Vintage Treasures Jewelry

Monday, January 9, 2017

Studio reorganization

I have been working on destashing my hoard since last Fall. I was making progress then a friend of mine gave me all of her beads ( the plastic bins on the floor ) Yippee for more beads 😊

Friday, January 6, 2017

I have my bead "Studio" completely torn apart at the moment as I am reorganizing, destashing, and cleaning out 20 years worth of hoarded beads. I am trying to decide how to move the extra beads and whatnot along..maybe a destash sale or something like that will be coming in the future :)

Here are a few projects I completed over the last few months

And a current work in progress

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Mystery Challenge #2 Reveal

Mystery Challenge #2 Reveal

For this Challenge I was truly stumped. What on earth could I make with blue and yellow beads?

I happened to be digging through the many layers of my stash in an effort to destash some of it (where did all these beads come from???) and I found some kits that I purchased years ago from French General. I had bought a necklace and bracelet kit in colors inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night....and never made anything with them.

So I guess this should be better titled "Oh my goodness I am actually using beads from my Hoard."

Paint the Stars: Yellow lampwork glass - Sabine Dittrich, Polymer clay rondelles - Humblebeads, Paint the Stars bead - Swoondimples, Owl pendant - Andrew Thorton

Starry Night set

Vintage glass beads and cabochons - French General

I hope you enjoyed my foray into bright happy colors :)

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Luna Moth Challenge Reveal

Allegory Gallery - Luna Moth Challenge

For once I was ahead of the game here, I had the package opened and 2 things made before I even sorted through all of the beads in this lovely kit. Apparently soft, ethereal green is just my thing!

I patinaed and applied swarovski rhinestones to to this Vintaj butterfly pendant, then added more holes along the sides for this multistrand bracelet. Oddly enough, it reminds me of a scene from the Hunger Games (book, not movie) where a moth lands on Katniss's wrist while she is sitting inside the cave.

These little jade? butterfly beads screamed earrings at me! Here they are paired with some topaz crystal drops from Bird Tail Beads.

I dug deep into the depths of my stash for this pendant, It was one of the first things I bought when I started beading on a more regular basis (aka 2004 ish)

I went a little rustic with this pendant - from Green Girl Studios - that I have been drooling over -forever. It was in my stash for less than a week before getting made up into this necklace. The clasp is made with a vintage milk glass button.

I have had a love/hate relationship with waxed linen thread. Here, it cooperated with me. Yay! Something simple and sweet to accompany the pendant by Andrew Thornton.

I still have some beads left from this kit...I keep wanting to get them back out but have other projects to move on to for now.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Tribes Challenge Reveal

Allegory Gallery Tribes Challenge - Forest Tribe

I had several ideas running though my head for this focal, however, I came across a beautiful piece in Belle Armoire Jewelry Magazine by Susan A. Ray and had a light bulb moment.

I used the waxed linen cording and glass beads from the kit to make a beaded strap on each side of the pendant. I distressed a Vintaj Arte Metal owl charm to go with the stunning handmade polymer clay pendant by Andrew Thornton. I created a wire frame to go around the pendant, weaving beads from the kit into it. I added a knotted fringe at the bottom that includes recycled sari silk, silk ribbon, leather scrap, chain, and an assortment of beads and charms from the kit and my hoard. I had an blast creating this necklace!

Here is Soars with Owls -

Pendant detail -

Strap detail -

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Mystery Challenge #1/Starling Wing Challenge

Howdy Folks!

Well, my blog got behind again but boy have I been beading up a storm (in between work, fishing, and hiking!)

Mystery Challenge #1 Reveal date 5/19/16 -
The beads in this kit were beautiful...but Purple and Orange just did not call to me. I kept chipping away at it though and I am pretty happy with the results

Starling Wing Challenge Reveal date 6/2/16 -
As soon as I opened the box to this kit and saw the focal I knew exactly what I wanted to make - a bead embroidered pendant with renaissance look. I still have TONS of beads left from the kit (and I picked up an extra baggie of the bead mix) so hopefully I can dig them out again on a rainy day and play some more :)

Now back to work on the 3 kits I have all over my desk....(Luna, Tribes, and Mystery #2)

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Bead Peeps Swap N Hop 2016

Welcome Bead Peeps!

My Partner for this swap was Cat La Vite of Dry Gulch Beads and Jewelry. Please made sure to check out her Blog and Dry Gulch Etsy Shop

Here are the beads I sent:

I had so much fun creating with these beads! The colors are right up my alley. The dragonfly pendant was a bit of a challenge as I wanted it to stand out and any beads I tried pairing with it seems to make it fade into the background. I ended up going super simple and loving the result.
Here are the beads I received:

I spent 2 weekends at the ocean - inspiring the Sea Spray set. My coffee table is not the best background but the necklace is SUPER long (it can even be worn as a belt!). I had a lot of fun making the tassels. They remind me of jellyfish in a way.

Sea Spray necklace: Crackle glass and gold chinese crystals are from the swap beads. I added vintage czech glass beads, pearls embedded with Swarovski crystals, vintage mother of pearl beads, vintage bead caps, vintage filigree beads and matte sea glass rounds. I used a variety of fibers and silk thread to create the tassels.

Tassel Detail

Sea Spray earrings

And bracelet

I love this Steampunk dragonfly pendant! I wanted to keep the necklace simple so it would shine. The brass chain and clasp are vintage. All the beads used are from the swap. The pendant was made by Cat:

I was so happy the chains cooperated with me!

I actually finished this set on Saturday 5/14 (talk about crunch time!) as I was enjoying a nice rain storm.
Singing in the Rain: Vintaj brass (leaf, ring, and bead caps), polymer clay birdie, nest, and rondelles are from Heather Powers of Humble Beads, Peruvian blue opal ovals, czech glass leaves, and vintage glass beads. The gold chinese crystals, the lucite leaves and the handmade lampwork flowers were from the swap.

The lampwork flowers were made by Jennifer of Dry Gulch. I must have more of them...in many colors...