Just finished this one today!  

Romantic looking!  Fancy enough to wear with a new dress or with a button down shirt and jeans.

 

Rhinestones,cream colored pearls, peach crystals and agates turned this old rhinestone clip into a gorgeous necklace!

The Promise of Spring  and New Jewelry Designs

 are in the Air!  

 

 This winter I journeyed into the dark hole of chaos once known as my studio and spent hours purging and organizing the mounds of clutter!  I’m almost finished with this monumentous task and can see the light at the end of the tunnel (I think). When I wasn’t cleaning I was scouring old antique shops or browsing through thousands of photos on Etsy looking for just the right pieces. 

 I finally have a great selection of old vintage pieces and can't wait to get started creating my new spring jewelry designs AND  I even have a place to store them now that my studio is organized.

The collage on the right are just a few of the pieces I picked up last week!

I have been looking at Vesta Cases also known as match safes for some time now. I thought I would never own one as they are hard to find and quiet expensive.  I was lucky to find this one at a price I couldn't pass up.  I can't wait to work this into a necklace!  

They were produced extensively between 1830 to 1920.  The early makers of these cases named them after the Roman goddess Vesta who was the deity of fire.   During that time period almost everyone carried one so they could light stoves, lanterns and other fueled devices.  The wealthy of society had ornate match safes made of gold or silver, while the common folk had ones made of tin or brass.  The more ornate the case, the more money it commands in today's market.  The one I purchased is made of silver and I'm thrilled to finally own one of these rare finds.

My other great find last week was this metal art nouveau repousse' pin.  I won't even tell you what this cost but I had to have her!   What a beautiful piece this is and she has such a pretty face. She is from the 1800's and I have no plans to alter her but do plan to cast her later on so that I can make reproductions of her to use in my jewelry line.

I would love to post a picture of everything I found last week during my hours of treasure hunting but you'll just have to wait till I get them worked up into new up-cycled designs. I'm off to my studio to work on a new piece and will post pictures as I get them finished!