Making Things More Difficult Than They Have To Be?

Sometimes I laugh at myself because I make things more difficult than they have to be.  For instance, I am working on this pendant...

My pic isn't very good and she is a work in progress.  Instead of taking the easy way out, buying a setting for less than a dollar, I scour antique stores and thrift shops and try to find items I can use from vintage costume jewelry.  I also hunt for vintage rhinestones, charms, chains etc.  This piece had a cabochon in it.  I pulled out the cab, sanded off the old gold finish (yuck) from the pendant, and blackened the base metal.  I looked through my stash of rhinestones and found the perfect size to go around the outside to frame my beautiful Saint Marie.  I laugh and question myself, why do I go to all of this trouble???  Does anyone else do this?  Or is it just me?

Back to Soldering

The heat wave that we've had for the whole month of July finally let up for a couple of days and I was able to get some soldering done.  My Etsy shop is really empty and needs some new items!  My babies are drying right now and I can't wait to get them beaded and listed!

I am really sad to see that my Joan of Arc Reliquary has seepage.  I don't quite know what I'm going to do about that as of yet since I did use a couple of vintage jewelry pieces on it.  Hmmmmm....

Religious Vintage Rhinestone Necklaces

I have been soldering, pouring resin and wire wrapping necklaces like crazy!  I listed four new necklaces on Etsy today!  All of these social networks feel like a part time job... Etsy, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pintrest and blogging! But I am happy to say that I am wayyyy behind, right on schedule!  Lol!

Vintage Prayer Cards

As a little girl I remember going through a drawer in my mom's dresser where she kept her jewelry box, her bible and a box full of beautiful prayer cards.  I would sit for hours and be amazed at the vintage holy graphics.  Our bible had amazing religious Renaissance pictures in it.  I wish I could find another one like it.  It got lost somehow in the shuffle after my dad passed away.  And the holy cards that she had!  Wow!  I had aunt's that were nun's and I don't know if they gave her some of them or if she just picked them up at church or funerals. Unfortunately, after mom passed, my dad got rid of them all, not thinking that anyone would want them.  I am inspired by these beautiful cards and use a lot of them in my jewelry.  I also use vintage rhinestones, which I always loved to look at in mom's jewelry box.

I miss those days, the wonder and the marvel of a great new discovery!  I hope to collect a few vintage holy cards just to bring back the memory of sitting in her room. 

Simple Faith Series

A little bit more inexpensive version of my soldered pendants for folks that like to keep it simple.

St. Theresia Vintage Rhinestone Necklace

I tried to get some more jewelry done this weekend but my resin pour didn't work out as well as I'd hoped.  Some pieces did, others didn't make the cut.  I am very picky about what I sell in my Etsy shop.  This is one piece that did make it.  I added a vintage rhinestone piece from a necklace I found in an antique shop.  I hand wrapped white howlite, clear quartz and rhinestone rondelles.  It turned out just lovely, don't you think?