Garage Sale Find - Crystals and Pearls

One of my favorite pass times is to go to garage sales on Saturday mornings.  Among other things I am always on the lookout for jewelry that I can remake into something fun and interesting.  This Saturday I only found one piece, but what a treasure!

This necklace has lots of graduated beautiful blue crystals plus lots of large soft green pearls.  They look like Swarovski crystals and pearls, but I am not sure.  I think the combination of these pearls and crystals is not very attractive.  But, it is geat for me to use in other jewelry.


Now for the really good part.  This necklace cost me a grand total of fifty cents.  YIPPEE!

Here are some close-up pictures of the pearls and crystals.  If anyone has some advice on how to determine what kind of crystals and pearls these are, I would love to hear it.

Do you make new  jewelry from rescued treasures?

Black and White Twist

Here is one of my new creations.  I went outside of my normal comfort zone and style to create this bold chunky necklace from some lovely white howlite nuggets.  The nuggets are streaked with gray, and I decided to do the black and white theme.  When I made this I tried to offset the nuggets on the three strands so they lay well on the neck.

Copper Glow - Summer to Fall

Most of us are looking for accessories that we can wear for multiple occasions and across the seasons.  I am so pleased with this necklace and earring set.  The copper is great with clothes in summery yellows, oranges, pinks and reds.  Then the copper is equally good for fall browns, golds, rust and plum colors. It all hinges on these warm glowing shimmery square Czech glass beads.  These are square and backed with a bright copper metallic color.  The top of these beads are glass so the copper shines through and just glows.

I chose soft white shimmery freshwater coin pearls to compliment the coppery glass beads, and then added champagne and amethyst color faceted Czech crystals to give a touch of color.  Wear this necklace with a dress or shirt with a scoop neck, or place it over a sweater in the fall.  The earrings can go with just about anything.

I must admit, I am not always thinking about this type of versatility when creating a new design.  If you are a jewelry designer, do you try to create items that are versatile either regarding colors or transitioning seasons? From a marketing perspective, do you prefer to create lots of neutral pieces or do you design mostly with colors that are trendy, fashionable, etc.?

Rosebud Czech Glass Crystal Necklace

In keeping with spring and Mother's Day, I am featuring this soft feminine design.

Roses are a classic favorite flower and the rosebud Czech glass crystals in this necklace will make this one of your favorites. This is a classically elegant necklace with just a touch of whimsy. The glass crystals are cut in the shape of a rosebud and are a firepolished luster pink. The pink goes through part of the glass and the rest of the glass is clear with a hint of soft green. These unique crystals are separated from one another with small smooth sterling silver beads and small freshwater potato pearls in a complementary rose color. I chose very smooth beads to enhance the carved look of the rosebud beads. It is entrancing to watch the light play off of the rosebud beads.

Rescued Treasures

Most of us are looking for creative ways to economize and save our hard earned dollars. None of us know what will happen next with our jobs, our investments, and our futures. We never really did know those things; we just felt more secure prior to this international economic crisis.

First and foremost I have faith that God is in control, and that he has a plan for each of us. From that perspective I try to look at the adventure and the good in all of this. As I have expressed before, I enjoy searching for quality old jewelry at estate sales and garage sales. I am beginning to create new pieces from the best of the old pieces. These are my "Rescued Treasures". Beads are rescued from a boring life at the bottom of a box or drawer, go through the pain of resuscitation via soap and water, are introduced to brand new youthful beads and findings, and take their places side by side with those new beads and findings, and take on new life in a brand new jewelry creation.

I have only posted a couple of "Rescued Treasures" on my website at this point. Check back often for more.

Leaves of Gold

Fall is coming up very fast here in St. Louis. Normally we have very hot weather well into September, but this year not so. We have had temperatures at night in the 50s with highs in the 70s during the day. I guess that is to be expected after the unseasonably cool spring and summer we have had.

So in keeping with the season, I made this delightful golden necklace that I call "Leaves of Gold". I was looking at color design in a quilt book and decided to try a three color scheme from alternating colors on the color wheel. With this type of color scheme you start with one color on the color wheel, skip a color, use the next color, skip a color and use the next color. I started with the tertiary color yellow-orange for my main color. This is the color of the leaves. Then I selected small beads to complement these leaves in the tertiary colors of yellow-green and blue-green. The design is very symmetrical and is finished with goldplated brass chain.

