cameos 3

I have this mini collection of Madonna cameos. I just love the Mary, Queen of Heaven. It makes me want to go to church just so I can wear it. The little pin has the most precious baby and the most loving expression on the Madonna's face. The icon from Russia is so soulful. And the baby is proportioned just like a little adult. These are such sweet cameos made of the most humble of materials (wood and plastic), but they do have an element of the holy to them. We need more of this element in our everyday lives.

Cameo pendants

Cameos make nice pendants except that they always want to hang backwards. That's why so many have both a pendant and a broach finding on them. A horizontal curve in the pendant will help to keep that front side from facing inward, but I haven't seen that much. But I do think that is why this green lady does so well, that, and the fact that she rides high almost like a choker. The white lady I picked up at a yard sale. She's real shell but only a pendant; she has no pin findings at all. Needless to say I wear Miss Green a lot more often than Miss White. Miss Green has a msyterious expression that I can't quite figure out while Miss White is standard Cameo Lady demure.

Cameo Week

These are the first two cameos I invested in years ago. Sixty dollars for the pair and I had to put them on lay-away. At first I was annoyed that I had to buy the blue one to get the one I thought I wanted, the white one. As it has turned out I have seen many of the design of the white one and have never seen another blue one like mine. It turns out I love it much more and have worn it much more often than I can count while wearing the white only a few times. I don't know what this means except we don't always know what we want. And that we tend to make the safe choices until we educate ourselves to see the really special qualities in the more adventurous choice.

more wishful thinking

Happy Friday Everyone. Just some pics of other rings to wish for--hope you like looking as much as I do!

If wishes were horses...

If wishes were horses then beggars would ride. So in this case I should be trotting along about now. What an interesting ring. This is one piece I'd like to have in my collection. But it reminds me of my cousin Marshall who takes the best pics of horses I've ever seen. Just based on the details of this piece, I think this was a real horse, someone's beloved companion (what does Marshall think?) It would be a brave investment piece for any horse lover!

domes

Aren't these dome rings fun? I'd really like to have both of these. The first is older than the second by about 50 years. As you can see, this week is wish week. I missed my weekend picture taking session so am filling in using pictures from the internet. Cluster rings seem to be popular on eBay recently, but all the really hip people are going for tiny gold bands with hearts or knots in them. The trend has been large and now is swinging back to small. EBay shoppers tend to be older so the bigger rings are still popular. Luckily wearing rings on all fingers is also in so I can follow that trend easily enough.

When I get paid...

These pictures don't reproduce well so I'm keeping them small. But they are my two favorite things on eBay right now. When I get paid the one thing I won't be getting is the large teardrop ruby with the diamonds. At $2,000 starting, it's a bit out of my budget this month. However I will be getting the bubble charm with the pug that looks exactly like my dog, Lulu, short for Honolulu, because I think I can afford the $10 "Buy it Now" price. I always have a watch list going on eBay for inspiration. I'm really in the mood for rubies and emeralds right now. My watch board reminds me of what I'm looking for if I happen to get into a shop. For instance I found a really cool emerald cz just this weekend in Reno. It is no coincidence that I had three emeralds on my watch board. I also stash things I know I'm going to buy for little treats. Like this bubble pug charm. These bubbled charms date back at least a century, and I want this one for my Queen of Romania necklace (See January's Blogs). Now if only I could find a certain looking border collie/Jack Russell terrier mix I'd be in business! Originally these charms were made of glass and featured miniature paintings of the owner's dogs. Not just the type or breed but the particular dog. That's why I love this pug so much. It really could be a painting of Lulu!  I have another pug named, Joe but I doubt I'll find his likeness on eBay. He's a quarter Pekingese, and it just shows through with a kind of handsome not typical of the pug breed. I imagine there's a business where you send in a picture of your dog and voila, a bubble charm with his or her likeness comes back in the mail. But I swear I can't take a decent photo of either of my pugs to save my life.

out of town, internet down

Thinking about emerald rings....

eBay

MARLENE STOWE

Here are some beautiful, classic '80's rings. The were up for sale this week on eBay. I had my eye on them because the starting prices were very reasonable. I thought the seller was hurting herself by calling these "vintage" rings. Yes, they're '80's, but they are classic 18 kt gold. The stones are tourmalines and a lovely sapphire cut in cabochons.Truly these are investment pieces. Ultimately these rings sold for several hundreds of dollars more than they were set at, but they were still a deal. Just not one good enough for me. Still I have the pictures and that's almost as good. Someday....

Brighton

There's a series of mystery stories where the hero who works for Fish and Game or the BLM or some damn federal law enforcement agency is always buying his wife Brighton jewelry to apologize
for coming home late on account of chasing a bad guy or following some other hunch or clue. Well this, folks, is it. Nice sort of retro pieces with fine details. It's fun to browse at a Brighton store because there are many loose beads and other elements that allow you to construct your own individual piece. Mrs. Law Enforcement Agent is lucky her husband has such nice taste. She is a sunshiny person, just the sort this for whom this brand is designed.

more red

This reminds me of something out of a novel, but I can't quite figure out which one. Maybe someone out there can tell me. I got it in Reno which seems appropriate. It seems that this is a jewel waiting for a story. And that's all I can say about it right now.

red

I like this heavy linked chain with this vintage red rhinestone heart. This necklace rides right above the collar bone and hence the heart shows even with a shirt with an open collar. I like the contrast between the rather delicate lines of the pendant and the severe links of the chain. I think it's this contrast that gives the piece a contemporary feel. It's funny how I got the chain. I had a job delivering mail part-time, and one day there was a yard sale at one of my stops. I took a little time to look around and spotted the chain. The lady at the sale tells me it's her son's, but he won't clean his room so she's selling off his assets to pay her to do it. I asked, "Does he know this?" She said, "No." And charged me 50 cents which was about all I had on me. I still sometimes think some tough mug will stop me on the street and say, "Hey, that's my necklace!" How would I answer? I'm thinking about, "No it's not. Prove it!"

