Irish Eyes Are Smiling

St. Patrick's day finds us once again over in California and will be having a traditional cornbeef and cabbage dinner at my Niece's house with her and her family. It's always a fun time, only usually my sis is there - snapping away with her camera - catching us all in our green clothes, jewelry and funny glasses - but this isn't the case this year.  I guess we'll have to take our own pics!!

Okay, so last week, after fighting with my tumbler and pulling items from it in every imaginable color - except the bright, shiny silver I was trying for - I decided to bench the silly thing and just go with this beautiful, shiny copper just the way it was! Although it would have been really cool looking had it been oxidized with LOS and them polished up - but, it is what it is!

Week 10 of YOJP 2011 had a theme of "Irish Eyes Are Smiling".  I was inspired to try a design I saw in the Fall issue of Belle ( page 48 - Intention Earrings) but I varied the design slightly as I did not hand stamp any 'intention words' into the hammered copper sheet that I wire wrapped with recycled sari silk ribbon.  I did wire wrap some small new jade roundelles and attach them on the ends so they could dangle freely, adding to the movement of they "Eye Catching" earrings!  I completed the look with my own handcrafted, artisan earring wires in my 'Signature Style' and now that everything is finished, I'm quite pleased with the end result.

You should skip on over to the YOJP 2011 Website and check out all the fabulous designs that folks are making - they're amazing!! 

I hope your St. Patrick's Day is filled with all the green things you can handle (and handle responsibly!!) and that you have a wonderful time with family and friends.

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Week 5 - Year of Jewelry

I've been at the Tucson Gem and Mineral since last Thursday and so my post for Week 5 of Year of Jewelry is a few days late! (My bad!!)

The week 5 theme was "Down and Dirty" and I kept thinking of some sort of biker jewelry; we see folks all over here in AZ riding their Harley's having such a great time in our beautiful weather.  However, all I kept thinking of was the accident last year in N. Phoenix where several folks were riding their motorcycles, all stopped at a stop light, when a huge truck slammed into them - killing several and injuring even more of them.

So, this week, I created a commemoration pendant "In Memory" of those who lost their lives and those who were affected by the accident. 

My pendant was created with 16g sterling silver round wire that was hammered, forged and textured and then wire wrapped with 26g sterling silver round wire. I added two freshwater cultured pearls - one smooth and one faceted - and then liver of sulfured the entire piece, leaving some of the beautiful blue color to coincide with the blue of the pearl.

My wish is that everyone will pay attention while driving and watch out, not just for bikers everywhere, but for all those on our roads.

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and "Safety First"

Cheers,

~Shel~

Week 2 - Year of Jewelry Project 2011 - Eclipse

This is week 2 of  Year Of Jewelry Project 2011 and the theme was "Eclipse" (although you don't have to follow the theme - it's just to give you ideas if you want them!).

My jewelry project was a pin that I created with sterling silver wire and a Black Agate Drusy Quartz Faceted Oval Bead.  You can't see the facets very well, but boy are they there and do they ever make the bead look really cool!  I plan to wear this with my grey cashmere wrap  - providing it doesn't get too warm, too quickly here in AZ! (cross your fingers!!)

I'm sure after taking a look at the bead you can probably figure out why I chose to create with this particular one for week 2's theme of "Eclipse".  I fell in love with this jaw dropping bead last year and, of course, had to buy the whole strand (just because of this one bead!!) at The Whole Bead Show at the Windmill Inn (sorry, the exact vendor escapes me and isn't in my records correctly it seems - oops!) during the Tucson Bead, Gems and Mineral Shows last year.

Simple was definitely better with this specific stone since it basically screams "WOW", (and 'Eclipse') and deserves all the attention in any design it would have been put in to.

Please jump on over to the Year of Jewelry Project 2011 Website and check out the other participant's entries this week - they're all really gorgeous and very creative!  I'm completely humbled by the abundance of talent that is abound in this fabulous group of designers. I mean really,...besides some basic stringing, hand knotting of pearls, a little fine metal fusing and some basic to intermediate wire wrapping skills, I'm completely left in the dust with these folks and so hopefully this will light a spark under my bum and get me interested in trying some new things this year! (Although, I might not post those tries, mind you! LOL!!)

I hope that you've all had a great week and that your weekend is superb!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Here's to a "Momentary Eclipse of the Mind"!

Cheers

~Shel~