Birds & Blooms Knotted Necklace Tutorial

Don't you just love a fun and easy project that whips up in minutes?  Ahhh, instant gratification.  That's the good stuff!  I created this necklace using one of my Blooms & Birds sets with a few extra art beads and some very yummy bronze colored leather cord.

Materials:

Blooms & Birds set from Humblebeads

Ceramic round bead from Firefly Designs

Pewter nest from Green Girl Studios

36" 1mm leather cord from Primitive Earth Beads

Use any round beads for the project, just make sure the holes are at least 1mm.

Directions:

1. Find the center of the cord. 2.5" from the center tie a knot, add the bird bead, tie a knot, add a bead, tie knot. Repeat adding a bead and tying a knot for the remaining 6 beads.

2. Adjustable knots: overlap the two ends of the cord with about 6" of cord on each side of the necklace. Create a loop with one end of the cord, leaving a 2-3" tail. Wrap the end of the cord around both strands of leather and around the loop, keep wrapping the cord around all three cords two more times. Slide the end of the cord into the loop and pull tightly. 

This is a budget friendly version with a raven and round art bead from Humblebeads and wood, ceramic, bone and metal beads from the arts & crafts store. 

Here is a video tutorial so you can see how to make the adjustable knots on this necklace.

Faux Patina Pendants

On the Bead Cruise each instructor had a 30 minute session during our evening events.  There were demos, lectures and two make-and-takes.  Bello Modo did a UV resin project provided by TierraCast.

I did a make-and-take using Vintaj altered blanks to create faux patina pendants.

Supplies:

Vintaj blanks

Rubber stamps

StazOn Ink Pad

Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers (Stream, Juniper, Lettuce and Pebble)

Renaissance Wax

1. Dab on the paint lightly, wipe the excess with a tissue.  You can wait for this coat to dry or dab on another one for a mixed paint effect.

2. Stamp with StazOn ink pad and rubber stamp.

3. After the pendant is completely dry, use a tissue to wipe on a thin coat of wax.  Let dry completely.  If you don't have wax you could use Matte Spray.

This example was domed first with a dapping block and punch.  Use an unmounted rubber stamp for domed pieces.

Use can use domed pieces turned over as a bezel cup for trinkets and resin. 
1. Paint.  2. Stamp. 3. Add resin, 1/2 way.  Cure.  4. Add trinkets and more resin.  Cure again.

Egg beads can be found in my etsy shop.  Read all about the silk ribbon used on this pendant on the Art Bead Scene today.

And my mom happened to catch part of the demo on her Flip video camera:

Part 1. Here is the link, in case you can't see the video.


Part 2. And the link.