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.

Last Minute Christmas Tips

The family is on their way and you still haven't finished getting ready for Christmas. It's not too late to deck your halls! Buy bags of classic red and white starlight peppermints and place them in glass dishes around the house. Fill a large bowl with shiny ornaments and place it on your coffee table. For a simple centerpiece, snip a few branches off the back of your tree and run them down the center of the table. And why not scatter a few pinecones from the yard throughout the greenery? Merry Christmas!

For more quick and easy Christmas decorating ideas, check out this Reader's Digest piece (we were quoted in it!).

Christmas Pick-Me-Ups

We are in love with this season's glitzy floral picks. These glittered birds, sequined pears, and velvety berry sprigs are the perfect embellishment for wreaths, centerpieces, and mantlescapes. You can even tuck them into a bow for a wrapped package that looks like a million bucks. And our favorite thing about them -- besides their glitziness -- is that they're cheap! These birds were only 49 cents apiece!

Christmas Cookie Party!

This Sunday is our friend Karen's annual Cookie Party! This is the sixth year in a row that a bunch of our girlfriends get together for a whole day of baking. We used to have the party near Christmas but everyone's schedule gets so busy! So now it's in November to get us in the holiday spirit.

Fuzzy Little Friends

We have just started making needle-felted creatures. This craft is addicting! And only slightly dangerous. Our needle-felting hero is a crafter we found on www.etsy.com named Gerry. He can create a little fuzzy friend that looks exactly like your beloved dog. Amazing!

Check out Gerry's blog for more awesome photos:
http://gourmetfelted.wordpress.com

Craft Inspiration!

We just appeared on Terri O Radio's "Empowering Creativity" where we shared some of our favorite tips for getting organized and how we find creative inspiration. Click on the links below to hear the two radio segments:

Organizing Creative Clutter
Finding Crafting Inspiration

How do you recharge your creative energy? Let us know! Email us at oneilsisters@comcast.net, and we'll post your ideas!

Miniature Mania!

We just got back from an inspirational outing--we like to go
exploring to recharge our creative energy--and we discovered a
dollhouse shop loaded with amazing miniatures! Teeny-tiny chandeliers that actually light up! An itsy-bitsy birdcage with a petite parrot perched inside!

We saw diorama after diorama of ornate living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens all decorated to the tiny nines with teensy-weensy replicas, everything from a nursing mommy cat with itty-bitty kitties to a lilliputian grand piano and a fully dressed Thanksgiving turkey smaller than a donut hole.

There's something so inspiring about the attention to detail in these minis. They really make you look at ordinary items in a new way. Plus it's a great reminder that anything, even a mousetrap, on a tiny scale is just plain cute!!

Visit Shellie's Miniature Mania online at www.shelliesminis.com

Picture Pendant Crazy!!!

We are obsessed with making picture pendants! They are like little framed works of art. Check out our article in the latest issue of Crafts 'n Things for a step-by-step how to.

We get our glass bevels and copper tape at a stained glass supply store and beautiful postage stamps from eBay!

Send us a picture if you make one!!

Road Trip!

We just got back from a little road trip to La-La Land to visit the Rose Bowl Flea Market. If you haven't been, it is a flea market shopper's paradise! Except for the heat, this visit was great. We bought beautiful vintage Victorian buttons to make pretty beaded bracelets. So much fun!

For flea market shopping tips, check out our column in "Create and Decorate" magazine. The current issue features "Beachcombing at the Flea Market," all about finding seaside treasures!

Cover Girls!

We've made the cover! Our "Flea Style Birdhouse" is on the cover of the current issue of Crafts 'n Things magazine. We also wrote "Creative Containers" to help you organize your craft materials with flea market finds. This issue is so much fun because it's all about our two favorite things: CRAFTS and FLEA MARKETS!