Shape and suggestion...

 "White Copper Perfume Bottle"

(Earrings)  Price: $ 30.00 SOLD 

 

 

I have a love of glass, whether it be art glass sitting on my window sill or gorgeous glass beads, no matter how humble, that fascinate me. There was a small baggie of mixed glass beads in the stash I bought from Lisa last year that turned out to be actual vintage Murano. The roses and gold/rose gold tones called to me and I tossed them in with the pile I eventually purchased. Those beads kind of reminded me of painted porcelain bottles from the Victorian, or French Rococo or Baroque eras. That got me to thinking, and seeing if I could make the beads look like antique perfume bottles using bead shapes. Bottle = Murano glass bead; Bottle stopper = metal bead shape/s, topped by a glass bead. I think they kind of work. I have more planned in different shapes, I just haven't gotten around to exploring the theme or my beads towards that end, yet.

 

"Copper Black Perfume Bottle" 

(Earrings)  Price: $ 35.00 SOLD

 Anyway, thanks for stopping by.
Cheers,

Marianne 

Back to Spring...

 "Aqua Butterfly"

(Necklace)  Price: $50.00 SOLD 

 

This is one of those creations where I fell in love with the color of the beads and just wanted to fiddle around with making a focal using them and some new silver elements I just got in. My friend Erica had a table full of 'discards' all bagged up to sell like a mini marketplace. I had a blast just sifting through them and picking out what spoke to me on a creative level. There were oddities, broken bits, many, many glass beads of various vintages, and findings and old metal focals from the 1960s/1970s that looked odd and handmade. I paid for my six pound bag of bits and spent a blissful couple of hours back home just going through them, sorting and putting them away in my brand new plastic bin...I have five of those big bad boys, now. LOL Michaels craft store has the occasional sale where plastic storage cases are heavily discounted. The one I initially purchased was $14.99, down from it's 'retail' price of $41.99. Anyway, it's designed to hold photographs. Suitcase-like clear plastic with 16 small cases mounted inside. Perfect for individual bead types, or finding types, oddities sorted by metal, color, and/or type or style of setting. Storing things since then has gotten...creative. Anyway, back to the necklace above. the blue 'lobe' at the bottom of the focal is dyed shell, and the blue/teal beads on it are Fresh Water Pearls. The white/cream beads are glass and are contemporary along with the silver findings and chain. It's a pretty piece and I rather like how it came together, exploring and trying different things to reach a satisfying result.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

A different season...

 "Winter Solstice"

(Necklace)   Price: $60.00 

 When I started creating this necklace, it was all about the 'engineering' following an 'I wonder if I can make that work?' moment. Do you recognize the top of the focal? Right. It's the same base branch that has become one of my favourite building blocks...only in aged bronze. The engineering bit I was contemplating was the curved side pieces with all of the loops. Layering them and wrangling them into position was very fiddly and produced soft cussing and searches for dropped tiny jump rings, beads, findings and tools. Sigh. My worktop is tiny and not ideal, and the whatever I'm working on tends to drift off the table and into my lap while I'm wrestling with two tiny pairs of pliers...one not necessarily designed for that type of work. I have yet to make getting better tools a priority. Anyway, the bronze was very dull on its own, so I chose a gold element for the central focal and drops to wake it up a bit and add brighter supports for the stones. Vintage red Venetian glass coin beads for 'pow' and the green of the pure Malachite for contrast. I found the singular Malachite triangle bead in the stash I bought from Lisa in February of 2025 and it fit the balance perfectly, along with the Venetian glass bead below it. Satisfied that I had achieved my 'engineering' dreams, I sat the completed piece on my show stand so I could look at it for awhile. However, it took me a full 24 hours to figure out why it reminded me of Christmas. I was still in a building frame of mind rather than a 'oh, isn't that pretty?' one. Once my perspective shifted, I finally saw the green tree shape and 'ornaments' dangling from a 'Victorian' frame chandelier. I had a good laugh, and now I can't unsee any of that, so I deemed it 'Winter Solstice'. 

