Creative with kids

Last week I did a couple of hours crafting with kids at a youth center summer party. It was great even though kids would need a bit more practice with handling the pliers. But creativity they surely have and actually in upcycling the creative process is even more important than the expertise.

And with kids it is also good to learn that you can achieve your wanted outcome in many ways. There are just little problems to solve and different solutions will probably take you to the same goal.

Tuana made herself a pair of earrings with letters and black & white pearls.

Golden animal brooches

Some time ago one customer of mine asked for golden animal brooches. So here they are. I hope she'll stop by at my table soon so I can show that I finally fulfilled her request.

Golden animal brooches on my customers request.

CRAFTING TIPS FOR GOLDEN ANIMAL BROOCHES

1. I used the rim spray paint. It seems it's really hard to find a paint that really sticks. So far, the rim paint with little sparkles in it has been the best. If anyone has better knowledge on this one, please share your secrets with me!
2. The paint sticks better to a softer plastic. Though some soft plastics can not take the paint. You'll notice that if the surface gets weird and the paint won't get dry.
3. From the other side of the animal I sanded the place for the brooch flat with the grindstone tool of my Dremel. The grindstone tool is meant for metal materials but works well with plastic as well.

Winter jacket

I am no not a sports person and totally not a winter person. And if it is possible, even less of a winter sports person. But, this weekend we'll go downhill skiing with our guests from Finland. My boyfriends both big brothers will come with a couple of friends of theirs and we'll head up to Zillertal, Austria for a quick skiing trip.

I found my winter sports clothing from Finland like over eight years ago from sales and I wore them since then like five times maybe. It was always my intention to pimp them a little but I never did because it seemed kind of pointless if I was never really using them. Now finally, I started the project. I just attached some badges that I happened to have and pyramid studs from and old belt. I know, it's kind of too "classic" but the look will get more interesting with time when I find more stuff for it.

Remember that you can not attach glue in badges by ironing
onto a synthetic material. ...Haha, I remember from my youth
one boy who had tried to iron a flight jacket and of course
there was a burned picture of an iron in the back.

NOTICE: The badge in the left arm is the original version from my RokRokInc. logo. It was made by a tattoo artist Max for our DIY punk rock festival in Kemi, Finland.

Bag of (s)crap

So this is part of what I saved from Helsinki flea markets. At the moment it is just a bag of scrap but let's see what I will make of it. With a time they will surely find a new home and get a better life!

Treasures from Helsinki flea markets.

Andrea

"Leather is such a great material. It goes well
with every style and is perfect for every occasion."

Baby blanket

My friend got a baby a while ago and I promised to make a baby blanket for the little fellow. I ordered Finnish Novita yarn (Polku) for the blanket but I ran out of the wool. But when I visited Helsinki last week I went to take a look in Novita LankaDeli shop and I found it! It was a seasonal color so it was already in clearance sale but I got lucky and found some of that yarn.

FROM THIS CASE I HAVE A COUPLE OF TIPS:

1. The Finnish traditional Novita yarn is truly a good yarn. It has good quality, mostly ok prices and great vary in seasonal colors. You can find more about Novita in English in Pinterest. You can browse the yarn options (Langat) in the web shop (which is unfortunately only in Finnish but does it really matter so much...?)
2. Novitas web shop ordering works only inside Finland. But you can order Novita yarn abroad via email. Just contact in English paivi.keppo@novita.fi. They send first an invoice and after paying (international IBAN banking numbers worked just fine) they dispatched my purchase the very next day. Totally reliable!
3. Novita LankaDeli shop (Malminrinne 1, Helsinki) is a great place to see and feel all the Novita yarns in a cozy atmosphere. It's like a candy shop!
4. You can find easy knitting designs free online in many different languages in Garnstudio. 

The baby blanket is still a work in process
but I will get it ready this week.

The design I chose for the baby blanket was this:

• In English: Garnstudio Drops designs: baby blanket
• Auf Deutsch: Garnstudio Drops Design: Baby Decke
• Suomeksi: Garnstudion Drops mallit: vauvan peitto

...Though of course I had to chance it a bit. My squares are smaller and I attached them together with slip stitches.

Maija

Maija is a teacher so the pencil earrings are perfectly appropriate.
Though otherwise she refuses to be too appropriate or
ever to become 'the conservative and boring teacher'.
"Even though life and work are not about just having fun
you have to remember to play and be creative every day."

Pencil earrings

Pencil earrings bring color to everyday life.

 MAKING PENCIL EARRINGS IS AS SIMPLE AS IT SEEMS

 

For Pencil earrings you need pencils, a small saw, a crafting drill, screw hooks, glue,
sandpaper, pencil sharpener, crafting pliers and earring hooks.

 

1. Saw the pencils into pieces with a mini saw.
   Remember to leave enough length for sharpening the tip.
2. Sand the other tip with a sandpaper.
3. Drill about 1 cm hole into the sanded tip, in the middle of the color material.
4. Put just a little glue into your screw hook and screw it in.
5. Sharpen the other tip with a pencil sharpener.
6. Attach the earring hooks and that's it! 

NOTICE: Screw hooks in earrings are ideally as small as possible. But normally I use maximum the size 3mm x 8mm. Then you can use the drill pit size 2 - 2,5 mm depending a bit on the screw hook and target material.

Pencil earrings by RokRokInc.

Just a small flashback to my roots

And as a small flashback to my roots I would like to show this piece of music video that is made in my tiny crappy hometown Kemi (Finland) by boys from back there. The video is shoot in our old "livingroom" Bar Koodi. ...And I have to say the video is pretty damn realistic, haha.

Slap Betty: That's what I do

So, that is I guess enough about the introduction. Next time I will dive into the crafting part. And now I will get ready for the evening market here in Munich. Also bis bald! (Eng: See you soon!)

To begin with

So here is my freshly started blog. I will be filling it one by one with small crafting instructions, fleamarket reviews, my newest upcycling ideas/recycling findings and above all: photos of my wonderful customers wearing RokRokInc. jewelry as a part of their different lives.

To begin with I could introduce the ideology behind my crafts. To me a piece of recycled jewelry is never just a piece of jewelry. It brings with it flashbacks of feelings, emotions and scents. And not only the memories from your own past but also the mysteries of other people. Upcycled items and materials had their earlier life and have many stories to keep. Vie recycling what once was finished gets a second life and more soul as you'll bring it more crazy happenings to be kept in secret.

YOU CAN FIND THE UP TO DATE RokRokInc. UPCYCLED JEWELRIES AND ACCESSORIES:

• www.facebook.com/rokrokinc
• www.etsy.com/shop/rokrokinc

 Mix and match, get crazy, be fancy or have fun but always do it with a dash of rock attitude!