A tiny peek at the process

Just because many people don't understand the process of taking mud to beads I thought I would share a quick peek at the process. The mud I use comes from Austin, Texas in 25 pound bags, and it is gray and...smells like mud.  Or I often imagine it smelling like a good pot roast as it pays for the groceries among other things. 

 

Mud new in the bag

A few ideas on how to use my cuff beads

There are probably a million ways to make a bracelet with my 30x60 mm cuff beads.  Yet I still get lots of questions on how to get started so I here is a quick tutorial. One way is to use cord, ribbon or leather and a square knot to macrame a bracelet.  To macrame you will need approx. 6 ft of cord or leather.  Most people have tied a square knot at one time or another and this is very easy once you try it.  I have taught girl scouts as young as 7 years old and they learned how to in about 15 minutes.  Hopefully the photos will help. First take your cord and cut it into 4 equal pieces.     

Then string the cord thru one of the holes on the bracelet, you want one side about 6 inches long and the other side about 18 inches long.

Repeat with the other side.

Now the short ends will be the middle of your macrame and they are going to do nothing.  The longer pieces do all the work, start by taking the right hand cord over the two middle cords,

and over the left hand cord.

Bring the left hand cord under the two middle cords and up thru the loop.  Tighten gently,

and repeat starting on the right hand side.  If you don't switch sides your cord will spiral and not lay flat.

Continue repeating until the macrame is long enough to complete one half of your bracelet.

You can tie a knot at the end and attach a button on one side and a loop on the other or use a leather crimping end cord to finish.

You could also wrap wire around the end tightly to finish making a loop in your wire wrapping to attach a jump ring. 

 Leather cord can be folded over and wire wrapped to secure.  A jump ring can be attached to the leather loop for attaching to the bracelet bead.

About 6 inches of wire, bend the edge down 1/8 inch to make a hook to start

It helps to hold the loop with a pair of needle nose pliers.

A finished loop on your leather, just add a jump ring now to attach

 Another way to use my cuff beads is just attach five 10mm jump rings or larger to the end and attach leather or chain to the bead. 

In this sample the leather cord loop was attached to the cuff beads with a jump ring.

A leather cord end is a more polished look and is easily done by taking the leather and dipping it in a tiny bit of E-6000 glue and then firmly pushing the leather end cap on the leather end to secure.  Be sure and allow to dry overnight before attaching your jump ring.

The end cap glued to the leather cord

A sample made with flat leather and one made with leather round cord, both of these pieces were finished by wire wrapping the end to secure.

The left side has a loop made with the wire to attach to the lobster claw on the right

I hope this helps, with sparking some ideas on how to get started using my cuff beads.  Please look at my website for 100's of cuff beads and lots of sample photos there also.  Enjoy! Cindy