gold bracelets

Sometimes you just have to defy the trend of an armful of silver bracelets and go with gold. I wear these all at once and particularly like the one with the purple rhinestones. Yes they're pretty showy especially if you wear them with a lot of rings which I do. So be prepared for comments. Sometimes people comment in a negative way if you wear a lot of jewelry. Like it's excessive or vain or whatever. I've learned to just give them a big smile and say, "Yep, I loooove jewelry. I'm an expensive little treasure to have around!" Another big smile. In fact I would say beam. I beam another big smile at these sour pusses and go on with my day.

white and yellow

This is a strand of white quartz beads that my sister Cary put together for me. Today I have accented it with a citrine yellow chandelier crystal. I often wear these beads without any other ornament because I think they're so pretty. So light and elegant for summer. These are not beads easily found in catalogs or bead stores. Each one is slightly different so they are hand carved. I think they're old but the original string they were on was about to break. Cary did a beautiful job intermixing them with citrine and garnet spacer beads.

silver

I like to look for these silver plated necklaces. There are so many varieties and having been worn gives them a nice patina. I like their classic shapes as well. These are just nice things to look for. I'm trying to find enough so that I can give one to each of my six sisters for, say, Christmas or Easter. You know it's good to have a few things you're just keeping an eye out for, otherwise you may miss a good gift opportunity. And if you're like me you're always trying to stay ahead of the gift requirements.

black pearl with glass

Sometimes I wear this blue pearl with a glass necklace one of my most favorite people gave me (Yes you Barb!). It looks very glamorous and stunning at night. The pearl does deserve it's own picture as I have looked all over the internet and can't find one like this for less than 1,000 bucks, and I paid less than a 100 in China Town in Down Town Honolulu. Which sort of proves my son's thesis that you can buy anything at any price in China. I did get my husband, Richard, to change the finding from white to yellow gold. The new finding shows more of the pearl and its perfect teardrop shape. Tahitian pearls have been the rage since the late '70's. I remember I had a mean high school English teacher who got one. I was interested in jewelry even then and got up the nerve to ask her to see it, and she told me to get back to my work. Somehow I ended up an English teacher!!!???

ceramic cameo

A ceramic cameo made in Israel. Like willow ware china this goes with everything. I like to keep the willow ware theme going and wear this with blue and white. But it looks great with red, yellow, turquoise and more. I've bought exactly two things from TJ Max and this is one of them. I don't like mall or outlet store jewelry but when I see something this special all rules are proved by their exceptions.

yellow and blue

These are some extra nice lucite beads from Germany. I really like to wear the blue and yellow string with a string of beads I made myself (one of my few successes) of irregular shaped pearls and some blue and yellow glass beads. I can't tell you how nice this combination looks on. I wear this with a plain white shirt and some blue Capri pants with silver sandals. I only wear causal clothes these days and this fits the bill. I just found the second strand of multi- colored beads last Thursday at the Nifty Thrifty while I was searching for china for my sister's wedding. She's having kind of a fancy picnic and wants real china, preferably floral, as well
as linen napkins. I was put in charge of this task because of my thrift shopping talents. I like the job because it gives me a reason to get into the shops again without just shopping selfishly for jewels!

some beads

Here are some beads where the fake and the real go together really well. The turquoise is that real strand that I said before that I wear with everything. The fake carved coral beads are plastic from Great Northern right here in Quincy and the silver and coral beads could have started out in Afghanistan and ended up as festival jewelry at some Greatful Dead concert. Who knows? Everything is beautiful in its own way. You don't have to be rich to enjoy beads. They turn up at thrift stores for a dollar or two all the time. And that includes trade beads and Venetian glass! It's like learning to spot shells or arrow heads; practice helps a lot.

dainty bangles

With short sleeves emerging again, what could be nicer that a write of dainty bangles. One of mine is gold and one tortoise shell; the rest are brass and have to be polished, but what a small price to pay. Anyway they are all the same size and don't threaten to fall off so I'm happy. I think bangles are kinda in right now, especially these thin ones. Don't fear having to polish lesser metals than gold. It only takes a few minutes and stay shiny all day. No one cares if they're gold or not and if they do you shouldn't.

Princess Choker

Don't have much to say other than I love it and I wear it. I knotted the pearls so that the choker fits really tight. No drooping chokers for me. The pearls are real and the stone is jade dyed red. I got this lovely thing from China for 10 dollars!!! I call this my Princess Di necklace. We were the same age and for me the world isn't the same without her influence. But I bet she'd still be wearing her version of this choker, pearls with a giant sapphire. God bless the two princes!

large locket

For those of us who still feel winter's lingering chill, a large locket goes well over a high neckline. Acquiring lockets second hand is a funny thing. What do you do with those that still have some stranger's face in them? I swear this happened to me. I was up in Chester and bought a locket at a thrift store with a lady's face still in it. Then I drove to Quincy and bought another locket with the same lady's face only about ten years older! I've shone these lockets to other people and they agree that the pictures are of the same person. How can I take those pictures out and replace them with my own? So here's my rule, if the locket comes with pictures the pictures stay. If not I put in whatever I feel like which is always a picture of my son at any age I can find to fit. I don't usually wear an empty locket. Something about that just feels wrong. So the one above I bought empty, but the person who sold it to me said she had taken the pictures out but didn't know what to do with them. Throwing them away just seemed wrong. So she has the pictures, and I have the locket, and I'm going to wear it as soon as I find a picture of my son that fits to put in it.