Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Special Pieces for Special People...

A few weeks ago a friend of mine, who just so happens to be a wonderful vintage jewelry designer, asked me to make her something to compliment her mother's old ruby brooch that was passed down to her...completely flattered, I obliged. But OMG, talk about pressure!!! Trying to come up with something that would compliment the beauty of this special, incredible brooch and live up to her standards as an artist, quite frankly, had me very nervous.  It took me the full three weeks to decide which route to go with the project and here is the final product....
...I accented the brooch with beautiful hues of ruby, smokey qaurtz, pyrite, tourmaline, and of course, vintage mother of pearl rosaries.



 The feature that I really wanted to convey with this necklace, was the ability to display the brooch in several different ways. I constructed this necklace so she can wear it doubled...

at full length...

or with the brooch displayed off to the side...
The more I played with this piece, the more ways I discovered to wear it!!! What a FUN piece and I hope she likes it! Be sure to check out her creations on her website, she is very talented.


And of course I had to make something for my dear friend Misty for doing all of that Paris picking for me, and just because she is just so darn fabulous...

Misty had brought me back a bunch of these beautiful French military medals from France last year, and I had a couple of them left, so I decided to make her a beautiful bracelet with one, complete with her monogrammed initial on the ribbon....



Misty deseves this piece!!! She is one of the most thoughtful and kind-hearted people I know, and I am proud to call her my friend. Love you Misty!


Below is my "French Love" necklace, it just went to Etsy the night before last...
I wanted to show you some of detail of this vintage miniature hand-painted portrait that I found in Paris last fall. This little portrait is really amazing, you can actually see the tiny little brush strokes upon closer inspection of it's facade....


I added an old European basket brooch to one of the silver chains because I thought it paired so well with the glass portrait frame.


and alas, some new earrings going to Etsy tonight...


Au revoir, mes amis!See you in a few days with that exciting new project I have been working on!



3 comments:

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Love it all - You have been busy. Great job on the necklace with the ruby broach! Your friend will be proud to wear such a beautiful creation.

Kathy Barrick said...

Gorgeous jewelry!!! I just couldn't resist the portrait piece from France! I looked through your archived designs and wonder if your Dove of Guidance piece has sold. It's wonderful!!! Thanks for stopping by my blog too! I'm such a fan!

Kathy

lorraine said...

The piece you did for Misty.....Marvelous.....and that necklace...Ooh La La!