Wear Your Memories-Why Hide Them in a Drawer!

We all have them...those bits and pieces  from the past...keepsakes hidden away in a drawer somewhere. We love them and can't seem to part with them but we keep them concealed from our view.  Those trinkets bring fond memories and need to be used...worn to help keep that little touch of nostalgia present.

My jewelry is a reflection of my love of romance, family history, bits of vintage treasures with a little added bling. With this in mind I sometimes dig through those treasures to create a piece of jewelry for myself that can become a family heirloom. Wearing them gives me comfort and brings back pleasant times.

These are a few of the necklaces...

I collect pressed pennies from my trips.  A small souvenir that takes up a small space but but that return my mind to a special trip or fun adventure. I love the thought of having it close as a reminder of fun times. This was a very easy necklace to make...a bit of chain, a few jump rings  and a hole punch.

This necklace has a brass metal back plate and was made using vintage earrings and pins that belonged to my mother and grandmother.  Much better that hiding them in a drawer.

Another memory necklace using an earring and pin from my mother, my grandmother's watch, a crystal because my mother collected them, a pressed penny from my collection, my favorite word "Joy" and other bits and pieces...treasures to me.

And finally, the piece that started my jewelry making.  A bracelet with my grandchildren's pictures.

Do you have collage jewelry, memory jewelry?

I would love to see it!

How to Make a Suitcase Display

Have you looked at your display props and thought...they sure do need an upgrade?  That is what happened to me.  All of a sudden my suitcase displays with their black interior did nothing to enhance my jewelry. They seemed dark and my jewelry did not stand out.

This is what I did to upgrade them...

Materials:

Old suitcase
Foam core board
Fabric
Doilies, optional
Spray adhesive
Box cutter
Old Styrofoam sheets
Brick, optional

Start with your old suitcase...

Measure the length, width and depth of your suitcase bottom.  Cut Styrofoam to fit the bottom of the suitcase. This will allow your foam core to be even with  the top of the suitcase. Place a brick in the suitcase bottom, if needed to give it some weight and keep it from turning over when you are using it. 

Measure the inside top and bottom of your suitcase and cut foam core board to fit (cut just a little smaller to allow room for fabric to fold over board).

Cut you fabric a little bigger than the foam core so you have enough to turn over to the back side of board.

Spray the board with spray adhesive and quickly lay your fabric on the board and spread out to get rid of wrinkles. Spray the outside perimeter of the back of the board and smooth fabric over the edges to the back so that no frayed edges show.

My jewelry has a vintage, heirloom aesthetic so,  after applying the fabric to the board, I also sprayed the back side of doilies and adhered them to the fabric covered board.

When finished, spray the back side of the foam core and quickly place in the suitcase and apply pressure to glue the foam core to the inside of the suitcase. 

This is my finished suitcase.

I also did a train case. 

Can't wait to use my displays at my next show!

Dream Class with Rosy Revolver

I recently had the privilege of taking  a great class taught by Jessica Jordan a.k.a. Rosy Revolver.  I have admired her work for quite a while now and have wanted to take one of her classes but they have always been too far away.

I started following Jessica on social media was surprised to find that she lives only 2 1/1 hours away and has started teaching classes in her studio in Fuquay Varina.  Wonderful for me!  She has both studio time and scheduled classes available.  I signed up for her "Stone on Stone" class which involved creating a bezel ring from silver. Working with silver is new to me but am very excited to start learning.

The class was suppose to have four students but lucky for me there were only two of us.  Her studio is wonderful-everything beautifully organized in just the right spot with lots of "eye-candy inspiration" everywhere.

Just one view-plenty of light-space and tools

Jessica was very patient, knowledgeable and so willing to share not only her skill but her supply sources.  I  know I seemed a little over the top with my note pad and jotting down everything for later review.

Jessica demonstrating torch use

Demonstrating how to ball silver for our rings

The class was packed with technique and demonstrations-sawing, bezel making, drilling stones and soldering just to name a few.  I learned a lot of new skills that I hope to put to use soon and came home ready to place an order for silver and few new tools.

My bezels before setting stones and making the ring

Finished ring

I love my new ring and will return I'm sure in the near future for another class!

"Jewelia"s" New Dress

Last year I introduced you to my dress form-"Jewelia".  

At the time she was showing off her new finery-a dress made of vintage crocheted doilies.

This is what she looked like then...

Recently while getting prepared for an outdoor show I decided "Jewelia" 

needed something a little more exciting and colorful.  

After looking for a vintage 1950s prom dress without success, 

I decided to make one myself. 

One yard of satin fabric and six yards of tulle later this is the dress I came up with-

"Jewelia" graced my show and was a hit drawing the attention to my booth I was looking for.

