Photo Bracelet « The Hybrid Chick

Photo Bracelet

By karistamps Wednesday May 13, 2009

I love when I find something unique and beautiful that I can use in my crafting … my eyes are always open for items that I can alter, reuse, or turn into something special. On a recent trip to Texas to visit my girlfriend, we were out shopping (of course) and we wandered through many cute boutiques filled with handcrafted items. In one of them I found an item that immediately caught my eye – the Storyville Scrapbooking Bracelet by Lucky Feather. I HAD to have it!!

I’m an accessory loving girl and the idea of a bracelet with darling charms that I could put my own photos in was a dream come true. Not only was the bracelet beautiful but it came with instructions and all of the supplies I would need to complete it. The best part? It was made to be EASY to put together!! Who doesn’t love a quick, easy, beautiful craft?

I started by looking at what was included in the package – the bracelet has 5 charms that are double-sided so you can capture 10 images. Also included is a sheet of Storyville art images from letters to greetings to pictures that you can use to complete your bracelet (I chose to use all of my own images). Finally, the clear bubble stickers that go over the images to magnify and protect them as well as the adhesive squares that attach your images to the bracelet are also included.

They’ve even made it easy to get your photos to be the right size for the charms! Choose your photos and head to www.luckyfeather.com to use their Easy Shrinker! From there you create a free account, enter the barcode from your product, and get ready to upload!

I created several images using Our Story from Kelley Mickus and Stamp the Date – Vol. 2 from Mira Designs – both available at The Digichick. I started by making my images 6×6 inches so I could use them for a mini album later … gotta love multi-tasking The only thing to be aware of when creating your own images is that you need to leave everything larger than you normally would on a scrapbook page. These will be shrunk down to about 1/2 inch so small typeface may not show up. I found I was most happy with the ones where I used large photos, larger, more simple type, and few embellishments. I also decided to use a few photos without “dressing them up.”

Once I had my images complete I headed online to upload my photos to the Easy Shrinker. Click to upload your photos, resize using the -/+ buttons, rotate, change color (b&w or sepia), preview, and save images. I found that I reduced my 6×6 pages to about 7% scale. The little “guideline” square that they give you is just a touch larger than the clear bubble stickers so I made my images just smaller than the guideline. Resizing your photos will depend on how you want them cropped. I think I reduced mine to about 50% scale. After you have resized all of your images and saved them it is time to print!

You can print on your home printer or request a free print sent to your home (U.S. residents only). Once you print you will have a sheet with all of your images shrunk to the perfect size for your bracelet … COOL (and so easy)!! The rest of it is the fun stuff Take your bubble stickers and place them right on top of each of your images. Not only do the bubble stickers protect your images but they also magnify them! I love this concept. I made a keychain once using a liquid medium to achieve the same protection and look that the bubble stickers gives and it was much messier (and got air bubbles in it) … so glad to see the bubble stickers used – easy and mess-free! *bubble stickers will protect from splashes and everyday wear but should not be submerged.

After you have covered your images with the bubble stickers it is time to trim. Putting the bubble stickers on first makes this incredibly easy because now all you have to do is trim around the bubble! Trim each image to size and set aside.

Next place a sticky square inside each charm. Peel the backing and place your images onto the adhesive. It’s that easy!! I love how simple Lucky Feather has made this jewelry making process!!! I can’t wait to give my girlfriend this bracelet for her birthday next week – it contains photos from the day her baby was born last year and more current photos. I know she will just love it and I love that I could make such a unique and personal gift in a snap

Want to make one for yourself or someone you love? Lucky Feather has generously donated 8 bracelets for us to give away to our loyal readers!!! All you have to do is leave us a comment and we will draw our random winners on Saturday, May 16th!

Want an extra chance to win? Mention it on your blog, Facebook or Twitter with a link to this post and you can be entered again. Just leave us another comment for each thing you do with a link to your post or Tweet.