Have you ever had a creative detour and delved into new forms of hand making?  I must admit to many such detours along the way.  Knitting and Sewing are constants for me but I have also tried out Felting Bags, Embroidery, Cross Stitch, Needlepoint, Paper Crafts, Needle Felting and Jewelry Making.  Crochet and Macrame are still on the to-do list but will be sure to venture there at some point.  This weekend I got a bee in my bonnet for jewelry making and decided to work on some bracelets.  Having been down this road before, I fortunately had a lot in the way of supplies.

One of my favorite social things is having creative girlfriend parties that include our daughters.  On one such party we had an Indian theme, dressed in Saris, ate Indian food and had a traditional Henna artist decorate us in Henna.  It was a blast!  For the party, I put together kits and we made malas and simple Morse Code Necklaces.  I stumbled into those kits and also purchased a new book by Di Kim that helped inspired a plan.

I have been making beaded wrapped leather bracelets for several years and whipped up three of these babies.  This tutorial helps explain how to make these bracelets well.

Wrap Bracelet.

Using some of the techniques from my new book and my Morse Code Necklace Supplies I came up with a new bracelet design.  It was really fun to spell out my kid’s names in dots and dashes and wear them around.  I used simple embroidery thread for these but am anxious to purchase some waxed linen to make them a little more stiff.  They are really fun and easy to make.

Now that I’ve scratched my jewelry making itch, I’m ready to get on to other things.  I am hoping to have another crafting girlfriend party this fall with a Mexican Frida Kahlo theme but am at a loss for possible creative projects.  In previous parties we have collectively quilted a quilt for a friend battling cancer, we have knit, done embroidery and of course made some jewelry.  Do you have any good suggestions for my next shindig?

Happy Monday!

Hillary