Give Away on Teresa McFayden's ezine!

Ok, I almost had to squeal a little as I typed that title. I am going to be offering one of my bracelets on Teresa McFayden's newest ezine! Yippeeeeee! It comes out in two weeks and I am soooo excited. She is one of my favorite artists and I love that she uses vintage stuff to make her art. Here is a link to her blog...
http://teresamcfayden.typepad.com/minutia/
I will post pictures of the bracelet as soon as I get it made. Good thing I ordered that HUGE lot of vintage buckles yesterday...

Spring Has Arrived (Almost)

Mardi Gras is over and Lent has begun. We arrived home from New Orleans day before yesterday, missing the city and it's wonderful early spring weather. But, luckily we had an early messenger of spring waiting for us...

Ooooh, How I Love Ebay.

Yesterday there was a treat of a package in my mailbox. I had won an auction of vintage holy medals and catholic ephemera last week and now it's here! The lot was HUGE. I thought I would share some of the highlights with you.

Holy Medals














and Ephemera
















I don't know what it is about pieces like this, but they are so beautiful. They have a soft look about them and there is such a sense of history. They just make me happy. Oh, and not to mention the flurry of creativity that they have inspired! I made a pair of earrings last night and three necklaces are now in the works.




















And then there are all of the collages to be made with the ephemera. This should keep me busy for at least a couple of days...

It's Finally Open - My Etsy Store!

After weeks of hard work, I can finally say that the Etsy store is up and running. I only have five pieces listed, but about 12 more in the works, so I should have a good selection in about a week. I'm so excited! I keep checking the counter that lets me know how many people have looked at each piece and it makes me so happy. This has been too much fun. Thank goodness for my Mom's help. She has been wonderful at proof reading and giving her opinion on items and wording. And poor Mike having to listen to me go on and on about this! Thanks, honey for all your support.

The Sophie Bracelet (above)

This bracelet is made of a vintage buckle that I already owned. The charms hanging from the clasp are an old black button with a rhinestone, a vintage holy medal, and crystals.

The Lena Necklace (above)

This necklace is very different from anything I've made so far. The bright orange beads and the wonderful vintage key were the inspiration. It's very long, and has a wide variety of beads in olive, light aquamarine and orange. I have recently found lots of antique brass chain, and this is the first piece I made using it.

The Gracie Necklace (above)

I love the look of freshwater pearls and leather together. Put those together with a faceted aquamarine gemstone and crystals and I am just a happy girl.

The Ella Necklace (above)

Before I started making this, I knew I wanted to use this holy medal and these watch fob pieces together. I got the watch fob several years ago at an estate sale and have always thought it was beautiful. Normally I hate taking vintage pieces apart. But since it was broken, I had a little easier time. This is another necklace that features pearls and crystals mixed with leather cord.

The Emma Necklace (above)

This necklace is named for my first cat, "The divine Miss Em". She was a Lynx Pointe Siamese and so pretty. So it was the perfect choice for the name of this necklace. And it was the first piece I made to sell in the store. It features a charming old crucifix from a rosary I took apart and another vintage holy medal. The light olive, aqua and chocolate brown colors remind me of spring.