The perfect pair of earrings for the dress-ups and dress-downs.
When it comes to fashion, there are some items worth looking for. Sometimes, the item will never be found. Such is the case of finding earrings that do not hold up by clip or a magnet. Sometimes, if you can’t find them, make them yourself.
Some time ago, I wanted these Sandra Benoudiz Leather Hoop Earrings, along with other two jewelry pieces made by her. But, I never got the chance to get them. Since they were released a long time ago, I doubt the very quiet website would carry them now, anyway.
Left picture is from the orangeme.com website. Right picture came from an old fashion blog.
The original website is now defunct, too, so I’m unable to verify if both leather hoop earring designs were both Benoudiz’s.
Making this isn’t too hard to do, right? No, not really. I actually made three pairs of earrings and three necklaces (which will be shown in another post) before tackling this project, and the simplicity of the design makes it a whole lot easier for me to complete.
Before I get into the thick of making them, I did a bit of research on Sandra Benoudiz. Based in Miami, the Venezuelan designer makes cool, contemporary nature-inspired costume jewelry with a bit of vintage flair. She was a hit with the contemporary crowd, but she has been rather quiet since. I have attempted to look for any information on her, and I wind up finding the bussetire website, which needs a lot of work. It seems she now goes by Sandra Getzel, with her full name being Sandra Benoudiz de Getzel, which would explain why I couldn’t find any of her recent works for a while.
And, here they are…
Lovely, isn’t it?
The earrings took longer than usual. It only looked simple, but keeping the leather cord in a circular shape while wrapping it with a 28-gauge silver wire was a pain. However, it was worth the effort.
The location where the holes were drilled provided a different challenge.
Since I couldn’t find the specific chalcedony stones I wanted, I went with Montana agate stones instead. Plus, I just like the combination of brown and blue more. These stones were a bit on the large side, so I took out the chain completely to keep it hanging within the circumference of the leather hoop.
Out of boredom, I decided to make a necklace based on the leather hoop earring design. Instead of having just one leather hoop, I put in two. Just like with the earrings, wrapping the leather cord with the wire was a pain.
Can’t have just earrings…
Unlike the Montana agate stones for the earrings, the one used for the pendant winds up being a lot smaller. Regardless, I didn’t use a small chain to help it dangle. With the chain, it would ruin the aesthetics of the entire piece.
When hanging, the hoops slowly spin around, making interesting picture compositions.
This was quite a fun project, even though it took a while. I haven’t worn all three together yet, but it will happen eventually. Looking through the early Sandra Benoudiz de Getzel pieces online (at least the ones I can find) and regretting never getting them, I’m going to be making them as compensation.
Thank you for creating such lovely jewelry, Sandra Getzel.
All together now…
thegamingseamstress 