New Canadian Maple Leaf Necklaces

Canada is celebrating it's 150th birthday this year so we have been making special Canadian themed pieces for this big event.  Here we made some of our maple leaves in red and black on a snap and have arranged them on the softglass cord snap necklace that I showed how to make the other day.  I love how the leaves can be arranged in different ways and you are not permanently locked into only one necklace design.

I really love the look and feel of the softglass cord but if you have any sort of arthritis or difficulty with clasps, the plug type clasp can be a bit tricky.

For an easier alternative, the braided leather cord with the front magnetic closure is quick and easy to put on and take off.  Here is one in black with the same large maple leaf snap. 

These necklace cords are available in our online store in several colors.

If you would like to make your own, we have the clasps available in our DIY Snap Supply Section.  I showed in a previous post here on how to create your own necklace.

Necklace with a Front Magnetic Closure and Snap Base

We have some really cool necklaces in our online store.  They are made with a thick genuine braided leather and have a front magnetic clasp.  There is a snap base on the front part of the clasp for creating interchangeable designs.  These necklaces were one of our best sellers at the Lake Country Art Walk last September and were popular with both men and women.

We now also have the clasp to make your own necklace in our Snap DIY supplies section.

To make you own necklace is quick and easy.  The advantage to this is you can use almost any cord that is 6mm thick and in any custom length.  You can also use several strands of thinner cord for a different look.   Here I am using some faux snakeskin cord that is super soft and drapes beautifully.

You can use either superglue (gel) or E6000.  Place a dab of glue on some scrap paper and apply it to one end of the cord with a toothpick.  Add the glue all around the cord up to 1/4" from the end as well as the very end tip.

Push the cord end firmly into the back part of the clasp.  Allow it to dry a bit before gluing the other end.

Lay the cord out flat so it curves naturally around in an open circle.

To prevent the cord from twisting, put the two claps pieces together before gluing and inserting the opposite end.

Larger snaps also work really well on these necklaces making them so versatile.

Crochet Cowl Pattern Using our Buttons

Kim and Tara of Knot Sew Cute Design Shop create the most fabulous crochet patterns.  Kim just published her latest pattern -- this gorgeous v-shaped cowl which shows off our handcrafted buttons in the woodgrain pattern.  Don't you love this picture?  Our buttons never looked so good!  To see more of their crochet patterns, you can check out their Etsy Shop, or visit their blog where they have links to the many other shops they are available (column on right hand side).

We make the buttons shown here in assorted textured patterns.  They are available in a rich antique shade of brown....

... and for those who prefer more color, we make them in bright and muted shades as well.

Tooled Leather Jewelry

Here is a scarf necklace made with the same tooled leather technique I showed you the other day which is now available in our Etsy shop.  I am finally finding a bit of time each day that I am setting aside to work on our online stores and add some new listings.

All our earring beads are sold separately from our ear wires.  It is all part of our Interchangeable Earring System.  These earring beads are now available in our online Etsy shop.  The ear wires are sold separately.

We have three ear wires styles we make ourselves in a choice of Argentium Sterling Silver and 14 Karat Gold (fill).  They can all mix and match with any of our earring beads for custom fit and styling.

Some of our beads have a different pattern on each side making them not only interchangeable but 2 earring styles in 1.  

More Faux Wood and Leather

After making the buttons in our new faux wood and leather, I decided to play with it a little more and see what else I could do with it.

Here are some scarf clips in two different shapes.  I just listed these in our Etsy shop.

The spring loaded scarf clip ring is available at Shades of Clay and I have a free tutorial on our blog (click here) on how to attach them as they can be a bit tricky.

Here is the same technique and pattern in a shawl pin.

The texture sheet we used to make these items is a favorite of mine.  It is a design by my friend, Wendy Orlowski, called Feather Boa and is available at Shades of Clay.

You will notice a difference in the two shawl pins shown.  The one on the left was made by impressing the clay from the texture sheet.  The one on the right was made from an inverse texture sheet I made from the original.  I discovered that the inversion texture created an "innie" that when antiqued with acrylic paints afterwards gives the more tooled leather or carved wood look.

Matching Colors

One thing about polymer clay is that once you are hooked, you start looking in all sorts of places for items you can use as tools or for adding textures. Several years ago I found this toothbrush holder and decided to use it on my table to hold some of my clay tools.  I was staring at it one day and wanted to see if I could replicate the pattern so played around and made a texture sheet from clay. 

I was using it to make some of my textured tube beads like the ones below.

Now, several years later, I decided to pull out my texture sheet and see how it would look as a button. "Antiquing" them with paints gives them a carved wood or tooled leather appearance.

I love the rich brown color of these but was thinking of experimenting with other colors.  Then I had a request from Donna's Yarn & Craft to match the teal blue color of this skein of yarn for a sweater that Elsie, Donna's mom and store partner, is knitting.

I really love this color and got carried away with making extra buttons in a variety of shapes and styles.

Faux Wood and Leather

We just added some new designs to our button collection that have a wood or tooled leather look.  I've been wanting to work on this new project for some time but when we started getting requests from the wool shops it was the jump-start that I needed to finally get at it.

These are quite a change from the bright Pantone colors I've been mixing up, but is nice to create something different.  Right now we are making enough of these for the stores that sell our buttons as well as our Etsy shop.

We do quite a bit of custom work and plan to write a future blog post on the joys ???? of doing it.

Zipper Charms

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