Cousin Blog

Florida Design of the Week: Ambassador Allison Cooling

Cousin — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:06:08 GMT

Beachy Plant Jewelry

These crystal shell “picks” add a bit of a Floridian vibe to any potted plant! With sturdy wire and beads you can create cool accessories for all your flowers, herbs, or other foliage. Just simply stick in the dirt of your pot, near the edge, and let the charm dangle off the side. This works especially well on plants that are set on stands and in the sun; the light will catch every facet of the crystal and send glittering prisms on the floor and walls. You can keep these on plants outdoors, but I would suggest you take out the plant pick if there is going to be a storm or lots of rain, so it doesn’t get ruined! Make a ton of these and dress up every plant on your deck, office, bedroom or elsewhere!

MATERIALS:

Round Nose pliers, wire cutters
Fishing line or Monofilament
Crimp Tubes
Shells
Sturdy wire - from hardware store (16-14g)
Crystals (I used Cousin 34738057 and AMJ66011016)

Sea Glass Beads, Jewelry Basics(347450176)

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Step 1: Cut about a 7” piece of your sturdy wire. Use round nose pliers to make a crook in the end, and swirl around twice.

Step 2: Cut about a 12” piece of fishing line and thread through the crook. Double up the ends, and start stringing on your beads in any pattern you desire. I used a mix of the crystals and sea glass to create a textural contrast!

Step 3: To finish, simply add a crimp tube, thread through your ending shell or pendant, and thread back through the crimp. Crimp shut and cut off excess.

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Florida Design of the Week: Ambassador Dawn Doucette

Cousin — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 19:09:14 GMT

I had no idea when I first traveled to Florida for the Cousin ambassador retreat last year what changes in my life it would get rolling. I was inspired by everything! The sunshine, the palm trees, the bright blue sky, and of course the calming, peaceful ocean waves!

I loved Florida so much, I decided to move here!

So for me, creating something that was Florida-inspired was a challenge... Because EVERYTHING I make lately has a piece of Florida in it. For this design, however, I gained inspiration from one of my favorite past times - walking on the beach collecting seashells!

For this project, I gathered small seashells from Indian Rocks Beach, just north of the Cousin Corporation headquarters. I chose 2 small seashells that were a close pair so they would match for a pair of earrings. When using seashells in your jewelry and crafts you want to make sure you wash the shells in warm, soapy water first and let them dry thoroughly.

Beach Walk Earrings

Items needed: 2 small seashells

47509541 - Swarovski Elements Crystal Volcano
34719059 - Findings Starter Pack - silver
34721035 - 4mm light purple bicones
E6000 adhesive
Gem tac glue

Tools:
Round nose pliers
Flat nose pliers
Flush cutter
Tweezers

1. Flip each seashell over and fill the back with E6000. Insert eye pin into glue on each seashell. Let dry thoroughly.
2. Using Gem tac and your tweezers. add 5 small Swarovski flatback crystals to the bottom edge of each seashell. Let them dry.
3. Once dry, using your round nose pliers create a wrapped loop on each seashell.
4. Using a headpin and a 4mm purple bicone make a wrapped loop to create a dangle charm. Repeat with other bicone.

5. Using your pliers assemble each earring. Open loop, add purple bicone charm, add seashell, close loop. Repeat for other earring.

Note: You can create a matching necklace by following steps 1-3 with a larger seashell. Adding a chain from our Elegance Metals collection makes it fast and easy to create a memory from your vacation, a piece of home for family that's far away, or simply something special to remind you of your happy place when life gets challenging!

Here are a few other pieces I created featuring Cousin Beads and seashells I've collected in my beach walks!

If you'd like something made custom for you, connect with me on Facebook!

For more great designs from Dawn Doucette connect with her on social media:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bellaamorelegacyjewelry
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/designsbydawnmd
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/dawndoucette1
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/dawn.doucette
Website: http://www.bellaamorelegacyjewelry.com

Florida Design of the Week: Ambassador Rebecca Utermohlen

Cousin — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 15:11:12 GMT

I posted back in June about the wonderful trip I had down to Florida to visit the headquarters of Cousin Corporation as part of my ambassador program with them! I had so much fun on the trip and I absolutely loved being in Florida. We got to stay at a hotel right on the beach and I loved swimming in the blue water, walking along the ocean, drinking a cocktail from the tiki bar with my toes in the sand...just basically soaking up the whole experience!

I came back from my trip completely inspired to create and decided to make a project with a little beachy flair: this DIY Sea Glass Pendant Necklace!

If you are inspired by the ocean or just need some beautiful cool blue jewelry hues in your life, here is a step by step tutorial for how you can make your own version!

Supplies:
Chain, crystals, pearls, Sea glass pendants, jump rings, clasp, head pins, assorted other beads

I used Cousin materials for the chain, crystals and pearls and a few extra beads from my stash. I was lucky enough to have these beautiful sea glass pendants still laying in my stash from when I snatched them up from a local bead show!

Steps:

First step is to make a "Y" shape with your chain and connect in place with a jump ring

After the chain is connected, use wire cutters to snip the two ends apart in the middle of the circle of chain. Use jump rings and needle nose pliers to attach a lobster claw clasp on one end of the chain and another larger jump ring on the other end.

Finished clasp should look like so:

Now it's time to add some beads onto that chain! Open a large jump ring and secure it into the the top hole of the largest sea glass pendant

Attach the large jump ring onto the bottom "Y" of the chain using a small jump ring

Repeat this process for the two other pendants, attaching one to the middle of the Y chain and one where the chain intersects with the chain pieces.

