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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Leather Jewelry

Leather Jewelry: 30 Contemporary Projects by Nathalie Mornu

This
book has been in my collection for a couple of years now. It’s one of
my favorites in my jewelry-making library and it deserves a little
review love here on the blog. With the recent popularity of leather in
jewelry, this book hits the mark for creating stylish accessories that
are oh-so relevant with what is happening right now in the jewelry and
fashion industries. Leather jewelry is hot, hot, hot and still on the
rise with no signs of stopping anytime soon!
If
you want to add leather to your jewelry and you’re looking for
inspiring ideas on how to do it, this book is for you. I really didn’t
know much about leather before grabbing a copy of this book. Now, I feel informed and confident I could handle any leather jewelry project I set my sights on with this book by my side. Author
Nathalie Mornu presents a great introduction to the medium. Her book is
loaded with useful information I have found enlightening on the subject.
You’ll learn all about the different types of leather, which ones work
well for the kind of jewelry you want to make and tips on where to track
down leather scraps for jewelry-making. The book also contains detailed
sections on all the right leather-working tools to use and techniques
that you can start applying to your creations immediately. 
The
jewelry projects in the book are chic and sophisticated, stylish and
fashion-forward. Some of my favorite designs are also the simplest ones.
For me, jewelry that is on-trend and easy to execute are top
priorities. You can even start adding leather to your pieces right away
with the jewelry-making skills you already have and a little inspiration
from this book.

Take a look at a few of the projects inside Leather Jewelry:

“Gossip” by Nathalie Mornu 
Photo courtesy of Lark Books
“Regina” by Nathalie Mornu
Photo courtesy of Lark Books  
“Knots” by Nathalie Mornu
Photo courtesy of Lark Books 
See
what I mean? How cute is this jewelry? And so easy to make. Couldn’t
you see changing up these projects just a little and adding in some art
beads??? I certainly could. Leather is a great material to pair with your
favorite art beads to add texture and interest to your jewelry designs.
In fact, I did just that recently with my own version of Nathalie’s
“Knots” earrings pictured above. 
Here are my earrings inspired by Nathalie’s:
Blue Titanium earrings by Erin Siegel
 Suede knot earrings inspired by “Knots” in Leather Jewelry by Nathalie Mornu.
Featuring handmade blue ceramic beads by Lisa Boucher.
If
you want to learn how to add leather to your jewelry designs, grab a
copy of this book. I highly recommend it! Buy it online at Barns & Noble (on sale now) or Amazon.
Okay, it’s giveaway time.  
In the spirit of the season and the Thanksgiving holiday, I have an author SIGNED copy of Leather Jewelry
to giveaway. While I was at Bead Fest this year, I had the pleasure of meeting author Nathalie Mornu. It is pretty exciting and an honor to meet someone who’s work you admire. I loved meeting her. She’s a pretty awesome person and she was awesome enough to personally
send me a signed copy of her book to help me say “thank you” to you. Nathalie, I love your book and I know our ABS readers will, too.  Let’s show my friend Nathalie some love
for her generosity and leave a comment on this post. Leave your comment
by Friday, November 23rd 2012 to be entered to win the signed copy of Leather Jewelry. Please leave me a way to contact you in case you are the lucky recipient.

Good luck and
Happy Thanksgiving! 
I hope your holiday is filled with reading, beading and all things you are thankful for.
Erin Siegel is a jewelry designer, beading instructor and co-author of
the jewelry book, Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry: 50 Designs Using Leather,
Ribbon and Cords. To find out more, visit her blog: Erin Siegel Jewelry.