Something Thrifty, Vintage and Sparkles

First I want to say a "Great Big Thank You", for all the nice comments on my post about the jewelry I create. It is something I enjoy doing and nice to know others appreciate it also.
Also - "Welcome" to the new Readers (followers) that have joined in - I will try not to ramble to much.

Remember this messy spot on my dining table from a previous post ?
Oooops ! Well...It kinda grew, and it continued to grow. Pretty messy - Huh ?!? Good thing I don't have a wide view lens on my camera as it would show a bigger mess. I started working on a necklace several days ago, and ended up making a different one, gluing some pieces together for future projects, sorting and taking inventory of supplies I already have to work with, etc. Kinda like going on a treasure hunt, as found bits and pieces I forgot that I had.

Finally got around to making the necklace I started days ago. The pendant is made from the handle of a vintage spoon or fork. No, I did not make the pendant (would have if had the tools needed) - bought a couple of them a while back at a a bead show. The charm with the flower is the thrifty part of the necklace, as I bought it at a junk store a couple of years ago for 50 cts. The rhinestone balls sparkle ( from the same bead show - different time), but they are hard to photograph with the camera I have.

Click picture to enlarge.

I may go back and add another chain, and maybe I can get a better picture then.
But for now, I had to break down and clean the table off , as will need a place for people to gather around the table to enjoy some good food and drink, and "Chit Chat". So supplies are packed back up and sitting in their corner once again.


Linking up with Linda @ "Nifty Thrifty Tuesday"
Leigh @ "Thrifty Thursday"
Cindy @ "Show and Tell Friday"
Diann @ "Thrifty Things Friday"

Hope everyone is having a great week!
Glenda

Do You Sell the Jewelry You Make?

That question has popped up on occasion over the years, and I have received some emails from some fellow bloggers inquiring as to if I was interested in selling some pieces I have made. I am pretty sure I have answered all inquiries.
Answer: As of this very second - I do not.

A little history how I got started repurposing jewelry: I was repurposing/recreating vintage jewelry long before it was a "popular thing to do".
Someone gave my daughter a box of vintage jewelry to play dress up with, back in the mid 80's. She never really cared anything about it - main reason, she did not play dress up very much. I sat down one day and started looking at the different pieces - lots of huge, old, blingie (is that a word ?) type earrings, and decided some of them would look good as a broach. Off to the craft store, and bought some pin backs and glue - and that was the beginning of my obsession with repurposing old/vintage jewelry/found objects. I made some broaches and necklaces, wore some to work, and gave some of them away (daughters had no interest in them). Did not put a lot of time into doing it, as I worked full time, and had children and a household to take care of.

I could not find the box of jewelry one day - somewhere down the road it disappeared. I think I know what might have happened. Lets just say I went on a major "clean out" binge one day years ago. Usually when I did something like that, a yardsale was in the near future, but if I remember correctly, I was not in a great mood that day. It may have been in a container I did not check if anything was inside, that hit the curb. Make note - Always recheck the contents of everything, when you "just know" they are empty, etc. before putting on curb. I was disappointed as there was quiet a bit left to work with.

I started accumulating pieces again, buying at the flea market, junk stores, etc. I use to go to the flea market often back then. Many of the vendors that had things like that would just have it in shallow boxes, on trays, in a pile, etc. with a sign 25 or 50cts., $1, etc. each. Those were the "good ole" days, because now since it is a popular thing to do - well you know "supply and demand".

Anyway - I continued to repurpose off and on - more off than on. Then when I stopped working, I started pulling out the supplies more often.

Oooops! Sorry - Started to ramble a bit.......
Back to the original question: So, as of this very second - No I don't. To be honest, I am very flattered that anyone would even ask.
I have made a list of the "pros and cons" of selling and so far the "cons" have won in my situation. It made me tired just making out a list of all the things I would need to do just to get started.
However.....As they say - never say never ! I have been known to change my mind before. I have kept a list of those that have inquired, and will continue to work on the "pros and cons" list.

Have a great week !
Glenda

ETA: My daughters that had no interest in the "box of bling" back then? Well...Lets just say - when they, and some of the grands come to visit these days, more often than not they go out the door with a another necklace or bracelet on. Makes me Happy !

Started One Thing but Finished Another

I started out gathering supplies to make a necklace with a pendant made from a vintage piece of flatware, got sidetracked (what is new),
and started working on a different one. The end result...............
The abalone piece was part of a bracelet at one time. I bought the broken bracelet at a yardsale years ago and honestly do not remember what I paid for it - couldn't have been to much. Took it apart and ended up with 3 of the abalone pendant/charms, and just now doing something with one of them. The cross came from a bead show - think I paid $3 for a pkg. of 3, added a few glass beads, put on a chain and called it done.

Anyone that reads my blog very often knows that I have a tendency to get sidetracked often.
That is why my "To Do" lists are so long.

Linking up with: Diann @ "Thrifty Things Friday"
Cindy @ "Show and Tell Friday"

Have a great weekend and stay cool!
Glenda

Dab of This and That

This week started off with a bang ! Another line of severe storms rolled thru yesterday afternoon. Lost electricity 3 different times, but consider myself fortunate as according to the outage map there are still over 7000 without power in the area this afternoon - lots of wind damage. An elderly neighbor called and said she was afraid. I tried to reassure her, and I did not tell her I was afraid also. Had a lot of tree debris to clean up afterwards, and the wind and rain stripped a lot of the blooms off my flowers. These storms are making me weary.

