Tutorials Archives - Page 5 of 10

Easy Leather Jewelry

July 30, 2015 By candiecooper Leave a Comment

This post brought to you by LeatherCord USA.What’s a girl to do with a pile of delicious flat leather braid that she brought back from her visit to LeatherCord USA headquarters? Make hot bracelets. That’s what.
In this post we are climbing on the gray and gold fashion jewerly train to make this slick bracelet. Like it? You’re really going to like it when you see how easy it goes together.
Here are the basic supplies needed: razor blade, gold Glue and Go magnetic clasp, 9 strand braid in natural gray, and Locktite adhesive. LeathercordUSA.com is a one stop shop for the supplies (sans blade). This is the 9 and 5 strand flat braid. You can use this clasp with the 5 strand braid. If you’re shopping the LCUSA site, look at the bottom of the page for the product dimensions to help with matching clasps and cords.
The bracelet is so easy to make, I feel guilty! Grab your Locktite adhesive for leather and metal joining. Put a bead of glue along the backside edge of the leather braid.
Slide it in one side of the metal clasp. The braid and clasp are off in size by 1mm, but it doesn’t matter because the braid can “smoosh” a little to fit.
I stuck this shot in for a detail of the clasp. It’s pretty. Not too shiny and just the right amount of texture for a great designer look.Check the fit of the bracelet and then cut with a fresh razor blade. Do not use the one that has scraped windows with a lot of paint on them during a rennovation project just because it’s near by. Stop. Get up. And go get a fresh blade. I might be talking to myself here.

A note of safety: Carefully dispose of razor blades or store in a safe place…for obvious reasons.
Put a line of glue on the back edge of the leather and slide it into the other side of the magnetic clasp. Guess what?
We’re done.
Now do you see why I feel guilty?

Let the adhesive sit up according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Chic in gray and gold or brown and silver…
Are you making Christmas gifts this year? Need an idea for how to make some extra cash? This is it.

LeatherCord USA for the goods

Filed Under: Jewelry, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Forming Leather Part II

May 31, 2015 By candiecooper 2 Comments

This post brought to you by Leather Cord USA.Did you happen to catch the last Leather Cord USA post? It was all about forming and altering flowers with water and scissors. In this installment, I’ll show you a few more fun ideas that play with these cute little leather flowers to make more embellishments.
Bust out those hole punches! You can leave the flowers flat or form them first with water as seen in the last post. Most of these are hole punches that you can use for paper except for the one on the far left. That one is made for leather tooling and I got it at Harbor Freight. It’s great because it can make multiple hole sizes.
SO easy! I like to have multiple size hole punch tools to add variety and interest to the individual flowers.
This tool is especially great when tube riveting because you can make the hole the exact same size as the rivet.
Another idea is trimming the edge with pinking shears. This changes the hole look of the flower in seconds. These would be so sweet to use in millinery crafting.
OK, time to put it all together. These are special stick pins with a glue pad. You can string your stack of flower pieces and what not onto the pin.
Just like this! I love mixing in other elements like metal flowers and beads.
Be sure to use a multi-purpose epoxy to glue the elements onto the pad part of the pin.
Wouldn’t be a blog post without a jean jacket appearance!Do you remember that post on painted tassels? I applied the same paint with a stiff brush in white on a flower to add a little texture. Glued all the pieces up at the top and voila….
A sweet stick pin! The thing I love the most about these flowers is each piece is 24 cents, so you can build these little pins for less than a dollar in most cases!!
Check out all the flower options at Leather Cord USA!

Filed Under: Tutorials

Leather Jewelry Making

April 26, 2015 By candiecooper 5 Comments

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!

Filed Under: Leather, Tutorials

Just For Fun-Rose Opal Earrings

April 26, 2015 By candiecooper 3 Comments

Yesterday the rain hammered down on the roof. I did a bit of housecleaning, picked up some nice things to eat for dinner and then surrendered to the couch. Oprah’s channel was having a “Where Are They Now” marathon. I’d never seen it, but watch one episode and you’re hooked. Seven hours later…. LOL There were lots of other things I could’ve, should’ve been working on, but instead I just spaced out. I think I was in need of some couch potato time after working the last two weekends.

I feel better.

Now about these earrings… Remember those sparkle statement bracelets I made awhile back? I made some earrings with the same findings. SO EASY! You can whip them up in 5 minutes. Great for DIY brides and party goers. This is especially on my brain because I’m off to a bridal shower at noon.

Materials from Jesse James Beads:

TUTORIAL

Rose Opal Chain

1 set 13mm Slide Connectors

Ear Wires

Check out the tutorial bove. For the earrings, remove the clasp findings from the slide connectors. Slide in chain and trim to desired length. Open the ear wire and string the focal piece.

Filed Under: Jewelry, Tutorials

DIY Layering Bracelets with Bracelet Boutique

April 15, 2015 By candiecooper 1 Comment

It’s so exciting to finally share a project I’ve been working on with Jesse James Beads called Bracelet Boutique. We started collaborating on it a year ago and I’m thrilled to say it’s available in Joann Fabrics stores now (direct links at the bottom of this post).Basically, this is a 1 + 1 program where you can make a bracelet that suits your style in seconds. Great for beginners, girls night out activities, and seasoned makers can use the components in different applications such as links, earrings, macrame’ focals and so on.

There are 42 focal pieces with 10 different bracelet options which makes for 420 combinations.

Picture me doing the Roger Rabbit dance move.For Easter, hubs and I picked out some bracelet pieces to make our moms. This is the first one I’ll show you. It’s a bird image with tiny crystals set in the resin. All you have to do is open the jump ring and attach the bracelet sides. Everything you need to make the bracelet is included.You can leave it like this or….attach a dangle to the extender for a little clasp embellishment.
It’s that easy! You can make bracelets to match your other handmade jewelry in a snap.

Bracelet Boutique is on a skinny tower in Joann Stores now. Look for the blue cards! The paisley with brown cord bracelet is also part of the Bracelet Boutique collection. Happy day!

MATERIALS:

Bird Link

Bracelet Links

Filed Under: Jewelry, Tutorials

How to Make Tassels

April 15, 2015 By candiecooper Leave a Comment

This post brought to you by Beadalon!I spent the last day of ~~Spring~~ Beadalon Break at Bead Fest in Oaks, PA!

Guess what? Beadalon was there too!

So I got an up close look at their new Tassel Making Tool! This thing is great for jewelry makers and crafters.

I put Madeline Roddy on the spot and asked her to walk me through tassel making basics with the tool. It was super easy! Watch and see…Suction the tool to your work surface. I think we all have a bead box (or 75 laying around) that we can stick this thing too like Meredith did.Wind the desired amount of cord (check out this twinkle thread from Beadalon) around the two mandrels. You can change the distance to make shorter fringed tassels (or make them long and custom cut the length). When you have enough cord wound, thread a short piece of cord through the wound threads and tie off next to the mandrel.

Cut the bottom cords open next to the mandrel.Now you can hook the tied piece to an eye pin and thread it through a bead cone to give it a nice finished look. This bead cone was made with the ConeTastic.Check out this fancy pants tassel piece I spotted in the Beadalon booth. So pretty with the metallic thread!

Here is a video of the Tassel Maker from Beadalon so you can see it fully in action!

Filed Under: Crafting, Tutorials

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.