Simply Devine: On a Creative Roll

Do you ever feel like you're in the 'zone' when you are working on a project? You know, you get so tied up in what you're doing that time flies by, but the project is going so well, you just don't want to stop?

I had one of those days last week, and I love the feeling! Want a peek at what I was working on?

Leather and Stone Necklace

I'm so excited about this design that I immediately started another sample. It was inspired by a piece in an old issue of BeadStyle magazine by Marcy Kentz. I will be teaching the techniques on how to create this necklace at The Bead Garden in Havertown, Pa., on December 19th. (To go www.thebeadgarden.com to sign up.)

Just a few details, then, on this piece.

If you've been reading my blog, you know I like to 'recycle' stuff. In this case, it's the leather that is re-purposed. Someone gave me a black suede vest that was too small for me, and rather than donate it, I cut it apart and saved the suede pieces. I have other similar pieces of leather, from garments or leather items (including a soft-sided briefcase). I trimmed the leather using my rotary cutter, making strips that were 1" wide.

Trimming butter-soft brown leather that was once a jacket sleeve.

I rounded one end of each strip with scissors, then used my Japanese screw punch to put three tiny holes in in each strip, about 1" from the rounded end.

A Japanese Screw Punch is a great tool for leather work, book making and other hobbies.
The screw bits come in various sizes; this one is 1.2 mm.

Softflex beading wire is my stringing material of choice for natural stone or glass beads. I cut three pieces of wire, and inserted them through the holes. A small seed bead and a micro crimp bead secured them to the 'wrong' side of the leather.

A clamp on one end keeps the beads from falling off.

After stringing on the stones, I attached the other end of the wire to the second strap in the same manner. A little E6000 glue on the end was a little added insurance that everything would stay together.