Kittin' it up...

I finally found the time and the right space of mind to work on new kit designs. It take a certain sort of mindset to create with the intent of someone else making the piece, and then there is the interminable work of re-assembling the piece, shot by shot, photographing the process, gathering up all the components and packaging them, and then creating the instructions and package inserts for each kit. 

On their way...

Loads of pearly goodness coming our way, as the last of these are making their way to Lily this coming week. I couldn't resist them, and I have to admit to being very foolish when it comes to pearls, especially old stock pearls from Japan, and even more so when it comes to Haskell pearls. When I get a phone call about pearls, all reason flies out the window, caution is thrown to the winds, and my checking account is left tattered and wheezing as a result.

I can remember the first boxes I received from my Haskell contact. We'd talked several times on the phone, and she was hedging on taking pictures and all that nonsense, finally paring the initial transaction down to a succinct, "You send me $500, and I'll send you some pearls." As ridiculous as that may sound, that is exactly what I did. Sight unseen, I sent my money off into the void and hoped for the best.

Everything arrived in flat rate boxes, which held not only pearls, but glass beads, chain and findings. Everything was beautiful, but the most wonderful things were in the last box that held stampings and filigrees. I turned one of the filigrees over in my hand, and saw the small oval cartouche with Miriam Haskell's name on it. They were authentic.

Authenticity is rare. Everything has a story, a story of it's own. So I guess part of my job is being a story teller. I think I like that.

Newsish and swoonish...

Okay, if there's someone out there whose heart doesn't beat a little faster at the sight of this, then you're a stronger person than I. When I landed on a box of metal thread last weekend, I could barely contain myself, especially when I saw the huge spool of silver tinsel, and the bolts of rose and pale pink...

So, I essentially blew my budget on the thread, but managed to turn up a few other things that day, among them a beautiful half doll lamp that will be debuting in the shop as soon as Mr. Jamar finishes rewiring her. For the time being, she stands skirtless and mortified on his desk...

These beautiful little filigrees are in the store now, as part of a jewelry design and for purchase for your own designs. I darkened them with the gold and silver darkener and burnished them a bit for their close-up...

Being a fleur girl, I couldn't resist these heavy brass pieces, and proceeded to beat one up and patina it immediately. They came to me with considerable original patina, but a little dip enhanced the texturizing. Stuff like this does tend to get the wheels turning, and I expect I will play around with this a little today while I am in the store...

My time off yielded a few new projects, and cleaning my space and doing hard time organizing has paid off, as I actually know where to find things when I need them. I am probably ready to bring another batch of stuff home and load it in to the small flat files in the closet. The earrings below were a marriage of vintage brass chandelier hoops, old mother of pearl, tiny garnet rondelles and nuggets, and antique mercury glass bugles from my stash. A little time intensive, but I love how they turned out...

I have been all over using connectors for earrings lately (and am placing an order for some this morning...stay tuned!) and these combined a three loop Damascene style piece with faceted mother of pearl rondelles, tiny brass filigree bead caps, garnet briolettes, delicate chain, and two old French religious medals...

Haskell pearls are one of my weaknesses, as you know, and I broke into a hank of little 5mm, satiny-finished ones from the 1930s. Channeling Haskell's penchant for bracketing her pearls with diminutive fluted caps, I fetched some of these up from the store and darkened them for this project. The focal bead in the middle is a recycled Nigerian glass bead. I love their hand faceted look and the slightly less-than-perfect clarity that makes them look so old. These mimic a typical Czech design from the twenties...

We have some new faceted mother of pearl in the store, as well as some flat oval mother of pearl with a great old look. I bought as much as I could, and will try and post some pictures soon of these lovely strands...