2 button organic industrial cuff bracelet 3038

 Summer is cooling off and a new batch of assembled designs is waiting in my basket to get published and uploaded to the fiber design section of my Etsy shop. This is an example of industrial organic a contradictory combination of rough beads dark colors and things that suggest a machine made origin.

The cuff is made with the edge stitching technique combining hand dyed cotton with bits of paracord to form a matrix that traps the nugget like beads.

 The closure is a double button and loop toggle that is offset creating a wrap-around effect.

The poly clay beads were made using a screen to produce a knurled texture making it appear that these are nuts or knobs re-purposed from some piece of machinery.

The colors are darker with black and various shade of green accented by blue and grey. The blue glass beads create a mysterious glow.

                       Available here


design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

one button bracelet with paper beads 2667

 Another of the very simple one button bracelet designs made with cotton cord. The variation on this one is the use of handmade paper beads in the center. You can see the distinctive layered pattern in the close up photos.

Read the tutorial showing how to make the one-button pattern here.

The paper beads are used the same way that glass or ceramic or wood beads might be used. The difference is that each bead is actually unique.

 The subtle variations in color and size give this bracelet a more variegated vibe. The bead colors tend towards gray with little bits of color here and there.

Those of you familiar with the making of paper beads know that it's a wet process using strips of paper and an acrylic glue-sealant material. The beads are made, let dry, re-coated several times and finally are ready for use.

This group was made in my studio using white glue as the adhesive and later coated with acrylic.

Here's a good look at some of the texture created by the laminating process.

The beads are much lighter weight than glass but work into the weave in much the same way.

                Available here

design and photographs copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop