Thursday, October 17, 2013

Bonus Leather

Sorry for the delay in this week's bonus post, kiddies! It has been raining out the wazoo lately in Dallas, and while I love dark, dreary weather, it's not so good for blog photography (phoblography?). Luckily for you, the sun came out to play today, so I was able to get some decent photos of the newest additions to my jewelry collection.

After last week's leather jacket refashion (have you voted yet?), I had lots of little bits of leather. Not enough to make anything substantial, but too much to feel okay about throwing it in the garbage. I've pinned quite a few jewelry ideas made from leather scraps, so I thought I'd give it a whirl myself.

Leather Jewelry

For my first trick, I starting cutting out leaf shapes and arranged them by size. I ended up with 42 pieces.

Leather Jewelry

Then I paired them up - one big and one little.

Leather Jewelry

I used a push pin to make a hole at the top of each pair.

Leather Jewelry

Then I stuck a jump ring through them and attached them to a chain.

Leather Jewelry

I kept doing this over and over, alternating suede and smooth sides, until I have a full necklace. Plus, I used a couple pairs of leaves for earrings.

Leather Jewelry

Since I had all my jewelry goodies out and still had scraps of leather, I kept going! I cut one big and two small curved feather shapes.

Leather Jewelry

Then I snipped the sides at random intervals, and used my push pin and jump rings to attach the feathers to earring hooks and a chain. I snipped the chain and added a clasp at the back of the neck as well.

Leather Jewelry

But wait, there's more! I grabbed a few head pins and fake pearls.

Leather Jewelry

I snipped each head pin off about an inch above the pearl and used my round-nose jewelry pliers to form a loop.

Leather Jewelry

And another jump ring attached each pearl to a feather.

Leather Jewelry

Okay, now I'm done!

Leather Jewelry

Not bad for scraps, eh?

Leather Jewelry

11 comments:

  1. Well Carissa - Just how many talents do you have in the "gift box"!!!!! These are AWEsome. Once again you have executed your plan gracefully and arrived with sophistication . MORE, MORE, MORE !!!

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    1. Thank you, Linda! Once again, you are too kind.

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  2. So pretty!!

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  3. Lovely...I like what you do

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  4. Pretty AND thrifty - good stuff! Who'd have thought leather and pearls would go so well together?

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    1. Thanks, Jenny! I love mixing materials, especially with high contrast. Like in this case, where we've got the obvious black and white, plus a hard material with a soft reputation and a soft one with a hard reputation. It's a perfect pairing!

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  5. Great ideas to use the leftovers from any leather project.

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    1. Thanks, Magda! And I still have more scraps too. What to do, what to do...

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