Copper Celtic Dragons and Micro Macrame

This copper button featuring a Celtic dragon design is one of my all-time favorites.  I absolutely love the graceful flowing lines of this one.  They made it in brass and silver as well, but the copper one just has something special - that "it" factor.  And the copper plays so well with the khaki cord and beads, don't you think?  Of course, since I love every single thing about this button, it's no longer being manufactured.  

When I found out they were no longer making them, I bought up everything I could find so I have a little stash of them.  Every once in a while I get them out and make up a few special pieces with them.  Mostly I'd rather hold onto them and fondle them, but I know that's probably not the most healthy relationship to have with a button so I force myself to let go of a few.  Especially since I recently went through my entire bead stash and organized everything and realized just how many cool buttons I have:

Hi, my name is Sherri and I'm a button hoarder.  I have glass buttons (Czech glass mostly - heck out that peacock beauty!) and handmade ceramic buttons and vintage buttons and colorful sugar skull buttons and painted buttons and antiqued buttons...  

And a tiny little stash of copper Celtic dragon buttons.  I've listed a few bracelets featuring them in my Etsy shop and now I'll put away the remainder for a while and focus on something else.  

And I'll keep searching for more of these.  I'll bet there's a shop out there somewhere with some of them in a dusty back corner just waiting to be rediscovered.  The idea of that haunts me.  Or taunts me, I guess.  I told you it wasn't a healthy relationship!

Twin Dragons and More

Brrrrrr!  It's been so long since I've posted our weather has changed!  We had been having a pretty mild autumn with temperatures still getting into the 70's regularly but today it's windy and cold.  I am not impressed.  The cold weather does make it feel more like the time of year to be thinking about the holidays, so I guess that's appropriate at least.

I may not have been posting, but I haven't been idle.  Several new dragon bracelets have hit my Etsy shop including some with a new twin dragon button and a few (like the ecru colored one above) are still available.  They're unique, original and pretty if you're looking for something special for the dragon lover or Game of Thrones fan in your life.

The beads I used are the same in all the versions and they're some of my favorites:  neutral with hints of color so they're not boring.  While I had them out, I used them in another micro macrame bracelet pattern, too.

In between the macrame sessions, I've managed to babysit a sick toddler, spatchcock a turkey and make a full Thanksgiving dinner with dressing that would have made my Gramma Betty proud.  I also decorated three Christmas trees, wrapped 24 presents for my daughter (my version of an advent calendar for her) and make several arrangements with live greenery and fresh flowers.  And that's my excuse for not posting sooner.  I'll do better, I promise.  Meanwhile, I'll leave you with something pretty - this is one of my trees:

A New Dragon

A customer asked me if I could make a dragon bracelet in the colors of sand and beach and surf and this is what I concocted.  I mixed a sandy tan in with some turquoise and deep marine blue (the sparkling crests of waves and the deep troughs of color), added some sky blue and a little touch of the white of a couple fluffy clouds.  Stirred them all together into a kaleidoscope of color and pattern, and came up with this:

I am so drawn to these colors, I think I will take it a bit further and see what else pops.  Speaking of popping, which do you think works better in the photo:  a patterned background like the photo above or a plain one like below?

The general consensus in some of the groups I belong to has been a plain, neutral background.  My eye is more drawn to the patterned photo, though.  Opinions?

Busy, Busy, Busy

So many ideas and so little time!  I swear the busier I am and the less time I have to knot, the more ideas I have.  I keep telling myself I need to write them down or sketch them out, because they will surely evaporate when I do find myself at loose ends.  

It's been busy times at my house lately with my son graduating from college (yeah, Nick!!!). 

I even managed to snap a photo of my children getting along with one another.  Or appearing to in order to make their mother feel all warm and fuzzy.  Either way, I'll take it.

 

We've been helping Nick get furniture and get settled into a little rental house in town and I'm SO excited to have him closer.  I will have to take some pictures and show you the crafty projects we've been working on like painting and distressing a coffee table, overhauling some old lamps and making wall art with scrapbook paper.

