Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Rock Collecting Bracelet - Free Project

Inspired by the rock collection I have saved from my 10 year old son, these bracelets are unique but simple in their construction. I found the double drilled rocks by Stone Me pair up beautifully with patina-ted chain, blending the rustic textures from both in subtle tones.

Supplies:
1 - 4" Section of open link patina-ted chain in your choice of color (shown; violet large link)
1 - 1" Hammered copper clasp with jump rings
1 - Double drilled stone from Stone Me
2 - 15 x 13 czech glass Picasso beads in violet
2 - 8mm 16 gauge antiqued copper jump rings
6 to 8" 22 gauge antiqued copper wire
bead charm
copper head pin

Tools:
Bead board or ruler
wire cutters
round nose pliers
chain nose pliers with masking tape on the tips to help protect your patina chain

Directions:
1.) Center the double drilled stone at 3" on a bead board. Open each of the 8mm antiqued copper jump rings and insert one into each side of the double drilled stone. Leave them open for the next step.
2.) Cut the 6" piece of antiqued copper wire in half and use the 2 - 3" pieces to wire wrap loops on both sides of the Picasso czech glass, so each of the 2 beads are now a connectors. Insert one end of the beads loops into the open jump rings you assembled the stone to in the first step. Close the jump rings with the stone focal and the bead connectors inside the jump so the seam is tight.
3.) Measure the patina-ted chain and find the middle link. Open the middle link and separate the 2 halves of the patina chain, set the open link aside.
4.) Open the end link on each piece of patina chain and insert that open link into the wire-wrapped loop of the connecting beads, close the link securely so the wire-wrapped loop does not come out. You should now have 6" bracelet ready for a clasp.
5.) To finish your rock collecting bracelet, open the jump rings on your clasp and close them over the last link of your patina chain on each side of the bracelet. Add the last link to one side of the clasps jump rings and dangle a wire-wrapped bead off of it as an added charm.

 You can adjust the size of this bracelet easily during construction by adding wire-wrapped beads or taking  away links to make it smaller. The potential variation this style has is seemingly endless so have fun creating yours!


Much Love & respect,
Shannon LeVart
missficklemedia.com

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool idea! I have a collection of stones/crystals that I have gathered. I would love to use them in a necklace but they aren't drilled. Any suggestion on how I could get them drilled if I don't have any of the right equipment? Thanks!

TesoriTrovati said...

Love these, Miss Shannon! They are so simple, yet so elementally stunning! Your chain goes with every single thing.
Enjoy the day!
Erin

Anonymous said...

Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [09 Mar 12:00am GMT]. Thanks, Maria

Clamworks said...

Very primitive...love it!

Karen M said...

Love this idea. I don't have a way to drill anything (at the moment anyway) so I think I'll try wire wrapping my "found" rock.
Thanks
Karen M

rosebud101 said...

Earthy and rich! I love the bracelets!

Riki Schumacher said...

Very nice Miss Shannon! Love them. Take care, Riki

Frank Zweegers said...

Looks great!

My Life Under the Bus said...

I love that bracelet - it loks like a tiny heart!

Stories They Tell said...

Great idea for the wonderful and quirky stones from Stone Me! The patinated chain really adds a lot!