jewelry roundup 6

This afternoon i am having my first photo shoot for the NikCo Etsy store (re-opening October 10, 2012).  It was going to be on Tuesday, but we were rained out.
Excited, but trepidatious since i have never done anything like this before, I've been distracting myself all morning by cleaning. After a trip to the dump i decided to work on cleaning out my photo files as there are almost 900 pictures in there being edited and categorized for blogging [not Niki hyperbole; with Alaska and Vegas both in the works, it is real] and realized that it is way past time for another jewelry roundup.
Let's dive right in with a pin that I bought in New Oeleans in 2002 with Chris, Christina and ScoPi that you really need to have the right occasion to wear:

Why yes, that is a crayfish playing the trumpet and it was perfect for Hot August Blues.
You know how much i love it when things perfectly match up like that,

or like the day when i realized i still had these blue bead hoop earrings from 1988 that are almost the same exact beads as this crazy clip-on from the 60's. It was so matchy-matchy (which i love) that a boy even noticed - thanks, Will.

Speaking of unusual clip-ons, I found these blackened white floral oval things at Objects Found last winter. I have no idea what they are made out of; it feels harder than resin, but more pliable than stone. Intrigued, i bought them for $1.

 These beautiful silver floral circles were inherited from a great aunt on my dad's side years ago. There is an amazing bracelet that matched that i wore almost every day of 8th grade, but it needs a tricky repair so it stayed in the jewelry box this day.

I really like this kinda shabby cream painted leaf cluster that i found for $1.50, but i'm not so sure any more about that hairdo...



Flowers are always a favorite for me and i broke out several big ones recently:

I can only imagine the level of ugliness of the 80's blouse that was the original home for the burgundy fabric flower; it makes a far better hair accent, especially since it was free.
The vintage blue painted enamel flower was inherited this spring. I am so honored that Kate shared her precious mom's things with me and i think of Cass whenever i wear any of the pieces.
Since i was trying to wear every piece i owned in one year i avoided buying as much new stuff as i normally would, but i could not resist the blue rhinestone flower on the right. It is breathtaking in person with regular rhinestones, moonstones and AB crystals. A pricey $12 i was able to talk it down to $8 which is a lot for me to pay for one piece, but i love, love, love it.

And here's more love - literally:
Douglas gave me this fun bracelet on the next to last day of the cruise and it is pictured here in our room in Vegas with the wee Eiffel Tower in the background.
While were in Vegas he bought me this wonderful Hello Kitty crystal ring.

 I'm not gonna lie, Douglas was a bit confused as to why i'd prefer this $22 beauty over a Chihuly vase (which was breathtakingly beautiful and made me almost weep when he offered to buy it for me), but the truth is that it makes me smile every time i  put it on and the light is dazzling dancing across it.
The other ring pictured is a bronze creation made by my former TSP partner Brian. When he first started apprenticing as a bronzesmith he'd bring me pieces to evaluate; he thought the little joints on it were flaws, but i thought it gave it character so he let me keep it. Later he gifted me a "better" version that i also love, but i tend to wear this one more.
I can't remember if i mentioned before that my Grandma Craig collected butterfly pins and when she died i inherited a few of them, including the cool silver one on the left that has jointed wings.

 Ever since she passed in 2004 i find myself drawn to butterfly pins and add to my own collection like with the small Mexican sterling and shell beauty on the right that was only marked $2 for some reason; i can only imagine that whomever priced it didn't realize what they had. Score for me!

It is unfortunate that the pics for this hair/jewelry extravaganza did not capture the overall effect i think i created by mixing several different styles of vintage pink and white clip-ons scattered throughout my head. Though different designs, the stone materials are exactly the same and mayhaps even from the same designer which makes them a fun non-matching match.

As always, blue was a popular jewelry accent this round. The big silver and baby blue pin on the left is one of my favorite acquisitions; it was missing a bunch of stones so i got it for free and over time i have found all but one of the original stones in subsequent "broken jewelry" bags.

The top pic was also a great save; missing several stones i got it for 50 cents, popped out all the stones, rearranged them and added a few from my magic bottle. Bet if you zoomed in on the pic you can't even tell where i did the repairs. Man, i love redesigning jewelry!
The turquoise chip clip-on fastened at the base of my side pony did not need any repair work, but it has been patiently waiting for about 4 years for me to wear it.

Finally, we'll end with this vintage white necklace.
Big oval pendants like this were popular in the 70's, but i've never seen one that had beads in the chain. In fact, it looks exactly like necklaces i've designed before cause i love the look of  mixing beading and chains, so image my joy at discovering it at the National Road yard sale last year for one big dollar.