I'm so happy that Diana arranged this blog hop. Waxed linen cord has been on my radar since I edited Bohemian Inspired Jewelry: 50 Designs Using Leather, Ribbon, and Cords by Lorelei Eurto and Erin Siegel. The authors are masters at using any type of ribbon or cord in jewelry. This blog hop was just the excuse I needed to actually use the cord I'd purchased after being inspired by that book.
Here's what I made:
Earrings
These bright wood earrings use 2-ply purple waxed linen cord. I knotted in between the wood rounds and used the linen to tie the beads to the leverback ear wires. Sweet and easy!
This necklace uses a wild mix of turquoise chips, a yellow Lucite leaf, wood rounds in hot pink, brown, and yellow, turquoise imitation sea glass, and amethyst. (True confession: These were almost all random beads that were leftover from recent projects. Sometimes not cleaning up promptly is a good thing!) The cord at the back is an olive satin cord and the findings are all brass.
I used the waxed linen cord in several different ways:
1. I used the linen to attach the satin cord to the jump rings at the back of the necklace. I really loved how well this worked. I wrapped the linen around several times and made several knots. The tacky texture of the cord really grabbed onto itself and felt very secure.
2. I used waxed linen to string the yellow wood bead above the triangle and wrap
the linen around the jump ring to make a loop for hanging the pendant. There's no way that the jump ring is ever going to accidentally pop open, since it is so tightly wrapped by the linen.
3. I added waxed linen as fringe to a handmade leather triangle by Melinda Orr at Bandana Girl. (I added those bottom holes to the triangle). I ended up making two rows of fringe. If I redid this piece, I might look for a thicker ply of linen or add a third row of fringe to make a bolder statement.
Waxed Linen Blog Hop Participants
See what everyone else did with their waxed linen!
- Diana Ptaszynski Hostess with the Mostess
- Kelsy Vincent
- Susan Kennedy
- Linda Landig
- Kashmira Patel
- Jenny Davies-Reazor
- Vanessa Gilkes
- Sandy Huntress
- Kay Thomerson
- Sarajo Wentling
- Kari Asbury
- Rebecca Anderson
- Melissa Trudinger
- Ann Schroeder
- Shai Williams
- Blanca Medina
- Cheryl Brown
- Johana Nunez Rivera
- Lori Bowring Michaud
- Kelly Morgan
- Barbara Bechtel
- Kristen Stevens
- Heather Boardman
- Janet Bocciardi
- Kathy Lindemer
- Lesley Watt
- Susan Kolovson
- Jayne Capps
- Michelle McCarthy
- Cynthia Deis
- Karla Morgan
- Erin Siegel
- Becky Pancake
- Kelly Hosford Patterson
- Sharyl McMillian-Nelson
- Inge von Roos
- Carolyn Lawson
- Linda Younkman
- Sandi Volpe
- Toltec Jewels
- Michelle Mach - YOU ARE HERE
- Jen Cameron
- Dorothy Winchell
- Darlene Mansue