Color is lots of fun to play with, and I am hoping to come up with more combos that are vibrant like this one is. This necklace is available for purchase through my Plum Beadacious shop on Etsy.

Charming Brass Filigree Flower Necklace

This was another fun project for me. I purchased several of these charming brass filigree flowers and as usual had no idea how I would use them. I just thought they were delightful! So once my creative juices got in gear, I decided flower upon flower would be a great idea. So I took a brass headpin and placed a small blue catseye bead and a green Czech glass flower on it. Green and blue color combinations are one of my favorite color combinations. Then I glued this into the center of the brass filigree flower. After that I took a small brass chain and cut it into smaller segments so I could wire beads between the segments. I used the blue catseye beads there again to coordinate with the one in the flower, then added a few white glass beads, and to pull it all together added some green glass cone shaped beads in a tone similar to the green glass flower in the pendant.

You will see that I added a couple of catseye beads near the clasp at the back of the neck. I have seen other jewelry artists adding small beads at the back, and just love the effect. Hope you do too.

Voila! Creation of a Favorite Necklace!

I had so much fun creating this necklace and matching earrings. I found these large vintage lucite beads on eBay and fell in love with the scrollwork on them. I used to paint on wood and enjoyed Rosemaling and other types of decorative strokework. This reminded me of that. After I bought the beads and had them in that little plastic bag sitting all alone on my work table, my enthusiasm waned for awhile. All I could see is the brown color, and I did not have the slightest idea of what to do with them. Weeks later I started pulling out my various beads. I knew I didn't want everything to be brown. I thought of moukaite. These natural stones come in a variety of muted colors. They are brown, rusty red, soft rose, cream, gray, soft yellow, and other variations. They complemented my large scrollwork beads perfectly. Now, I needed some sparkle. Gotta grab your attention! So I selected some lovely faceted Czech crystal roundels in soft rose pink and pale green with a hint of pink. Sprinkle in some sterling silver beads , and voila - a wonderful unique necklace! As I say about my favorite pieces - It's just Plum Beadacious!

This necklace and the earrings are for sale in my shop. I named them Soft Earth.

Have You Declared Your Independence?

If you are like most women, you probably feel driven by all the tasks and obligations of each day. I know I have certainly felt that way and behaved accordingly.

Did you know if you just step off that treadmill for awhile, and take time to reassess your priorities, the whole world will not fall apart? I know it is hard to do. I have had to do that, not just once, but on multiple occasions.

I recognized that much of what I felt enslaved to was of my own making. I can be my own taskmaster and worst enemy. But I finally realized that if I skipped some of the chores or responsibilities, no-one would be upset or burdened by it. Of course, I am not talking about all of your chores and responsibilities. Choose carefully!

That gave me a whole new perspective on my life and allowed me to start pursuing my own interests. VOILA! My little jewelry business emerged, and is beginning to blossom. Plum Beadacious is a by-product of my new found freedom.

So declare your independence! Open your heart and mind to your creativity! Celebrate you and the freedom God has given to you! HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY - JULY 4, 2008

Results of some of my happy creative moments:

This necklace is one of my all-time favorite. I've made several of these. I have one more of these lampwork beads, and promised myself to make this necklace one more time for me. I really like this style of necklace. With beautiful lampwork beads, this style is one of my best sellers.

Some of my newest creations in my Cottage Garden collection.

Aqua Dream

I just posted my newest creation on my LeAllyson's Creations Etsy shop. I just love making a new design. I wanted to use the aqua faceted glass briolettes. There is something so classy and elegant about briolettes. I purposely allowed the briolettes to take center stage, then the pearls with chain going up and around the back of the neck. I find that necklaces lay better when they are not too bulky as they go around the back of the neck. Then I added a couple of little pearls near the clasp along with a pearl and crystal on the extender. I really like the look of some decoration at the back of the necklace. It makes the picture complete and no detail is overlooked. That what I was striving for here.

When I was making this piece, I was thinking of light colors and summer dresses. It would also look great with white dotted swiss, or something with the aqua color swirled in with other colors. So many feminine blouses are being worn this year. This would go great with one of them. Then when I listed it in my shop, it dawned on me that this would look good with a sweater or soft crepe dress in dark brown, winter white, or deep teal.

Those of you who make and sell your jewelry, do you think of so many possibilities for your little creations? Sometimes I just don't even want to part with my designs once I start visualizing all the ways they can be worn. Then I always remind myself that I can create the piece again and keep it for myself.