Leather Jewelry Making

This post brought to you by Leathercord USA!Tonight finds me with an Eric Church song stuck in my head.  I didn’t even like country music until I met my husband and now it’s stuck in my head?  The things we do for love.

Know what else I love?

Blank leather cuffs!  That’s what I used to make this project for LeatherCord USA–Sari ribbon wrapped cuff bracelets.
Check out all the colors and sizes.  You can even pick the snap color.  In my eyes, these cuffs are blank canvases.  The sky is the limit.  I’ve got a list of things I want to try out on them.  You can get some of your own HERE.
I fell in love with the red brown color and the distressed tan color cuff bracelets.  That’s what I used in the post.
One of my favorite art tools is a nail file.  The fine grit makes it perfect for distressing surfaces, like the red brown cuff I have here.
You can embellish it with the sari silk ribbon.  Leather and silk go together like peas and carrots.  I use hot glue to secure the ribbon to the back of the cuff like this…
Now start wrapping!  It’s worth mentioning that if you don’t have sari ribbon, you can cut strips of silk from a shirt or scarf.
Add other colors and patterns of ribbon on the sides,
gluing and trimming as you go.
This is a punch especially used for leather.  I got it at Harbor Freight.  It was super cheap and went right through the ribbon.
How about that?
For a little bit of flare, I’m adding a concho I picked up in Taos.  Did I ever tell you that I went on a road trip with my family across America last summer?  Actually I met them along the way in Albaquerque because I was doing Jewelry Television.   From there, we went to California and back to Indiana.  Basically, I spent 5 days in the car straight with my husband, mom, dad, sister and her kid.  Yeah.  And we still love each other!

The concho has a screw that goes through the leather to attach it.  If you want a permanent bond, you could add epoxy to the screw.

To add a little bit more flare, I added some LeatherCord USA deertan lacing.  This stuff comes in a ton of earthy bright colors as well as various widths.  That’s why I love it.
You can knot it like this or knot it on the front and glue the ends on the back like I did for the other cuff.
I wore this one today with a blue maxi dress and cowboy boots.  Cue Eric Church…
Here’s the link to LeatherCord USA cuffs!