Crystal Blossom Necklace and Earrings TUTORIAL

 Designed for Ornamentea.com

I'm really enjoying my gig as an Ornamentea contributing designer. It is SO MUCH FUN coming up with jewelry designs to share with the beading community. I love making hip, stylish jewelry I would wear myself and working with the supplies from Ornamentea makes that easy. So, now it's time to share my jewelry tutorial for October. I created this Crystal Blossom Necklace and Earrings set using hammered brass rings, Irish waxed linen cord and Swarovski crystal briolettes. The necklace is long and makes a perfect accessory for flowy tops and sweaters. The earrings can be worn with the necklace or they can make a statement all on their own. The set I made is appropriate for Autumn with these colors, but you could easily play around with the colors of waxed linen cord and crystal drops to create a different look. I would make a set for every season! Find all the materials and FREE TUTORIAL here. I hope you enjoy my jewelry tutorials just as much as I enjoy making them.

Ingredients for the necklace:
- 14 faceted 6x10mm crystal drops
- 1 hammered 33mm naked brass ring
- 1 yard of antique brass cable chain
- 2 antique brass 3x4mm oval jump rings
- 24" of Irish waxed linen

Ingredients for earrings:
- 14 faceted 6x10mm crystal drops
- 2 hammered 33mm naked brass ring
- 2 antique brass jump rings
- 48" of Irish waxed linen
- 1 pair of posts with backs 
Tools:
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Chain nose pliers

 

1. Use linen cord to form an overhand knot around the brass ring, leaving a 1/2" tail as shown.

2. Use the long end of the cord to form 2 half inch-hitch knots around the ring and the cord tail as 

shown. Trim short tail.

 3. Form 10 half-hitch knots around the ring. String 1 crystal drop and form 3 half knots around the ring as shown. Repeat 6 more times. 

 4. Form 10 half-hitch knots around the ring. Form an overhand knot after the last hitch knot. Trim close to the knot and press it down against the back of the ring as shown.

 5. Use 1 jump ring to attach the ring to one end of the chain. Repeat with the second jump ring and the free end of chain.

For the earrings:
1. Repeat steps 1-4 above for each earring.

2. Attach a jump ring to hammered ring. Connect the jump ring and ear post together as shown. Repeat step for the second earring.

Knotted Friendship Bracelet TUTORIAL

 Knotted Friendship Bracelet TUTORIAL

It's time to show off my first project tutorial designed for Ornamentea.com! Wear and give these adorable friendship bracelets. I'm so excited about these colorful lil' cuties. They are made with my favorite Irish waxed linen cord and Swarovski rhinestone ball beads that add just the right touch of sparkle. I had a blast creating them and playing around with the rich-hued linen and glittery rhinestone beads. I know you will, too. They are simple and oh-so-chic and stylish. These bracelets are a great way to add just a touch of those trendy bright colors for Fall and they are wonderful projects to make for the holiday season. You will want to make a whole stack of them. Find all the supplies for them and the FREE tutorial HERE on the website. Plus, with the quantities of the materials on Ornamentea's  website, you can make exactly two of the same bracelet. That works out perfectly! You can keep one and give a matching bracelet to a friend, hence the friendship part. I love that you can make a whole bunch of these and give them as gifts. Absolutely ideal for any gift-giving occasion.

 Knotted Friendship Bracelet

Ingredients

- 2 ½ yards of 4-ply Irish waxed linen cord
- 1 Swarovski rhinestone 8mm ball
- 16 antique brass 2mm beads

Tools

- Scissors
- Ruler
- Macrame board and T-pin or clipboard

1. Cut a 16" piece of cord. This will be your "core" bracelet cord. The remaining long piece of cord will be your "working" cord you will be knotting with. Bring one end of each cord together.Measure 3" from the ends and tie an overhand knot with both cords as shown.

2. Pin the knot to your macramé board with the T-pin or clip to a clipboard. Use the "working" cord to tie half-hitch knots around the "core" cord as shown. Hold the "core" cord taut as you knot and pull the knots tight. The knots will twist, creating a spiral pattern as you go along. Continue tying
half-hitch knots around the "core" cord for 3". Use the "working" cord to tie an overhand knot after the last half-hitch knot. Trim close to the knot.

