candie cooper Archives - Page 3 of 5

Scenic Drive Stone Slab Necklace

August 14, 2016 By candiecooper 4 Comments

Full Disclosure: I work with Beadalon and LeatherCord USA. They are sponsoring this post. All opinions are mine.
This stone slab pendant (here me sigh a sigh of aw).

One of the women in this week’s Facebook Live video said it was picture Jasper. I believe it because each one is a landscape painting, a forrest, the painted dessert or whatever you see ….
I wire wrapped leather lace with Beadalon’s flat Artistic Wire. So easy! Simply make your leather link, then wrap the middle with the flat wire, crimping it with chain nose pliers in between each wrap to cinch it.
Little knots give the ends of the leather a finished look.

Materials list:

Beadalon flat artistic wire, 3mm width

Leathercord USA deertan lacing, 1/8″ width

Picture jasper pendant: etsy.com/shop/candiecooper

Watch the live video recap here and join me almost daily at 2:30 EST for the Candie Cooper Facebook Live Show featuring easy DIY jewelry making ideas.

Filed Under: Beads, Jewelry, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Whipped Buttercream Frosting Leather Jewelry Idea

January 22, 2016 By candiecooper 2 Comments

This post is brought to you by LeatherCordUSA.com.

Leather Cord USA sent a box of goodies recently with all kinds of color palette ideas for the next few months. Sign up for their newsletter to get inspiration like this delivered right to your inbox (the sign-up box is at the bottom of their home page).

January’s pallet is all about butter and mushroom colors. I love both.

Hungry yet? Me too.

Mixing and matching the leathers, I started seeing this color combination everywhere. On bananas, when the sun hits the porch walls just right, and in this jar of crystals I’ve had on my shelf for years.This is my swirl of favorites. Yum. Swirl. This is the moment I saw buttercream frosting. Paging Cinnabon. Come in Cinnabon. Did I mention I’m trying to get off the bread and carbs? That’s another story for another day.

I’m only using the round leather cords from LeatherCord USA in 1 and 1.5mm diameters for these projects. This is the simplicity that I love when it comes to using leather in jewelry making. Pick your favorite colors and go!
The first idea I had was to make some earrings using those funky fold over end findings (get them at Hobby Lobby) and delicate shell bead dangles.Simply cut your leather so one piece is 3 and one is 3.5 inches long, string some beads and set the ends inside the finding. Use chain nose pliers to roll the ends over. Connect to ear wires and add beaded dangles. I’ve ironed out the kinks so I think you can knock these out in 30 minutes.The second idea I want to share uses the super skinny macaroni-sh shaped beads strung onto the leather to make a bracelet (also from Hobby Lobby). I really loved how this instantly gave it a chic feel. Cut the leather at an angle so it nestles nicely in the LeatherCord USA Glue and Go end finding (see foreground).Use Loctite gel to glue it in one end. Check the fit and make adjustments. Glue the second side.

Tip: Leave one or two strands out and use a toothpick to pry open a spot or two so you can put them right where you want them. DIY Leather and gold jewelry making idea using leathercordusa.com leather That’s really all there is to it. Shout out to my vintage picnic basket for making the perfect surface to shoot this on.
This set is going to get me through winter. Sunny days ahead people!

Check out LeatherCordUSA.com for more beautiful leathers and ideas.

Filed Under: Jewelry, Leather, Tutorials

The Leather Scout Bracelet

October 15, 2015 By candiecooper 2 Comments

This post brought to you by LeatherCordUSA.com.
Good morning, campers! Autumn is here and the mornings are brisk, making that hot coffee taste extra amazing. I call this the scout bracelet because of the colors, textures and the fact that it seems kind of multi-purpose: you can wear it as a bracelet, a necklace, or tie the tent pulls together (you know, if you need too).
Where do you find inspiration? For me, it’s often in the materials. I was collecting and gathering things around my studio to use with the LeatherCord USA suede and 10mm wide deertan lace. It comes in a ton of colors, but this green and brown combo was perfect for a fall statement bracelet.
I really didn’t want to cut this nice long piece of lace so the first thing I did was experiment with stitching the two leather types together. The pair has a nice contrast with the matte suede and smooth deertan lace surfaces.
Not going to lie—it was tricky keeping the leather and stitches in the center. I slowed the machine to “as slow as it would go” speed. This is an all purpose needle, but I plan to put a new one in before I start piecing fabric together again. After a yard of sewing leather, it’s sure to be dull.
Not in the photo is this buckle clasp and rivet from Tierra Cast.
You’ll need to hole punch the leather so it fits perfectly with the rivet diameter. Put the skinny part in through the layers back to front and top with the mushroom piece.
I changed the buckle piece up a bit by adding the wood ring to make the bracelet a little more chunky. Place the rivet section on top of a steel block and tap the top of the rivet with an eyelet setter or simply a plastic mallet.

Tip-seal the back side of the leather at the end with Fieblings Leather glue to keep the stitches from unraveling.
Wrap and roll. I love lots of wraps, but you could do a couple and trim the leather exactly how you want.
Did I mention I love lots of wraps?
Here’s another experiment with zig zag stitching and colorful leather. Only a couple wraps here…and you don’t have to “walk the line” while sewing! For the free spirits in my life.
This would make a great steampunk jewelry accessory piece too.

Visit LeatherCord USA for great leather products and more ideas.

Filed Under: Leather, Tutorials

Take a Beading Class in Philly!

