Halfcraft + Humblebeads: Pretty Palettes Challenge

I was invited this month to participate in Halcraft's Pretty Palette Challenge this month. I was gifted an assortment of beads in hues of peach, orange, green and brown. I loved the earthy combination and pulled out some art beads to help add a story to this lovely collection of glass, stones and wood.

For those of us in the north that weather through dark, cold and grey winters, it takes quite a bit of faith to trust that the promise of spring is right around the corner by March. Even thought a snowflake may still fall this time of year, once I hear the birds sing for the first time in spring I know the world will soon wake up. I wanted this necklace to capture that faith in the promise of spring!

For this first necklace I used 1mm gold leather from Classic Elements and strung on those gorgeous wood disks from Halcraft. I paired one of my Gilded Bramble Birds and Diane Hawkey word bead in shades of green. 

I was pleasantly surprised that those green jasper chips had large enough holes for the leather, but they did! I don't think I've used chip beads since my beginning days of jewelry making. I have to say I like their organic, rustic look. 

I used some of the seed beads sent in a mix of beads and finished the design with a leaf button.

This design used more the seed beads from the Halcraft mix. I strung them on headpins to make a tiny tassel with an enamel leaf from Gardanne Beads. I wrapped a wire nest for my Gilded Bramble Bird. 

I had one wooden disk bead left, so I didn't want to waste that! I used another word bead from Diane Hawkey that was the perfect color and sentiment. On the pearl leather cord I strung wood beads from the Halcraft stash. 

(I'll be sharing how to make wire nests for your birds and other beads today on Facebook live at 2pm EST. https://www.facebook.com/humblebeadspage/) 

When I saw these ceramic beads in my package I was both delighted and little scared. These are some big beads girls! I actually almost bought them last month but chickened out because of their size. My goal for this necklace was to make something I'd wear, so I thought simple, little nature thrown in but let those big beads do the talking.

I really love the mottled finish on the beads, they reminded me of my Monarch Beads, so I pulled those out from my stash along with those oval wood beads. The round wood beads are from Halcraft.

I strung on the large beads and used a spacer before I knotted the 1mm leather cord that I used for the necklace. I knotted between all the other beads and finished this necklace with adjustable knots. Simple, but fun and something I'd totally wear.

My last design is a knotted bracelet on waxed linen cord. I really went out of my comfort zone with those bright orange glass lentils. But as soon as I saw this tiny heart charm from Mary Harding I knew I could pull it off.

I used one of my Wooden House beads and another Monarch Disk with the glass lentils, quartzite and dye jade beads along with a few more wooden beads. I love how the blue of waxed linen is part of the design throughout the bracelet. 

I want to thank Molly for inviting me to join in the fun this month and a big thanks to Halcraft for providing the beads and inspiration! 

Stop over to the Halcraft blog to see more creations inspired by this month's Pretty Palette challenge and to learn more about the beads. 

Gilded Bramble Birds, Monarch Beads and Wooden House beads can all be found at my website, www.humblebeads.com. 

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.