I have finished up a couple of macrame projects that were in the works, including these dragon bracelets in raku colors.

Then I made a matte metallic khaki iris version that's like my reset button.  The perfect combination of color and neutral.  My little spot of calm.  Ahhhhh.....

Game of Thrones Jewelry Challenge - I'm All About the Dragons

Heather Powers of Humblebeads is hosting a jewelry challenge based on one of my favorite shows, Game of Thrones.  Not only do I love this show, it gives me a great excuse to make dragon jewelry, and let's face it - dragons are cool.  Like so cool that I don't even wait for special events to make dragon jewelry, I make dragon pieces all the time.  Don't believe me?  Check this post about a beaded dragon bracelet and this post - A Micro Macrame Fairy Tale (featuring dragons).  Or check out my Etsy Shop, Knot Just Macrame.  Here, I'll give you a little taste of some pieces I've done featuring dragons:

Even if I wasn't a big dragon fan (and how could I not be - come on, people, they breathe fire!!!), I think I'd still be a big fan of Daenerys Targaryen, Khaleesi and Mother of Dragons.  She's an awesome character and we've watched her grow from a meek, timid girl to a strong, confident woman over the past seasons.  Along the way, she hatched three dragons even though dragons haven't been seen in generations.  And if that isn't cool enough?  She did it by climbing on top of her dead husband's funeral pyre with her petrified dragon eggs and woke up unharmed with the baby dragons. That, my friends, is why she is my inspiration for this Game of Thrones Jewelry Challenge piece:

I've had this dragon head clasp in my pile of cool-stuff-I-just-had-to-buy for some time now, just waiting for the perfect project and I decided this was it.  Some simple spiral knotting for the body of the bracelet and one cool clasp and it's all about the dragons!

A Micro Macrame Fairy Tale

Once upon a time in the farthest reaches of a a faraway land, there lived a dragon.  She was a beautiful, wild creature who hunted in the craggy mountains and made her home in a rocky cave.  Her graceful body was covered coppery scales which perfectly camouflaged her sinuous curves and sweeping wings.  But she was far from dull, this coppery dragon, for when the sunlight caught her body just right, she shone with golden hues and glints of pink and blue and green.

This dragon thought hers was the perfect life.  The perfect setting, the perfect coloring - everything a dragon should be.  One day this dragon decided to venture further into the kingdom and what she found amazed her.

Everywhere she looked, she found dragons in magnificent colors, with brightly colored scales and feathered wings.

And each of these new dragons thought it was the perfect dragon.  Perfect in every way.  The first dragon was so dazzled by the beauty of the others that she began to doubt herself.  She forgot what a fierce and powerful hunter she was, how cunning and smart and perfectly suited for her life.  She compared herself and felt inferior.  

And the moral of this dragon's tale?  We must never forget that each and every one of us is perfect - just exactly the way we are.  Perceived flaws and all.  We are all different and we are all perfect.

If you look for the flaws, you will find them.  And if you search for the strength and beauty, you will find that instead.

New Micro Macrame Designs in Khaki Iris

I have so many things I should be doing, and what am I doing instead?  Playing with macrame.  What can I say - it makes me happy.  I've had a long standing love affair with beads in matte metallic khaki iris, particularly in combination with khaki cord.  I've made earrings:

And watches:

And necklaces:

But my favorite pieces to make have always been bracelets.  No reason, really, they're just my favorite.  They have just the right amount of challenge for me.  They're a medium size project - not so easy that it takes longer to drag out all the beads and not so large and complicated that I get bored before finishing.  Bracelets are JUST the right size project for me.  

I was goofing around a bit trying to come up with a new bracelet design and did this:

I have done the "flower" type pattern before, but I was experimenting with the part in between - the "eye" shape.  Then I decided to beef it up a little in that section and ended up with this:

And now I can't decide which I like best:)

The designs might change with my mood, but I still love these beads.  I've used them so much that now it's become a challenge for me to see how many different ways I can use the same beads and cord and come up with different results.  And I'm not out of ideas yet:)

Window Shop Holiday Hop

My friend Rita of Jewel School Friends came up with the idea for a Window Shop Holiday Hop.  Doesn't that sound like fun?  Hop from one great "shop" to another and see what they have to offer for the upcoming holiday season.  Who knows, you might just find something to add to your wish list!