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. 

Cheers,

Marianne 

New greens in the Springtime...

 "Silver Sunburst Malachite"

(Necklace)  Price: $60.00 

I'm not sure that the centre bead was meant to be used like I did with this necklace, but it sure turned out well. Again, I like the tiny gold accents giving the silver elements a boost. All the green is pure Malachite, and the black beads are Onyx. Like all of my necklaces, this one also hovers at the 18" length and sits just on the collarbone of the wearer. I had a lot of fun experimenting with the gorgeous green stones, as you will see below.

"Gold Malachite"

(Necklace)   Price: $65.00  SOLD 

This creation gives off a faint Ancient Egyptian vibe with the almost mechanical gold 'stacked squares' connectors and lowest dangle, and the color choices. However it leans more towards Art Deco of the early 20th century, I think. I love this piece. It gave me a chance to use a specific type of vintage decorative chain with the diamond shaped links in it that I would usually find difficult to use. But it blended beautifully with the Art Deco pseudo Egyptian vibe I was going for, as you can see from the photo below. I do love that lush green Malachite and the black Onyx combination. The vintage gold tones make it that more lux.

"Gold Wrapped Malachite"

(Earrings)  Price: $ 35.00 

In amongst Lisa's hoard of stuff were a lot of oddities like these gold ribbon bead 'frames'. I'm not sure what the were originally intended for, but with a bit of wrestling with them, I manage to squeeze four Malachite beads apiece into their odd loops. I like them, but they might not be everyone's cup of tea. And unfortunately, whenever I've tried to photograph them, it hasn't been good. This is the best pic I could get. They are actually richer and darker than pictured here. 

Anyway, I'm still catching up with posting all I've done so far in the bling making efforts. There are still more to come, and I'm also still making things. 

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

A cinematic influence or two...

 "Wicked Green"

(Necklace)   Price: $ 80.00 

Well, this necklace is the epitome of the 'definitive statement piece'. I was messing around with the beaten gold spirals and digging through my little boxes of odd bling bits, exploring an idea, when the big gold 'viking' knot sort of stuck out. I managed to put those together, but it looked a little hollow, so I started trying different bead combinations to see what worked. The vintage green glass ones made it glow, but I needed a bit of contrast to make the whole thing pop. That's when I added the double lobe of amber dyed Shells and the violet-dyed freshwater pearls, and the four tiny glass pearl ones. By this stage it was starting to get 'bigger than Ben Hur'. Old saying referring to the Charleton Heston movie that was a 1959 Hollywood blockbuster that had a cast of THOUSANDS of people in it, full scale chariot races, the works...quite a bit larger that their standard epics. Anyway, back from that digression, I added the my fave black hexagon Onyx beads and a few small glass ones, and it was really starting to remind me of Oz and the Wicked movie that was all over the place when this was created...and still is. Hence, the name of it. At the moment, I have a small box of collected bling bits in pink and sparkly things towards making a corresponding 'Glinda' or 'Wicked Pink' necklace. That hasn't panned out or come to any kind of creative fruition at this stage, but not for lack of trying. 

 

Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

 

Messing around with Malachite...again...

 "Malachite Silver Rose"

(Earrings)  Price:  $ 30.00 

Sorting beads and problem solving engineering of tiny bling bits helps me not only think, but also confers a degree of calm over me at times. These earrings are a result of one of those sessions. I was aiming for something a little different from the usual 'put pin through here and make loop' type of dangle earrings. I like how they turned out and are rather cute, I think. Malachite beads at the top of the clock, er circle; black glass ones form the bottom, with a vintage silver 'rose' bead in the middle. I think these silver rose beads are ones I brought with me from Australia nearly 29 years ago...all that's left of my jewelry making bits from way back then. Meanwhile, these kind of look like a garden, don't they...

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

 

A little night music...

"Moon and Stars, Blue" 

 (Earrings)   Price: $40.00  SOLD

The puffed 'coin' Venetian glass beads were so gorgeously blue, that I wanted to do something a little cosmic with them. The moon and star silver dangles are contemporary, but the rest of the fittings and the glass pearls came from digging through boxes of vintage 'finds'. I think it works. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

 

More Fall influences...

