Regal Headphones: Gothic Regency

So.  You may remember a post a while ago with a photograph of a box of Skullcandy Hesh headphones as well as a cryptic caption.  Yes?  Well, good.  I've completed the project I hinted at earlier and I'm finally comfortable with showing you guys what I made.

I started off with plain headphones of the Skullcandy Hesh variety.  I chose Skullcandy because they are GREAT brand that I trust and they aren't as expensive as Beats.  So, if I manage to seriously bork up my design, it's not like I'm out of two hundred dollars or anything.  I decided to go with the Hesh headphones because they are supposed to have better sound, a better microphone and they have more features that allow the headphones to sit cozily on your head.

The last pair of headphones I gothed up didn't have the lovely memory foam cushioned headband and the speaker cushions pressed against my head awkwardly sometimes.  The cord also presented a problem because it was permanently anchored into the headphones themselves.  That sort of design lead to the eventual death of that particular pair because the cord shorted out.  The Hesh headphones can have their cords replaced.  I managed to snag a pair on sale and avoid paying over $50 bucks for them.  SCORE!

Ok.  Here are my new lovelies.

I followed pretty much the same method as the other headphones, even included leather scraps and ribbon just like last time.  However, these headphones presented a unique problem when it cam time to clean up the residual glue and fly-aways from my sloppy E-6000 work.  Don't get on my case, my neuropathy makes my hands shake like crazy most times, so it's a miracle that I can type, let alone glue over 500 rhinestones, chain, and cabochons to a pair of headphones.

So, the fly-aways.  Because the Hesh headphones aren't made of slick, slippery plastic, but rather self-healing rubberized plastic, when I went in for clean up, my usual method of simply yanking the stray threads of glue off with tweezers meant that I peeled off a bit MORE than I intended.  I had to find a different kind of epoxy that would bond to silicone to help seal the bonds between my headphones and the rhinestones... and I'm still scared that I'll hit them against something at the wrong angle and all my hard work will go peeling off.  So far, that hasn't happened, but the E-6000/epoxy combination isn't as sturdy as I'm used to.


All in all, this was another successful decoden project.  Hopefully, it'll be another year or two before I have to make repairs to my design elements on these headphones. 

Guess what I'm going to be doing.

My old vamped up headphones have broken.  I'm tired of 10 dollaring myself to death by buying cheapo earbuds, so I got me some good Skullcandy Grind Headphones with the Mic in the headseat.  Yep. 

I'm about to goth these suckers up.  *eyebrow wiggle* 

Decoden: More shots

I forgot I had these shots of my phone case.  Take a look-see at some more detailed shots of this beast.

Decoden: Part Three!

A while back, I posted some decoden phone cases that I made.  I've got another one to share.  I'll keep this brief. 

This is one I made for myself to replace the old one.  Sad to say this, but buying any old case on eBay can sometimes lead to malfunctions.  The one I bought the first time was about $12.  With all the time I spent decorating it, you'd hope that it would hold up.  It did not.  It's construction wasn't that great, so, though it's still pretty to look at, it can't really hold on to a phone. 

I got this new case for half the price of the old one and it is much better constructed.  The decorations themselves, I believe, reflect more of me than the old one.  It was more of a hodge podge.  This one is more in line with my "cautiously optimistic" and "proactively pessimistic" approaches to life.  I like to see the beauties, even in misfortune.  I hope this case never breaks.  Given how many times I've dropped it already and it's remained intact, It's safe to say that I will be able to spend a lot of time with it before it fails me. 

Decoden: Part two

My dear friend Mia needed a phone case.  She's one of the most coordinated athletes in my social circle, but oddly...also the most clumsy.  Her phone was at risk... so I made her this..

I tried to keep her case relatively 2D because she likes to stuff her phone in her pocket.  It came out pretty good.  Pink, bright, and sparkly, just like her personality. 

Decoden Phone Case

Since I've had some trouble with maintaining proper pressure whilst using my jewelry pliers, I've started branching out into crafts that require less sensitive, delicate work.  Of course, I stumbled onto Decoden.  Decoden is a decoration phenomenon in Japan.  Quite literally, Decoden is "Deco" as in decorated and "den" as in Denwa, the Japanese word for phone case.  Tons of people will think that these Japanese trends have nothing to do with American fashion, but you'd be wrong.

Have you ever gotten nails covered in rhinestones and little filigree add-ons?

Courtesy of Slodive.com

Courtesy of Fanpop.com

Sure the nails have been a thing for a looooong time.... But seriously, doesn't this look vaguely familiar?

From brand-crea.com

Looks familiar to me.  Well, seeing all these fancy pants cases made me want to make my own...


BAM!!! 

While mine is significantly less cute and significantly more amateur looking, I like it a fair amount. 

Farore's Wind Bracelet Again

Where do I start?  Hmm... I'll start with this.

I'm back to making some small jewelry things, taking my time, trying to make sure I've got a really solid design and am using materials I already have to pull together something pretty rather than wasting time, energy and dexterity on something on experiments and trying to come up with new techniques. 

I had a few of these awesome green beads left over in my stash.  I wanted to make a necklace with them laced together with wire, but I couldn't logically see that working out well. It only works well when you have something to lash the beads against or they're big enough to be the focal by themselves.  So, I opted for a frosty looking white and green motif.

It's really simple, but it works very well with a nice cocktail dress.

Saturation: A poem

Too novel and new
Too unique to stay you
Elements scraped, refined, and tinctured
Hues boiled, extracted, and decantered
More
Not added for the benefit of design,
But an arms race to keep it mine.
Fighting for relevance.
They wanted more.

