Current News!

• One of my repurposed hardware necklaces was recently featured in the "Handpicked Items" section on Etsy. www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

• I am currently working on writing a tutorial on polymer clay technique that Sister Diane of Craftypod will be using. www.craftypod.com
  

• I am a current contributor for The Sampler for the June/July edition. Go to www.homeofthesampler.com
• Urban Construction is featured in the SHE Unlimited online magazine! http://www.sheunlimited.com/wp/?cat=10

Please be sure to check out my online shop! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

Polymer Clay

Anyone who has looked at my Etsy shop can see that I do a lot of work with polymer clay. (If you haven't - be sure to check it out! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com). In case anyone is interested in working with polymer clay,
I have a few tips and favorites after years of working with the stuff.

-Sculpey clay comes in three varieties. Sculpey I, Sculpey II, and Sculpey III. These three clays are kind of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears for me.
-Sculpey I is ok to use if you need to, but it tends to be a little too dry and crumbly for my taste.
-Sculpey III is the extreme opposite, and extremely soft. I have a hard time working with this one because it is too soft. It leaves fingerprints too easily, and is hard to shape without it sticking all over your hands. The more you knead it, the more sticky it gets.
-Sculpey II is my favorite by far since it is obviously in between the other two.
-I don't seem to get what the draw is on Premo Sculpey. When I've gotten it, it was way too hard and crumbly. They offer better colors, but I usually just use the reguarly colors and mix to get my desired color anyway.
-Fimo clay is similar to Sculpey III, and too soft. It also leaves a colored residue all over your hands and workspace! Not fun.
-The only color of the Sculpey that I have found to stain my hands temporarily is the red for some reason. Just use care when using this color, and be sure not to stain your surroundings.
-Sculpey glaze in the gloss finish is my favorite. I used to use the satin finish, until I recently discovered how beautiful the gloss finish comes out. It is super shiny and glossy. I am going to have to reglaze all of my inventory!

Clothing Posted on My Etsy Shop!

I have finally started posting a lot of the reconstructed vintage pieces that I've made on my Etsy shop! Check it out! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

Craft My Ride Part 3

Along with my toiletries, I also keep spare clothes in the trunk. Sometimes I forget to bring my workout clothes with me in the morning, so I have a spare set in the back. I also have a spare set of heels in case I suddenly need to change, etc. I've actually used these twice already. Once I was wearing suede heels and it unexpectedly started to rain, so I ran back to my car to change. Last weekend, I broke a heel on an escalator, but I just ran to my car and changed into my emergency heels! I needed something to hold all of my extra outfits, so I made this box out of old record sleeves and duct tape! It fits in nicely next to my subwoofer. :)

I like to keep all of my car manuals, stereo paperwork, etc. together. I made this little booklet out of fused plastic bags to keep it all organized.

Lastly, speaking of my stereo...I needed something to keep my stereo faceplate from getting scratched in my purse. I thought that when you paid a lot for a stereo they gave you something, but oh well...this is cuter. I just sewed this out of a few sheets of felt, and it works great in my purse!

Please be sure to take a look at my Etsy shop and MySpace! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com and www.myspace.com/urbanconstruction

Craft My Ride Part 2

This was actually supposed to be a necklace for my website, but I decided my car would like to wear jewelry too. :) I made this Our Lady of Guadalupe to hang from my rear view window. Please be sure to check out my website for the actual necklace! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com

I like to be prepared for anything, including a bad hair day. I keep a lot of "in case of emergency" toiletries and supplies in my car (including even a mini hair dryer that fits in the palm of my hand). I needed something cute to keep all of these supplies in, so I made this little pouch. I made a collage from magazines and clear contact paper. I covered both sides in the contact paper, and then turned it into a pouch with Velcro closure. I love it, and it's so easy to use and throw back into the back seat!

I have a little mini trash can in my car, but I also needed something for my recyclables. I made this little hanging trash bag with this cute retro tattoo fabric, lined in black vinyl. That way, if I leave a few drops of soda in a can, I don't have to worry about my cute pink fabric getting ruined!

This was also part of the Stitch - n- Bitch pattern that went along with the steering wheel cover. The fuzzy dice actually hang in the back seat, off the head rest on the passenger side. Don't ask why...it's a long story involving a joke with a few of my friends and my cat.

Please be sure to take a look at my Etsy shop and MySpace! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com and www.myspace.com/urbanconstruction

Craft My Ride part 1

Since sometimes I feel like I live in my car, I have to feel at home there. :) Which means my car is personalized with tons of my craft projects.

Here's a list of all of the projects I've created for my beloved car....

I am short. Very short. A little over 5'. I like to tell people I'm 5'1", but that's exaggerating slightly. When daylight savings time started, I realized I was driving home from work every day staring at the setting sun, and I am too short for the visor to be any help. So I broke down and made myself a cushion. Now the sun no longer blinds me.



I usually leave for work pretty early in the morning. This isn't so much of a problem now, but in the winter, my steering wheel was pretty cold in the morning (especially because I have to park on the street). I used the pattern in one of the Stitch -n- Bitch books, and used some faux fur eyelash yarn. I love my knitted steering wheel cover. :) It also makes it easy to spot my car in a large parking lot.

Please be sure to take a look at my Etsy shop and MySpace! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com and www.myspace.com/urbanconstruction

My latest completed project!

I'm on a little vacation from work this week, and one of the best things I can think of to do is to just relax at home, watch all the crafting shows on DIY network, and catch up on all of my projects! So I saw this cute project on DIY's jewelry making for a beaded bridal headband/tiara. It was really cute, except I'm not getting married any time in the near future, so I decided to adapt it for myself. :)

Here is the link on the DIY website for the full instructions. http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_jewelry/article/0,2025,DIY_13762_2838472,00.html
I don't know why, but the website says to clip off the headband teeth. On the show, they specifically were talking about how helpful those little teeth are in lining up your wire. I wanted to use a thicker plastic headband than the one they used on the show, and I happened to find one that I've had lying around since the 80's! Being that my headband is "vintage," it was missing a few of the teeth. I will say that it was much easier to wrap and line up the wire in the parts of the headband that have the teeth. So I would recommend ignoring that part of the instructions! I also skipped adding beads to the backside of the headband. Mine is obviously not going to be a tiara, so I just put the beads on the top, and skipped all of the obvious tiara parts.

In all, this was a really easy adapted project, and I completed it in one evening while watching a movie! I got a few tubes of mixed seed beads at my local craft store, used some silver tone 24 gauge wire, and I was all set! I of course used black beads since I wanted it to look nothing at all like a bridal tiara, and I think it will look perfect with a little black dress!

Please be sure to take a look at my Etsy shop and MySpace! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com and www.myspace.com/urbanconstruction

Fabric Clearance Sale!

For those of you that sew, knit, make jewelry, quilt, etc....you should definitely look online to see if there is a Hancock Fabrics near you. They are closing 140 stores, which is really sad. The mood was a little somber because all of these employees are loosing their jobs. I felt compelled to keep going back to offer moral support. :) The good news is I got some amazing deals! Everything is 40-60% off! I got spools of lace for like $0.40, etc. I got huge bags of fabric, trims, beads and more for around $100. I would definitely recommend checking it out! Even if it isn't right down the street from you, it is definitely worth a little drive to go stock up. Even if you won't use something right away, you know you eventually will use it!

Please be sure to take a look at my Etsy shop and MySpace! www.urbanconstruction.etsy.com and www.myspace.com/urbanconstruction