Before I jump into this morning’s post I wanted to give you a quick update from yesterday, or as I’m referring to it, “holy shit, what the fuck was that?” Both training sessions were very well attended and went pretty smoothly. My lovely colleague, K, was amazing as always. The other two made asses of themselves, as I figured they would. My boss put in a cursory appearance at the morning session and then left me to my own devices. It was splendid.
At any rate, I pulled it off like a pro and then went home and collapsed. Josh was kind enough to make dinner and Evie Cat was kind enough not to puke on anything. I relaxed by cleaning out a drawer and a portion of my desk. (y’all knew I’d do something odd like that) And now, on with the show…
I have pretty eclectic taste in most things, and in jewelry my taste is sometimes downright odd (go figure). So Mom suggested that for one of my Top 10 posts I share with y’all my 10 favorite pieces and the stories behind them. Here we go, in no particular order… (pardon my shitty photography skills!)
This little Santa is a brooch that I made out of Sculpey oven bake clay. I found the pattern somewhere the one year and made a whole mess of them for family and friends. He’s only about 2″ across. I’m not sure if anyone else still has their pins, but I suspect this fella is in such good shape because I never wear him.
This is a lampwork glass necklace pendant I purchased from Etsy. It’s got flowers and purple stuff, it was made by hand, and you’ll never see another like it. It is rather heavy, but I get a ton of compliments on it. I generally put it on a flexible silver collar.
This lovely little gem is another necklace pendant in amethyst and silver. I picked this up in a funky little shop up in Madison, WI while I was there at a professional conference for work. It also goes on the silver collar and is quite striking.
Hmm, another necklace pendant that goes on the silver collar! Damn, I am predictable. However, this is blue. A good deal of my jewelry is purple or just silver. This fellow, that I picked up in the beading section of Michael’s (a craft store we have here) for just a few dollars, looks amazing with the rare blue pieces I have in my clothing wardrobe. And I am just as fond of costume jewelry as I am the expensive stuff. Actually, probably more fond of it – I can buy more if it’s less expensive.
This is a crystal necklace I made for myself eons ago, and this picture does not do it justice at all. The center crystal, and most of the bits, were reclaimed from vintage pieces. There is no actual setting for it – everything is tied together in a special way with a heavy duty fishing line. It has the most amazing sparkle to it, partially because the crystals have an aurora borealis treatment on them that make it look like they’re coated in a rainbow. Amazingly lovely.
These are handmade Tibetan Silver earrings that I picked up on a birthday shopping trip with my sister’s in law many moons ago – when I was still married to Rob. I think they were from a little shop in Weston, MO, but I can’t remember for sure. They’re heavy as hell and totally gorgeous.
This beautiful little rose is another brooch. I picked it up at one of the local Renaissance Faires probably a good 10 years ago. I was told that the bud is amber and the stem is silver. Possibly. I remember paying a decent price for it, so who knows. But the detail is magnificent.
I’m quite proud of this set as I assembled it all myself. The fancy earring bits are higher end findings that came from a special bead store. The flower components in the necklace came from the craft store, as did the purple crystals. All of the crystal components had to be wrapped by hand. It took awhile, but it’s the perfect length on me and it’s just so pretty.
This little box is one of the niftiest things evah! That silver bit is a ring that comes apart. All of those square sparkly bits are Swarovski crystals that are the perfect size to fit on that ring. I can match my ring to any outfit in my wardrobe. I’ve taken to wearing this again (it pre-dates Josh) instead of my actual wedding ring because it fits a little better and it is more flexible from a fashionista point of view.
If you’re thinking to yourself, “that doesn’t look like just one piece!” you’re right. This is an assortment of predominantly old crystal pieces that my grandmother left me when she passed. This is mostly earrings and necklaces. One of these days I need to get in there and see what all I’ve got and what could best be done with these treasures. But knowing that I still have this bit of her, in a box marked “Goddess” no less, is comforting.
What are your favorite pieces of jewelry?
There’s a new challenge/group thing/whatever the hell you want to call it. I kind of had the idea, Diana really liked it, I don’t have enough time, so she’s running with it. If you’re interested, she’s got the details over yonder. I’m going to make this one of my creative things for the week. Feel free to steal the banner. (this is one of my favorites)
Mental in the Midwest 
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