"Amber Butterfly"

(Necklace)     Price: $ 60.00 

This came about by fiddling with jewelry bits with a fairly pointed idea that surfaced during our time away in Italy last year. I had just visited my bead dealer that morning and spent a happy hour foraging among her table of 'discards', and used some of those beads here. The central butterfly was broken and came about from a previous visit, so I filed down the Sharp edges and cleaned it up and applied the engineering I thought up during the night one night in Florence, Italy to suspend it from the necklace. I love rescuing lost and/or broken bits and making them beautiful again if I can. Four double link 'S' connectors suspend the butterfly between the 'branches' of vintage amber Czech glass beads and a few Amethyst ones. The arches and flower like beads book-ending the 'lower branches' are contemporary Czech glass. The filigree 'rose' connectors are warmer in tone and help offset the brightness of the filigree butterfly. Thus the result is a Fall-ish warm amber tones with touches of dark purple, silver butterfly with gold accents…

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

 

Getting into a Fall theme...

"Rustic Owl"

(Necklace)  Price: $ 60.00  SOLD

Getting into a bit of a Fall theme, here, with the antique 'pewter' look of the metals against the brighter silver. There are those mixing of metals again. Add to that the gold accents and the tiny Venetian green glass beads as the last of Summer, and it kind of works to amplify the warm amber glow of the vintage Czech amber glass beads. I had a bit of fun with this one, especially in engineering the focal, using the favourite 'silver branch' as the base. 

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

 

And now for something completely different...

 

"Green Dragon Suite"

(Necklace & Earrings)  Price: $ 80.00 

I mixed the metal tones in this one, just because now and then, I feel it adds visual 'texture'. Antiqued bronze elements amplify and compliment the base silver, and also make sure that the bronze dragon doesn't look out of place. The purple beads are pure Amethyst, and the blue beads are vintage Czech glass. While I wasn't thinking along those lines, it has been pointed out to me that the blues, the filigree silver connectors, and the feather dangles lean this creation towards an almost Native American vibe. And again, I had fun engineering the focal the dragon is hanging from. That's half the fun, you know. Trying out ideas to see how they look and organically growing from there. Some of these elements shouldn't work together, but I'm so glad that they do. 

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

 

More red, gold and black drama...

"Gothic Gold Suite"

(Necklace & Earrings)  Price: $ 80.00 

Well, this is definitely a 'statement piece' as it were. Very 'late night gothic or vampire ball' in theme. Or some antique idea of an imagined Egyptian fantasy run through a Victorian filter for a masqued ball. There are my beloved black Onyx hexagon beads that go exceedingly well with the vintage Czech 'ruby' glass and the gold odds and ends that I created the focal with. The engineering on this one was a lot of fun and I'm still really pleased with how it turned out. I even made matching earrings to complete the look. I think I'm down to my last few hexagon beads and I'm hoarding those for a bit until I start a project they are worthy of. Alas, I've spent a lot of time online, looking at getting more, but they are danged elusive. 

Anyway, thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

 

 

Inspirational shapes...

"Dark Hive Honeybee"

(Necklace)  Price: $ 60.00  SOLD

As soon as I saw the vintage,hexagonal, black Onyx beads I found in Lisa's hoard, I instantly thought of bees and hives. Pulling a number of other vintage elements together to help create the vision, I got to work. The center of the focal consists of a trio of gold circles. This is actually a length of loose chain from a belt or some such that was floating around the odds and ends box. I twisted them into a triad and held them together in form with a couple of thick crimp links and crowned it with a row of beads, central of which is a very oddly formed vintage Czech glass bead. The amber coloured bead backing the honeybee dangle is also from the same Czech glass lot. The little golden, round concertina connectors bookending the black hexagon lengths are also vintage. While this isn't a literal translation of a bee hive, it certainly is suggestive of one. I've been inordinately proud of this necklace as the ideas I had for it don't differ from the reality of it all that much. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

 

Small blings...