This is the new "Jewelia"....

Bracelet Make-Over

This is the bracelet I made at Bead Fest in Kim St. Jean's "Ruffled Bracelet" class.

While I loved learning the fold forming technique, I'm don't think I would 

wear this bracelet-it's not quite my style. So I felt a bracelet "do-over" was called for.

I took it apart, re-annealed it and then was able to cut it into 3 separate pieces.

This is what I made with 2 of the pieces...now I do really like them!

Have you done any "do-overs"?

Bead Soup Reveal Day

It is finally here-"Reveal Day"-can't wait to show you what I made...

My "SOUP" partner is Loretta Carstensen of designsbyloretta.blogspot.com.  Loretta lives in South Ogden, Utah.   She is retired and along with making jewelry loves to travel with her husband.

This is the "bead soup" I received. 

Thanks, Loretta for a beautiful "soup"!

The large red beads are glass African trade beads 

and the small ones are red jasper. I don't know what the focal bead is. 

Please let me know if you do.

In the beginning I didn't think this would be such a hard challenge but the more I looked at it the harder it became. I wanted to complement the focal and not overpower or take away from it. After much thought and deliberation, I finally decided the focal needed some wire wrapping...but that was only part of the necklace.  Again, I had to set it aside and ponder how to add just the right chain to set it off.  This is the design I came up with.

The toggle clasp was bright brass that I patinated to match the bronze wire links.

I also made a pair of earrings using the red jasper beads.

The African trade beads will remain in my stash for a while waiting patiently for an idea to "pop" into my head...so until later be sure to check out Loretta's blog along with all the other participants in the Blog Hop.

I'm off to blog hop and see what you made...

Thanks again, Lori for a fun Bead Soup Blog Hop!

Latest Blooms

So beautiful...I just have to show them

Outside my Window

Couldn't resist...this is what is growing in my yard-

 The irises are in full bloom...

 The azaleas have been so beautiful but are beginning to fade...

Bead Fest

Just coming back down to earth from my adventure at Philadelphia Bead Fest.  This was my first time attending Bead Fest. Living  in a small town with limited access to great "bead" shopping, I have to say seeing so many beads in one place was sensory overload. But I soon recovered and found lots of goodies!

I was fortunate to take classes from two great jewelry artists, Linda Larsen and Kim St. Jean.

Linda Larsen taught the first class "Lockets".

These are some of  her class samples...

There was lots of sawing, which I hate but I did get better at it and maybe don't hate it quite as much.  We learned techniques for making a hinge and shaping the locket but  having it "snap" closed  was what we were looking for in the end.

This was my finished locket... so proud of it...not perfect but you have to start somewhere!

My next four classes were with Kim St. Jean.
The classes were "Copper Soldered Necklace", "Ruffled Bracelet", " and "Greek Goddess" and Air Chasing".

 So many techniques and tips learned from Kim-like....

 How to know if you had the flame right...

  Soldering the bezel...

  Making a bail....

 Using a metal brake....

 Annealing metal...

 Fold Forming...

These are my finished pieces...

 Now the hard work begins...trying to remember all I saw and figuring out how to apply the techniques.

The Bead Soup I Sent

This is the "Bead Soup" I sent my partner, Loretta Carstensen.  I can't wait to seeing her ideas and creation.

A few little packages....

Wrapped in a little handmade pouch...

And this is the soup...

Choice of deer antlers for the focal, a mix of Czech glass beads,

Betel nut beads, wood beads, copper 22 caliber shell casings, 

vintage shell beads, a copper clasp, copper spacers 

with sari silk and voile ribbons.

Bead Soup has Arrived!!

I happy to introduce my "Bead Soup" partner, Loretta Carstensen and show you the "Soup" I received.

First a little about my partner-

Loretta recently moved from Palm Springs, Ca. to South Ogden, Utah to be closer to her family. Loretta is a retired Insurance Agent.  Since her retirement, she volunteers at the local hospital.  She also has a travel trailer and enjoys traveling with her husband.

She likes creating all kinds of jewelry and makes a lot of her own beads and pendants from polymer clay. Loretta said she was buying a lot of polymer beads and decided she wanted to try making them so, she bought a book and taught herself.

I hope you will visit Loretta on her blog, designsbyloretta.blogspot.com to see her creations and learn more about her.

Now for the soup-

Excited to receive this package from Loretta!

Couldn't wait to see what was in it-

Loretta didn't know what the stone is...any ideas?  

The large red beads are glass African trade beads 

and the small red ones are jasper.

I'm going to let the "soup" simmer for a while and on 

May 3rd I'll show you what it became.