As my jewelry making evolves, I find myself focusing less on incorporating recycled or upcycled finds into my pieces.
My recent plan has been to fabricate the important components, especially the feature pendants of my necklaces.
Well...plans should be flexible enough to be modified
like when something really wonderful is found at the local thrift store.
I hadn't meant to buy potential pendants, but there they were, costing all of $1.00 each.
The top two brooches seemed to be good candidates for Valentine related necklaces.
I have a weakness for religious medallions, especially the one at the bottom.
Portions of the relief image are worn down, and I can easily imagine that a previous owner frequently held this medal at times when spiritual comfort was needed.
I immediately had ideas of how put these new treasures to use and decided to focus on the bejeweled lyre which I thought resembled an upside-down heart.
In previous years, I shamelessly tried to take advantage of Valentine's Day purchases by making necklaces and earrings with red heart Swarovski crystals and heart shaped charms with wire wrapped rubies and garnets.
Using this brooch with a new perspective might be a more gentle and subtle way to pay homage to the day dedicated to hopeful romantics.
The pin had some form of lacquer coating which protected the shiny brass finish and which also annoyed me.
I have a definite preference for a more burnished finish and a surface that will develop a natural patina with time.
Sanding blocks of varying degrees of grit were used to reach the surface texture that I wanted.
The soldered pin finding on the back was then removed, which proved to be a little tricky since the 'strings' of the lyre are fairly delicate and easily deformed.
Holes were drilled for connections to the chain and for a dangle of gemstones.
The pin had some form of lacquer coating which protected the shiny brass finish and which also annoyed me.
I have a definite preference for a more burnished finish and a surface that will develop a natural patina with time.
Sanding blocks of varying degrees of grit were used to reach the surface texture that I wanted.
The soldered pin finding on the back was then removed, which proved to be a little tricky since the 'strings' of the lyre are fairly delicate and easily deformed.
Holes were drilled for connections to the chain and for a dangle of gemstones.
Keeping on my path of subtlety, I decided that no red would be used and instead went to my pale blues of amazonite and chalcedony with highlights of pearls and crystals.
Done....
time to start on the next necklace.
This Lyre Pendant necklace is a great statement - Love the lack of red on the piece; I like to feature leaves (which are a symbol of happiness and prosperity) rather than the overused 'heart' for pieces I design for Valentine's Day giving.
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