Sankofa African Trade Beads - Class and Trunk Show

September's Project of the Month

Our Project of the Month for September is this coolio African Trade Bead ring. It is quick and easy to make and a great way to show off your favorite new trade bead.

Join us anytime in September and make this project for just $4, right at our work table. This project will be free on Friday, September the 6th, from 6-8 pm during our First Friday celebration.

Here's a quick Vine video of the project:

UPDATE; Here is a link to the PDF for you In some cases, I think I said I used 20 gauge wire, but it's actually 22 gauge. Sorry!



P.S. There is still time to make it in for the August Project of the Month! Check it out in the previous post!

Atwer Collar Necklace Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to make a fringed collar-style necklace. I pair things like this with easy summer dresses and with a denim shirt. Or, maybe with a denim shirt OVER an easy summer dress? Hmm...

The knotting is pretty easy, this whole project took me about 1 hour to make.

See the project instructions here. 

Sankofa African Trade Bead Exploration

Today I took an idea I'd had in my head for a long while and played and played until it came out right. That doesn't always work, but today it did.

I've been wanting to use these pipe or quill beads for a long time to create a ladder-like necklace. I love the pretty horn color and knew that's what I needed to do with them. Somehow, each time I tried to make this necklace it did not work. I tried stitching them with leather (red!) Nope. I tried attaching them to chain (gunmetal!) Nope. I tried mixing them with copper and seed beads (whites, neutrals, metallics! Nope. 

I had actually kinda given up on them. Then, today, I was on a roll after making a pair of neon-and-gold filigree earrings (what can I say, my style is diverse!) The earrings are for a tutorial and a kit and everything worked just perfect. I even shot a quick video on Vine showing how to do them. 

Yes, I know you can't really make the earrings by following this super-quick Vine, but I shot it in between taking the how-to shots for the tutorial.

After I was done I still had a bit of time before I had to leave work. Hmm...what to do? Answer emails? No. How about make another piece of jewelry for another tutorial? Yes!!! That's it. I grabbed a tray that had some of our new Sankofa beads on it and headed for the store to 'shop' for my tutorial. I spied those horn beads...hmm, the idea has been in my mind for so long. I didn't know if I could make anything work, but I grabbed 5 yards of linen, and a wire choker frame and sat down...I swear I didn't even know what, exactly, I was going to make. A knot, a wrap, a trim, some notes were taken, some photos shot and BOOM. A necklace I LOVE LOVE LOVE.

How does it work for you? Do you just find that sometimes, ideas flow out and just work, while other times they seem to not work at all, no matter what? Do you have a good, getting into the flow technique? If so, I'd love to know it...

Watch for BOTH of these very different projects in the next week.