Pretty Palettes: January Reveal: Snowflakes!!!

This winter has been very different from the last two (and frankly, I love it!).  Hardly any snow!  We were on the edge of the huge snowstorm last week and while the kids had a Snow Day, we ended up getting a dusting and that was it. 

I really dislike shoveling snow and wearing winter coats and boots, but, if I always looked at a snowflake like the artist of this month's Pretty Palettes Challenge, Alexey Kljatov, I may have different thoughts.

--Probably not, unless I was looking at it on a computer while sitting on a warm beach!  :)

http://www.halcraft.com/design/pretty-palettes-january-inspiration-2/

I DO like wearing bling-y jewelry and the snowflake is a great inspiration for that!

When I saw the color palette, and the beads chosen, I thought of brightness and shininess and reflection...and rhinestones. 

So, together some of the snow-like icicle beads and rhinestone cup chain was paired with a leather bracelet blank. 

More of a rocker look, than a romantic bling-y look but still great.
First, I stained the leather to make it a darker hue - a better backdrop for the bright beads and then poked holes with a leather needle to make it easier to thread the thread through.

The rhinestone cup chain and beads are held in place with a pale mint great silk thread and knotted towards the ends.  This is by no means my own idea - in face, if you follow 'the beading gem' - a very good resource for jewelry making, she had the link for the original idea. 

The beads and leather (and all leather tools used) are from Michaels. The cup chain was from my bead stash.

Thank you Erin for another great source of inspiration!!!