"Celtic Malachite"

(Earrings)   Price: $25.00  SOLD 

Antique bronze combined with the pure Malachite stone and black glass beads creates and earthy ancient vibe in this pair of earrings. 
 

"Celtic Silver"
(Earrings)   Price: $15.00  SOLD 

On the lighter side, plum coloured Fluorite and teal dyed Freshwater Pearl make a pretty balance to the more delicate silver Celtic knotwork. 

 

"Soft Blue"

(Earrings)  Price: $20.00 SOLD 

 In reality, these handmade lamp-work blue and copper glass beads are slightly more sky blue than seen here. Since they came to me second hand, I can't be sure if they are Italian or Czech in origin. But they are quite spectacular in the 'flesh' so to speak. 

 

"Fluorite Natural Trio #1"

(Earrings)  Price: $ 20.00  SOLD 

Fluorite comes in a range of beautiful colours from the palest, clearest cool green, ranges through almost blue greens and into pinks, purples, and plum. Some are cloudy, some are glass clear, some contain fractures and flaws. And they are some of the prettiest stones in the semi-precious collective. My Grandma Plumridge taught me a bit about lapidary work and basic jewelry making at around the same time she taught me how to paint in oils. Among the stones we worked with were amethysts and Fluorite. I remember claiming a large, irregular polished cabochon piece of vari-coloured Fluorite and turned it into a pendant with a large silver bellcap and long chain. Very 1970s. So, I love Fluorite and it has appeared, and will continue to appear in some of the things I make. It brings clarity and healing on many levels according to gemstone connoisseurs. 

"Fluorite Natural Trio #2"

(Earrings)  Price: $ 20.00  SOLD 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

Mythic whimsy...

"Pegasus Moon"

(Earrings)   Price: $30.00

These earrings came from a "wonder how this would look" engineering adventure, cobbling together a few big rings and stacking them how they wouldn't normally go together. Getting the Celtic bail (the band the pegasi are hanging from) took a bit of effort, but finally worked. Then added the pretty bits: the pegasi and the beads. The beads are bluish pure Fluorite stones and look enough like moons to create the story in the title. The length of these pretty danglers is 2-3/4" from the top of the ear hook to their dainty little hooves. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne 

 

A little more ocean...

 "Blue Moon Dolphin"

(Necklace)  Price: $40.00  SOLD 

Something a little more elegant and simple, this time. I LOVE the electric blue and old gold glass beads, and have been trying to use them sparingly. They remind me of the ocean and also the Earth as seen from space. The lower part of the focal is a small glass 'pearl' for the moon, the leaping dolphin, and the blue bead represents the Earth, hence 'Blue Moon Dolphin' title. I once painted a painting along this exact theme some 35 odd years ago, now, so it brought back memories. The starfish and pearls also suggest the oceanic theme. And yeah, it's silver again. I love silver, so it bleeds into my inspiration a lot. I made matching earrings below...

"Electric Blue"

(Earrings)  Price: $15.00 SOLD

 

Anyway, thanks for stopping by,

Cheers, 
Marianne 

Along the shore...

 "Seafoam"

(Necklace)  Price: $50.00  

Now this, THIS is a 'statement' necklace. I was inspired by all of the soft seafoam blue and white Freshwater Pearls that I got from Lisa's hoard and the big crab and pearl focal piece that I'd been hanging on to for a number of years. I'm a Cancerian by birth and pearl is classed as one of my birthstones, so I was on an inspiration mission to do 'some thing of the sea'. Note the silver branch bar again. It was a great platform upon which to build my seashore fantasy necklace. And let me tell you, those freshwater pearls were obstinate little suckers to force-thread onto the silver posts. My fingertips hurt for a couple of days afterward. Not long after, I purchased some thinner gauge posts for future use. Meanwhile, I think I achieved what I set out to do. I believe that this necklace will look stunning against a white open necked shirt or simple white dress or other open necked top during the summer months. Some might consider it a bit much. What do you think?

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Marianne