some new designs~

i love my antique & vintage shell buttons! years ago (like 10, wow!) i would cut old rusty cans found in the arroyo dumps & flatten the metal, file the edges & weave shell buttons onto the slices creating earrings that sold like hotcakes. then i started teaching & left that world behind. the other day though, i took my old idea & put it forth with enameled bottle caps.

i added some chain & there you have it. then...

i took the whole caps that i make as components & wove some shell buttons onto them.

the backs have little nipples made from hematite beads wrapped with the copper wire. i love the backs!   

purple babes

hanging backs.

xoxo        

mannequin hand yum and numinosity beads~

ooh. i love the hand that arrived today! so much better than the vintage soda pop bottle i was using for bracelet photographs. i found this on etsy at Cynthia's shop beatnheartVintage. thanks Cynthia! not meant to be a stack but could be. if you do not snatch these up, they go to a consignment shop tomorrow. so much history and so much fun. petra's dangles of eggish and fingerling styles on the small one.

this one is a spectacle to behold. mostly antique shell buttons with a couple of shell buckles, an antique salt shaker top that is inlaid with shell and a bunch of other goodies. i loved making this one!

then some numinosity headpins arrived! kim is awesome and i love her work. i also love, love, love lagunitas brewing company and their ~a little sumpin' sumpin'~ ale so showed off some green bottle caps with the purple spears.

in the end come some peachy spears with antique shell button fringe. yum.

have a great day everyone!

moose tooth pin~

i put it up then took it down. just didn't seem finished to me. does now. :)
numinosity tooth from kim. white coral from richelle. sierra nevada pale ale bottle cap tooth cap. hand formed steel wire pin ~sealed with bees wax~ myrrh, white glass, crystal, dentalium shell. sterling silver wire. vintage and contemporary all the way!

so today, i am shopping at the grocers (local challenge is done). simply can't afford the food at the co-op so we decided co-op for local meats and super for the organic other stuff. seriously, $4.00 for a can of organic pinto beans? simply can't do it when it takes two per meal for our family. good thing our local super carries a huge variety of organic, just not in the meat department. have you ever tried local organic meats vs. the super meats? way different flavor! yum.

on the agenda ~homemade raw fruit and nut bars~ and flax crackers in the dehydrator. haven't made them in years and could use an extra shot of omega threes for the old mental health! ;) curried lamb and lentil stew in the crock. gonna be a productive day as more basil arrived form hubby's green house and needs planting as well. cheers y'all!

Let your performance do the thinking. ~Charlotte Bronte

 

~doll head and another challenge

i made some stuff, which i enjoy, but my stash is getting so puny, i can't make much of anything at the moment. so, another challenge? making something pretty with what i have, which is almost gone. hahahahaha. means i'll be shifting gears and sewing again soon!
but back to my original challenge of 10 days of real food. going good, but I can make some very fattening food if i want to, so ima gonna watch that part. tonight~chicken curry~ with peas from the garden and red quinoa salad. yum!
so, since i'm challenging myself, i'm also going to do the 505 30 days of buying local which means local beers, co-op shopping for all the food and walking since I won't be able to buy gas! lol
cheers!

frozen charlotte and a pipe stem. vintage faux pearl necklace. sterling.

bike chain links. silk. antique linen buttons.

leather pouch with a watchmakers vial. assorted pipestone, glass, faux pearls and then one-of-a-kind shell beads made by me!

bike chain links, lace, cut crystal beads. love. <3

thanks for the support! sale is over. new stuff now... ~

brushed brass pillow beads~

not sure where they came from. they were in a SWAP BOX that arrived on my door step. they were raw and unfinished. a bit messy looking, so i brushed them up. boy did they come out pretty! so i added them to a hand knotted pearl strand and hung some yummies from it. the yummies can be removed, so two neck pieces in one!
the other necklace has grab bag goodies too. this really has been so much fun! loven' the gas key. :)