Without further ado, I'd like to welcome you to my shop.  You can find it on Etsy at Knot Just Macrame.  I've been filling it with some great pieces.  Over here are my earrings.

 

These are a few  of the ones I have on hand at the moment.  I particularly like the green pair - they're almost a wasabi green.  Or maybe chartreuse.  Definitely not your run of the mill green, either way.  And the blue pair?  They match a bracelet you can find over in the  bracelet section.

I also have this bracelet on hand in the khaki color with a copper dragon.  And while you're looking around, be sure to check out the sparkly new bracelets I made:

Wouldn't one of those be fun for your upcoming holiday parties?  Or how about one these handpainted lucite flower bracelets:

Or maybe you're looking for a necklace?  Have you seen these made with Kazuri beads?  

If you're not familiar with Kazuri beads, they are handmade, hand-painted ceramic from Nairobi, Kenya. Each bead is shaped by hand, by one of the 350 local women employed by Kazuri. The beads are then polished and kiln fired, painted and fired again. Kazuri is a member of the Fair Trade Act.  I love the freehand, organic look of them.  If one of those doesn't catch your fancy, you can find lots more necklaces here.

I'll leave you to look around on your own.  Take a few minutes to check out all the little nooks in my shop.  I have a bead embroidered snowman cuff sure to make you smile, a couple fun Day of the Dead style pieces and even some Husker designs for Nebraska fans.  Don't see just what you had in mind?  Love the design, but need a different size or color?  Shoot me a message and I'll see if I can make it happen for you.  I'm handy like that.

Now, pour yourself a cup of coffee, kick your feet up and follow this list to a bunch of great shops, all decked out for your window shopping pleasure:

Jewel School Friends (host)
www.JewelSchoolFriends.com


Fabric of My Life
http://shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com/


A Grateful Artist
http://gratefulartist.blogspot.com/


Libellula Jewelry
http://libellulajewelry.blogspot.com/


Knot Just Macrame
http://www.knotjustmacrame.com


Amazing Designs by Marlene
http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com


Antiquity Travelers
http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/


Spice Box Designs
http://spiceboxdesigns.blogspot.com/


Freestyle Elements
http://freestyleelements.blogspot.com/


Alankarshilpa
http://www.alankarshilpa.blogspot.com


Pretty Things
http://www.prettythingsblog.com/


Lindy's Designs
http://lindysdesigns.blogspot.com/


The Adventures of Belle West
http://bellewest925.blogspot.com/

Colorful Dragon Bracelets in Micro Macrame

After making a bajillion micro macrame bracelets in the original khaki/copper combination, I decided to branch out a bit recently and the result was this batch (flock?  litter?) of  colorful dragons.  

The little teal beauty MIGHT just be my favorite, but then again, the purple one is very sparkly...

And, what's not to love about a dragon you could wear with camo?

And I've been working on a little number in purple with NO dragon!  I'll keep you posted.  As you were.

A New Twist on the Dragon Bracelet

If you've hung around my sites very long, you're probably familiar with "the" dragon bracelet.  If not, here's a quick refresher:

I came across this gorgeous copper button with a swirly dragon design a long time back and started using it as a focal piece for a macrame bracelet.  It is by far the most popular (and requested) item in my shop.  The colors are just right.  It's just perfect (the button, I mean).  So of course, it is no longer being manufactured!  I have a small stash of them on hand, so I guess I should be a bit more judicious with their use.  But I had this idea for a fringy beaded cuff bracelet with the button as the clasp/focal.  

I put together a great bead mix with berry and copper and green and purple with touches of teal:

It's a totally different style from my usual macrame piece, but I think I like the way it turned out.  It brings to mind a dragon guarding the mouth of a cave full of treasure.

Even the "back" of the bracelet is pretty.