Color seeping from your skin,
Mimicked till water thin
Concentrate the shades to make them real
Super-saturated, lost all appeal.
More
Because the colors made you blind
Burning rods and cones to stay defined
Losing all elegance
You give them more.

Arachne: A Study in Suggestion

In high school we briefly studied Japanese water color and woodblock printing. The art of suggestion, of abstract illustrations of things present in nature with simple brush strokes was key.  I found it difficult to do that sort of thing.  I usually add layers of little details bit by bit until it's ridiculous.  Still, I managed to get the idea of that particular unit.

Recently, I decided to see if I could apply simple themes and techniques with jewelry making.  That was how this particular necklace came about.  As many of you know, I like spiders, bugs, and cute little things represented in jewelry and embellishments.  With this piece I decided to try to suggest the idea of a spider instead of tossing some spider charms in there.  This was the result.  Tell me if you can see the Arachnid elements.

I used some of the same beadwork techniques I used for the red necklace in a previous post.  I made some modifications to the spacing and execution, though.  I wasn't going to use a pendant with quite the same impact as that design, so I had to make sure the elements and spacing of the elements fit with the more modern and sleek feel of this necklace.

I also made a pair of earrings to compliment the necklace.  They aren't nearly as ornate as the necklace.  However, they still suggest elements common to spiders.  As you can see, I used leverback earrings.  They're better for keeping the earrings in your ears.

So, here's my question:  Did you guys see the spider elements I mentioned?  Comment with what you thought was related to our 8-legged friends. 

Glitzy Earrings From the Treasure Chest

A while ago I did some photos of some of the awesome finds lurking in my stash.  WELL.  I've turned another of those finds into a pair of earrings.  So, here you are.  I won't make you wait for it.

These are actually already available on my Etsy here.

Floral inspirations

I like flowers.  They're pretty, simple, and they brighten up a place.  Rarely do I see flowers explicitly expreassed in jewelry.  I don't mean, like, a resin pendant with a flower in it or something like that.  I mean a TRUE expression of a flower with the necklace mimicking vines, branches and leaves around a floral focal.

I've never seen that outside of specific art pieces.  So.... I made my own.  8D  I had some flower bead caps in pink Czech glass.  I also had some vintage leaf beads that I won in a destash auction.  All of them were leftovers from other projects that have either sold already or claimed by yours truly.  Together, they built up something beautiful and rather hypnotic...

I'll let you guys in on a secret.  I name every piece I make.  Each one gets a name.  It's good for helping me keep track of which is which.  Anyway, this baby is called Path of Flowers.  Here are some more photos.

Some detail shots for you too...

I tried to keep the flower and leaf motif uniform throughout the design, even in the little extra elements.

I made earrings as well.  I'm starting to get back into that.  It's awesome.

I tried to make sure they looked as much like fruit and flowers hanging on a vine as possible.  Even though their design is simple, they pack a punch as far as striking visual appeal.

I'd say it worked.


EDIT:  Someone asked for a Link to my Etsy Page. 

Cadena: Classic and Simple

In Spanish, Cadena usually means simply, a chain.  It's also the name of a popular high fashion and sewing magazine.  Love that magazine, btw.  For me, cadena represents timeless and versatile style, form and function married together.  So chic!  That's the motif I was trying to portray with this necklace.

As you can see, it's a super simple, really straightforward and no frills sort of design.  It was made with quality components though. Onyx, hematite, and swarovski crystals.  It came together just as planned.  Lovely, simple and very elegant.

I even took the extra time to make a bracelet and earrings.

Owls

WELL, I've jumped on the bandwagon.  I know you've seen them.  The owls.  They're everywhere.  They're always watching.  From the aisles of tupperware to the decorative boxes of kleenex.  The owls are everywhere.  In the high-end stores and even in Walmart.  Although I like owls and have for the longest time, I've avoided them because of their recent popularity.  I want unique things.  Slapping birds and owls on it is a good way to get lost in the fad.

But... I made an owl necklace.  Does that... does that mean I'm "Mainstream" now?

His tummy is made of a feather.  Isn't it cute?

Nayru's Love Necklace

HAHA!  I fixed this necklace and came up with something decidedly delicate and feminine.  It looks much better than the original in my personal opinion.

I was so pleased with how it turned out with just a few little additions that I set about to making some earrings to go with it.  Take a gander.

Funny how I got better photos of the earrings than the necklace... So it goes..

Lorule Low-down

While I haven't played a Link between worlds, I've watched a bit of the Let's plays available on youtube to keep myself from turning in fits over the fact that I can neither afford a 3DS XL or the game itself.  Not only does it have solid gameplay mechanics reminiscent to the ORIGINAL Legend of Zelda game and Ocarina of Time, but it's got a nice feel and the whole concept of a mirror-image shadow world plays into the affection for books like Journey to the Center of the Earth and old theories that the world was composed of layers of vastly different 'worlds' with slightly different mechanics and creatures living within them.

That aside... the aesthetics of Lorule, the dark version of Hyrule, are really easy to get into.  Even though the motifs are similar to Hyrule's bright, shiny filigree and scrollwork, they are decidedly dark and cold.  I like dark, cold colors.  So here's the first bit of fanart I've made for the crumbling kingdom of Lorule.

Almost a perfect color match for the purple elements in the Lorule side of the game.

Reminds me of Lorule's incarnation of Zelda..

Tassels of Glory: 3rd Installment

Well, well now.  I'm keeping this short and sweet.  This is the third tassel necklace I made this year.  This time, I used onyx instead of colorful gemstones.  It gives a solid design without forcing you to color match anything. 

I didn't get very many good photos of it, but I tried.