Bling s'il vous plait!

Closeups of a necklace I made.  I love the old French coin with the hole in the center. 

I love my necklace...

I bought this fabulous necklace from local artist, Rebecca DeVere, a while back. I had it hanging in my art room, not wearing it because I felt it was too short. It only took me about a year to think to add more chain so that the length worked for me...and today I'm wearing it for the first time.

I adore the beaded flower...

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...and the way she spaced out the green pearls by using silver crimp beads. Rebecca is one of the coolest artists ever!

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Big Earl and I had a date...

I do love combining wonky little elements to create funky jewelry. The other day, after giving this little watch face the once-over, I saw that I could make a necklace pendant by combining it with a delicate golden tassel I reclaimed from goodness-only-knows-where. I used my nifty heavy-duty hole punch, lovingly nicknamed "Big Earl" to make a hole around 5:00-ish, popped in a jump ring, added the tassel and called it a victory.

Then I thought, "That went so well; why not make another hole around 11:00-ish?" Ahhh, gentle readers, I confess I got cocky. I rushed through the placement and ended up too close to the edge, thereby removing an unsightly little chunk, rather than making a neat hole.

Not to be deterred, I decided to cover up my mistake with multiple passes of wire, which actually turned out OK.

For the chains, I added a fun wing charm, also holified (is that a word?) by Big Earl. And I created this little embellishment by wiring a ready-made square and circle charm together. And should you be curious, I must confess I do not remember how Big Earl earned his moniker. I believe my friend Judy had one first, saw how much I coveted him and then graciously offered to pick up one for me from the hardware store. It was pretty much love at first sight.

A 60-Second Necklace

This morning I just didn't feel like wearing any of my necklaces so I popped into my art room, saw this little charm, slid it onto a black hardware-chain strand...and bingo! I had a new necklace in about a minute. I love the sweet little distressed painting in the flattened, painted bottle cap.

The Lost Valuables of E.L. Parrish

Here's a necklace I recently made that I love to wear. Of course it's assembled from a hodge-podge of treasures I compiled from a zillion different places.

The central round disk, embossed with the bird images was part of an old necklace. Kind of cool, but the images didn't really stand out until I rubbed a bit of black paint over the surface and into the crevasses to emphasize it. Then I punched the 3 holes in the bottom so I could attach delicious danglies.

I've participated in a bunch of charm swaps and have a huge stash of lovely little embellishments that had been wasting away in a storage container. What on earth was I thinking? It was criminal, I tell you, criminal! So I laid them all out on a metal tray and now I keep them with my jewelry supplies so I can incorporate them into my jewelry. The stacked buttons and the rhinestone pendant both came from that stash.

The very best part, though, is the little lost and found tag with its natural patina of age. I wonder if the owner attached it to his or her suitcases when traveling? It must have been something valuable because they offer a reward if returned.

Then of course because I am obsessed with all things aviary, I added a few little bird charms as a final touch.

Insatiably curious (some might call it 'nosey'), I typed this address into google maps. I felt a bit like a secret spy pouring over satellite photos as I tried to determine what house, if any, was associated with that address. I could see a grainy image of a small, white building in what appears to be a field; it was impossible to tell if it was boarded up or not, but I'm inclined to think it was since that address did not yield any other results from my online search.

Hmmm, the plot thickens...

Pearl Necklaces and Approved Stationers

This is a closeup of a necklace I made from repurposed baubles. I love the "Approved Commercial File"...good thing I wasn't trying to use a "rogue" or "unapproved" prop.