Independence Day and Friendship Bracelets

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Independence Day.

A recent visit to the Veterinarian Chiropractor with Justice in search of assistance with her neck and gait impairment issues in conjunction with the recent giveaway and tutorial by Lesley Watt of Gossiping Goddess got me to friendship bracelets.  I so seldom know where the inspiration for things comes from, but I have been able to identify these two sources as the inspiration, or maybe motivation, to experiment and explore Friendship Bracelets.  I know they have been around for years, my niece wore them, I'm sure your niece wore them, and most every other young girl.  They have presented in many different styles and from different materials.

Lisa, the sweet and friendly receptionist at the vet's office was wearing an arm full of them and they were so cute.  Tiny, waxed linen, macrame -- an adorable mix of color and materials and methods. 

Aren't they cute?

And, then, Lesley came out with her giveaway and tutorial.  Well, who could resist that?  So I dug through my stuff which includes lots of different types of cord - and I haven't even gotten to some of it yet -- and this is what I've done so far.  Well, actually, I've made a couple more since I took this picture, but this will give you an idea.

Toward the back of the picture are three that I made using Lesley's tutorial; however, I did not have any beads or jump rings in 5mm that I could get the thread through the holes -- none that I could find when I wanted them anyway.  So I used other sizes and I even made one using split jump rings because I have tons of those and I also liked the double jump ring look of them.  I'm experimenting with different closures too - I really like the small sizes of the vintage and antique buttons so I am hitting my stash of those for closures.  And, I'm making a few with the macrame wrap closure as well.  I am having a ball making them. 

I then had a hankering (that's a designers term that basically means "your butt is on fire") to make a macrame choker which incorporated a Double Chinese Knot (I had never made one before) and this is the result of that emergency -- I found the pendant in my box of goodies from Pam Cresswell of Indian Creek Studio.  It has the perfect colors in it to go with the deep Merlot Red of one side of the leather and the deep Forest Green of the other side with just enough brown and gold tones to make it interesting.  This necklace is 16", choker length, and lays around the collar bone just perfectly.

I finished the back with basketweave-textured clamps and a lobster clasp.  I hope you enjoy looking as much as I have been enjoying making.......