3. Use the "core" cord to string 1 brass bead, the rhinestone ball and 1 brass bead. Tie the "working" cord back onto the "core" cord with an overhand knot just under the last bead as shown. Trim tail. Use the "working" cord to tie half-hitch knots around the "core" cord for 3". Tie an overhand knot with both cords after the last half-hitch knot. Trim both cords 3" from the overhand knot.

4. Place the left and right bracelet tails parallel to each other with ends in opposite directions as shown. With the remaining piece of your "working" cord, you will create the sliding knot closure for the bracelet.

5. Place the "working" cord on top of the bracelet tails. Loosely wrap the "working" cord around the bracelet tails and the tail of the "working" cord. Wrap the cord around your finger to keep the wraps loose and to help keep track of the wraps. Wrap about 5 times around, moving towards the
tail end of the "working" cord as shown. Insert the end of the "working" cord through the wraps you just made, exiting through where you started wrapping. Pull the ends of the "working" cord tight.


6. String 1 brass bead onto the "working" cord tails; tie an overhand knot and trim as shown. String 3 brass beads to each of the bracelet tails; tie an overhand knot and trim.

I'm designing for Ornamentea!

Gold Glam Earrings 

These earrings were designed for Ornamentea. The tutorial for them appear in the 2012 issue of 101 Bracelets, Necklaces and Earrings on newsstands now.  All materials can be found at Ornamentea.com.

Hello all, I have some really exciting news to share! I'm pleased and very, very proud to announce I'm now a contributing designer for Ornamentea.com. Ornamentea is a shop and online store known for unique, high-quality jewelry and craft supplies, cool classes, awesome Elaine Ray ceramic beads and hip, chic jewelry projects and tutorials. I am just bursting-at-the-seams giddy about this amazing opportunity that owner, Cynthia Deis has bestowed upon me. There isn't a person or business that I would want to be associated with more than Cynthia and her fabulous Ornamentea. We are a perfect match and I couldn't be happier with this partnership! I hope she will want me to design for her forever and ever and ever.

So what will my role be as an Ornamentea designer? Every month, I will be creating a jewelry project and step-by-step photo tutorial with supplies and materials all from Ornamentea.com. My jewelry tutorials will be available for free download on their website, located on the Free Tutorials and project ideas page and the tutorials will also go out in Ornamentea's project newsletter, the Dispatch. If you don't get the Dispatch newsletter, you'll want to sign up. It will keep you up-to-date with all the new free tutorials and projects! My finished projects will be on display at the physical store location in Raleigh, NC as well.

In the coming days, my first project will be available online. I. can. not. wait. to share it with you! I hope you will enjoy my projects and creations from goodies you can find at Ornamentea...Stay tuned.

Ornamentea: Part 2 - My Class!

 Bohemian Knotted Earrings

On Saturday, July 28th, I taught my Bohemian Knotted Earrings Workshop at Ornamentea in Raleigh, NC. It went incredibly well. I couldn't have asked for it to go any better. I'm kind of giddy about it, really. Everyone that took the class felt very satisfied and happy with their earrings and that is the most important part.  I did have some help to make it go so smoothly, though. First, Ornamentea is a fabulous establishment to hold a class. They have fantastic classroom space and worktables. They did a great job filling up my workshop in a short period of time, too. I was thrilled to learn 9 folks had signed up! Ornamentea had all the tools I needed for my students. That was ideal for me because I was traveling and it would have been difficult bring all that stuff with me. Plus, it's nice for those taking the class not to have to worry about bringing tools with them.  Also, I had my mother-in-law, Nancy Siegel with me. She was my class assistant during the workshop. She came in quite handy! She helped me set out all the class supplies, hand-outs and tools, took these pictures during class, fetched Cynthia when I needed her for something, alerted me when a student needed assistance with something and helped me clean up after class lickety-split.

I had a great group of 9 gals who came to class! Everyone was so friendly and nice. In the picture above, we are doing some introductions at the beginning of class. I stood at the head of the table and introduced myself. Then, we went around the table and I asked each person to tell me and the rest of the class a little bit about themselves and why they wanted to be here.

