evolution of art

first off, i have this cute little froggie picture i took the other day and wanted to share. isn't he so cute?


second, let's talk about the evolution of art. in my case, right now, jewelry. so, i saw this bracelet that was added on etsy the other day. Spiny Knotted... by LeiDesign and i was immediately drawn to it.



She notes the originator of the pattern she used for the bracelet in the description, Stephanie Sersich, so, off i go to find out more about this lady and her book that taught LeiDesign to make this gorgeous and tactile bracelet. I found Stephanie's website and read through everything I could find - her work is posted on alot of websites and she teaches classes so alot of people mentioned her on their blogs. well, me being the person i am, i decided i HAD to have her book. i had to see what this "special technique" was that LeiDesign learned from Stephanie's book and executed so beautifully in her bracelet.

so off to amazon i go, and barnes and noble.com, and ebay, did i mention that i'm cheap? a penny pincher? i found stephanie's book on buy.com and since i used my google checkout i got $10 off the book, so with 2 day UPS shipping i still only paid like $16 for the book. that's WAY under the $22.95 price. I got the book on wednesday and let me say...woohoo. but also let me say, had I seen the book first and not the bracelet by LeiDesign, i might not have bought it. anyways, i flipped quickly through it to the page with the how-to for the bracelet i had seen. i was shocked (it's really easy). i've done macrame before so i found the bracelet pattern very simple - but the drawings and the step-by-step how to's were fantastic. she even shows you how to add more thread when you run out - something that is very important.

so, i was going to make the bracelet as the pattern indicates, but i don't have any waxed linen thread or any pearl cotton. i could go to the store, yes, but cameron was sleeping and i had to wait for him to get up so in the meantime i started brainstorming how could i execute this bracelet with items i have on hand. my first thought was yarn, but that seemed more like a practice bracelet to me, you know? so my second thought was, of course, wire.

i started toying around with my copper wire. i had a couple practice runs and a little trial and error, and this is the bracelet i came up with. i don't know if i will list it in my shop. i really like it. it fits nicely :)







macrame with wire was definitely not the easiest thing i've ever done. i have sore index fingers on both hands. i can see if i make more of these wire bracelets i will develop a callus. but i think it's awesome. now, i will probably make a few bracelets out of twine (it will definitely be easier on my hands) but i just wanted to share my new endeavour with you special people, my blog readers. :) i was hesitant to post these pictures, because i don't want someone to 'steal' my idea, but i figure anyone with integrity will take my ideas and do exactly as i've done with Stephanie's - let it evolve.