Spanish Leather Bracelets

A while back I mentioned some leather jewellery I saw in Spain during my summer holiday, well when I got back from my holiday it took me a while to find all the amazing clasps they had used in the creations. They are made from Zamak, an anti-allergenic zinc alloy. All these pieces are made in spain and I ended up ordering an awful lot of clasps and charms and pendants. And also this leather band in all sorts of really nice colours. It took me until now to make anything worthwhile out of all the bits.

So today I wanna share with you these 3 bracelets, which are really easy to make. Very simple but I think it's their simplicity that makes them so nice. The colours of the leather are really vibrant.

So it goes to show that things don't have to be overcomplicated to be pretty.

Jewellery Recycling

I've had these Mikey necklaces gathering dust for ages. I bought them years ago and never wore them. Do you know Mikey style necklaces? Very long and dangly and somehow just too heavy and big and not great at all. But when I found them the other day I just loved all the individual charms and different chains used in them and I thought I can make them better than what they are. So out of two necklaces I made four and a bracelet, I did add some of my own charms too.

The "Flower Necklace"
This is entirely made from Mikey parts. Chunky chain, big green flower and some other dangly bits.



The "Dangly Necklace"
Again this is completely made out of Mikey parts. I just gathered lots of charms to make into a big feature.

The "Wrap Around Bracelet"
This is also made up from Mikey parts. There are different style chains and some ready made beaded bits. I just connected them to make one long chain, added a lobster clasp and a charm. It wraps around nicely and looks so pretty with all the different bits. Probably my favourite out of the lot!

The "Owl Necklace"

I had lots of random leftover bits of chain I made into a long chain, added lots of my own charms including the big owl and a few leftover Mikey pieces and voila another pretty necklace.

I hope you feel inspired to recycle some unloved jewellery, especially with Christmas coming up it's nice to give something handmade. And as most of us really have to watch the pennies these days it is also a cheap way of making something special.

Vintage style photo jewellery inspired by Liberty's

I walked past Liberty's in London the other day, well I work opposite but I rarely go into this shop as it is so stupidly expensive. But these necklaces in the window caught my eye. As I love working with old photos I just had to try and make my own necklaces using photobooth pictures and I think they turned out rather sweet.

I seem to be making one style of necklace, they are quite long and have lots of random dangly bits and charms. It's what I would enjoy wearing myself even though I could never wear all the necklaces I make. In fact I rarely wear any. So these will be going up for sale in my Folksy shop.

Check them out here.

Zamak & Leather Jewellery

Today I'd like to share something a little different with you.

I have recently been inspired by some jewellery I saw whilst on holiday in Spain. It features these lovely, some quite chunky, silver coloured clasps and closures. Combined with leather cord and charms they just looked so lovely I had to try and come up with some myself.

It took a while to source the clasps and other metals parts, which are made from Zamak, a zinc alloy. It's non-allergenic which is great news if you suffer from skin allergies.

They are made in Spain and that's where I got mine from. Hours of fun trying to order from a Spanish website when you don't speak the language. But I got there in the end.

These are just a few examples of what I've been making in the past few days.

This one features little nuts in the bead design and makes a great male bracelet, I gave it to my boyfriend and he loves it. Already had some interest from other people too.



This one is certainly more girly. I have been using a fair bit of coloured leather.

I'll be showing more creations in the next week or so. Pop back if you like what you see. They will also be going on sale in my folksy shop soon!

Dangly birdcage necklace

I picked up this little birdcage with bird (pack of 2 cages and 4 birds) a little while ago but only just got round to making this necklace. I knew the cage would be perfect to make into a long dangly necklace with a bunch of other charms.
It is very easy to make, I used all golden charms and chain and matching jumprings and just put it all together.

The birdcage set and idea-ology pieces are available from Happy Daze and I am entering this into their DANGLY THINGS Challenge.

Stamp and show us some metal.....

antjes bracelet
Originally uploaded by Anikraft

I think it's time once more for me to enter the challenge at Simon says Stamp and Show. And this week it's metal. I made this bracelet for my sister, hope she doesnt read this, ooops.

I have to admit the stamping is minimal but it's there. I basically punched some circle from the Tim Holtz Lost and Found paper stack. I inked some of the edges. The heart charm on the end is inked with distress ink and stamped. The picture in the centre is my sister and I and the years are our birth years.

Check out the big size picture in my Flickr stream, I'm sorry the picture wouldnt upload the right way round in blogger. They really need to do something about that.

Grungy Tim Holtz inspired bracelet....

I got into making jewellery last year and even attended an evening course, although a lot of the time I skipped class to stay at home and work on a scrapbook .... naughty!!

But having discovered the Tim Holtz type charms I can combine my papercrafting with jewellery.

I punched out S I S T E R S letters from the Lost and Found paperstack and also printed out some photos of me and my sister and added them on.

I adde a few dangly bits made from copper and brown beads.

It's really quite simple, and I like the grungy look of it. I may have to get some of the link chain from the idea-ology range, it would make it even better I think.

Just wish the type charms were cheaper, does anyone know of anything similar that I may use in the same way?! Could be smaller, I wouldn't mind that.

Or if you come across any bargain basement priced type charms, let me know!!!