Get A Jump On Your Christmas Shopping

This weekend we will be participating in the annual Holiday sale at A Room With A Past. We made Venetian glass earrings with Swarovski crystals which we displayed in darling silver cupcake cups stuffed with pink shred. We placed the delicious looking treats on a three-tiered cake stand made from flea market china and crystal candlesticks. We thought the look would go well with all the fabulous shabby chic flea market finds they have at A Room With A Past. Great prices too. If you live in the Bay area, come by and check it out!

And if you don't live in the Bay area, you can buy our crafts at www.RunningWithSisters.com

Card Tricks

It's Christmas card time. And...surprise! We like to make our own. Provo sent us their new Yudu to try out. (Thanks Provo!) It is a personal silkscreen printing system and worked well for making dozens of cards with the same design. We made the image in Photoshop using clip art from ClipArt.com. Then we started printing just like a tiny sweatshop! We finished the cards off with sparkly Swarovski rhinestones.

Check out the how-to video from ProvoCraft.

Bead Babe Bargains

We just ordered a slew of great beads and toggles from www.BeadBabe.com. We especially love their clasps. And best of all...the prices! Only $2.24 for two sets of this lovely copper-plated toggle. Great for us Recessionistas who can't stop beading no matter what. Thank you Bead Babe!

On The Cover Of The Rolling Stone!

Check out our new column in Bead Unique. We make crazy beaded things with flea market finds. We are so excited to be part of this awesome magazine. Plus our names made the cover!! "Make a Noteworthy beaded purse with the O'Neil Sisters." Almost famous!

Halloween Chic!

This Friday we are headed to A Room With A Past. This shabby chic flea market is open four days a month and has room after room filled with antique furniture and vintage delights. And this month they are all dressed up for Halloween! If you are in the Bay area, check it out! www.roomwithapast.com

Bead Soup!

We had the pleasure of visiting the Seattle area last week to celebrate our great aunt Lilli's 100th birthday. (Hope we got those genes!) We took the chance to drop in on one of our favorite bead stores. Beads of Bainbridge is located on the main shopping street, Winslow Way. Wonderful gemstones and lovely staff. We were there for hours!

Flea Market Masterpiece

We had a blast at the Alameda Antique Faire this past Sunday. Jennifer bought watch faces and apothecary bottles. Kitty splurged on a Chinese calligraphy brush with a carved jade handle. But the find of the day was this charming painting of these cute little dogs. It wins Best In Show!

Crafts and things.....

We just got back from the summer Craft and Hobby Show in Orlando. One of our favorite new items was Plaid Simply Silkscreen, a cool stencil printed on a fine screen for silkscreening without the fuss. And a highlight was definitely dinner with Abby Foster, Editor of Crafts 'n Things magazine. She's a doll!

Flying Colors

We are seeing in Technicolor! We just returned from a mind-blowing training course in color design with color guru Leatrice Eiseman. We learned about the psychology of color and how to forecast color trends. (The color of the year is Mimosa!)

If you can't travel to beautiful Bainbridge Island for her class, you can check out her book Color Messages and Meanings.

Hit The Beach!

It's summer time and the living is easy. Easy as a no-sew towel tote! Check out our cute canvas beach bag in this week's issue of Woman's World magazine. On newsstands now!

Whoo Can It Be Now?

We love how trendy owls are right now -- we are seeing them on everything from t-shirts and totes to pillows and pendants! We remember when they were popular in the 70s (who could forget a macrame owl necklace with dangly rhinestone eyes?). The owls we see today are so much cuter. What a hoot!

Sculpey Day!

We just got a bunch of Studio by Sculpey polymer clay from the folks at Sculpey. (Thanks Polyform!) So we decided to have a Sculpey Day! The colors are amazing. We hand sculpted beads and made focal pendants with rubber stamps. Gorgeous!

Happy Easter!

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Flea markets have the best old school crafts!
Don't these little egg cups make you want to break out the glitter and chenille chicks?

Antique Mall Madness

We love antiques! Big surprise. So yesterday we visited Olde Towne Antiques in Dublin, CA. Wow! This is a place has a lot of good stuff. A huge selection of old magazines (great for papercrafts), old advertisements (suitable for framing), and vintage kitchenalia. We were super excited by the old beads, buttons & notions. Great for crafting!

Magic For Your Pendants

We are getting together this weekend to make picture pendants using Lisa Pavelka's Magic-Glos Resin. We met her at CHA and she gave us some and she showed how to use it create a crystal clear finish and even embed little gems in your pendants. Can't wait to try it!

www.lisapavelka.com

Free Project Goldmine!

We just got back from the Craft and Hobby Show where we discovered the amazing jewelry findings of Vintaj Natural Brass Company. We love their rustic, filigree bead caps. Their web site is loaded with free how-tos and gorgeous inspiration pieces. Check it out!

http://www.vintaj.com/gallery/

Be Mine!

We love finding vintage Valentines at the flea market. The old-school illustrations and corny puns crack us up! And the third-grade handwriting is a riot: "To Debbie From Your Friend Jimmy." Ahhh, puppy love!

World's Fair of Crafts

We're off to southern California to attend the world's largest craft and hobby trade show. Fun! We've packed our most comfortable (but stylish) shoes because it will take over three days to walk the floor. We can't wait to see all the new colors and this year's trends in papercrafts, embellishments, and of course jewelry-making! We'll let you know what's hot!

Inspiring Storage

If you can't quite find your motivation to get organized, maybe a trip to the flea market is in order. We went to the Alameda Antique Faire last week and saw some gorgeous drawers. It reminded us how one remarkable find, like a set of post office boxes, can inspire you to get your things in order. We found a card catalog at the flea market for only $10. It is a playful conversation piece as well as a functional office tool!

Beach Glass Bonanza

We are always on the lookout for cool art materials. So we were amazed when we found a beach full of beach glass near us. It made a trip to the beach fun, even in the middle of winter!

We selected small pieces for jewelry crafts. We made this pendant by soldering all the way around the glass and adding a jump ring.