Leather and Bead Bracelets

Oh, my goodness !  Its been two months since I've posted.   I have been making a few things, just not taking pictures. No pictures, nothing to post.  We'll see if I can do a little better for awhile.


The first one is another wrap bracelet.  I made this one for myself.  I just love the mix of seed beads that seem to be made to wear with denim.

This one is a few beads on a bolo cord.  You can just see at the right where I wrapped a little leather cord to stop the beads from sliding.  The multi colored beads are wooden and hand painted. ( No, not by me.)

The last one is an interesting metal focal on narrow leather that has been doubled.  This time I used wooden beads to keep the lacing together.  The copper cord ends add to the look.                                      

St Patrick's Day

St Patrick's Day usually sneaks up on me. One day I'm out and oops !  I am not wearing my green.   I seem to remember from childhood that some people would pinch you if you weren't wearing green.

Here is a bunch of easy St Patrick's Day jewelry that will keep you out of trouble.


First, an emerald green bracelet.

Next, a charm on a green ribbon.

Last, little charms on a bit of chain.

Red Leather Bracelet

This is another type of bracelet blank.  The leather bracelet is made like a belt and has holes pre-punched for adding beads.   Just sew on whatever beads you like.  How easy is that ?

Cross Bracelet

I love this curved cross focal and knew I had to have it.  I put it with a very simple strand of black leather.
It would also look stunning with black beads - especially faceted crystal.   I think my friend is going to love it.

Swarovski Rivoli Set

Swarovski has a whole line of crystal jewels and matching settings that make jewlery making very easy. .  You just glue the jewel into the setting and use it in your design.  I'm not usually one to wear big blingy things, but I love looking at them.  I made this bracelet and ring set for my nephew's girlfriend..  She's got kind of a punk edge to her so I used gunmetal settings instead of bright silver or gold.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out, but the picture is awful.  The rivolis are a great emerald green, not the dark shade you see here.

Leather Bracelets

I've been wanting to get into leather crafting for a long time.  It involves learning some new skills and rather a lot of tools and materials. This is my first attempt. There remains lots of room for improvements.

First up a couple of bracelet blanks painted and blinged up with rhinestones.

Next a successful experiment. I have some scrap leather in brown. I found that my rotary cutter goes through it like butter.  Then I attached  these domed brass dots.  You need to poke a hole in the leather with a knife, then insert the little pointy legs and bend them over.  I used the side of the  head of my hammer to roll down the points.  Leather snaps go on just as easily as on fabric, but you use a hammer and setting tool instead of setting pliers. Piece of cake.  I liked this piece so well that I kept it for myself.

So, look for more and better leather stuff to come.  I'm thinking beaucoup bracelets, checkbook covers, small bags and eventually, purses.

More Wrap Bracelets

I've tried some new things with this batch of wrap bracelets. One bracelet is two colors and others are three colors. Hopefully that gives the look of three bracelets together. I'm liking the bright springy colors here.  I will make more when the shipment of leather arrives.

A Small Batch of Wrap Bracelets

These are still fun to make. Gotta get some new beads.

Wrap Bracelets

I saw these gorgeous yet casual bracelets in some upscale jewelry catalogs and figured out how to make them. They are made of leather cord with beads strung between two strands.  At first, I couldn't give them away.  They were pretty, but unfamiliar to the folks around here.  I got a few girls to wear them and then they sold like hotcakes.  The only limiting factor is the hole size of the bead - the needle and thread have to pass through twice.  Seeing how few are left, I am going to make a bunch of new ones for spring.