Next it's time to make some beaded charms! String on your crystals, pearls, and other assorted beads onto head pins. Use needle nose pliers to bend the wire back 90 degrees directly above the bead. Use wire cutters to trim off the excess wire tail, leaving only about half inch tail left. Use round nose pliers to bend the wire tail back around to form a loop.

Attach these charms to the chain equally spaced out between the sea glass pendants like so

When all of your beads are attached, the necklace is done!

I just love this necklace, it's much more simple than many of the necklaces I typically make but the sea glass beads are so smooth and calm, I like letting them really stay the focal point of the necklace and keeping everything else simple!

If only I could just fly back to Florida pronto to be able to wear it back on the beach! There may be no more grand plans to Florida anytime soon, but at least wearing this back home will remind me of the beauty I was able to experience while I was there!

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Florida Design of the Week: Ambassador Rachel Nielsen

Cousin — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 20:01:33 GMT

When I think of Florida, I think of the ocean and walking barefoot along the coast. My kids insisted that I collect seashells for them when I was in Florida and I found plenty that already had little holes in them. That inspired my version of barefoot jewelry, complete with a seashell accent.

These are really easy to make - my girls did most of the work! All I had to do was tie the knot at the end.

You will need:
small beads - I used fuchsia and lime
stretch cord
seashell with a small hole {or you could use a larger bead}
glue

String the small beads onto the elastic cord until you have enough to wrap around your ankle. Make sure the beads are centered on the cord. Insert the seashell onto both strands of cord. Then add beads to both tails of cord until it is long enough to go around your toe. Tie the cord securely with a square knot and I always like to add a dab of glue so the knot doesn't come undone. {I use beadalon stringing glue, but superglue or E6000 would work too.}

You can find more of my jewelry and craft tutorials at my blog: Adventures of a DIY Mom.
Or follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google Plus.

Finding Inspiration: Ambassador Jennifer Priest

Cousin — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 19:35:34 GMT

I have been beading and making jewelry since I was nine years old. I started by selling earrings at craft fairs and working with a wood and metal bead loom to create Native American inspired pieces. It all started when I wanted nice jewelry for myself but I didn’t have access to any, being that I lived in an incredibly small rural town in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Since I couldn’t find what I wanted to buy, I made it with what was available to me. There was a tiny craft store in town with a two foot wide bead section that I shopped at for supplies and I also got gifts of craft supplies from family. As I got older, I didn’t want to buy things that I now I had the skills to make. This situation sowed the seeds of finding inspiration in the things I wanted but didn’t have.

I look for inspiration in finished pieces I see at stores like Anthropologie, online on etsy, and on Pinterest, but also in items outside of jewelry. The inspiration is the starting point and from there, it is a challenge to find the right pieces, or make them, from the items I have on hand or that are readily available to me. Cousin Corporation products are affordable and easy to find at large retailers and small bead shops alike, which makes them a perfect fit for my style of designing. With good base pieces, you really can create just about anything you’re inspired by.

I recently wanted to create a project with feathers, inspired by the trend of handmade dreamcatchers with cascading feathers. I didn’t want to buy feathers, and even if I had them, I didn’t know how to securely attach feathers to a necklace or earrings with wire and beads. The other challenge with this project was that I needed to make a wearable piece. I personally don’t wear much jewelry so the piece had to be something my daughter Katie would wear and in colors she likes.

I saw a washi tape feather on Instagram that someone else made with wire and I had a light bulb moment. I had a bunch of colored duct tape in my garage and decided to make feathers with duct tape and eye pins, instead of wire and washi tape. The duct tape is sturdy and will hold up for years and the eye pins make the “duct tape feathers” easy to attach to any jewelry piece. Click here to learn how to make the duct tape feathers!

I was also inspired by a bundle of Cousin Jewelry Basics Acrylic Beads (34709064) and decided to combine these with duct tape feathers to make a set of elegant cascading earrings.

These earrings go together lickety split. I make the duct tape feathers while watching TV one night. I prefer to do repetitive tasks like wire wrapping beads or making duct tape feathers while watching TV so I can feel productive while being entertained. I created lots of duct tape feathers and then chose the feathers from the collection that matched the beads I wanted to use. I attached the elements to a piece of chain with jump rings and then attached the chain to an ear wire to create each earring.

Supplies:
Cousin Jewelry Basics Acrylic Beads (34709064)
Cousin Jewelry Basics Jump Rings 120 pc 4/6/8 mm Open Bright Silver
Cousin Jewelry Basics 38 pc Silver Fishhook Earrings
Chain from the Black/Silver Chain Class in a Box by Cousin
Duct Tape

Tools:
Scissors
Jewelry Pliers

I think white and silver have a classy look and the glitter on these earrings makes them feel young, against the more mature feel of the cascading beads. My daughter told me these are her favorite thing I’ve made all summer. I guess she likes them because they disappeared from my studio!

My tips for finding inspiration:

-Look for inspiration in finished pieces but also in your every day. Items that are on trend in home decor, art, or fashion can inspire jewelry pieces.

-If you can’t find an element that’s an exact match for a piece in your inspiration piece, make your own or look for a substitution. You’ll always end up with a unique piece that no one else has.

Thank you for stopping by the Cousin blog today. For more projects by Jennifer Priest please visit:
http://www.jenniferppriest.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hydrangeahippo
https://www.youtube.com/user/hydrangeahippo
https://instagram.com/jenniferppriest