Easy Leather Jewelry

This post brought to you by LeatherCord USA.LeatherCord USA Jewelry Making with Leather BraidWhat’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.
LeatherCord USA  fast bracelet making with flat leather braidIn 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.
LeatherCord USA Jewelry Making materialsHere 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).  LeatherCord USA Flat braidThis 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.
LeatherCord USA Jewelry Making How-to  Easy Leather BraceletsThe 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.
LeatherCord USA Jewelry Making with flat leather braid and glue and go findingsSlide 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.
LeatherCord USA Glue and Go claspI 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.LeatherCord USA Jewelry Making  How to cut leather easilyCheck 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.
LeatherCord USA Jewelry Making with Leather Glue and Go magnetic claspPut a line of glue on the back edge of the leather and slide it into the other side of the magnetic clasp.  Guess what?
LeatherCord USA Jewelry Making  Easy magnetic clasp braceletWe’re done.
Now do you see why I feel guilty?

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

LeatherCord USA for the goods

How to Form Leather Flowers

This post brought to you by LeatherCord USA.Making Leather Embellishments with LeatherCord USA flowersApril showers bring May leather flowers.  This is part I of a two part post all about working with leather flowers to make jewelry and embellishments.  Get excited because these things are like super yummy calorie free candy!  Who can make the sunshine, already!?!Leather Cord USA leather flowersThese are just some of the flower colors available.  I love all the fun shapes and the sizes make them perfect for stacking!How to shape and form leather flowersTo be honest, I’ve never been able to leave well…well enough alone.  So welcome to my brain where I think, “how can I wreck alter these flowers today?”  First up:  FORMING.

Soak the flowers in a bowl of water for a couple minutes.Forming leatherThen you can push them into shaped containers while they dry so they hold their shape or….How to form leather flowers with watersquish, pinch, fold and twist them with your fingers.  SO many options!DIY JEWELRY MAKING Forming leather flowersOne idea will lead to another and another….  Did I mention this is a two part post?Fringed leather flowersSecond way to wreck form the flowers is to cut and fringe said flowers.  You can re-wet the flowers at any point to form them more.Making leather embellishmentsOne of my most favorite findings are tie-tack findings with a glue on pad.  I’ll warn you now that if you plan on selling these, you’ll hear over and OVER that they will leave a hole in your shirt.  My response:  thank you for the day you were born (but I’m still doing it my way).  For this piece, I cut the back off of a button and glued it to the tie tack.Making leather jewelryThen you can start stacking the leather pieces behind it.Embellishing a linen purse with Leather Cord USA flowersYes, I know it’s going to make a hole in that purse.  Thanks for letting me know (and the day you were born).Leather craft embellishmentsSweet right?  I think these would make the cutest bridesmaid clutches.  I got this linen clutch at the craft store P.S.  You could also stencil it first with an accent color and then embellish with the leather flowers.DIY Jewelry Making  Forming leatherLeather embellishment how toIt’s my birthday this week.  I think I just made myself a present. 😉

See all the leather flowers at LeatherCord USA here.

Leather Jewelry Making

This post brought to you by Leathercord USA!Sari Wrapped LeatherCord USA Cuffs from @candiecooperTonight 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.
Leather Cuffs from LeatherCord USACheck 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.
Sari Wrapped Cuff via @candiecooperI fell in love with the red brown color and the distressed tan color cuff bracelets.  That’s what I used in the post.
DIY JEWELRY MAKING Distressing leather cuff with a nail fileOne 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.
DIY Jewelry Making Sari Wrapped Leather Cuff BraceletYou 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…
DIY Jewelry Making sari wrapped cuffNow 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.
DIY Jewelry Making Wrapping a leather cuff with sari silkAdd other colors and patterns of ribbon on the sides,
DIY Jewelry Making  Coachella Cuff Braceletgluing and trimming as you go.
DIY Jewelry Making  How to punch a hole in leatherThis is a punch especially used for leather.  I got it at Harbor Freight.  It was super cheap and went right through the ribbon.
Sari wrapped cuff bracelet Punching hole for concho in leatherHow about that?
DIY Jewelry Making-  Adding a concho to leather cuffFor 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.

LeatherCord USA deertan lacingTo 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.
DIY Leather JewelryYou 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.
DIY Sari Wrapped leather cuff with LeatherCord USA green lacingI wore this one today with a blue maxi dress and cowboy boots.  Cue Eric Church…
Sari wrapped cuffsHere’s the link to LeatherCord USA cuffs!
DIY Leather Cuff on @candiecooper

Coachella Jewelry Idea

This post brought to you by LeatherCord USA.Painted Leather Leathercord USA Tassels from Candie CooperHave 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.
Leather Cord USA tasselsHere 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.
Paint Leathercord USA tasselsTo 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…
Painting Leather Tassels from CandieCooper.comand 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. Painting Leather with Ranger InksBrush 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!
Jazz up leather with paint!You can do this treatment on thin or thick tassels.  The wheels are turning for more patina’d tassels!
DIY Coachella Inspired JewelryHere’s how I used them in my finished jewelry designs.  I love how the tassels look with the Czech beads!Painted Tassel Earrings-How-to from Candie CooperFor 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!
LeatherCord USA Tassel Earrings and Necklace from Candie CooperFor 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.
Coachella Inspired DIY Jewelry from Candie Cooper

You can shop for tassels here!

Now who’s ready for a road trip to the Coachella music fest?!

 

**To knot your own strand of Czech beads like this—check out this tutorial.