist, sent pics of her work for review, never heard back and then saw this outfit in the fashion pages. So there is a thread there and reason for concern and I have no way to substantiate her claim.

It is completely possible she and I simply looked at a 100 pc. bag of Darice Variety Pack neon pom poms and thought, "Those would be fun to wear!"  Or it's possible that this concept is not that much of a design stretch.  I know I had not seen her idea before I made my necklace.

So what to think?  Hmmm...

Reading my stash of vintage craft magazines is really making it clear to me that so much of what we think of as new and fresh and unique is really not. If you can stitch it, glue it, collage it, attach it, layer it, adorn it...well someone has probably had the same idea somewhere along the way. Try coming up with new names for websites or products, every clever little thought you have you will probably be able to find in a search.  Ideas are, in my opinion, out there. We often tune into their frequency without knowledge of anyone else doing so or having done so. Some folks look at a bag of neon pom poms and think..."ACK!" Others look at the same bag and think, "Ooooo! FUN!"

What do you think? Is it a coincidence, this convergence of pom pom-ery? What constitutes an original design idea and does this idea fall into that category? Can one own clustered and glued neon pom poms, really? Does any of this matter, even slightly...probably not.  Still it's good food for thought.

Hmmm...

Oh and if you'd like to put together your own playful pom pom necklace, here is a link to the tutorial!

Love
Madge

iLoveToCreate Retrofabulous Crafts: Pulp Fiction Thank You Cards


iLoveToCreate Retrofabulous Crafts: Pulp Fiction Thank You Cards
Copyright Margot Potter
"These are your grandmother's crafts, ya gotta problem with that?"


The glitter has faded, the confetti swept away and it's time to start a new year filled with possibility. It's also time to take a moment and thank your friends and family for the lovely gifts they sent. What better way to say, "Thank you" than these Retrofabulous Pulp Fiction cards? The covers are scanned from my collection of ephemera, you can easily find similar books on eBay. I dragged them into Photoshop, color matched the fonts and added some new words to the mix, sized and printed and layered them with coordinating scrapbook papers and cardstock. Tulip Glam-it-up metallic crystals on the corners were the perfect touch of dimension. My first attempt to frame them with glitter was not so fab, so I started over. I've added coordinating sentiments inside. Aleene's AWESOME new glue dot tape runner made quick work of putting it all together.

Materials
Vintage patterned scrapbook papers (I used my fav Carolyn Gavin papers from K&Company)
Coordinating card stock
Tulip metallic Glam-it-up crystals
Aleene's Tacky Glue Dot tape runner
Aleene's Acid Free Tacky Glue

Tools
Paper cutter
Bone folder
Ruler
Scissors
Chain nose pliers or tweezers




1. Use photo editing software to add sentiments.

2. Use Word or similar software to create sentiments for inside of cards.

3. Print. I printed my images at 536x774dpi 150 resolution. It's easy to drag these into publishing software and put them side by side for printing.

4. Cut out images. You are stacking them on a solid cardstock and a patterned paper, each one gets slightly larger. I eyeballed using a paper cutter, you can measure them at 1/4" increasing margins, mark and cut.

5. Fold your card stock, crease with bone folder and cut off 1" from bottom.

6. Layer images starting with patterned paper which is straight, solid card stock on an angle and image straight. Use Aleene's Tacky Glue Dot Runner Tape to attach to card.

7. Cut out a sentiment, add a slightly larger coordinating cardstock paper frame, layer and attach to inside of card on an angle using tape runner.

8. Squeeze out a small amount of Tacky Glue. Use tweezers to careful pick up crystal, dip back in glue (don't over do it here) and attach to corners of image on card. Press gently with finger tips.