August 15, 2014 By candiecooper 2 Comments

It’s been all hustle lately getting ready for the Bead Fest party in Philly next weekend! Writing instructions, photographing, laundry, packing etc… I’m ready to get this shindig started! Ok, I still have some things to do (like a lot of things actually), but you know what I mean. I can’t wait to hang with my fellow jewelry makers and JesseJamesBeads.com crew.

If you’re in the area, may I invite you to a class? This one is $26 and includes EVERYTHING thanks to the sponsors above.

Now, I better get back to it y’all!

Filed Under: Classes

Line Dancing and Jewelry Making with Beadalon

March 6, 2014 By candiecooper Leave a Comment

If you honked, you came to the right place. This is the second installment of this post with more pictures from teaching on the Country Music Cruise with Beadalon and Jewelry Television.

Remember I was with my buddy and fellow Beadalon design team member, Katie Hacker?

We were so excited to find Beadalon products, Artistic Wire and stringing wire at a jewelry making/gem shop in San Juan named Turquesa. I love the sound of it–Turquesa.

On the last day at sea, we taught the “Boot Scootin’ Bracelet” so students could learn basic stringing. Check out the photos from the class!

Our students were so delightful! It’s been neat to keep connected with them on Facebook.

There’s Katie working with two of our buddies!

And Christiane from JTV teaching—see the water right outside our classroom!? I still can’t get over teaching on a boat.

And yours truly helping a student size her bracelet. I loved getting to meet all of these wonderful women. They were so patient and kind. On another note, you should never wear a “shirtain” (get it? shirt that looks like a curtain) to teach jewelry making in. That fringe on the sleeves! Seemed like a good idea until it was dripping all over the table, getting hung up on tools, etc…

It was a good idea for line dancing though!

To be fully honest, I was in ballet from 1st grade until I graduated high school. From that point, I hung up my organized dance shoes. That is, until I hopped aboard the Country Music Cruise complete with line dancing instructors! It was fun to be the student and learn the different dances (of which I cannot remember one step now. Eeesh). It also reminded me how much I love dancing and hopping around to music. More of that in 2014, please!

We also met the amazing artist, Chuck Mead. His band, Chuck Mead and his Grassy Knoll Boys played many times on the cruise and we couldn’t get enough of their sound. Here’s a link to his playlist. We brought home his CD and would’ve brought home a t-shirt or three if they had them. We are official Chuck Mead groupies.

Before we knew it, it was time to head home! Our boots were made for walkin…well, flying with joy filled hearts from a great trip back to snow covered cornfields and our loving husbands.

So now, because we love all our friends and fans so much, Katie and I are giving away 2 Boot Scootin’ Bracelets! One from me and one from her with a very special thanks to BEADALON from us.

Enter below for a chance to win! And just for fun–here’s a song to jam to while you’re entering!

Love ya!

Candie

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Jewelry

Monarch Wing Necklace

December 12, 2013 By candiecooper 1 Comment

Look what I found putting up the Christmas lights?! It was such an unexpected gift to remind me of a book I read a long time ago. It started out where she was walking and found a cocoon that she took back to her yard and watched through the winter until the butterfly emerged. It was an analogy of change and life (and so many things). I was going through a really hard break-up at the time. This reminder was much needed because my life is happy now. Completely different. I’m about 5 hours away from my bookshelf and memory of the title is failing me! I’ll find it when I go home.

I’m always self analyzing and thinking. Do you do that? Like the cocoon and the changes I make in this life, I go through my ugly phase, a little awkward, praying to God I come out better or more “beautiful.” Sorry to get all deep after starting a post about Christmas decorating. I just wanted to acknowledge this gift.

Here’s a necklace I made with a butterfly wing after finding that cocoon. It’s symbolic. I made the necklace for a mini jewelry class video for Plaid Crafts with their bead and jewelry products to show how to string a necklace of beads. I love this pendant. I love the polka dot beads. I love the sparkle. And I love teaching other people how to make jewelry.

The awesome thing about jewelry with symbolism is that you can design it to wear as a gentle reminder of whatever you are working on or striving for (between you and God). It can be a celebration statement. In my case: Change is possible.

Keep the Faith–

Candie

Filed Under: Jewelry

DIY Earring Making Bar

December 2, 2013 By candiecooper 2 Comments

Are you looking for a fun party activity over the holidays? Or any day for that matter? This is it! Your guests get to design their own earrings. You would think men might snooze at the sound of it, but I’ve seen guys get in on the fun too, designing pairs for their lady friends as well as dads and daughters making them for momma bear. It’s a lot of fun! All you need are a few supplies and a little earring making know-how. Here are some tips and ideas for your DIY Earring Bar: Keep it simple by leaving small amounts of supplies sorted in pretty champagne glasses, vintage coasters and plates. Too many choices can be overwhelming.Cut up vintage necklaces for beads (or you can purchase beads from your local craft store). This bar had vintage Swarovski crystals. Oo la la! No one can resist the sparkle. Offer up two colors of metal–silver and gold findings are tried and true. This applies to spacer beads as well. My favorite are the tiny ones with crystals like these balls from Ornamentea.com or these. Make sure you get lots of those! They are the glitter of jewelry making.Once people are happy with their stack of beads on the head pin, it’s your turn to finish the loop at the end and attach the ear wire. I had a great time chatting with people while they picked through the bead bowls and helping with their designs.Here’s a trusty check list of supplies for earring making. I should also add that it’s nice to have a small jewelry pouch or bag to put finished earrings in so they aren’t easily lost into the bottom of purse abysses (that would be my purse btw).I’m doing a trunk show this Friday night at Lux Boutique in Kokomo, IN where I’ll have another earring bar set up! This time I’ll add a few different beads and findings to keep it fresh. Party on with your sparkly self!