Absence and new projects!

Hello everyone! Sorry for my absence. I've been ill. I'm also getting ready to move and sell our house on short notice. Good move, but creates some very intense, time-sensitive work, which I am now happily avoiding, but posting to this blog :)

I've been making the trendy wrap-bracelet for weeks, trying to perfect my technique and use the correct size of leather or lace (ie waxed cotton) with the correct sized beads. I only use the word correct because I seem unable to get an even distribution of beads without a magical formula, which I will share with you soon.

In making these wrap bracelets, I suddenly find myself absentmindedly wrapping strands of beads around my wrists as I sort my kit, getting ready for my show in Fishkill, NY in July, and for the big show in September, in Marlboro, MA. So I have another kind of wrap bracelet to show you, which I will do in photos since it is so easy. The leather wrap I should do in a video, because it can be tricky. Guess I had better get at cleaning my front porch so I can shoot the video out there soon.

This is such a loose project- you can really do this a million ways. I started with some 2mm leather cord. Be careful buying leather cord in bulk in the craft store. Often it is spliced together halfway through the roll. If that is what you are using, unwrap a length, and without cutting it, take hold of it every foot or so and give it a good pull between your hands. If it is spliced it will break, and better it breaks before you use it than in the middle of your bracelet. The length is really going to depend on how many times you want it to wrap around. The trend is wrap bracelets of different stones and/or metals, and you just stack them. I have some that wrap 2x or 3x and I pair them with one or two traditional chain or plain bead bracelets.

For the 2mm cord any large hole bead will do, but for wrapping purposes, you do not want this bead to be bulky. I chose this silver pewter bead:

To start, I always make my closure first. In this case I am using a button with a shank large enough for the 2mm leather to fit through. Thread the leather through the button shank and leaving about a 1/2" of tail, wind some wire around to hold the two pieces together. You could also use thread for this, binding it tightly and finishing your knot with a drop of glue to secure it.

Next, thread however many beads on that you like. I didn't want a solid silver bracelet so I just covered about 3/4 of the cord.

Check to see how many times it comfortably wraps around your wrist, and then loop the loose end around the button. I don't have a hard and fast rule about how big to make the loop. I just wrap it around and wiggle it back over the button. You can make a loop smaller but you can't make it bigger. Next take hold of the loose end of the leather where the base of it touches the other side forming the loop. Again, I wrapped fine wire around and around the two pieces, and I tried to make it somewhat the same length as the other side, however, his is not about perfection so don't get caught up in trying to be all matchy matchy. Trim the wire and tuck the little sharp end back up between the two pieces of leather. Trim the excess leather. Now you have your wrap bracelet!

You can leave it as is, or, you might decide to do what I did- I noticed all the beads congregating in once place, leaving the raw leather exposed in one chunk on the other side, so, noticing one of my beads was a little tighter than all the others, I randomly grouped beads along the leather and squished some here and there with my bent nose pliers. That way, they are still loosely distributed on the length of the bracelet but there are not large blank areas.

Below you can see the bracelet stacked with others that I have made, including the simple thread bracelet.

Here it is again with the beaded leather wrap bracelets that are so trendy right now:

I'll be back with at tutorial for the beaded leather wraps (I am actually more fond of cotton cord for these, as they are more forgiving of the stitch) and also I have an idea for a simple stone wrap bracelet with no leather at all.

Wrap bracelets are addicting! These work up really fast and look great with just about everything. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Leather Bracelet with pandora-style beads Project

It's a little cold and grey here in the Northeast today so I thought I'd warm things up with this pretty little bracelet project. For those of you at the Marlboro, MA bead show, this is the bracelet I was wearing.

Leather Pandora Bracelet

Pandora-style beads are all the rage and you are certainly not limited to stringing yours on the pandora-style bracelets. Here is a project using simple leather cord to make a rustic, yet stylish bracelet using our beautiful line of Pandora-style large hole beads, and our pewter clasps and findings.

This project is not about perfection, but expression. Use these instructions as a guideline, but express yourself!

You will need:
Pandora-style beads - in this project I used three
-Beige/brown swirls with raised brown dots
-Red similar to this one : Red
-Carved bone beige rippled
1mm leather cord in your choice of colors. I used a medium brown
One of our gold hook clasps (I only use the hook part in this project, not the included ring. You can use that for another project.)
6 goldtone spacer beads- choose from our wide selection
A focal piece of some kind to use as the "circle" to put the hook through for the clasp. I used a vintage stamping/casting from the dollar bin at one of our shows. You could use just about anything here, including the "circle" from one of our many toggle clasps.
A charm. I used the flower/heart charm
One jump ring for the charm
A small amount of soft wire to wrap one end with Gauge doesn't matter.

*Click on each image to enlarge*

1. Measure approximately 22 inches of 1mm leather cord. You will want a little excess so you can adjust the length of your bracelet. (You can use a thicker cord, but if you do, you may not be able to double it. Check to be sure your chosen spacer bead fits with the cord)

2. Fold the leather exactly in half.


3. Slide one goldtone pewtie large hole spacer bead down the length of the folded leather cord starting at the cut end and stopping about a half inch from the loop it creates.

4. Using a goldtone pewtie large hook, place the loop end of the leather through the loop end of the hook, stopping at the spacer bead. Then thread the loose ends of the leather through the leather loop and pull taut, with the spacer bead at the bottom of the knot as pictured:

It may take a little coaxing, a little warmth from your hands, to get the leather to stay in place. Once you have worn it a bit and worked the knot with your fingers, the leather will soften into place.

5. Next, choose a few of the pandora-style beads. I like to use earth toned beads in this project to complement the goldtone pewties and the warmth of this medium-brown leather. You can use as many of these pandora style beads as you would like. I put the goldtone spacers in between. The spacer I have chosen fits very snugly on the leather, so I can space my pandoras out evenly. You might choose to fill this area of the bracelet with pandoras, or other large holed beads. Stop after approximately 6" (a little more if you have very small wrists) of leather is left over.

Tie a standard overhand knot tight against the last bead.

At this point, you could really do any number of things. Get creative! l like to have a charm dangling on all of my bracelets. I chose the pewtie heart and flower charm and put it on a large jump ring so it can move around but not so large it can get past my knot. I'm not worried about mixing metals.(my jump ring is silver but my charm is gold.)

Last, chose a large focal "circle" for your hook to go through for the clasp. You might choose the circle from a large toggle, or get creative- I picked a puffed heart from our vintage stampings and castings bin at my last show. I highly recommend digging through the stampings and castings bin at the shows. You never know what you will find in there.

Thread the loose ends of the leather through. This is the point where you want to test the length of your bracelet. Hook the gold hook clasp through the focal- if the hook is too tight, as mine was, it can easily be opened using just your fingers.
Keep track of where on the leather you want to attach your focal clasp end. Fold the leather over the clasp end and use some soft wire to wrap the leather tightly.

Check the fit of your bracelet. If all is well, trim any excess leather to about 1mm below your wire wrap. If it is too tight, try having less leather come through the focal, and re-wrap.

Voila! Your new bracelet is ready to wear.

Don't forget, if you are having trouble, feel free to contact me via comments or email (posted on my profile.) I'm here to help. And if you make this project, we'd love to see pictures!