Tag Archives: pendants
Tuesday, July 5th
6 Jul
This necklace is one I sold quite a lot back in the dawn of pre-history.
Okay, maybe in 1998.
I was making and selling jewelry to various boutiques around the country and since the internet hadn’t yet been invented and the whole idea of costume jewelry that was NOT bright gold with giant fake stones was a novelty this was a popular little fetish necklace. That’s what I called these; Fetish Necklaces. There were other animals, all were constructed in a similar manner. The intention was that you’d layer this up with several other fetishes.
Because way back when, neo-Victoria, steampunky, romantic tribalism was totally new. Okay, maybe what I mean is that it was uncommon. There were a few of us out there; Kaari Meng, Arlon, Jill Schwartz and others. We made fancy romantic jewelry you could wear with a pair of silk-velvet overalls, a striped long-sleeve tee shirt and laced-up Gibson-girl boots. I had lots of black eyeliner, an armful of sparkly bracelets and crazy big fuzzy hair.
Okay, so nothing much has changed there except for the eyeliner.
This necklace is made from two stamped brass fish, back-to-back, with silk organza ribbon and a wrap of seed beads and wire. I am almost embarrassed to say that this little beauty sold for the wholesale price of $21. Now, the ribbon IS 32″ long, so you can wear this long OR short. There is a small amount of glue there holding the fish together should the wire-wrap ever fail. And did I mention that it was SILK organza?
But still, $21? That makes retail price somewhere around $42.
Wow.
Wednesday, June 29th
29 Jun
This carved pendant is made of dark brown jade.
The double fish symbol is considered good luck in China.
I made this pendant when I was pregnant with my daughter and wore it all the time. What could have been luckier?
.5 mm black leather cord, vintage red glass beads, jade pendant. Closed in the back with a hook-and-loop closure.
Saturday, May 28th
28 May
Three strands of very small iris-colored pearls with a chunk of labradorite and a chunk of kyanite.
Gold-filled toggle clasp.
This necklace always tangles and rolls up, no matter what I do.
I used to wear this a lot, but I probably haven’t worn it in five years.
Monday, March 21st
21 Mar
This necklace features a watch-locket and textured strands emerging from a pair of cast cones. I made the locket with a bit of text from a dictionary, a tiny bee charm and four stones. The stones are lovely briolette garnets that I could not string because of cracked holes. They glisten nicely in the locket.
The necklace itself was made by Tracey Johnson. We needed a piece to send in to a magazine…they wanted fibers, fall colors, a pendant. Somehow the two of us came up with this piece of jewelry.
It’s pretty, isn’t it?
Note: sorry for the delay on posts the last few days. I have had trouble getting my photos to upload from my phone. I’m trying to do this blog in the most expedient (read: low tech) way possible and my plans did not include sitting down at my laptop each night. I still am wearing a different necklace every day, even if I can’t get it to post on the correct day.
Wednesday, March 9th
9 Mar
This sweet necklace was created by Kristen of Mood Swing Studios. The vintage story-book image is soldered between thick glass and has a lovely vintage bead chain to hang from. I wear this necklace a lot, usually, so I will miss it for the next year. Somehow that bright red is just perfect with most of my wardrobe and the kitty makes me smile.
I bought this necklace from Kristen when my daughter, Cleo, was about 2 years old. At that time I had made very little jewelry since her birth and I just needed to buy something for myself. It was a hot spring day and Kristen was exhibiting at the Crafter’s Flea Market (now the Designer’s Downtown Market) on our street. I wandered around and then I saw her booth. I looked at the necklace and almost walked away and then Kristen said ‘did you see the back, it says Catnip!’ and flipped the pendant over.
Sold.
See more of Kristen’s work here.
Thursday, March 3rd
4 Mar
This is the first official day of the project and I selected an older design. This necklace features a pendant created with two five-strand end bars and has beads strung between the end bars. The end bars have also been wrapped with mixed Czech glass seed beads using fine gauge wire. The bottom stone is a matte finished onyx bead and the stones strung in the middle of the pendant are 4×4 cubes of blue goldstone (a manufactured stone) strung and crimped. I originally designed this necklace about twelve years ago and there was a carnelian/brown goldstone version as well. This design never sold well, but I liked it. I really like the movement in the pendant element. I never wear this necklace, though, and partially the pendant is to blame. It’s pretty long. That means it ends up wayyy down in my cleavage.
I designed this necklace at a time when I was a bit tired of making vintage-y designs and wanted to move into a new direction. The pieces in this group were all very chunky and bold. I have to say, the entire collection never really sold very well. Most of the items were too weird for my regular customers and somehow they didn’t connect with very many new customers. A bracelet that matched this necklace, however, was part of a very frustrated and protracted design collaboration with one of my biggest catalog customers. First they wanted to see a sample of the bracelet as designed; it was perfect, they loved it. Then they called and asked to see a sample but without the wrapped ends. Then they wanted to see one with beads that weren’t glittery. Then they asked for a bracelet that had fewer strands. Then even plainer beads. By the time we were done, the bracelet was a three strands of dark blue round glass beads with a clasp.
They didn’t end up ordering that bracelet for the catalog. It was too plain.
365necklaces 