I was well prepared for class. Each student received a Bohemian Knotted Earrings Kit. The kits included all the materials to make each of the 3 styles of earrings in the workshop. (See top picture in this post) Sun Earrings, Fringe Earrings and Chandelier Earrings. Each student also received a photo step-by-step instruction book hand-out to take home. For me, a thorough hand-out is a vital part of teaching a successful class. I find it makes teaching a large group of people so much easier. It may be more work up front, but on class day, it makes my job a breeze!

The other strategy that I employed for this class, was each student was only required to finish one earring before moving onto the next earring style. This worked well for a few reasons. It ensured that we would have ample time to spend with the techniques for each of the earring styles without being pressed for time at the end for the last pair of earrings. Also, everyone works at a different pace in class. All in the group could finish their one earring without feeling too rushed, yet the pace of the class was not too slow for the faster workers either. We did end up having extra time, so most were able to go back and make the second earring to finish off their pairs. Even if they didn't, I was completely confident that each person would be able to finish the earrings at home, if need be, with the hand-out I provided.

An extra special treat for me was having fellow jewelry friend and blogger, Marcie Abney Carroll of La Bella Joya in my class! Marcie and I have been online friends for years. I think we discovered each other back in 2009. We have been following one another ever since then. I'm glad I was able to come around her neck of the woods so we could finally meet in person. It was a pleasure to have her in class and I'm honored she signed up for my workshop. Marcie happens to be an extremely talented jewelry artist and beader. She creates stunning beadwork and metalwork as well, so for her to want to come to my class says a lot. A lot indeed and I'm not taking the significance of that lightly.

I loved meeting Marcie and all the ladies that took my class and everyone who came to the book signing. That is one of the things I enjoy most about jewelry-making: Meeting creative like-minded people, hanging out with them and having fun! I'm just thrilled with my class and my whole experience at Ornamentea in general. I would love to come back and do it all over again.

And just a reminder, I'll be teaching this same class again at Bead Fest in Philadelphia in just a few weeks. There's still time to registrar and a few spaces left! So, bring a friend and sign up!

Ornamentea: Part 1-Book Signing & Make n' Take

I'm back from my whirlwind trip to Raleigh, NC to visit Ornamentea! Last Friday, Ornamentea hosted a book signing for our book, Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry. Then, on Saturday, I taught my Bohemian Knotted Earrings Workshop. What a great time. First of all, shop owner, Cynthia Deis was the most amazing, gracious host. I'm so thrilled she wanted to have Lorelei and I there. She runs an incredible bead shop and after chatting with Cynthia and seeing her shop for myself in person, I have a much deeper appreciation for her and her business. I was blown away. What a gem of a store. I really don't know how she gets customers to leave when it's time to close up and go home. It must be difficult because Ornamentea has a wonderful inventory of anything a beader or crafter could possibly want and everything is displayed so beautifully from ceiling to floor! Plus, helpful, friendly staff, great bead events and truck shows and cool classes. I can't say enough about how wonderful this shop is. You must visit.

This table is in the middle of the shop when you walk in. It is brimming with all kinds of treasures. Beads, buttons, crepe cord, spools of linen, silk ribbons, jewelry and even chocolate! Yum. Copies of our book are on display here along with a fun box of fibers and beads to go with it. One lucky person who came to our book signing on Friday night won this stash of goodies.

Along with the book signing event on Friday night, Ornamentea hosted a Make n' Take project from the book. The chosen project was my Leather Ruffle Hoops. Most of the supplies I used in the original earrings came from the store. I helped some of the staff set up the work table for the make n' take before the evening got started. Above, I am showing Jordan how to make the earrings. I was lucky enough to have her as my assistant for the project that night.

Here I am helping Lil with her make n' take earrings. Lil was actually the lucky winner of the fun box of fibers Ornamentea gave away at the book signing later that evening! Lucky girl.

