This is a project I started before Lori Anderson announced this blog hop. I love Gaea beads and when I saw her "Fearless Heart" bead sets I immediately wanted to make something for my Cowgirl Sisters - Ellen, Billie and Patti. To reflect our shared passion for horses, Gaea made a a custom horse hoof print bead.
What these three amazing women have in common is incredible heart and courage. They keep finding a way forward when it would be easier to just give in or give up, or to become bitter and hard. And they don't think they are any thing special. Well to me they are incredible, and I wanted to make sure they know it.
Braiding - rawhide, leather, horsehair is a traditional method for making all kinds of tack, so I wanted to hand made braids to be the basis for the necklaces. I went thru some trial and error figuring out how to combine kumi braided cord with the beads. I settled on making two cords for each necklace. The first cord, used to string the beads, is made of 8 strands of pearl cotton. The second cord is 12 strands, it is tied in larks head knots in between the beads. (Note to self: never, ever attempt this again! It takes a ridiculous amount of cord to tie all those knots and when you are braiding it out of pearl cotton .....)
So here are the finished necklaces.
To check out the other participants please go to Lori's most excellent blog for links:
Memories and Thanks Blog Hop
