Wherein We Discover Keys To Treasure and Give Thanks for Mature Children and Antihistamines

A couple of hours this weekend were spent poking around in a lovely antique mall -- rummaging around in dusty, rusty, mildewy, sneezy piles of fabulousness.

Thus the thanks for the antihistamine.

Though I've found beads in this store in the past, there weren't really any this time around. But there were still some things that made me squeal. Out loud.

Thus the thanks for mature children. My daughter, who was shopping with me, has apparently reached the age where her mother squealing in public no longer sends her into spasms of mortification.


In fact, she squealed with me when I found this great box of dominoes. I don't think they've got any great age on them - 30 or 40 years is my guess because they're not plastic - but they're very cool. Look at the great dragon on the back!


She also helped pick out keys.


There were so many more, but for once we behaved ourselves and acted responsibly....kind of.


I haven't done a lot of found-object work, but it's something I have been itching to explore more. These seem to be the perfect raw materials for some play. What would you do with these?

Wherein I Commune With Fleas, Fall in Love, Heed a Call From the Universe, and Pay It Forward

First, you should know that I don't go to flea markets too often. I enjoy them and I absolutely love antique stores, but the time needed to pore through the mounds of treasures (while avoiding the less than fabulous junk that really may carry fleas), is not usually abundant in my weekends.

Today, though, the time was right, and there was a flea market at the fair grounds. I casually mentioned it to my husband, and he agreed to go with me.

Okay, this was a sign from heaven. The fact that my husband was willing to give up a portion of a rare free weekend to go digging through flea market goodies was either a sign that hell was freezing over or that I might, just might, find something wonderful.

So we went. We browsed. We communed with the fleas and their marketers. It was all pretty disappointing, frankly. Until on our way out to the parking lot when I glanced over and noticed a table that seemed to call my name.

And I fell in love. With a lovely, lovely face. A watch face. And here she is.

Squeee!! Can you see the beautiful little garland of flowers where the hands were? And the tiny, tiny, dots of silver that look like dew drops? I didn't even bother to haggle too hard with the vendor. Seriously, I flunked Haggle 101 on this transaction.

I've been doing some work with watch faces recently (and I'll post some pictures of a work in progress soon), so I was kind of keeping an eye out for more. This is so delicate, so ladylike, such a breath of spring -- she'll have to live on my bead table for a while until she tells me how she wants to be dressed.

When I came home, I found not one, not two, but FIVE postcards, reminding me about a bead show in town this weekend. I figured this was a sign from the universe that I needed to heed. So tomorrow, I'm going SHOPPING.

After all, who am I to ignore a sign from the Universe like that?!?

And while you're here, check out my last post and find out how you can Pay It Forward and get a handmade goodie from me! (If I knew html coding, I'd have a nifty link to take you right to the post. That's next on my bucket list....until then, just scroll to the next post down and don't forget to leave a comment so that you can play along!)

Ruby Red Upcycling

So a while back, I went to an antique mall and found some fabulous sterling silver clip-on earrings. From the size and the look of them, I figured they were from the 60's or 70's. I blogged about them, and the other treasures I found that day back in February of last year (my, how time flies!).

They were also pretty hefty in size. Flip one over and you could almost serve cocktails from it. These belonged to a bold woman back in the day. Not really in style anymore.

But to me they screamed "focal piece."

And then they lived on my bead table for a couple of months.

This photo shows what I did with one of them -- paired it with luscious faceted ruby red crystals, vintage clear crystals, and Bali silver.

I'd have taken a better picture of it, but it went to a gallery soon after it was made, so I only have this shot taken with my phone.

Yippee! Reduce, reuse, recycle, preferably with ruby red crystals!

No to go figure out what to do with that other earring....

Treasure Hunting and Upcycling

One of my favorite recently-heard terms in the beading world is "upcycling" -- that is, recycling and reusing old jewelry bits and other fabulous stuff that can have a new life in wearable art. I really love the implication that you're not only giving something new life, but raising it to a new level. It's something I've dabbled a bit with in the past, but was itching to jump in on the action again.

So yesterday when I found myself with a little free time (okay, I should have done a few loads of laundry, but you understand) I went to a local antique mall and treasure hunted. There was some truly fabulous eye candy there, including several cases chock full of beautiful old rhinestone jewelry just screaming my name. I tried not to embarass myself by giggling like a kid in a candy shop, drooling excessively over the gorgeousness, or smacking my head into the glass trying to get a closer look. If only I had unlimited funds to answer the call....

But I did find some fun things that I can't wait to work into new pieces --

-- great leaf-shaped earrings with rhinestones and faux pearls, some rocking huge pierced silver earrings (nearly 2" in diameter and 3/4" high. Seriously, the woman who wore these originally must have been able to pick up radio signals from space with these babies!), and a lovely Victorian style silver, marcasite and black crystal necklace that was a steal at only $10. (I know! I was amazed, too!)

They'll probably have to live with me a while until they tell me exactly what they want to be in their next life, but rest assured that they'll show up here after their upcycling!