Ice Princess Necklace

Newest item up on the Etsy site. This necklace is made up almost completely of recycled bits and pieces from vintage or near vintage costume jewelry. The pendant was an old brooch, I'm guessing from the late 1950s or 1960s. Not sure. The two light blue dangles were a pair of earrings. The dark blue dangles from an old necklace, and the powder blue beads on the links I made, were from a huge, multi-strand necklace my mom gave me...I think. It's been a while since I acquired it, so I'm not sure on that either. People give me stuff all the time, and it can be years before I finally getting around to using it. By that time I can't remember who gave it to me.

Aqua Pearl Necklace

This is the latest necklace. The center medallion is vintage brooch. The clasp was broken, so I took it off. The necklace is made of aqua potato pearls, dark iridescent blue pearls,  AB clear crystals, small vintage gold-tone metal beads, brass heart spacers, and small blue glass beads.

As winter has set in, it is becoming increasingly obvious that I need to get a better method of lighting the pieces for photos. In summer, I can take them outside and photo them in natural light. A Facebook friend sent me a link to a site that shows how to make a light box. Pretty sure that's what I need. The photos I take, even with the best lighting I can come up with, still don't show the pieces to their best advantage. Especially the old brooch in this necklace, which has such a lovely patina.

Finished Blue Necklace

Here is the finished necklace, made from the components I showed in the previous post. This one turned out really nice, very elegant, and it's a hard one for me to let go of because I really like it. However, I need another piece of jewelry like I need a hole in the head.  Also,  I think it's already sold. I put pictures up on Facebook, and a friend loved it and wants to buy it. If that falls through, I'll put it up on my Etsy site.

Center component is a vintage bracelet. The rest is "gold" chain, blue drop crystals, and dark blue glass beads.

Back to Projects

Now that the ARC mounted archery event is over, I can go back to my normal (?) life of working on different projects. Here are the latest. These are being done simultaneously with the Riding Costume, but I like variety and hopping from one project to another. It's the same reason I read two and three books at the same time.

Here is number one. I apologize of the lousy quality of the photos, but trying to take pictures in my house in winter is like trying to take photos in a cave without a flash. Usually I take things outside to photo, but it's pouring rain today, so that option was out.

My latest Goodwill score. A Christopher & Banks cropped linen jacket, bought for only $4.99. New they run over $40. I think this is the natural, un-dyed color of the linen, but not sure. It's a soft, sorta greenish beige. It has same-color machine embroidery in a leaf pattern up the front, on the collar, and a detail on the back. There is also what looks like narrow, pulled thread work up the front along the buttons and buttonholes. Rice, over at the Voodoo Cafe, would dye this some bright, zingy color, but I'm not really into the whole dyeing thing. I will, however, add more thread detail and beading. I might also swap out the buttons, if I can find some others I like better, which shouldn't be hard, as these are pretty bland. I really liked the gold thread work I did on my red bolero, and I think that would also look good on this jacket. Maybe small gold beads, or shiny rust colored ones. Not sure. I will have to play around with stuff to see what works best.

Anyway, I love the feel of the linen, it's pretty heavy, but very comfortable to wear. I did laugh when I bought it though, as the cashier lady made the comment, "Oh, this will be really nice when you iron it." Yeah, like that's ever going to happen!

 

Here it is hanging in my bedroom. The machine embroidery actually shows up better than I thought it would.

Here is the detail along the front, and on the collar. Now that I really look at it, I think the pulled thread work is just more machine embroidery. Oh well. Still looks nice.

Back detail.

So, that's one project.

Project number two is a necklace.

The main section is an old vintage bracelet, with lovely sky-blue crystals. The end link is missing the main stone, and I will remove it, maybe find a stone later and use that piece in something else. I have three blue teardrop crystals, some darker blue glass beads and will probably hunt up some other small metal detail beads or spacers. To extend the length, I'll make links with gold wire, add a dark blue bead to every link, and if I have enough, make the extensions a double strand of links. The links will be hooked into these really wonderful peacock-blue jump rings I found. The teardrop crystals will hang from the vintage bracelet.

Overview of the components.

Closeup of the vintage bracelet.

And that is project number two. Can't wait to do this one. It will be an experiment in mixing vintage with the modern, more flashy jump rings. I've had that section of vintage bracelet for ages, just waiting for the right other pieces to fall into place. It was finding those peacock blue jump rings that sparked inspiration. Funny old world, isn't it.