Showing posts with label Hoop Earrings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hoop Earrings. Show all posts

Running in Circles!

I seem to be running in circles for some reason this week, hence these:
 
Desert Dweller
 
 
And These, too!
 
 
Mod Squad
 
Do you find your daily life influencing what you do and what or how you create?
 
Me, too.
 
Hippie Chick
 
 
I've got my post ready to go live tomorrow for Week 23 of the Focusing on Life: 52 Photos Challenge hosted weekly by Sally or at The Studio Sublime, but I may or may not be able to comment on people's blogs or actually post to the live feed she has until I return, but I'm going to try.
 
You all have a great weekend.
 
Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Pretty Circles!
Cheers,
~Shel~

Musical Inspiration

Everyone who knows me personally knows I'm a huge Jesse Cook fan - I love his music and rave about him all the time!


Jesse Cook

Jesse's the most amazing acoustic guitarist I've ever seen.
His music is referred to as "Flamenco Rumba" and then kind of Jesse's own style mixed in,...amazing stuff!

Bogota By Bus - Rumba Foundation, Jesse Cook

One of my favorites is Havana, off the Frontiers CD, but the video link I have here is one Jesse put together himself while on tour and it's really fantastic.
I've seen him in concert 5 times and I've dragged my hubby and son along with me at least 4 times and even had him autograph my son's guitar one year.

I listen to his music all the time when I'm creating jewelry. You could call it my 'go-to' music. It's there, with this rhythm that just moves me and speaks to my soul.

At one concert, a woman got up on stage dressed in what appeared to be a belly dance costume and started dancing. We thought it was part of the show but she turned out to be just an avid fan! 

Via Pinterst

The first time I ordered tickets to see him the conversation with the ticket guy went something like this:

Me: "Where ever I sit, I have to be able to see his hands!"
Ticket Dude: (total silence,....)
Me: "Hello?"
Ticket Dude: "Why?"
Me: "I cannot imagine anyone being able to do what he does with a guitar!"
Ticket Dude: "Cool. Okay, you got it."

I got seats close enough to see his hands!
Well, only during the slow parts. His hands move so fast on some songs they're just a blur,....seriously!!

George Benson (!!!) was in the audience that night too and Jesse played so hard he broke a guitar string and didn't even miss a note!  It was incredible!

Our friends emailed me a couple of weeks back that they want to meet up again this coming March in Wickenburg for Jesse's next visit to Arizona - sweet! And since the concert's really close to my birthday I'm hopeful I'll be able to pull off getting to attend again!


Wire wrapped oval hoops with Sari silk and seed beads

So, on my bead table today are these earrings from yesterday (it rained all day,...rather dark,...can you tell by the earrings?) 

I've got a few other things waiting around to be put together as well.

Leather and wire wrapped hoops with nut beads


And in the background,...yep,...Jesse. Turned WAY up! 

What do you listen to when you create?  What kind of music motivates you? Do you like just 'filter' noise or do you design around the style of music you have on?

You'd think that listening to the type of music I do,...Flamenco Rumba, Jazz, Blues, Rock, etc. that my designs would have a bit more color. I guess the weather was a big influence yesterday.

I've been listening to The Wanted for the past several months too - they're kinda 'bubble-gum' as my son puts it - but hey, I like that flavor. It goes well with hot, spicy Rumba!! ;-)

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Awesome Tunes!
Cheers,
~Shel~

Fruits Of My Labor

Remember this weekend when I posted my





Well, here's the fruits of my labor after playing around with some different materials this weekend.


Click photos to enlarge images



I'm having fun making hoops, covering them with recycled sari silk and various colored ribbons and wrapping them with the darkened annealed steal wire and adding a few little seed beads and crystals - too fun!!

Grunge Hoops


The Grunge Hoops will be available in my Etsy shop this week.

Also, the weekend before, when we played in the garage studio and I dipped some things in liver of sulfur



Well, here's a few of those items now, too. 




I love how copper can look on different surfaces and with different colored backgrounds - it's such a cool metal!

I'm gearing up for the Annual Nutrioso BBQ and craft show this weekend up here White Mountains of Arizona and so some of these are going to be put on display there, but several will be in my Etsy shop next week as well.



I'm limited to what items I have up here at my sis's cabin, but it's stretching my creativity to play with what I have. I even forgot my LOS, so no dark metals other than the ones I made up prior to coming back up here - oh well - I'm still having fun!

Someone asked me if my being here at the cabin fueled my creativity or did it just make it too hard to create, being in such a beautiful area and wanting to just enjoy my surroundings. The answer is a little bit of both!



What's fueling your creativity this summer? 

Are you inspired by your surroundings?  

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Creating Fun Things!

Cheers,
~Shel~


 





Jumping Through Hoops!



Hoop earrings are always in style and if you practice making several sizes and embellishing them in different ways, then you’ll always have this essential earring staple to complete your wardrobe no matter what the current trends may be.



Here's a simple tutorial for creating some basic hoop style earrings.

Flush cut two (2) pieces of 20g wire to your desired length. Your length will depend on how large or small you wish your hoops to be.  For these photos I cut two, 5 inch pieces of wire.


Make a simple loop on one end of each of your pieces of wire.



To form the hoop portion, you will need a mandrel.

This can be a fat marker, an actual ring mandrel, a nail polish bottle, a film canister or your looping or wrap-n-tap pliers.




Wrap each piece of wire  around the mandrel you've selected to form a round shape.



To keep the shape you’ve created, you will want to lightly tap each ear-hoop with your plastic or rawhide mallet, either on your bench block or while it’s around your mandrel.



Neither the plastic or rawhide mallet with flatten your wire, but it will work harden it enough so that your hoops will keep their shape.

Take your jewelry file and smooth out the straight part of the hoop.  This portion will go into your ear so you want to make sure it is smooth and won't scratch your ear.




Grasp the straight part of the wire you just filed with your chain nose pliers,  about 2 to 3 cm up, and bend it to a 90 angle to form the ‘hook’ that will fit into the loop portion of your hoops to close them.




Lay your hoops on your bench block and hammer the bottom of the hoop portion to flatten it a bit. This not only gives it some strength, but some style as well.




And, if you're planning on wire wrapping some lovely little gemstones or beads on to your hoops, this will help the wire from spinning around while you're wrapping!




And remember, your hoops don't have to be round.  Oval hoops are quite fun and stylish, too!




Now for the fun part! 



You can leave your hoops they way they are right now - simple and stylish - or you can embellish your hoops with bead dangles, wire wrap them with a different metal for a mixed metal look or you can wire wrap some fun beads on them to add color and texture.  

 

You can even wrap ribbons, leather or cord around them with wire or add charms or other beads for a truly unique and textured look!



Whatever you do, have fun and Hoop It Up!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Hoopty-Do!!



Cheers,

~Shel~