candiecooper, Author at Candie Cooper

Beadalon Bracelet Jig Stretch Bracelet Part II

April 15, 2015 By candiecooper 4 Comments

Greetings Day Fivers!

Where has the time gone? So in the last post, I showed you Beadalon’s new bracelet jig tool. Now let’s turn that piece into a bracelet topper.
When you pull the piece from the bracelet jig, you’ll have something like this. Finish the ends with wrapped loops.For the back end of the bracelet, I strung a section of topaz colored glass beads with brass spacer beads (easy!) in an alternating order. By the way, I’m using Beadalon’s 1mm Elasticity, because I like the thickness, but they do have a smaller size just in case.
Don’t forget to pull and stretch your elastic to break it in a bit.
Knot one end of the Elasticity to the bracelet topper. I really love using the same color of Elasticity as the wire–blends right in! Trim the Elasticity from the spool, leaving a couple inches to tie the other side.
Trim the extra Elasticity away, leaving about an 1/8th inch and dot the knot with nail polish.
The loops from the bracelet jig make a perfect place to connect bead dangles and charms if you like. For me, I enjoyed the simplicity of this and the dainty flowers.

Speaking of, these acrylic flower beads are popping up everywhere at Bead Fest Spring. Hello spring, we’re glad you’re here!!

Filed Under: Bead Love, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Beadalon Bracelet Jig Idea

April 10, 2015 By candiecooper 2 Comments

Dayyyyyyy FIVE of ~~Spring~~ Beadalon Break!

I have been helping with set up of the Jesse James Beads booth at Bead Fest Spring since 9AM today. Where does the time go?? I will be teaching 10 classes at this Bead Fest.

No pressure.

(yeah right!)

It’s pouring right now–a good day for ducks, as my dad says!

And to test drive the new Beadalon Bracelet Jig!

I’m doing this post in two parts. For the first part, you’ll need the Beadalon Bracelet Jig, basic plier set plus some bead strands.String the beads onto 18g. Artistic Wire. Next, wrap your wire around the first peg on the jig, slide the bead(s) into place, put a peg in next to them and wrap the wire around it.

Keep going, adding a peg and wrapping after each flower for a total of 3 (but you could use more!).

Stay tuned to see how I use my Bracelet Jig focal piece.

In the meantime check out some of the bracelets below made by Meredith Roddy and Wyatt White at Beadalon!

Candie <3

P.S. In love with those rose beads? Get your own from JesseJamesBeads.com!

Filed Under: Tutorials

Aluminum Fabric Earrings

April 9, 2015 By candiecooper 2 Comments

This post brought to you by Beadalon!Day 4, Party People!

And that calls for some earrings that are ready to party! Or go to work. I like them for both!Oh hey gold and silver. It’s Candie calling. Wanna hang?

Sorry,

for the pun.

This girl can’t help herself!

These earrings are super simple (it is hump day after all) to make. I used two pieces of Beadalon Aluminum Fabric, Swarovski crystal charms, a few inches of chain and some cool ear wires from Beadalon.Aluminum Fabric comes in 3 different metal colors as well as sizes. I’m using the squares. It is super flexible and really does drape and fold like fabric.

On another note, you’ve probably noticed gold is trending right now and I think you’ll love the warm tone of the gold Aluminum Fabric. I was looking at this Aluminum Fabric and noticed the back side (on right) is just as cool as the front. It could be extra nice embedded in resin jewelry or with tiny flat back crystals .Cut a couple pieces of chain so they are offset and attach to a tiny jump ring.Remove the corner piece of Aluminum Fabric, leaving only a ring where it will hang from.
Hang the pieces of chain and aluminum fabric onto the ear wire. I love these ear wires because the connection point is hidden. so it gives a really nice finished look.

Also, look how many things you could hang on the loop?! The wheels are turning… Stack em’ up!

I’m ready to hit the dance floor! Who’s with me??

Filed Under: Tutorials

Easy Necklace Making

April 7, 2015 By candiecooper 1 Comment

This post brought to you by Beadalon!Day 3 of ~~Spring~~ Beadalon Break and I wanna here a heck yeah if you love easy jewelry making!

Picture me “raising the roof”…
Or playing a tambourine?

Don’t ask.

But, I know you’re curious…

My mom and I share a creative space in which she has a small music studio and sometimes when she’s not there, I use her instruments as props. That’s all.