Here's Jordan running the second round of the make n' take project. She did a fantastic job of making sure everything went smoothly. I'm so thrilled with how it all went. Everyone seemed to really be enjoying making the earrings. It was busy the entire night, but I did get to chat with a few after they finished their earrings. They loved them and most everyone I saw wore their earrings out the door.

Here's Lorelei and me at our signing table. On the table, we have a few of the original jewelry pieces from the book. We're talking to Amy, one of the lovely gals who came that night. She was really sweet and cute. It was so nice chatting with her and absolutely everyone who stopped by. And speaking of some others, Lori and I got to meet some special friends we know from the bead blogging community. The amazing LeAnn of Summers Studio. We have 3 of LeAnn's handmade components incorporated into projects throughout the book. We also got to meet the lovely Marcie of La Bella Joya! It was such a pleasure to meet both of these ladies in person. I've admired each of them for years now. Marcie actually came the following day on Saturday for my Bohemian Knotted Earrings class. I'll be talking more about that in another upcoming post. Stay tuned for Ornamentea: Part 2-My Class!

Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry

now available at Ornamentea.com!

Mark Your Calendars!

I will be at Ornamentea in Raleigh, N.C. on July 27th & 28th! The shop is hosting a book signing and Make n' Take on Friday, July 27th from 6-8pm. Then, on Saturday, July 28th from 10:30am-1:30pm, I'll be teaching my Bohemian Knotted Earrings workshop. I'm so excited for these upcoming events!

Friday, July 27th

What: Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry 

book signing and Make n' Take project

 Where: Ornamentea

509 N. West St.

Raleigh, NC 27603

When: Friday night, July 27th 

6-8pm

Click Here for more info. 

Leather Ruffle Hoops 

 Join me Friday night and make one of my earring projects from Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry called, Leather Ruffle Hoops. Chat with me about incorporating fibers and cords into your jewelry. I will have several original jewelry designs from the book that you can see in person. Feel free to ask me questions about beading and the process of writing the book with my co-author, Lorelei Eurto. Purchase a copy of the book that evening or bring your own copy and I'll be happy to sign it for you!

Saturday, July 28th

 

Bohemian Knotted Earrings

What: Bohemian Knotted Earrings Workshop

 Where: Ornamentea

509 N. West St.

Raleigh, NC 27603

When: Saturday, July 28th 10:30am-1:30pm

Price: $65

Click Here to registrar. 

Class description:

Learn simple knotting techniques to make a trio of bohemian chic earrings! Using waxed linen cord, you will learn 3 different ways to attach colorful beads to a ring component.

Students will learn basic knotting techniques to make three pairs of stylish earrings. Techniques covered in class will included: lark's head knot, half-hitch knot, overhand knot and how to use knotting tweezers for precise knotting. Using waxed linen cord, students will learn 3 ways to use knots to attach beads to a ring component. Students will have the following color choices for each pair of earrings: red, orange, green, turquoise and blue.Variations on the three designs made in class will also be discussed, so student will be able to expand on the techniques they have learned. 

I'd love to see you in class! Hope to see at Ornamentea!

Design Contest using Elaine Ray beads at Ornamentea!

Elaine Ray Bead Leather Bracelet

Ornamentea is holding a design contest on Facebook. Share your favorite jewelry creation made with Elaine Ray beads and you could win a $25 gift certificate from Ornamentea! I entered this leather beaded bracelet created with Elaine's 6mm ceramic rounds. I never seem to tire of this popular style. I think this one is a nice twist with the art beads! Enter and vote for your favorite designs right here!

Zinnia

I love bright, vivid colors for Summer. Doesn't this cheery yellow just make you smile? :) Yellow isn't usually in my normal color palette to work with even though I like the color. I've seen it popping up everywhere in fashion the past few years, so I've been more attracted to it lately.

This happy, sunny color is in the inspirational artwork for the current Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge. The perfect opportunity to work with some yellow in a jewelry piece! I love these lemony agate beads paired with this gorgeous Zinnia connector by Mellisa of Chinook Jewelry. The yellow beads really pop with the complimentary deep purple silk beading cord. I added a bit of purple dupioni silk from Ornamentea to accent the connector. I frayed the silk to add a little texture and interest; the perfect finishing touch!