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?

Frog Fun

Frogs are fun and can bring a smile to my face. We have been collecting different decorative frogs for the last 10 years or so.  Not that we go overboard, we get one or two new ones each year.  Most of them stay outside.  But a few have found their way into the house to add a little humor here and there.

My husband is the one who started this, but I get a lot of fun out of it as well.  We are always finding cute frogs at Hobby Lobby.  Here's a set we found this spring.  They live out on our deck by the flower pots.

The sweet potato vines are always trying to cover them.  Or then maybe the frogs want to hide.  Who knows?

Ergonomics and Beading

I never gave much thought to the ergonomics of beading,wire wrapping, and other detail work.  That all changed when I took a bad fall almost four weeks ago and severely sprained my left wrist and injured my forearm.  I have been going to occupational therapy, doing exercises at home, and wearing a brace on my left arm.

I am improving, but it takes so long.  My grip is still weak. I have been making jewelry, but not as much in the last four weeks.  I am trying to pay attention to how I hold my hands and fingers, and taking care to stop after awhile to rest and stretch.   

Here is one of the lanyards I made recently while I have been babying my left wrist. Sold right away.  YAY!

Beaded ID Lanyards for the Office

Do you wear a lanyard to work?  Are you required to wear your id badge each and every day the full time you are at work?  Do you ever get tired of wearing it?

I wear an id badge to work everyday, and although I completely understand the need for it, I get a bit tired of wearing one everyday.  Perhaps that is because I don't wear a uniform.  I like to add jewelry to my outfits and find it hard to wear a nice necklace and an id badge.

As many of you know I have been designing, making, and selling beaded id badge lanyards for over a year.  I have enjoyed doing this and selling them to lots of people. I have made them in many different colors.  I have lanyards made with resin flower beads, polymer clay beads, Czech glass beads, and semi-precious stones.  Sometimes I make them with chain and colorful beads at places along the chain.

However, what about the need for a simple easy to wear lanyard that goes with anything, and allows the wearer to add a beautiful necklace along with the lanyard?  You want the lanyard to be elegant, simple, and timeless, but not the center of attention.  In response to my own desire for this, and hopefully to my customers, I am developing a new line of "Simple" lanyards.  I just posted the first two of those, and more will follow.

I will continue to create colorful fun lanyards, but now you can purchase a basic but beautiful lanyard to wear when you dress for work without giving much thought to how it coordinates with you choice of clothing that day.  I would love to know if you like these first two, and if you have ideas for what you would like to see in the future.  

How about simple id badge reels?  Are you looking for that also?

Orange Energy - Return from the Blogless

I have been away from this blog for far too long.  It's a beautiful Sunday morning over a long weekend, and I am ready to share again on this blog.

Orange is an exciting, energizing, refreshing color. Madlena Gocheva created this beautiful Etsy treasury to wake us up on this Sunday morning.  She features all kinds of lovely orange items from a fine art painting of orange poppies that just glow to a baby headband with a lovely orange flower.  And she was so kind to include my orange lucite flower ring.  Take a look at this fine collection below.

Blue Flower Antiqued Brass Filigree Victorian Style Hair Comb, Nickel Free

This romantic Victorian style hair comb displays a lovely blue resin dahlia flower on a filigree antiqued brass comb. Place this in you hair for a dressy event or to wear with a light weight outfit in the spring or summer.



The comb is 2 1/4"(5.7 cm) across and 2"(5.1 cm) from top to bottom of the teeth. It is made from nickel free antiqued brass.

Aqua Necklace Glass Briolettes, Freshwater Pearls, Sterling Silver

Soft and dreamy, this lovely aqua and white necklace will bring a smile to your face and admiring glances from others. I thoroughly enjoyed designing and handcrafting this necklace.



Five beautiful faceted aqua glass briolettes adorn the front of this necklace. These are complemented by white freshwater pearls, aqua Czech glass faceted crystals, and sterling silver beads.