Ok, let’s get to it!
Recently Beadalon sent a spool of their .024 diameter 49 strand gold beading wire for me to try out and let me tell you—I’m in LOVE! It’s so thick and glorious. It looks amazing all by itself!It comes in different colors too!

Can I get another heck yeah?It only takes a few ingredients to make this simple necklace. Other than the .024 Beadalon wire, the key item is a donut pendant. Do you have a pile laying around like me? Let’s use em’ up! You’ll also want some #3 crimp tubes for the thicker wire, your basic jewelry making tools set, some beads and a clasp.String the donut bead onto the heavy wire and determine how long you want your necklace. Trim the end from the spool and slide a crimp bead over both ends of the wire.

Flat crimp the crimp tube with chain nose pliers by smooshing the crimp bead.

Smoosh it. Smoosh it good.String the beads onto one side of the wire and separate each bead with two crimp beads. Use a tool of some sort to help create equal distance between each crimp bead–I’m using a tiny ruler.

Flat crimp again.Then slide your first bead against the crimp bead. Crimp the next tube so it keeps the bead in place along the wire. Use your measuring tool again and flat crimp the next crimp tube.

Repeat, completing both sides of the wire.To finish the ends with a toggle clasp, we will use the traditional crimping method. Slide a crimp tube onto the beading wire followed by one half of the clasp. Thread the tail of the wire back through the crimp bead, snugging the tube up against the clasp, but not so much that your clasp cannot move freely.Put the crimp tube in the “U” shape opening on the crimping pliers and crimp.Turn the crimp tube 90 degrees and place in the outside opening to roll the crimp bead into a tight C or shut.I created this necklace to match this unique chain. Here’s another version with a handmade glass donut bead. With a focal piece like this, it’s nice to highlight the beauty of it with minimal stringing work around it.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

How to Make Easy Ear Wires

April 6, 2015 By candiecooper 4 Comments

This post brought to you by Beadalon!And here we are on Day two of ~~Spring~~ Beadalon Break!

Let me cut to the chase:

My name is Candie Cooper….and I am absolutely obsessed with fringe (and jean jackets, but that’s a story for another day).

Have been for awhile, but lately with the fashions it’s gotten extra bad.

So, in this post I’m going to get you to come on over to the dark side and show you how to make fringed metal earrings with Beadalon Artistic Wire as well as how to make easy ear wires with their new Artistic Wire Findings Forms.

Shake it if you got it!

Let’s go!These earrings go together so fast and you can make the metal fringe as loooong as you like because we are actually using a coil of flat Artistic Wire.Materials list from Left to Right: Beadalon Quick Links in gold and silver colors (25mm and 20mm diameter), 20g. silver plated Artistic Wire, Artistic Wire Ear Wire jig, Flat Artistic wire in gold and silver, steel bench block, file, chasing hammer, riveting hammer, Ergo jewelry making plier set, sand paper and a few beads and head pins.Let’s jump into making the fringe. Make a loop at the end of the flat wire with round nose pliers. Trim to the desired length. You’ll need five pieces per earring so you can decide what colors and lengths you like. The wire cuts easily with regular wire cutters.File the corners on the bottom for obvious reasons.Hammer time! Hammer the wire pieces on a steel block with the chasing hammer to create dimples on the surface of the metal. I like to hit the ends extra so it flares them a bit.This is traditionally used as a riveting hammer. They make special hammers shaped like this for texturing too if you really get into this.

Now I want to show you how to make easy ear wires!This handy dandy Findings Forms jig from Beadalon makes DIY ear wires a breeze. This one is especially cool because it makes long legged ear wires so you can change the ear wire to suit your design. For this project, I just need some good ol’ fashioned French ear wires with a slightly larger loop than traditional ear wires have.Once you’ve wrapped the 20g. wire around, trim the back and pull the ear wire from the jig.Like I mentioned earlier, because of this long leg, you could also add a bead or do an easy wrapped loop closure. Trim the front…and roll it back to create a large loop. To add some extra strength to the ear wire, hammer the top arched part on a steel block to harden the wire.Next open up all the fringe pieces and connect them to the large Quick Link.I created a little Czech bead dangle to hang with my layered hoops. A little color never hurt anybody!

Done and done!

Two metal color jewelry makes me HAPPY!

Now go on with your bad self!

I’ll see you tomorrow with another tutorial!