Look what I got in the mail today !! Christine @ christinewallacevintagejewelry.blogspot.com had a giveaway for one of her beautiful necklaces and guess who won ?!?! ME !!! :-D
Look at this package - you know there is going to be something wonderful inside,
and there is.....
Thank You again Christine - I just love my beautiful necklace

Other things going on, but nothing to "write home about".
Have a great week!
Glenda

Summer Time - Trip Down Memory Lane

The last of my Mother's Day flowers - picture taken 5/20. They are long gone now - but a beautiful memory. Gotta have a picture for each post ya know!
The schools are out for the Summer in my area now, and the children are planning their Summer activities. Summers now days are so different from when I was growing up (I know - many years ago).

A Trip Down Memory Lane: Next to my parents house, there was a wooded area and on the other side of that red clay hills and a cow pasture. That is where my siblings, myself, and neighborhood children played every Summer for many years. We built forts, playhouses, climbed trees, swung from vines and took many chances that we as parents and grandparents now caution our children/grandchildren about. No one worried about us back then as we played in the woods barefooted, and slid down red clay hills on cardboard boxes. Not taken to the doctor for stitches when my brother ran from a bull, slid under a barbwire fence and cut back of ear, or when I cut side of foot (still have the scar) on a shovel. Not to mention the time I fell out of the tree (on my head no less - OK! You can stop laughing now), and my Sister asked me what I had for lunch to determine if I was OK !!! WOW!!! What a way to do a medical diagnosis !!!!
What did I have for lunch that day ?!?!
I remember !!!!!! - A bologna sandwich! Fried baloney (not sure mine was fried that day) on white bread and yellow mustard - a lunch time staple. We usually had what was called rag bologna, as the casing was made from some type of cloth with a wax/paraffin coating on it, and tasted so much better than the presliced/packaged stuff. The butcher sliced it fresh for you and the thickness you wanted. I have not eaten bologna in so many years, I don't remember the last time, and don't know if you can still buy that kind or not.

What was our snacks between meals? More often than not - leftover cold biscuits from breakfast and made a sandwich of left over bacon (on a good day), thin sliced onion and mustard. That was everyday fare for me, but I had a neighborhood friend that loved biscuit snacks at my house. I suspect my arteries were clogged before I started school.

My friend's older brother played trumpet and I remember during the Spring and Summer months when windows were open, he would practice late afternoon and early evening hours, and the neighborhood enjoyed his talent.

When blackberries came into season, we were told to put on long sleeve shirts (to keep chiggers off) and pick blackberries on the fence line - which meant blackberry cobbler and if got enough - some jam. Do you want to know what happened one year when I decided to get a sun tan and wore a halter top instead of protecting against chiggers while picking!!!! Oh ! OK !! I did not think so.

No one seemed to worry about us, and our tummies told us when to go home for lunch or dinner time, and we knew one thing for sure "You better be home before dark".

Just a trip down memory lane - How times have changed !
Glenda
ETA: Just did a little google work - It seems that kind of bologna is still made. I some how have the feeling it doesn't taste like it did back in the day.

What to do on a Very Hot Day ?

You stay inside - don't do anything you should be doing - instead pull out jewelry supplies and play! Things get messy !!!
Looking pretty good ??!!?! No........ Something is wrong here ????
Some extra countries appear to have popped up South/SW of the US and Mexico. Oooops !! The tiny globes were victims of water damage and it appears they developed rust spots that appear to be recently developed countries in that area. Don't know why I did not notice that until saw it in the pictures.

The globe is one of a pair as they were remnants of earrings, so switched them out. There is no longer the strange developed countries, but it seems the equator has developed a little rust! Oh well - We will just say it adds a vintage touch.





After I took the pictures, I switched the chain out and used a black one instead of the gun-metal one - just seems to work better.

So............ what do you do on days when it is to hot to go outside and play ?
Linking up with Cindy @ "Show and tell Friday"

Hope you are having a great week and staying cool!
Glenda

ETA: One of our blogging friends and her town/community in Mass. needs our "Thoughts and Prayers".

Not a Lot of Pictures From Road Trip

I think I have broken my record for taking the most bad pictures within a few days time. I finally took the time to go thru the ones I took last weekend and what a mess. I must have had the camera on the wrong setting for the ones I took on that Saturday, as almost all of them were out of focus.
These are some I took another day while just roaming around the area. A marina across the highway from where I was staying.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Did not have to rough it to much - cabin where I stayed......
Could not get good pictures inside - most of them were darker than these.
Shared the cabin with this young lady. She is such a good dog, but sent my allergies into chaos .



Not a lot to share. Most of the other pictures have people in them and I did not get their permission to post their "mugs" on my blog - so better not. :-D It was a good trip and got to see some people I have not seen in quiet a while. But as always - Good to be back home.

Linking up with Mary @ "Mosaic Monday"
and Susan @ "Outdoor Wednesday"

This next week's forecast !!!! Think I will be spending a lot of time inside - Maybe I will get something done for a change. Maybe !

Actually, I think "they" said we hit 99 later this afternoon.
Stay cool !
Glenda