Giveaway Time! My 3-Year Blog Anniversary!

It's Giveaway Time!!

3 years - already?! Wow. Time sure does fly! 

As a thank-you to all of you who have followed along on my wide-ranging artistic endeavors, I am giving away my latest creation - this beautiful, double-wrap leather beaded bracelet:

 

This earthy adornment has 16 inches of light-gray leather (1.5 mm wide) with a gorgeous strand of 4mm Rainforest Agate gemstones. The multi-colored stones include tones of moss green, rich red and light cream and the closure is a small, dusty-purple/red pearly vintage button.

Metaphysically, agate is said to balance yin/yang energy, enhance creativity, strengthen the intellect and give courage. It is a protective stone and one that eases anxiety and stress. 

To enter the giveaway:

• Leave a comment on this post.
• For a second chance to win, visit my Facebook page and leave a comment on the giveaway post there.

I will choose a winner via random number generator next Tuesday, November 8, my 3rd blogiversary! 

Be sure to let your friends know about the giveaway. This would make a wonderful gift for someone for the upcoming holidays!

As always, thanks for reading and good luck!

Double Wrap Bracelet in Blue!

Here's my latest bracelet! I mixed it up in the color department this time, going with 2mm black leather cord, 8lb smoke grey Fireline thread and 6mm sapphire blue round shell beads.

Yet another button from Gram's tin. This is a very nice, faceted black button which gives the closure a subtle bit of flair, I think.

I included an "in-progress" photo in case you were curious about how this looks as it's being done. It's easiest to keep straight if you clip one end to a piece of cardboard or other flat surface. I really need to invest in a simple clip board as I have seen others use. For now, I am getting by with this, but it's a little too short for this double wrap length. I also bought a bracelet beading tray from the craft store which is great for lining up beads, sorting out ones that are too small or damaged, and generally keeping the project in one place. It also has a handy lid that I can pop on top to keep it closed off from kids and cat. :)

I had a little birthday money to spend last week, so I made a nice trip to the local bead shop the other day with my girls. Bless the bead shop - they had a kid drawer with crayons and coloring books, so I actually was able to shop uninterrupted! I bought some beautiful 4mm Rainforest Agate and 1.5mm warm grey leather cording. I hope to make a nice double wrap (at least) out of that, so stay tuned! 

I do find that at this point, at least, it's easier for me to stop and start work on a small sewing project like these bracelets than do much drawing. I hope to get back to some pencils and paper soon, but for now, I am happy to keep some creativity going with the beads!

Tiger's Eye Leather Beaded Bracelet

I am continuing on my fascination with wrap bracelets! 

 

I completed a sweet little single wrap, this one with 6mm Tiger's Eye round beads and dark brown leather cord (2mm). It actually has a surprisingly nice heft to it, which is why I chose to only do a single wrap.

I love the look of Tiger's Eye as it has a silky sheen to it, an optical reflectance effect seen called chatoyancy seen in certain gemstones. It's like seeing swirls of honey and caramel wrapping around your wrist! 

I paired the stones with another button closure from my box, this one a simple style in a matching dark caramel color.

Metaphysically, Tiger's Eye is said to be a grounding stone, bringing calmness, serenity, and harmony and the ability to see clearly.

Fun with beading - my first bracelet!

I have created my very first piece of beaded jewelry - a triple-wrap beaded leather bracelet! 

I have seen these bracelets and love the look of them, especially with semi precious stones as the beads. I also know they are very popular and can be found all over Etsy as well as different stores for a wide variety of price points, but they looked fairly straightforward to me and I thought I could give it a try.

I have used a variety of stones like this in my bead embroidery, and knew I probably already had some of the supplies to get started. 

I rooted through my bead box and found a nice stash of small, 4mm round Mookaite beads to use. According to the insert that came with them from the store: 

"Mookaite is a jasper named after the local area it comes from, Mooka Creek in the Kennedy Ranges in Australia. Metaphysically, Mookaite is said to be a very protective stone, and is particularly good as an emotional protector. Hardness: 7"

Interesting! Regardless of metaphysical properties, nifty as they are, I love these stones mainly because they are multi-colored. The strands I have are a swirled with a warm range of colors from maroons and tan/gold, to warm white and dark brown. So pretty! With that in mind, I bought some dark brown leather cording at a craft store to go along with the warm-colored beads.

I did some web searching to find some details on how to make these and found both an online text tutorial as well as a YouTube video that were really helpful:

How To Create A Beaded Leather Wrap Bracelet

How To Make Wrap Bracelets - AuntiesBeads.com

Without getting into too much detail (that's what the tutorials are for) I used:

• Fireline thread in a dark color to blend with the leather cord. It is much stronger than the Nymo thread they mention and works better for a bracelet like this. You can also use contrasting thread to make it stand out for a different look.  
• For the closure, a 'vintage' button from a tin of buttons from my grandmother's stash that I inherited years ago. 
• I did not glue the thread down on the ends as recommended, though I probably would do so if making another one. Either that or more securely sew the end beads so there is a little less movement.

I read/watched both and basically just decided to jump in and see how it would go. I can't emphasize enough that you should measure accurately! Twice I had to restart because I was short on thread and/or cord...in too much of a hurry! As my Dad always said, "measure twice, cut once!" 

It only took me probably less than two hours to make (once I had the right length of thread, etc.), even with interruptions from the kids. It was pretty easy to do. One nice feature of these bracelets is that they can be made with an additional space or two at the end for the closure so that it can be adjusted to different wrist sizes.  I can't wait to make another one!

Have you ever made one of these? What is your favorite type of bead to use?

Thanks to Marlene Brady!

A big thank you to Marlene Brady for her gorgeous bracelet giveaway that I won. Marlene is a polymer clay artist who also does beading and mixed media painting. Check out her blog, her page on Crafthaus, and her Flickr photos for her amazing and creative work.

Bead Journal Project 2010

Happy New Year! I am excited to have joined a project called the Bead Journal Project. It was created by bead artist Robin Atkins and involves creating one bead embroidery piece per month for the year 2010. The rules are loose and creativity encouraged - one just has to pick a consistent size for each monthly piece. Otherwise, let your inner artist emerge!

The project has several blogs - I'll be participating in the More Bead Journal Project Three.

I have just recently started dabbling in beads and am absolutely entranced by seed beads and an encrusted style of beading. So, I think I'll be working small (maybe 3 X 4 or so) and just see what mood strikes me each month as I work on each piece. It will be fun to see how it evolves.

I started a trial piece last month just to see how it might progress and I'm nearly done with it. It's a round format and only about 4 inches in diameter. I'll post another picture when it's finished.

I hope to continue with botanical drawing and pet portraits this year as well, so stay tuned to see what I'm working on. Looking forward to a creative 2010!