September 30, 2014

Shop Update - Micro Macrame Kits

Micro macrame owl tutorial and kits by Knot Just Macrame

It's no secret that putting together kits isn't my favorite job (unless they're fun kits), but I recently had some (reluctant) help, so I've been on a kit-making binge.  There are 41 micro macrame kits in my Etsy shop right now, including owl kits in no less than five different colors!

I restocked some old favorites, too, including Hydrangea kits in French Lilac, the colorway shown in the Hydrangea Bracelet tutorial:

Hydrangea Micro macrame bracelet tutorial by Knot Just Macrame

There are kits for the Leaves Bracelet tutorial in several popular colors including the Sage one shown in the tut as well as the colorful black version with bead and cord like this:

Cord and bead kit for Leaves Micro Macrame Bracelet tutorial by Sherri Stokey

It's never too early to start on holiday presents, you know (yep, I did it - I went there).  In case you need just a little more enticement, Donna over at CraftArtEdu.com is having a FLASH sale through Wednesday, October 1.  Use code "flash25" to save 25% on any one class (details here).  I have some pretty cool kits to go with the Micro Macrame Wrap Bracelet class there, including some Halloween ones!

Happy knotting!!

September 18, 2014

Talk Like a Pirate Day


Ahoy, me Hearties!  Tomorrow be International Talk Like a Pirate Day and what with knottin' bein' all tied t' sailin' (didja see what I done thar?) what better way t' pay me respects but t' create a piece o' micro macrame!  Boy, writin' like tha' is harder than ye'd think!  

I asked Anastasija o' Dreams and Elements t' make some pieces t' use in me micro macrame bracelets and shiver me timbers!  Beauty!  Me packages arrived from some other artists that day, too. Check t' motherload:


And out of all that booty, which treasure did I choose first?


They're just so ever-lovin' adorable!!  And what with the pirate day thing coming up and all, it seemed like fate.  I did make a very similar bracelet with one of her owl focals instead,  if ye ain't be likin' the skulls.  


Wanna try your hand at knottin' one yeself?  These bands are variations of me Micro Macrame Bracelet Watch class at CraftArtEdu.com.  Fair winds, mateys!

September 13, 2014

Sea Shell Design Challenge Reveal

Sea shell design challenge

My generous friend, Rita of Toltec Jewels put out a challenge in one of the beading groups to which I belong:  create a piece using a ceramic scallop shell pendant by Firefly Design Studio.  Michelle (the creative genius behind Firefly Design) is also a member of the same group, so this was a particularly fun challenge for me.  Rita even supplied the shells for participants (thanks again, Rita!!).

It's no surprise to anyone who has followed me for five minutes or more that I love ocean themes.  Anything beachy and I'm there.  And to top it all off, the shell I received was in some of my favorite colors (fate or Rita's hand?):

Cord and bead palette in sage green and blue and bronze

I pulled some glass seed beads and s-lon cord I thought might work with the sagey green and soft blue in the pendant and then played up the background color of the clay as well, adding some gold and bronze.  

I started knotting around a center ring and let the cord fan out from that like ripples in the water.  I didn't have any pattern in mind when I started, I just let the micro macrame wander and flow around the beads.

Close up of micro macrame knotting by Sherri Stokey of Knot Just Macrame.

The necklace ended up with a unique keyhole shape which gives a hint of the exotic and the lavish beads and scalloped knots gives it an over-the-top, excess feel, like a mermaid dripping in jewels.  

Micro macrame necklace by Sherri Stokey with ceramic shell pendant by Firefly Design Studio


The sea shell pendant is actually drilled at the wider end, but I wanted to suspend it the other way around, so I added a bail to the narrower end of the shell.  That left me with a hole at the bottom to attach a ring full of beachy charms - a shell, some starfish beads and even a Vintaj seahorse.

Ceramic sea shell pendant by Firefly Design Studio

So?  Can you picture this on your friendly neighborhood mermaid?

Micro macrame necklace by Sherri Stokey of Knot Just Macrame.


September 10, 2014

An Experiment

Bleached nylon cord.

Well, that could have gone better.  This mess of sickly colored cord is not what I was hoping for.  Let me fill you in:  I got a wild hair last week and wanted to make a micro macrame bracelet with the look of soft, worn denim.  I wanted cord in a really faded blue color and I really was hoping for a bit of mottling in the color instead of even color on the cord.  I took some bits of cord (both c-lon and s-lon nylon bead cord) and stuck them in some diluted bleach for a while and got this:

Outcome of first cord bleaching experiment.

There was one major flaw in that first experiment, though, as I had forgotten to keep a control group.  I figured I would remember exactly what shades I'd started with, silly me, and ended up clueless. I do know the one that looks sort of mustard yellow was a green color to start with, but I'm not sure which green.  *sigh*  So I started over, and this time I took a photo with the original colors.  There is again a mix of c-lon and s-lon cord, all in the .5mm size.

C-lon and S-lon bed cord in assorted colors.

I left the cord to soak in some bleach, diluted a bit, but still pretty strong (and no, Clorox isn't paying me anything for showing this photo of their product).

Bleaching experiment with cord.

I came back to check after half an hour and found that the lighter blue cord I'd hoped would look like worn denim had turned into this:

Bleaching experiment with cord.

After only 30 minutes!!  You can still see traces of the original blue, but most of the color is completely gone.  I continued checking on the remaining cords at hourly intervals.  After almost six hours, I took them all out and rinsed them well.  This is what I got:

Outcome of cord bleaching experiment.

The colors didn't change after drying, either, so here's what I discovered: The light blue cord bleached out in a heartbeat into a totally undesirable shade of yuk.  The mint green cord also bleached some and ended up a ugly shade of mucus green.  The four remaining cords, bright blue, orange, teal and purple, didn't change at all.  Even after six hours of soaking in bleach, there was no change in color!  

I'd say even though I didn't achieve my intended goal, this experiment was a partial success since I still learned something valuable.  It looks to me like there's a 67% chance your micro macrame bracelet won't change color even if you get bleach on it.  And that, as we say in Nebraska, is the rest of the story.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...