Leathercordusa.com Archives

Cue the Coachella Playlist and Make these Earrings

May 17, 2016 By candiecooper 3 Comments

This post is sponsored by LeatherCord USA. Thanks LCUSA for making awesome leather and sponsoring this post! All opinions shared here are my own.
I’m still sad I missed Coachella. But there’s always next year!

And there’s also more music events to go to this summer. After this post, I’m officially locked and loaded on summer style earrings made with LeatherCord USA round leather.
For these earrings, I’m using 1 to 2mm diameter leather in pretty metallics. Here’s what else I had nearby so I could whip these up. End findings for leather where the inside diameter matched the diameter, Loctite Gel adhesive, ear wires, head pins, extra beads and charms, wire cutters, chain nose pliers, and round nose pliers.
First, determine how big you want the teardrop leather shape. Cut two pieces the exact same length.String some beads–these are large holed spacers from Tierra Cast.Glue the end finding on the end of the leather. Connect the two ends together with a jump ring, adding the ear wire before closing up the ring.

Seriously.

How long did that take?

Five minutes?

It looks cute to add beaded dangles like this for a variation…
I love the hammered silver beads with the silver metallic jewelry making leather.
I’m wearing another pair that I added a beaded dangle plus a feather charm on the bottom.
Visit LeatherCordUSA.com to get the goods!

See me make these earrings in this video, but first, you need to know I filmed this video live which means I interact with comments as they come in on my Facebook page. You know, just in case I was talking to my imaginary friend. If you’re watching the replay you can always fast forward to the 8-minute mark where I start to make the leather earrings!

Catch more live videos on my Candie Cooper Facebook page!

Filed Under: Leather

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

DIY Bolo Leather Layering Necklace

November 4, 2015 By candiecooper Leave a Comment

This post brought to you by LEATHERCORDUSA.com.The leaves are turning fast around here. We’ve had some amazing weather too. 70s and sunny?!

Be jealous, California.

The weather guy said there was 8″ of snow on the ground back in 64′!

I’ve been painting our floors with oil based paint and it’s been a blessing to be able to work outside at our picnic table. Not to mention inspiring! Fresh air is good on so many levels. Why do I forget that so easily? Oh I know, because there are piles of things to do inside. LOLThis is a necklace I’ve had on my mind for a long time. It uses beautiful bolo braided cord from LeatherCordUSA.com. The cord comes in all different finishes from metallic to matte and natural. Another bonus is that you’ll find it in many diameters–from 3.0 to 13.0mm!You know I love layering bits and pieces together and the leather is no different. Bolo cord bundles with two strands of metallic kansa 1.0mm round leather does my heart good.

Looking at this photo, I think the next paint job needs to be on our cellar doors!My dog, Rock likes the round kansa leather cord too! I was working it through the beads and wondered why it wasn’t moving. It was caught up on Rocky’s paw. The funny thing is that he didn’t move. I pulled his paw went up and then down, up and down. This is just another day in Rocker’s world. He does what he can around here. Thanks, good dog.The large holed silver beads are from Tierra Cast. I got the baby tassels in Tucson–I think they are made in Taiwan. They are so sweet on anything! The crystals have been a bit of an obsession the past year or so. I have a little stash of them. Needless to say, mixing and matching all these surfaces makes me happy. I think I’ll wear this necklace today.
I finished the ends with these stunning Glue and Go findings also from LeatherCordUSA.com. They matched the beads perfectly, so it was a no-brainer. These findings were actually a touch too big for the bolo cord so it worked out well to add the extra kansa green cords to fill up the space.

Use this glue to adhere leather and metal together.Follow me on Instagram @candiecooper to see behind the scenes action when making pieces like this!

Happy day!

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.