Blog Hop for Slider Bracelets by Cousin Corporation

Just this past week while walking through a Macy's store near my home, I passed the jewelry department and spotted a large display of a variety of slider bracelets.  This opportunity to create my own slider bracelets with the new line from Cousin Corporation, was one I was happy to try.

The new line will be available at Jo-Ann stores.  Check out this how-to video on You Tube to see the ease of making your own.

In the supply package that I was sent, were a basic black and white leather bracelet band, along with two different sets of coordinating gold charm, spacers and hook clasps.  The bracelets would have been fine just put together with the pieces supplied, but I had to find ways to change each of them up just a little bit. It is always fun to is how materials can be manipulated to a different result.  With experimenting with other products and tools you can create truly unique and personal items.

For the black bracelet I decided to try to change the surface of the band in some way.  I went to tools on hand and used a metal "peace sign" stamp from Impress Art, to hammer a design onto the band.  I brushed some gold paint over the designs and wiped it off slightly.  Repeated the process to get the paint into the recessed areas of the design.  The slide charm and spacers were put onto the band as desired and then finish by gluing the clasp ends in place. The results were not bad but I would try some other techniques for better impressions.

For the white band and the flower charm another experiment was tried.  I used a Bic fine point permanent marker, in blue to add some color to the flower.  The flower was then brushed with a bit of Ranger Perfect Pearl Forever Blue powder.  A wavy line was lightly drawn across the length of the band with a pencil. Again, using a Bic fine point permanent marker, in green, go over the pencil line.  Tiny green leaves are drawn along the wavy line.  A hole was made to fit a jump ring for an extra added charm. The flower charm and spacers were than slid onto the band as desired and finish by gluing the clasp ends in place.  Again, the results for this were fine.  The charms and spacers are a great finish and metallic color, but I wanted to see how a different color could be added to change up the look.  The markers used worked well, better than another brand that I tried on the back side of the flower and the band.  Again here I would like to experiment a bit more with other mediums to alter the surface of both the metal pieces and the bands just for fun.

Enjoyed making the bracelets!  Easy to trim the bands for sizing.  I like the designs available in the charms and spacers and metal finishes. I would have enjoyed making one with my initials as an embellishment.  Definitely easy and fun to make for anyone!

There were other Cousin jewelry basics and "trinkettes" included in my package.  I decided to create other pieces with those included items.  Here are the three pieces:

Once all the materials were assembled, the above three projects were made in an evening.
NOTE: Some other Cousin products were purchased to be added to these and other materials on hand were also used.

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Designer Craft Connection April - Finds Around The House

Spring is slowly beginning here where I live.  There are little signs of green popping through the ground.  The mass of tiny yellow crocus' are opening under the crab apple tree out front.  A mason jar is filled with bright yellow daffodils on the counter.  So why not create a few more blooms out of different materials found around the house.

The flowers that I created are used to decorate a container for gift giving.  An empty corn meal container was decoupaged with cookie recipes torn from an old cook book.  The lid has a extra wooden knob attached to is for opening and trimmed with some natural jute cording.  A strip from a brown bag is used for a paper ribbon around the container.

Three flowers were made for embellishments.  The largest was a crochet loop daisy with a center made from a filter found in some of the K-cups that are used in coffee makers.  The plastic disc was covered by stitching with gold metallic thread and a gem stone addd to the center.  A small posy was die-cut from a "Peace Tea" aluminum can and then shaped and finished with a button center.  The third carnation like flower was made by painting die-cut, dryer fabric sheets and then gathering them up to form the flower.  Just glue them in place and add a little bow and fill the container with some delicious homemade cookies to give away of keep as a cute container in your kitchen.