Realeather Jewellery

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - Leave a Comment

As a jewellery designer, I'm always on the look out for new materials to work with and earlier in the year I came across Silver Creek Leather and their recently released Realeather Jewelry collection.

When I first saw these components, it completely stopped me in my tracks. It was one of those moments where you catch your breath and think, "Wow! How clever!". This collection is different to anything else you've seen. These are quality components: contemporary and very cleverly designed. They bring together leather crafting and jewellery making in a really unique way.

Here are some of the things I like most about the collection.

The focals and slides - sterling silver plated and interchangeable. These have a screw backing so that you can screw out one focal and replace it with another for a totally new look.... how versatile! They work really well with the leather bracelets which have pre-punched holes perfectly aligned to accommodate them.

I also love the magnetic Bird Cage Knot Tie clasps. These cleverly hide away the end knots of multi strand pieces of jewellery.

And another cleverly designed component is the Pinch Bail necklace and earring components. Just place a suede shape from the collection into the pinch bail (they come in brights, pastels and earthy tones), pinch the bail closed and then add beads to finish it off.

There's a whole lot more to this collection such as large holed beads in both metal and glass, components with real lizard skin inserts, magnetic clasps and other decorative elements and they are all sterling silverplate or made from quality leather and suede.

I was so excited by the collection that I couldn't wait to get back to my studio to start creating with them.

Here I've combined a braided bracelet and beautiful silver plated flower beads from the collection with some silver and shell components from my own stash. Don't they work well together?

I had a heap of fun playing with the Sof-Suede lace I brought home with me. True to its name, it's soft and pliable and lends itself well to being coiled (as in the bracelet at top), folded, wrapped, knotted and plaited.

In this bracelet I've created a chain from Sof-Suede. Join lengths of Sof-Suede with a suitable adhesive and thread on a large holed bead. Thread the lace for the next chain onto the previous one before gluing the ends together. These "berries" are from my own collection.

Creating tassels and knotting the Sof-Suede lace is a breeze because it's so flexible that it folds back on itself easily. Just take lengths of Sof-Suede lace and twist them in the middle with wire. Thread the wire through a bead cap, pull the tassel firmly into place and then create a loop. Easy!

This is such a classy collection of mix and match components. It's worth spending some time looking over their catalogue and reading the product descriptions because you won't realise just how clever these components are until you do. Check the distributors page for where to find the collection.

'Til next time.....