Sandy's Treasures

Recently I sat down with a friend of mine who wanted to share with me some of her mother's treasures.  It was a wonderful couple of hours going through pins, watches and bracelets and listening to her stories.  

These are some of the items that I will have the pleasure of re-creating into other pieces of jewelry.

Thank you, Sandy.

Until then.......think creatively!

Mesh Chatelaine Purses

From the last two trips I made to Paris, I have been fortunate enough to find small mesh chatelaine purses at the Marché aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves. 

A very nice vendor indicated three boar's heads on the frame of one of the mesh purses I wanted to purchase.....I knew little about them but loved the look and feel of them.  The boar's heads indicated the fineness of 800 or more on on the purse.  I did a little research and came up with the following.

Taken from www.modernsilver.com  

On French silver jewelry, the most often-seen mark is the boar’s head, the mark of the Paris Assay Office, indicating a fineness of 800 or higher on small articles (such as jewelry). This mark was in use from 1838 to 1961. Outside of Paris, the crab mark was used from 1838 to 1961, and since 1962, has also been used by the Paris Assay Office.

After 1838, a maker’s mark in a lozenge (diamond shape with four equal sides) was also required on French gold, silver and platinum. According to Tardy, the lozenge shape itself was introduced in 1797, but it is not clear if there were any regulations about its use at that time.

I also have a purse with the lozenge and three boar's heads. The frame's on these mesh purses can have beautiful and interesting designs. Some have a "kiss clasp" inside.

I was finally inspired to make a necklace from one of my purses when I saw Christine Wallace's beautiful piece in the Autumn 2011 Jewelry Affaire magazine. 



I would love to know the women who used these small purses....what stories they could probably tell us.

Until then.....stay inspired!

Isn't She Lovely???

A new member recently joined my jewelry team.  She is fast becoming friends with the other members of the team....Margot and Babbette.  She's become a valuable asset in such a short time.  Plus she's just a lot of fun!  Her name is Mireille which means to admire.  And I do.  Mireille loves to display my jewelry and is very photogenic.  She also adds a bit of ooh la la to my bead studio!
 

I want to thank a fellow student of Deryn Mentock's online class...An Alchemy of Found Objects for providing the source of Miereille.  She's wonderful when testing your necklaces and how they will look on someone...is there balance?....does something turn the wrong way?....that kinda stuff.  

Until then.....keep creating!!! 

This Brooch does Double Duty!!!

 They're both pretty awesome brooches (well at least I think so), but the brooch on the right was more awesome than I thought it was when I purchased it at a local antique shop. When you turn it over you can see that the pin part of the brooch is also a frame for what becomes two shoe clips. Pretty kewl, huh? I've not seen anything like this before but maybe it's more common than I'm aware of.  Not sure what I will do with it but it was an interesting find.

Until then.....keep shopping for the unusual!! 

The Third Reveal -- It's Here, It's Here!!!!

I saw the mailman and I thought one of those has just GOT to be for me!  And I was so excited when one of those boxes had my name on it from my partner, Kay Mallery. There it was....a box all taped up just waiting for me to tear into it.

I've been given some really kewl bead soup........

Vintage Findings, Beads, Czech Glass, MOP

 But I had to take another pic to show off the awesome vintage rhinestone pin that Kay sent along with that very French box it's laying on.

Vintage Rhinestone Pin, Sardonyx chunky beads and Tourmalated Quartz

But WAIT......there's more more more~~~~~lampwork beads that Kay has made herself.  And look at all those colors. Green's that represent the lushness of Oregon's Willamette Valley, shades of Blue off Oregon's rocky Pacific coast, and the Amber's that are all the shades of sand the ocean splashes up on.

Kay's Lampwork Beads

Well, I better get busy thinking about what I'm going to do with all this bead soup goodness I've been given.....time to get creative!  Thanks, Kay, for your beautiful bead soup.

Until then........let the creative juices flow!!!

The Second Reveal...It gave me a Challenge!

It's taken me a few days but I think I got it......Kay's Bead Soup, that is.....I put a few extra little touches to her Soup that I hope Kay will enjoy.....

and here it is 

You didn't really think I was going to show you, did you?  But I just left a small hint.....

Until then......relax and enjoy!

The Alchemy of Objects

Deryn Mentock is offering an online class called The Alchemy of Objects.  I'm very excited to be taking this class and learning techniques to include my vintage jewelry and objects along with my costume jewelry in future designs.

You may also want to check out her new book The Jewelry Maker's Design Book, An Alchemy of Objects.

Deryn offers a weekly challenge in this online class.  I hope to be able to participate in a couple of these challenges but my main focus is technique.  Hopefully I will have a beautiful piece of jewelry from my found objects to post in the future.

Until then......Keep Focused!!!