Versatile and Easy Jewelry Making Made Possible by Cousin Corporation

In early March, Cousin Corporation of America rolled out a new kind of fashionable jewelry component - the leather slide bracelet program.  This unisex jewelry components are available at select Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft stores as well as at Prima Bead.

Here is a great tutorial from Cousin Corporation's website:

I have made several bracelets from these and have tons of compliments on them.  They are super easy and are very fashionable.  The unisex styling make it great for guys as well.  I have had two custom order from guys because they saw the one I made my husband.

The bands are very durable and made from bi-cast leather.  If you don't know what that is, bi-cast leather is a man-made material made with a split leather backing covered with a layer of polyurethane that is applied to the surface and then embossed.  The bands come in red, blue, black, brown, dark brown, cream (a rich tan color), gray, and white.  The bands do stretch a bit so don't fret if it is too snug at first.  I do suggest letting the band air out before you wear it.  Some of them can have a bit of an overpowering plastic smell to them.

Clasp colors include silver tone and antique gold with various styles and designs. The sliders are very lovely and run the gamut of style from punk to goth, to Southwestern, to elegant.  There is something for everyone.  There is one drawback to the silver toned sliders and clasps.  You can't wear it constantly because the copper will start to show through.  My husband wears his all the time and that includes in the shower. So if you want to keep it silver, make sure to take it off before you get in the shower.

I have found that E-6000 holds the clasps on every well.  If you have trouble cutting the band, try using some heavy duty snips or shears to cut it with.  You do have to make sure the glue is fully cured before wear or it will not hold as you are adhering the band to metal.


Here is tip concerning the sliders:  If you find that they are moving around too much, take a ball peen hammer and tap lightly on the underside of the sliders.  This will close up the opening on the sliders and will not damage the overall look of the sliders.

November Project

For our November project, we were to create something from the new box of goodies we received from Cousin.  They have introduced a new line of jewelry components called Second Skin.  Second Skin is focused on the look and feel of exotic snake skin. This new line features luxurious jewel tones and metal accents. This line is available at Jo-Ann and Prima Bead's website.

My box of goodies arrived on Monday, October 29th.

 So I got started early and cranked out four pieces the day I received my box.  I am chomping at the bit to create more things.  Taking a little break at the moment, but I'm sure I will burn the midnight oil making more beautiful designs with these amazing products.

My first creation from the box was a mixed media cuff bracelet. I had a blank copper cuff bracelet laying around that I never did anything with.  I was planning so much for it, but it never materialized.  So when my box came in, I discovered these amazing metal slider beads.

 As soon as I saw them, my creative wheels started turning. 

I flattened out my cuff and laid these beauties on it.  I ended up using only three of the four.  I had some scrap dyed and embossed leather laying around that I picked up at a yard sale very cheap and decided to make use of some of that too.  There was this piece of lovely snakeskin looking tangerine stuff that I felt went with the copper very well.  I measured out where I wanted the sliders to be on the bracelet and then cut the leather to fit in between the sliders. I torch soldered the sliders to the cuff blank.  I then glued the leather pieces down to the blank.  I had to use BeadFix since I couldn't find my E-6000.  Still worked.  I then cleaned, sanded, and polished the exposed copper. I coated the leather pieces with Mod Podge in Matte. I used Environ-Tex's two part Jewelry Resin to cover the leather pieces.  After it was all set, I reformed the bracelet on my mandrel. I touched up the silver plating on the sliders with a Krylon Silver Leafing pen you can get at most craft stores. I touched up the places where the solder was showing on the copper with some Ranger Alcohol Inks. I used Watermelon and Citrus from the Tim Holtz line.

 

My second piece was a simple pair of earrings.  I found these lovely connector/pendant things that just screamed ready made earrings. I added a 6mm gray Crystazzi crystal pearl and a 3mm jet black Crystazzi crystal on head pins and connected them to the top of these and then to silver plated copper ear wires.

They turned out very pretty and classy looking.  I just love them. They are definitely on trend for this fall.

My third creation was an amazing tribal looking necklace.  I found this lovely metal connector in my box.  It has a center piece that consists of black and white faux snakeskin and an olive green acrylic gem setting.  I used some transparent faceted green glass beads from the Second Skin collection as well as some more of the gray Crystazzi crystal pearls. There was some lovely large double link textured chain in my box as well that I decided to use in conjunction with this focal pendant.  It worked out great.  The texture of the chain resembles the texture of the faux snakeskin on this piece.

My third piece was another tribal piece.  It reminded me of something Egyptian.  The focal piece was a three strand connector that had three sections of brown/tan/cream faux snakeskin and two black enameled triangle sections.  This piece was very intriguing to me.  This one I set on very thing figure eight chain from the same line and made a strand of bead connectors of 6mm opaque black round beads and 8mm matte metallic brown beads from the Jewelry Basics line and, 6mm matte light rose Crystazzi pearls.  I strung the beads on 20 gauge steel plated copper craft wire.  I found a lovely large faceted black resin pendant in my box that fit the look I was going for.  I wire wrapped it on the same 20 gauge craft wire and added some of the Jewelry Basics 6mm opaque black beads.  The end result is a necklace fit for a queen for sure.

All product photos are from the Prima Bead website.  All finished piece photos are property of Raziela Designs.