Leather Charm Tassel Tutorial

I love this embossed leather and have been having fun finding all sorts of ways to use it in my jewelry. I created this tassel with a small ribbon clamp and wire-wrapping beads around it for a little extra embellishment.

Supplies:

5/8” x 1 ½” leather strip

16mm copper ribbon clamp

11/0 seed beads

Leaf charm

8 ½” 26 gauge brass colored wire

4mm copper jump ring

6mm copper jump ring

1. Evenly cut the end of the leather into 1/8” strips, leaving the top half inch of the leather uncut.

2. Wrap the end of the wire around one side the ribbon clamp two times. With the wire facing the front of the ribbon clamp string seed beads as the same length as the clamp. Wrap the wire around the front of the clamp again. String on another row of seed beads. Wrap the wire around the front of the clamp two more times. Make sure the wire is wrapped very tightly each time. Trim the end of the wire so it is shorter than the clamp.

3. Insert the leather piece into the clamp, use chain nose pliers to close the clamp tightly, squeezing under the beads to close it securely. Re-position the rows of beads if needed so they lay straight across the clamp.

4. Add the leaf charm to the 4mm jump ring, close the jump ring. Add the ribbon clamp loop and the leaf jump ring to a 6mm jump ring.

Resources:

Leather: PeggySueAlso.etsy.com. Leaf charm and jump rings: YadanaBeads.etsy.com. Seed Beads: WhimBeads.com. Ribbon clamps: WhiteWillowCreek.etsy.com.

In the example I paired up my leather charm tassel with coordinating disk and birds from Humblebeads.com and a round ceramic beads from FireflyDesignStudio.etsy.com. The branch connectors are from NunnDesign.com.

My Gilded Bramble Birds are now part of my regular line of beads that can be found at humblebeads.com. 

Fox in the Forest Bracelet

I whipped up this fun bracelet pairing together a fox button from Green Girl Studios with some of my new woven disk beads. Czech glass leaves, wooden beads and copper colored dyed hematite finish the design knotted on Irish waxed linen for an earthy bracelet that you can whip in in under 30 minutes!

Supplies:

pewter fox button 

5 polymer clay disk beads

5 Czech maple leaves

7 wood triangle beads

18 4mm dyed hematite 

36" Irish waxed linen

1. String the waxed linen twice through the loop on the button and center the button on the linen. 

2. Tie an overhand knot with both strands of the linen. String a hematite bead on both strands, tie an overhand knot and repeat. 

3. On one strand of linen string on the lead bead, tie an overhand knot with both stands. Repeat four times. 

4. String both strands of linen through a wood bead, tie an overhand knot. Repeat six more times. 

5. Repeat step 4 with the five disk beads.

6. On both strands of linen string on 13 hematite beads. Form a loop with the beads, leaving a small space under the beads and tie both strands around the linen under the hematite beads to secure your loop. Wrap the linen around the base of the loop again and tie another knot.

7. Add 1 hematite bead to one stand of linen, tie an overhand knot. Repeat on the other strand of linen with 2 hematite beads. Trim the end of the linen leaving a 1/4 tail, fray the linen ends slightly. 

Resources:

Fox button: Green Girl Studios. Disk beads: Humblebeads. Wood and hematite beads: J & M Imports. Czech glass leaves: Nirvana Beads

Kits are available at booth 1208 at the Bead & Button show. I will list any extras when I return home. 

Polyvore App Tutorial For Jewelry Designers

If you caught my webinar last week on Visually Branding Your Jewelry Business, I mentioned Polyvore quite a bit. I hope you've had a chance to explore the site.

If not, Polyvore is a fashion collage website. It's a super fun and easy way to share your jewelry matched up with an outfit. 

And today I'm going to show you how to use the Polyvore app to use on your mobile device. Do you have to wait for an appointment this week or stuck in the car for a holiday road trip - give the app a try and do a little creative promoting during those spare minutes. Each rectangle below is a screen shot on my Ipod. 

. 

First - clipping your jewelry. Your jewelry has to be for sale in your shop or website first.

1. Open the app and and go to create > add items > clip items from web

2. Type in your shop URL. 

3. Click on your items and press the clip button in the too right corner.

4. Press the like button on the window that pops up to save your item. 

5. Your item is now saved in the "my Items" category on the app and your profile on the Polyvore website too. 

6. On the create page on the app, click on the "my items" to find your jewelry and add it to your collage. 

Create a Collage

1. Go to create

2. Add your jewelry and search for items to create your outfit. You can search by category, brand or website. I started out searching for Modcloth for this example.

