21 July 2010

Turning Vintage Trading Cards Into Jewelry



Repurpose! An upcycled game piece becomes wearable art by taking an image from my ephemera collection and resizing it to fit a creamy, 2" x 1" Crisloid domino (2" x 1").

These days I use Microsoft Office Word 2007 for basic cropping and to bump up the contrast, which saturates colors very nicely. No fancy software required. Another no-cost option is using flickr's Picnik program or my own image editing software from my scanner.

I typically start by cropping out any unnecessary portions such as text, etc. Once printed, I simply cut around the gold, decorative edge, attached it to a domino with acrylic gloss medium, coated it with same for protection and added a tiny bright red swarovski crystal for added sparkle. In the final step, I attached a silver plated bail with jeweler's cement and, voila! ... a pretty necklace with a colorful ad from the 1880's. My kind of "bling" =D

18 July 2010

"Wild Iris" Domino Pendant





Partial description from Etsy...

"Iris, most beautiful flower, Symbol of life, love, and light.."

Vintage botanical image enhanced with text from my 1919 copy of Webster's Condensed Dictionary and a tiny, swarovski crystal. It is suspended from a sterling silver bail and comes with a FREE 24" dainty, ball chain.

FLOWER SYMBOLISM: faith, wisdom, friendship and hope. The iris is the emblem of both France and Florence, Italy. The fleur-de-lis, one of the most well-known of all symbols, is derived from the shape of the iris flower.

17 July 2010

Custom Pendants: Strong Women To Inspire You

Excerpted from my new Etsy listing:

"Fearless! We are ALL Goddess, Angel, Friend, Heroine, Artist, Dancer and sometimes even Fashion Icon! Choose from 13 gorgeous images of strong women, handpicked from my collection with words to inspire.

✢ VINTAGE COLLAGE PENDANTS ✢ MAGNETS ✢ KEYCHAIN

There are several ways to customize:

IMAGE - Take your pick from my "Dare To Dream" collection by simply selecting number 1-14 (it will be a high resolution version, unlike the version shown here)

ITEM - Decide if you'd like her on a domino pendant, magnet or keychain.

YOUR WORD/MY WORD/NO WORD - Any way you like it! I can use my words, yours or none at all.

Buy with confidence! A paper artist for over 15 years, I have amassed a large collection of vintage ephemera and graphic images spending hundreds of hours carefully scanning, digitally enhancing, printing, cutting, working with ink, adhesives, and embellishments. I am very excited to share these new items with you in my etsy shop.

✢ Pendants have a silver plated bail. Chain is extra
✢ Magnets are Neodymium/Rare Earth and are Super strong!
✢ Keychains use a sturdy ring.



16 July 2010

Summer Workspace ~

Here is a SMALL PORTION, approximately 25%, of my "summer" workspace on our screened porch. Showing only one corner.. I am spread out over the entire table!! And it's all packed up in time for dinner =D


A little peek at a WIP: "Moon Goddess"


Here are a few of my latest creations (available on Etsy) and since all are one-of-a-kind, when they're gone... they're GONE!







...thanks for stopping by!!!!