Filed Under: Tutorials

How To Make Macrame’ Bracelets

April 5, 2015 By candiecooper 4 Comments

This post brought to you by Beadalon.The ~~Spring~~ Beadalon Break 2015 parTAY has officially started, people! All this week you’ll find fun tutorials on my blog with Beadalon products. I’m really excited about it. First up: Macrame Bracelets!Macrame’ hemp jewelry will always have a special place in my heart because I made a ton of it when I was in high school–very early in my jewelry making career. Picture me thrifting for chunky glass beads, tying the cords to my toe and knotting my heart out. Cue Dave Matthews band.

Those were the days. (snaps back into reality)

These days, I’m loving the texture that hemp adds to my bracelet stack. And thanks to Beadalon, my not-so-flexible self doesn’t have to secure the cords to my toe, because they made a cool Tying Station.

For this bracelet you will need: the Tying Station, 19 strand beading wire .018 diameter, hemp cord, clasp, crimp beads and beads (I’m using Czech). AND some wire cutters!I really love the Tying Station because you can make hemp jewelry without having large holed beads (oh and that I don’t have to sit like a pretzel for hours while I knot). Here’s how:String the beads for your bracelet onto the beading wire.

Secure the end of beading wire with a crimp bead onto the top peg of the Beadalon tying station. The loop needs to be loose so you can slide it off easily.Wrap the opposite end around the bottom, under the plate of the Tying Station and twist the nut down so the cord can’t slide. It was when I looked at this with fresh eyes and thought to myself yeeeahhhhhhh. No.

What is going on in this photo??

The Hokie Pokie?

Sorry.

For the hemp: Cut a yard of cord and tie it to the central wire so that both tails are even length.

And now, I’m going to send you here, if you want to learn this basic square not.

Why I didn’t make all the knots like this photo? I have no idea. BUT! You get the idea right? Slide a bead into place and knot around it.

The second reason I love this tools is because of the measurements on the side so you know how long your bracelet will be.

Also, you can also use the tool to create really long wrap around bracelets thanks to the foam plates that hold everything down.

Right now, this bracelet is 7.25″ long which is good if your clasp in 1/2 inch to 3/4″.When you are finished, slide the bracelet down on the core wire toward the bottom peg. This gives you a little wire on the end so you can cut away the loop and attach your clasp with crimp beads like normal. Tie the hemp in a knot and secure it with multi-purpose epoxy.Here are a couple clasp ideas (from L to R): traditional toggle, seed bead loop/button, button/lobster clasp.I love all the colors hemp comes in now. When I was in school we had brown, brown, or brown.The peach bracelet on the right is actually a necklace or wrap around bracelet.

Stack em’ up! and wear em’ proud!

I’ll see you tomorrow with a new tutorial, Beadalon Breakers!

More info on the Tying Station on the Beadalon site!

Filed Under: Beads, Tutorials

Coachella Jewelry Idea

April 3, 2015 By candiecooper 1 Comment

This post brought to you by LeatherCord USA.Have you seen all the Coachella fashion love on Pinterest and in magazines? Coachella is actually a music festival where you’ll see free spirited fashions galore.

This set started with the knotted strand I had hanging (unfinished) on my bead wall. I was thrilled when LeatherCord USA sent a batch of their tassels for me to play with.
Here the tassels are in raw form. They come in suede and nappa finishes and in two sizes. I opted to play around with the nappa finish which is a little smoother and slicker compared to the suede.
To customize the tassels, I brushed them with Ranger/Vintaj Patina paints. I used a stiff brush so I got the scratchy lines of paint on the leather. Start with metallic gold…
and brush both sides of the leather. A little dab of paint will do you! I like to brush most of it off on the wax paper before touching the leather. Brush a layer of turquoise (both sides) and end with one last coat of gold.

Finishing with a layer of gold tones down the straight turquoise, making the layers blend and look really good!
You can do this treatment on thin or thick tassels. The wheels are turning for more patina’d tassels!
Here’s how I used them in my finished jewelry designs. I love how the tassels look with the Czech beads!For the earrings, I used 20g. Artistic Wire to wrap the druzy bead and tassel to the big hoop (which is from Snapeez). So fast to make!
For the pendant I strung on a big chunky druzy on 20g. wire and finished the ends with loops. The top of the tassel was wire wrapped with more gold and silver wire. This gives it a nice finished look.