3. After you add your items you can arrange your collage. Add text or look up images to spruce up your collage. 

I looked up 'Christmas' to find the Noel graphic, which turned out to be a card on Etsy. To add text, click add item and scroll down to Text. 

4. When you are ready, click the lines on the upper right corner and click publish.

5. Add your title, description. You can add # hashtags, click on the hashtag on the bottom of the app and scroll through the list to find a few relevant tags. If you used a brand @ or # them. 

6. Press publish and start to share!

After your item is published, click on the share button on the lower right. You can share it on social media and even blog your outfit. 

Your jewelry is now catalogued on Polyvore and on the collage with a link to your item.

You can follow and connect with others on Polyvore. But it's not necessary. 

Woodland Holiday Party by humblebeads 

Another way to get this fancy image and product link listing underneath log into your account on the Polyvore website, go to your sets, click the blog button at the top. You can choose your layout, if you want to post directly to your blog or grab the code to embed into your blog post. You can use the blogger button on the app to share, but if you have more than one blog I get a little nervous which one it's going to post too and you can't pick which layout you'd like. But it is fast and easy if those two items aren't an issue for you.

Merry Little Owl Holiday Ornament Tutorial

This may seriously be the cutest thing I've ever made.  I hear Jack Nicholson in my head yelling, "You can't handle the cuteness." And he's right, I can't! I need to make more right now.  Okay, well maybe I can wait until this afternoon when I host my annual ornament making party with the fam. 

With just a few crafty materials you can whip these up.  You can get fancy with handmade hooks or keep it simple with waxed linen or cord.  I have several variations that I'll dish about down below.  If you make some of these you MUST show me! It's required.  By law.  Okay, it's not, but I would love to see what cutie pies you create.  You can share them on my Facebook page with me.

Supplies:
White polymer clay*
Acrylic paint - I use Folk brand craft paint (several colors plus raw umber)
Paint brushes
Plastic mechanical pencil
2" brass headpins
Pewter bead caps in different sizes
Waxed linen
Paper towels
Alphabet stamps (rubber stamps or metal stamps)
Wire cutters
Round and chain nose pliers

Optional - Clay sculpting tool with a fine point for carving details, you can find them in the polymer clay section at craft stores.  The ends kind of look like a dental tool.

*I like Sculpey for these kinds of projects.  It's easy on the hands and has a great matte finish that takes the paint nicely.

Safety:

• Work surface - cardstock, glass, tile - don't work directly on a table, polymer clay can eat the finish.
• Don't use kitchen items with clay, you must have a dedicated polymer clay pan. (Hello Dollar Store.)
• Wash hands thoroughly after handling clay
• Keep on eye on baking clay and use an oven thermometer to make sure you have the correct temperate.  

Make the Owls
1. Roll a 1" ball of clay in your hands.  Don't worry about measuring, just guesstimate.  Pinch the clay on one side to form a point for the ear, repeat on the other side.

2. Use the end of paint brush to make the eyes.  

3. Create a triangle with a tiny piece of clay. Press it onto the face of the owl, smooth out the edges with your finger.

4. Press the tip of the pencil (with the no lead) to create dots around the eyes.

5. Use the sculpting tool or headpin to create an oval shape for the wings. Trace out little feather shapes in the wing area with the sculpting tool.

6. Stamp words onto the belly with letter stamps.

7. Poke a hole through the length of the owl with the headpin. Bake according the manufacturers suggestions.

The last 3 photos show a few variations.

1. Use the tip of the pencil to create a feathered belly instead of stamping a word. 

2. Make a pointed nose and then press it down.

3. A simply nose option is to form a flat triangle instead of a pointed one. 

Painting:

1. Paint the owl the main color all over.

2. Antique the owl with brown paint, whip off immediately.

3. Paint the words a different color, whip off excess paint.

3. Touch up the color around the face and body of the owl. 

3. Paint around the eyes with just a little bit of paint, almost a dry brush.

4. Paint the feathers on the wings several different colors.

Wash your brush when switching colors and dry it completely each time.

 Finishing:

1. After the owl is dry, add it to a headpin.

2. String on two bead caps, upside down.

3. Trim the wire to 1/4" with wire cutters and form a simple loop.

4. Tie on waxed cord.

Each one will have his own personality! Create them in the colors that match your holiday decor.  I could see some in metallic colors too.

Remember if you make some, I'd love to see what you create!

This post has been added to the Art Bead Scene's Ornament Blog Hop, check out the great line up of creative ornaments here.