Macrame Owls for All

Let's face it:  it's just not a macrame party until somebody busts out an owl.  There's nothing more iconic than the knotted owl; in fact, mention macrame to many folks and this is what comes to mind:

I couldn't resist a while back and made my own version of the cliche, but in a smaller (palm sized) version meant to be hung on a person rather than a wall.  I made the original version using .5mm cord.

The other day I got some coin beads I'd ordered for eyes and discovered they were smaller than what I'd been using (I think these are 8mm), which made me wonder what would happen if I tried making the owl with smaller cord.

For comparison:

It's surprising just how much smaller the owl turned out using the C-lon fine instead of the "regular" .5mm cord.  (Need help on cord sizes?  See this post.)  Of course I had to try pushing it just a little bit further:

The tiny misshapen khaki owl is done with C-lon micro.  I have trouble knotting with cord that small.   Theoretically it should work, with adjustments to the size of the beads and something smaller than the split rings at the top.  But, it took me nearly three times as long to make the small one as it did to make the large one!  Lots more fiddling - and that's from a professional fiddler!  Maybe I'll just wait for one of you to try it and let me know how it turns out.

If you'd like to try making your own owl, you'll find the tutorial here in my Etsy shop.  And don't forget, I have a whole page of videos knot tutorials here.  

If you're looking for ideas on how to make your owl pendant into a necklace, there's an easy idea in this post, or you can add a simple macrame spiral or a little chain.  They're all cute!

Have fun!!

Gearing up for a Hop!

I've been doing lots of scheming and plotting about what to do for our upcoming Beading Back in Time Blog Hop which has led to countless hours of reading about the early history of man and quite a few hours digging through my stash of treasures.  I came across this ceramic owl pendant from Karen Totten of Starry Road Studio.  It's one of her owl amulets from a series she called her woodland totems.

Although animals were featured in art very early on, I think it is the hand print on this one that makes me think of our hop challenge theme.  It reminds me of the cave paintings featuring hands.

I also came across another ceramic piece from Starry Road Studio - a round bead that matched the pendant perfectly.  Taking my color cues from those pieces, I knotted turquoise, gold and ecru into a cord/strap for the necklace. I used this technique (that links to the free macrame tutorial) that looks like kumihimo, but is done without a disk.  I love the look of the cord - slap a couple of caps on the ends and it's neat and tidy and can be made in any color combination.

Any bail would work on this cord, but I thought I'd take the design a step further, so I knotted one myself in the same cord.  It has a sort of fun plaid design in micro macrame and is completely integrated into the design (the same cord that ties on the pendant and goes up through the bead is knotted through the bail.

And yes, I should be working on my piece for the hop rather than getting sidetracked, but what a nice sidetrack, huh?  And if you're not inclined to make your own, you can purchase this one in my Etsy shop:  Knot Just Macrame.

The Evolution of Woodland Plaid

It seems the holiday season is upon us whether or not we agree that a year could possibly have passed since the last holiday season.  Red bows look pretty against bright green trees, but in jewelry I am not a big fan of those traditional colors, so I started playing around withmore muted versions.

 

I chose cool blue greens of spruce and softer berry tones.  

 

I added some woodsy browns to ground the colors and ended up with these:

It's always fascinating to me how  the same beads can look so different when tied in another color of cord.  I also like to take the same combination of beads and cord and use it in different patterns.  For this one I used all three colors of cord together.

And I came up with a pattern that reminds me of a woodland plaid.  And that, of course, led me to add a woodland creature (from Dreams and Elements).

Now if the woodland elves would come get these things listed in my shop, I could get on with my holiday baking!

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!

Macrame Owls and Bulahan Beads: A Match Made in Heaven

Antelope Beads is having a contest I just couldn't pass up.  Their challenge was simply to use at least three Bulahan Beads in a jewelry design.  Given the range of beads choose from, including different types of wood, seed, bone, horn & hoof, I thought it sounded pretty fun.  If you follow my ramblings at all, you probably know I've been on an owl jag here lately, so I thought to myself, "Sherri, why don't you try mixing the Bulahan beads with an owl design!"  Sometimes I do that, you know - talk to myself, I mean.  Don't tell anybody.

I ordered a selection of fun beads to inspire me.  The flowers are Salwag seed, as are the round beads.  The ones with the white surface showing are Buri seed.  I decided to use the flower shaped ones for some owly eyes and then mix all of the shapes in the necklace strap.  For the owl, I used cord in  turquoise and teal as well as white and brown.

I used a few Czech glass beads and some crystals in with the natural beads for the necklace, then added a toggle clasp I made myself.  See those rings on the end of the strands in the photo of the beads?  I used one of them for the ring part of the clasp and made a toggle bar with a piece of wire.  (I'm feeling pretty clever about that one!)  I really like the way this necklace turned out, but I was afraid the busy owl sort of stole the attention away from the Bulahan beads, so I made a second necklace.

This one really pops!  The bright blue cord and glass beads really glow when paired with the natural browns of the seed beads and the solid color body seems to show off the knotting more.  He looks like he has on a knitted sweater, don't you think?

I think they are both fun necklaces!  I ended up submitting the solid blue one for the Bulahan Beads Design Contest since I think it shows off those beads a little more.  If you'd like to vote in the contest, Antelope Beads has a photo album here.  They're asking that you look through all of the designs in the album and pick your top three, then leave a comment here with the letters of your top three before midnight on Wednesday, June 25th.  If you share the album, you will have a chance at a $50 shopping spree at Antelope Beads, too!

New Micro Macrame Tutorial: A Retro Owl Pendant

Yay!  Do the happy dance, folks (or maybe the Hustle would be more appropriate!), I finally finished a tutorial for the retro 1970's macrame owl pendant.  I've included a materials list and 64 photos in 23 pages of step by step instructions.

I don't include instructions for the actual knots in the tutorial, but you can find those all here on my blog.  Just to make sure I have them all covered, here's one to get you started.  The Square Knot:

There is a whole post on different ways to make the larks head knot here and the double half hitch is covered in this post.  And those three knots should get you through this tutorial.  

This isn't a hard pattern, but it does have a couple of more "advanced" maneuvers that might not be the best for someone who hadn't ever tried micro macrame.  If you fall into that category, you might want to start with something a little easier like the Micro Macrame Braids Bracelet.  And don't forget, there's a free class at CraftArtEdu.com that covers the basics like tools and materials, as well as a whole selection of classes for you including bracelets, earrings, a watch and a necklace!

But back to the owls.  Aren't they adorable?  That's a whole rainbow of them up there!

Once you finish your pendant, you can add it to any kind of necklace you prefer.  I could see these on a simple chain, or a knotted macrame spiral cord.  Or, you could take some matching cord and a handful of assorted beads and make something like this:

If you haven't tried micro macrame yet, what are you waiting for?