The Jewelry Bird's Dream Studio

One of the great things about being home sick with the sniffles is the inevitable curling up on the couch and partaking of daytime television that occurs.  While in a state of severe head fog recently, I caught an episode of The Nate (Berkus) Show and there was a segment on OlioBoard.com.  This is the coolest interactive online design site I have ever seen.  Users create and design mood or inspiration boards to depict a room they'd like to manifest.  Naturally, (post-head-fog) I logged on and created the Jewelry Bird Studio of my dreams!  Of course this room would also serve as a personal sanctuary and relaxation space.  For days I added, took away, nudged, rotated and adjusted countless elements and came up with the Olio Board you see below.

Oh what fun and highly addictive this process was!  That big blue flower you see is a rug, isn't that beautiful?  I am currently not allowed to log on to their site for a self-enforced-48-hour-design-detox.  My only miniscule complaint about the free version of their site is that I do not see a function to upload your own pictures; I am sure they have their reasons. 

This process got me thinking; what if there was a site like this for jewelry and other DIY crafts?  Or, inspiration board-builder-sites for goals and dreams?  It's endless! 

Friendship Wrap Bracelet Revisited

Do you remember Spring Break, circa 1992?  Let me refresh your memory, you were considered one of the cool girls if you came back tanned to a bronze and with some brightly colored string woven around a tiny braid in your long hair.  Today I revisited this concept but as a bracelet and hopefully with a 2012 edge!  This was fun and surprisingly easy.  How I ever learned to make friendship bracelets as a kid without YouTube is beyond me!  I found this little gem of a video yesterday, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gs2mzaR2vk&feature=related. I used four strands of waxed linen for the inside pieces instead of the braided yarn this video suggested and it worked great.  It gives the bracelet a nice little rigidity as a bonus.  The clasp is a tinier version of some nest pendants that I had created a few years ago.  And of course in keeping with my tassel obsession I just left some of the excess fringe.  A unique look for sure!  I think it would be cool to do a really long version of this that wraps around five times and incorporates more colors.