Super Deal on Online Micro Macrame Classes

Boy, oh boy!  If you've had your eye on any of my online micro macrame classes, now is the time!  The nice folks at CraftArtEdu.com have apparently lost their minds and put out a code good for 31% off your entire purchase!  Yes, that's right - whether you buy one class or ten, you can get 31% off using the code march31!  (Find all the details here.) You'll have to hurry, though, the code is only good through April 3, 2016.  

Here's a peek at some of the classes I have available:

Micro Macrame with Raku Part III: The Last of Them

After a month-long binge of knotting, I've come to the end of the road for raku (at least for now).  This raku owl is the last of the ceramic bracelet bars from Star Spirit Studio.

When I commissioned these bars from Sue, I had no idea I would get so wrapped up in them that I'd use all twelve of them up in a month!  It was sort of like eating the whole bag of potato chips in one setting - that's never the intention at the onset.

Each one of the bracelets was different, depending on the predominant colors in the raku on each ceramic piece.   Now that they're all finished, I feel sort of lost!

  

What to do next?

Micro Macrame Bracelets with Raku: Part II

Yes, I'm still at it:

 

 

 

That is all :)

Micro Macrame Bracelets with Raku

Sue from Star Spirit Studio recently made on a batch of custom bracelet bars for me.  I've worked with her before and her raku pieces are beyond beautiful. To top it off, she's a pleasure to work with!

 I like bracelet bars with four holes (two per end instead of one) for my micro macrame bracelets.  I think it keeps the piece from turning around so much and that's a big deal to me since I'm working with small fiber cords.  The bead cord I use has a 35 pound breaking strength and is pretty strong, but it could be worn by constant friction so I avoid that as much as possible.  Anywho... the pieces Sue made for me are ah.ma.zing!

I've been binge knotting and binge watching episodes of Call the Midwife.  Well, I was, anyway, until I ran out of episodes (so sad to see it end!).  Now I'm on the prowl again for a good series to watch on Netflix.  Any suggestions?  I love British dramas, period dramas and crime dramas.  Anyone? 

And there I am wandering off track again...

The colors in each of these bracelets vary slightly, based on the predominant colors in the ceramic, but they're all similar:

 

 

 

What's not to love, right?

I wouldn't think to put these colors all together if it weren't for the colors of the raku, but it works really well.  Who knew!?

If you just cant get enough raku and micro macrame, check out the post here, and here, and here, and here...  Can you tell how much I love these colors?

Raku and Micro Macrame

Valerie Cristo from Clay for a Cure makes some gorgeous raku pieces and recently made some custom focals for me.  I can't say enough about how great she was to work with on my order.  She took the time to figure out what I wanted and why and was able to suggest some ideas I hadn't even thought of.  And if her pretty beads and customer service isn't enough, she donates a portion of each sale to help find a cure for cancer.  Do take a minute to check out her shop - you won't be sorry!

After waiting out by the mailbox for a few days, I was thrilled when my beads arrived.  Just look at the COLOR!  It makes my heart beat a little faster, I swear!  And it has been such fun pulling the colors from her beads and weaving them into intricate micro macrame bands.  

For the first couple of bracelets, I chose some of the rectangular pieces from Valerie.  I love how she used the raku colors in a band across the center and left the rest a glossy white for contrast.  I started with a mix of blues, khaki and a coppery pink, then added a bit of white to the next one.

When Valerie saw them, she asked me to design one for her using the large round bead she made for me!

I don't think there's any greater compliment a jewelry designer can receive than to be asked to make a piece for a bead artist using one of their beads.  And what's better?  Now Valerie is standing out by her mailbox waiting! 

Wanted: Micro Macrame Students

Do you want to learn micro macrame?  If you live anywhere near Omaha, here's your chance!  I'll be teaching a class at the Omaha Bead Affair on April 17th.

This class is geared for beginners as well as people with some knowledge of macrame.  In the process of making this fun wrap bracelet, students will be learning five of the most common macrame knots.  If you have never done any macrame, this class is meant to get you acquainted with knotting and working with cord.  If you've had some experience, it's a good refresher for different knots (and a lot of fun!). 

A materials kit is included in the cost of the class, so you'll only have to bring a pinning surface  In case you're not familiar with macrame supplies, I did a whole post that includes some suggested sources here.  And if you really want to be a showoff, dip your toe in the micro macrame pool by completing this free project.

I'm ridiculously excited about teaching another class (seriously - I have a blast teaching classes).  Hope to see you there! 

Happy Accidents

Don't you love it when a plan comes together?  Or when some lucky accident leads to what you can claim as a plan coming together?  In my case it started with this bracelet:

Waiting for some custom order raku pieces to arrive, I made this bracelet playing around with some of the lighter colors in typical raku pieces.  (I'll give you a taste of what I ordered, but if you want to see all of the lovely pieces, you'll need to pop over to Love My Art Jewelry and take a peek at the post I did there - hint:  it's worth the click.)

Look at me getting distracted by the pretty things.  Where was I? 

Raised to be thrifty, I always keep the excess cord I trim from projects if I think they are long enough to use for something else.  Which is how I end up with a mess like this:

But that, too, is a whole other topic.  Back to this story...  I trimmed excess cord from the ends of that bracelet and started knotting what I intended to be a pair of earrings, but the one I started got kind of large, so I decided to turn it into a pendant instead.   

I went digging through my stash to find larger ring to anchor a necklace onto and a drop bead or something to add to the bottom of the pendant.  But when I found a ring, I decided to incorporate it into the pendant instead of hanging the pendant from it and the pendant ended up upside down with a big(ish) ring knotted into the top.  Still with me?

Still looking for a drop or something to hang from the bottom (which used to be the top), I came across this:

No way this could match any better if I had designed my color palette around this it!  I have no idea what this pendant is made of - I don't even remember who I bought it from.  I do remember that it was from someone destashing, so if you recognize it, let me know!  I am guessing it's made of bone, but that's only a guess.  I did take a photo of the back side, if this helps someone identify the material (and if you do know, please tell me!):

Anyway, there I go again, veering off topic.  Well, I guess I'm still mostly on topic, just slightly left of center, but back to the main story:  I love this fun wizard pendant and it looks awesome with the pendant piece and I probably couldn't do that again in a million years because the colors are pretty much spot on.  

At this point I pretty much  just had to knot some straps on this puppy and put it to bed, but you know me - I can't leave well enough alone.  I wanted to use the soft green colored cord for the necklace straps, but I thought I needed to bring some of the colors from the pendant and the... what would you call that?  A knotted pendant holder?  From that thing, anyway... I wanted to bring some of the color up into the body of the necklace, so I added a bit more knotting to the topside of the ring and then transitioned into the solid green knotting on the straps.

And that's how this necklace came to be.

I wish I could tell you that this fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants design plan is an anomaly for me, but sadly this is more the rule than the exception.  I'm not a sketcher and even when I do try to be a planner, it often veers off track.  Sometimes, though, things come together just perfectly!  I guess maybe we'll have to call "going with the flow" my plan.