Something to drool over,...

Since my elbow is a bit under the weather (long, boring story, trust me - and now comes the part where you can all crack some jokes!) I've been reduced to laying down my jewelry pliers for a few days and picking up my camera and finally snapping some pics of the gorgeous little treasures I snatched up while freezing my buns off down in Tucson during the gem show.

Mind you, this is only a sneak peak, but I wanted to post a couple of shots to help you start drooling this week - incase you had a boring Monday or something!

Anyhoo,...I'll leave you with these,.....no explanations needed, right?!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and healing vibes! (and drooling mouths!)

Cheers,

~Shel~

That's AMORE! Week 6 of YOJP 2011

 "Infatuation" was created for Week 6 of YOJP 20111 using the theme "Amore".  I thought of love, Valentine's Day, hearts, the color red, and all sorts of corny stuff,...but nothing was really tripping my trigger, so to speak.

So, I fixed a nice, refreshing 'girlie' cocktail and sat down to 'ponder' my sketches and notes,...and then it hit me! My pretty little drink was "Amore"!  I mean, after all, it did embody soft, feminine style in both color and taste, and it was VERY "GIRLIE" and reminded me of TOTAL LUXURY, and I said "That's Amore!" 

I fused some 20g round .999 fine silver and then forged a heart shape. I hammered and textured it and added MY favorite symbol of love - PEARLS - these specific ones I purchased during the Tucson Gem show from Majestic Pearl and The American Pearl Co. and attachd the heart with pearl dangles to some fabulous light peach fairy ribbon that I purchased from the great folks over at Fusion Beads.

I designed a pair of earrings, complete with my own "Sexy Norm" style 925 sterling silver earring wires to compliment this very delicate and feminine piece of jewelry (wish I could tell you where these cute hearts came from, but the receipt and business card I had asked the man to put inside my bag was no where to be found - but it was at the Windmill Inn during the Gems Show, of course!) and then I sat back and enjoyed my beautiful cocktail and listened to Dean Martin sing,..."That's Amore!"   LOL!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and well,....Amore!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Thing I Need!

Another Great Team ESST (Etsy Street Supply Team) Treasury!

Go check 'em all out!





Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and all things needed!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Team Treasury! Team ESST

Shel's Jewelry Supplies is a proud member of Team ESST (Etsy Street Supply Team) and we've got some great members with some awesome supplies and items that you really need to go check out!

Here's the TREASURY that I just created on Etsy: "SUBTLE HINTS,...Or NOT!"

Hope you're having a great weekend!

I'll be posting my "YOJP Week 6" this Sunday (or Monday if I'm still running behind due to all the earring wire orders I've received - they're going CRAZY on my Etsy site this week!!) so stay tuned!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Happy Weekend Everyone!!

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~

Tucson Bound!

Finally - today's the day I hop in my car and head down to Tucson for my annual "drooling over beads, pearls, gems and findings" fest!! 

I'm so excited I could pee right now.  Oops, that's probably TMI - but how many of you would feel the same if you could go, or do feel this way cause you're there (or almost there!)?

Yes, it's a beautiful site, full of beads, pearls, gemstones, findings, cool tools, new ideas, creative spirits wandering the city and over all excitement! 

I'll be posting to twitter nighting (like I'd stop drooling to text/type? Right!!)  The gems need my full attention mind you!  

I love Tucson!  I get to feast upon Nina's wonderful cooking, share a glass of wine with her and her hubby in the evening and hang out watching the sun set over the Catalinas - how wonderful is this?!! Then, my hubby and son roll into town Friday after school - they love the gem show too!! Then, all of us go in search of great things and share all our treasures and finds over dinner Saturday evening - it's tradition!

 

So, until I return home next week and get the new pics posted,.....here's some goodies from last year - and boy were they fantastic!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Tucson!!  

Cheers,

~Shel~ 

Get Your Bling On!

One of my earring wire clients over on Etsy has the coolest, most dazzling crystal earrings on the block!  They totally ROCK!


Perfect for Valentine's Day (did you get that subtle hint there all you guys!?!),  JillerysJems on Etsy has got the most colorful crystal earrings, necklaces and bracelets you could ever imagine.

Sparkling and stunning designs are what make JillerysJems stand out - her designs just pop!  She has a real knack for putting colors together that compliment each other and the way the crystals shine in her designs is amazing!

My fav's right now - being it's close to Valentine's Day - are these pink cluster earrings (featured here on our Shel's Jewelry Supplies Mini-Swirl Earring Wires). These are so beautiful and elegant - perfect way to catch that special someone's eyes on your Valentine's date - don't you think?

So, hop on over and check out JillerysJems shop on Etsy and put your shades on 'cause these gems out shine all the rest!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and all things that Sparkle!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Medusa's Earrings - Week 4 - Year of Jewelry 2011

Medusa called!  She wants her earrings back!!

Okay, so she really didn't call, and I didn't really swipe her earrings or anything. I just created earrings that she would probably have called me to special order,...ya think?!

The Theme for Week 4 of Year of Jewelry Project 2011 (One Project, Once a Week, For a Year!!) was "Wild and Wicked" - that should have been easy, right?  But, alas, just like every other week, so many things came to mind,...biker chic earrings, rock and roll earrings, spikey/hammered stoner earrings,.....yep, I had visions of all sorts of designs (especially earrings) dancing through my head as I slept last night,.....but this is what came out of my hands today as I created.

24g and 18g copper wire was formed, forged, hammered,....and hammered again and again, wire wrapped and then oxidized with LOS and polished up a bit before laying them out to photograph. 

