After making a silver plated double chain necklace using the Beadalon links and connectors, I decided that it would make a good base for a lei. The chain necklace instructions will appear on our craft club website (http://www.bfcraftclub.com/). Using white gauze ribbon, I tied a daisy garland (Sierra Pacific) onto the chain necklace wrapping around twice and filling in with extra bows. It actually might be better to leave the back of the neclace (section with the clasp) unflowered so that the necklace/lei can be put on more easily. Like the glass flower wrist-lei, this project is a way to make a lei that will last beyond graduation night. Be sure to attach a card to the lei telling the graduate to untie the bows to remove the daisies and use the chain as a necklace.
Oh, in case you're wondering about the orange glass dish behind the glass flower bracelet, it is a carnival glass piece that I purchased on my last antique hunt. I think it is a vintage piece from the early 1900's made by one of the well-known glass companies of the day. The irridescent color comes from the chemicals that were sprayed on the hot glass. This piece of pressed glass was formed in a mold that has a pattern name of 'holly berry' and the orange glass is listed as marigold.
Before I left on my trip, I bought the Sizzix die cutter that makes the mechanism for a spinning pop-up (for use in a card). Since I wanted to make a quick thank you card for my son, I thought that this would be a good opportunity to try out my new 'toy' and use the funny monkey paper. Shown here is the resulting card. I kept the front of the card simple so that the inside would be more surprising. For the scalloped inner circle I used the see-through Sizzix die cutter. The 3-1/2" circle will require at least a 5" card blank so the circle won't show when the card is closed. There are many cute papers with animal prints so you don't have to use a monkey print. You can always use a monkey rubber stamp to make your own monkey paper if you do want monkey paper and can't find any. The rubber stamp used inside the card is from Hero Arts. Initially, assembling the pop-up requires some reading of instructions, but it is not very difficult. I think having a pop-up cutter allows me to quickly put together impressive cards for any occasion. 
Have you ever noticed that you can rarely ever find a scrap of paper in your purse when you need to write something down? I've seen the cute note pads with magnetic closures selling near cash registers but I think that they are too big for my little/crowded purse and I'm always afraid the magnets will erase something on my credit cards. Anyway, I've designed a mini Post-it note pad for my purse and I thought you might like to make one too (or several for party favors, co-workers, special tips, etc.). I started with the Sizzix die cutter for the small bag with the scallop edged flap. I cut out only the main piece (center of the bag) from a printed Basic Grey card stock. I measured 8-1/4" from the scalloped edge and cut off the rest of the piece. Next I wrapped the piece around a 2"x3" post-it note pad ignoring the fold lines on the die cut and creasing where necessary. (You can fold at approximately 1-1/2" (from the scalloped end), 3/8", 3", and 3/8" but the measurements will depend on the thickness of your post-it pad.) If you cannot find a 2"x3" Post-it pad you can easily use a ruler and craft knife to slice off 1" from a standard 3"x3" pad. Next I used the Hello Kitty Sizzlet cutter to do the Mimmy image with the purse (appropritate for a shopping list note pad). The dress and bow were cut from white core cardstock that was first impress with dots ( Sizzix birthday texture folder set) and then sanded. I find it easier to marker in the whiskers, glue small papers behind the eyes and nose and glue the purse, bow and dress to the main white Mimmy. (The Martha Stewart ballpoint tip glue pen works marvelously for gluing teeny tiny pieces.) Then the whole decorated Mimmy is run through a Xyron to make it into a sticker. After adhering the sticker I cut little squares of adhesive backed Velcro and attached them to the notepad cover to form a closure. I hope you try this project and have a happy week crafting.
