vigil

not a shrunken head... just a paper clay head I made... was going to turn it to a doll... but while tidying up, I put it on top of a glass bottle... liked it like that ...

candy

and...

Old tin boxes...

Some had stuff in them...

Made cinnamon bread today... looks ok and smells nice... will try some later... :)

oh... the coffee grinder at the back was also among my finds... now got to get some coffee beans...

Edit : the bread would have been better with a little bit more salt... or with Gayle's jam! ;)

and more...

More junk for the Queen of Clutter... but inside me lives also a Queen of Zen... guess this Fall, I'm going to try to get these two happy... I need to re-think my (tiny) living space... and guess what... I still have more to show... sigh...

more finds

Think I'll use some for jewelry but seeing them on the photo gave me an idea... I might sew them on a piece of fabric... either to make a bag, either to make a wall piece... we'll see...

!!! if you have time take a look at this blog, it's one of my former students, a talented young lady who's going to Australia on gap year next month ...

uninvited

Tonight's guest... nearly gave me a heart attack... Please, animal lovers, hold no hard feelings against me... but I threw my guest outside... it's homeless now...

beadwork II

The "souvenir" one was given to me last Sunday... amazing beadwork but needs some repairs....
And the other one was given to me yesterday by my dear friend Suzanne, it probably used to be a pouch too... the colored beads are steel cut beads... my guess is it's as old as the one I have from my mum...

More finds to share ... still... but will try to post some jewelry first...

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

junkin'

silver lid with ivory sculpture... was on top of a long lost, forgotten, broken Chinese vase...

Many more finds to share... soon!

Hope you're having a great week so far! ;)

books

This post is for you Gayle... ;)

Made them some 5 years ago...only one of them has been used... they just sit on my desk... Not only have I a serious bead and things addiction... I also have a serious (note)book addiction... and I'm afraid there is no cure for it...

Still

This sculpture is a plaster copy of this one... The sculptor's name was Jean Del Cour... he lived in the 17th Century.. Leonie always like this sculpture, my mum found this copy in an antique shop and bought it for her mum... I'm its keeper now... The late afternoon sun made me see it differently... so I grabbed the camera and took a pic..

Have a great Friday!

upcycled

Cheap notebooks have a lot of potential... take this one... made a new cover from a cereal box and chinese paper... plus a bit of paint... plus a pendant I made years ago with an old coke can and some copper nails... by the way... if you make jewelry, never mix copper with aluminum... if it gets wet, a chemical reaction occurs and somehow the copper "eats" the aluminum...

Leonie

These postcards were written by Julia, my great grandmother, to her daughter Leonie, my grandmother... Leonie was born in February 1914, she died on my 15th birthday...but I lost her 5 years earlier when she suffered a bad stroke... The postcards were sent to 15 years old Leonie, she had been sent to the city to be a apprentice in a confectionary shop... The city was only 30 miles from her village but in 1929, 30 miles was a very long distance...And the city was a very different world... By what I heard, Leonie was miserable there...
The two brooches were hers, the reading glasses her grandfather's (who was one of the few people in their village who was able to read and thus could vote...).

weapon of choice

One of my pocket knives, the one I use the most... for all kind of things...I was ten when I got it...
When I carve wood and that the piece of wood is not too big...I use a pocket knife... then files, then sand paper...



What is your favorite tool? Your weapon of choice?

ramble

reclaimed pre-ban ivory, brass, turquoise, coral, copper and epoxy clay...made it yesterday... guess where it is now...

yep..it's there, hiding... glad I made the neckpiece thicker...can you spot the Roman tweezers?

Leaves are still green but Autumn is in the air... been in the air for quite a while... not much of a Summer... unless you're a snail or a slug... they're having a ball eating the zucchini's flowers...

beadwork

Obviously not my beadwork... I would need a lifetime to make something so intricate...
It's old, very old .. 100 years maybe more... the inside is very fine leather (lamb? goat?).
It was given to my mum many moons ago and she gave it to me some 20 years ago...

Wishing you a great weekend!

magpie with bat's wings

Jewelry I made, jewelry given and made by friends, jewelry bought... jewelry all over the place...yeah.. and books...

This post was inspired by a new visitor...

The jewelry "holder" was inspired by Sherry.

Oh check out Sharon's cool gator lamp...

objects

elements

Found bone and epoxy clay


Embossed brass... made them last year.. still don't know what to do with them... maybe on a book cover...

Aluminum and epoxy clay, also made last year...

Old Glory

Sherry asked if on the talisman necklace the rusty bottle cap I used was one I found on Sheepneck Road... it wasn't... so I decided today to use some of the goodies I found there last April... 2 bottle caps and a rusty piece of wire... The huge tooth ( horse? cow?) was given to me by Jay ( he said "I see a necklace" when he gave it to me), I also used one of the faces I "stole" from him.. the chevron bead, the skull bead, the "coffin" bead and the red beads are from Gayle... Thank you friends... this necklace would not exist without you... :)))

And... yeah... kinda a month late for the theme... ;)

Wah Wah - Jimmy Page & Robert Plant

talisman

A rusty bottle cap, two very old bronze thingies (Middle Age?), water buffalo tooth, cotton tassels and leather.
Made it last year but never took the time to take a photo... just messing with my camera today...

I thought I lost you...

This is my ring... This is one of the pieces of jewelry that (almost) never leaves me... For the last two days, I thought I lost it... searched everywhere (obviously not) and could not find it... then EUREKA... I looked under the kitchen cabinets... and there it was...

This ring and I, we met some 6 years ago in an antique shop in Brussels... more of a cabinet of curiosities than a shop... mostly African curiosities... some Asian... a treat for the eyes... The owner too... bald head and a huge "bicycle handle" moustache... He told me the ring could be 50 years old or more... it was bought in Ethiopia but was probably made in Yemen... I've seen rings like that elsewhere... better made... this one looks like the work of an apprentice... it's not perfect and I guess that is why I fell for it...

Do you have a favorite piece of jewelry that never leaves you?

still life

Lucie's post inspired this photo... unlike her, I don't wear bracelets everyday ( unless a huge sporty man wrist watch is considered as a bracelet).

skinny

paper clay

Tom Thumb

A few days ago, Gayle ( A Vintage Green Life) and I were talking ( well e-mailing) about epoxy paste... she used some on her new project and she asked me if I ever used it... I said I did but mostly to glue stuff together ( like horsehair in bullet casing) ..then I remember I once used it to make a ring.. a weird ring...I made it some two years ago... my left thumb cast in resin... and I have all the other fingers of my left hand waiting to be set in epoxy clay... they have been waiting for two years... maybe it's about time I finish this project, don't you think?