You can take my word for it when I tell you that the photos look wwwwaaaaayyyyy better than the earrings look in person. I mean seriously peeps, the husband even uttered the dreaded words "kinda artsy-crafty" !!! (insert shudder motion here!) 

But yes, they are rather 'artsy' and I was very 'crafty' with how I 'chaos' wire wrapped portions and did some portions very neatly and how I used anti-tarnish copper and raw copper so when I dipped them in LOS only parts of them would turn colors....and the green little peridot gemstones?  Cute touch, don't you think?  Those, dear children, are the color of Medusa's Eyes!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Wild and Wicked Earrings (or any jewelry for that matter!!)

Cheers,

~Shel~

Week 3- Year of Jewelry Project 2011 - Mixed Media

Last night I dreamt my family and I were on this huge sail boat in the middle of the ocean somewhere. I could feel the coolness of the water and feel the rush of riding the waves - it was pretty cool! 

While most of the country is under water, snow, ice and freezing temps, take a step back this weekend and envision yourself walking on the beach,...the water lapping at your toes, the sand beneath your feet and the warmth of the sun on your face.  Can you feel it? 

 

The theme for Week 3 of Year of Jewelry Project 2011 was "Mixed Media".  There were sooooo many things I wanted to do with this theme this week but time just didn't allow for that. So this morning, as I was ready to design and post to the website, I "mixed" some 20g. and 26g. copper wire with some little treasures found on the beach in California because they reminded me of my dream last night. I like how the bail on the larger pendant/charm looks like it could be another type of shell and the littler one with it's swirl dangle reminded me of the anchor on the sailboat in my dream last night.

 

And then it occurred to me,....I think the term "Mixed Media" can also pertain to our dreams. I mean, yes we do have various objects we design with that are actually tangible, but one of the main things we create with, prior to ever picking up our pliers, beads or wire, is our imagination - and this includes our dreams.   Maybe I'm alone in this, but I frequently dream of jewelry in my sleep - so much so that it's a funny little joke around our house.  Well, funny to me,...I'm sure the hubby and son probably think it's just weird!

 

So, until next time,

Peace, Love and Dreams (of pearls and sailboats!!)

Cheers,

~Shel~

The Cat's Outta The Bag!!

Okay - here's the scoop. I love pearls. I mean I REALLY love them! (As if you didn't know!) I love to touch them, see their fantastic lustrous finish, feel how cool and smooth they feel in my hands,...yep,...I'm obsessed, let me tell you!  I love them so much that I attended the Gemological Institute of America and got a Pearls Diploma in them saying "Shelly Knows - And Really Loves - Pearls!"

I like to hand knot them in non-traditional ways, put them in designs with silver, gold, leather - you name it. I like to wear them with everything from my jeans to my dress-up jeans (I don't really get 'dressed-up"!), and I think they're the most amazing gemstone ever!

My quote (aside from my very over used motto of  'Peace, Love and Pearls, Baby!') is "I don't think there's a pearl I've met that I haven't fallen in love with." That's true!  Each one is unique and special, stand alone beautiful, one-of-a-kind, like no other; dreamy!  It's okay to drool. I drool all the time just taking photos of these gorgeous little creatures!

Metaphysically, pearls represent purity, faith, charity, innocence, focus, spirituality and wisdom. Pearls are the preferred gemstone of Queens, (and princesses, too!), at weddings and as handed down heirloom jewelry. Pearls are believed to bring about wisdom, protect the wearer from harm while at sea, encourage open, heart to heart communications and connections and to allow you to see the 'good' parts of yourself,...enabling you to love yourself more!  Pearls are, quite simply, astonishing!

 

I guess this should really have been my blog post for June, since the Pearl is June's birthstone, but I just couldn't wait. I was reading this great article over on Etsy by Johnny B. Truant about how you have to tell stories with whatever it is you're selling and was inspired to write up this little bit to tell you how much pearls are loved - at least by me, anyway! To tell you that pearls are my story. Well, part of my story at least.

 

So, what's my purpose, focus, point of this whole ramble? One thing the article pointed out was that our entire lives are stories. Each individual moment is a tid-bit, a morsel, a speck and a pinch of our whole, complete and amazing story. Maybe each and every single second isn't worth being documented, written or blogged about, video taped or recorded, but some moments are. And, when we find things we're passionate about, these stories should come easily for us. (doesn't always happen that way,..but hey,...we can dream, right?!)

 

I'm writing this to encourage you all to challenge yourself a bit and write a part of your story. Now, the other article I read today on Etsy was about a 'challenge' (an assignment really) of how you had to tell your story in 6 words. They had to make sense, they had to make up a complete sentence and they had to be true to you and tell your story.  (You can tell that I have failed miserably at this second one - to say the absolute least!)  Okay - so now, here's your challenge from me,....go ahead and post 6 words (or a whole paragraph!) and tell me a bit about you - your story! I want you to think about your life and if you had to choose bits and pieces to write about,...what would your story be?  I bet it comes a lot easier than you think!  Give it a try!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Stories (about pearls!!)  LOL!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

  P.S. The pics in the blog post are: Pearls purchased at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show last year; Some of my designs using gorgeous pearls; The Tree House my hubby and son built at my sis and bro-in-laws cabin;  The historical library in my hometown where I'd go to read books as a little kiddo along with the Route 66 sign in the forefront (Route 66 was the 'main drag' in town!); and a pic of me,....before I was the "pearl girl" that I am today! 

So see, I bet you have a story,.......why not share a tiny slice of it?