ribbon flower

This is a pin made with old velvet ribbon. And a pipe cleaner. Like a zipper flower the ribbon is folded over itself and sewed together at the back. I love the faded colors here. They go very well with a silk blouse that I have.

Wilma Flintstone

I call these my Wilma Flintstone necklaces. They are very fun for the holidays and look good in the evening light at a dinner party, for instance. The big pink rocks are just plastic, but at night they take on a brilliant gleam. The pinkish pearls are just a nice background piece to highlight the plastic rocks.

two flower pins

I'm starting a collection of these flower pins. They are so out of style that now is a good time to pick them up in the thrift stores. I love enamel work and the style these flowers have as if they were just a casually fallen stem. I can see where several of these would line up nicely on a button up shirt.

Christmas ball

This a Christmas ball that I love wearing over the Holidays. Unfortunately it will not see the light of day because of the Escada red hearts which are all I've been wearing these days. I love my red hearts because they remind me of when Steven was little, and we had our whole lives ahead of us.  

Christmas shopping

This is a Christmas gift for a little girl that never reads my blog. I love how detailed he is. This is a pretty large piece of chunky silver. The recipient loves cats so I'm giving her the king.

more office wear (Thanksgiving)

So if you work in an office these are nice fall necklaces, and who can resist a pumpkin brooch for Thanksgiving? I will be wearing my red Escada hearts this year so no theme dressing for me. Still I'd rather wear a pumpkin than a turkey which happen to make very loving pets. Although I wouldn't rule out the right turkey. I can imagine one done in gold with enamel work and inlaid stones....

glamour

This reminds me of something that might have been in the movie The Titanic. I wore it with a gold blouse that matched it exactly and one of my sisters was aghast! She thinks I'm so tacky. But I thought it looked fantastic. Of course I think she has weird taste too so go figure.

pearls

I love pearl chokers. Here are all my pearls that I use for Princess Di type chokers. I use necklace extenders to turn longer strands into tightly fitting double choker strands. Using extenders I can get a five strand choker. I like to wear some sort of drop necklace with these pearls just to be more glamorous. I used to wear these strands everyday for three years when I worked as a reporter.

pearl drops

I bought this from an artist in Reno for my birthday a couple of years ago. It looks really nice on. But with my big red Escada heart necklace I don't know when I will wear this again. I have so many nice necklaces but right now I'm all about the big red hearts.

summer necklace

I wore these necklaces all summer which is why I haven't blogged about them till now. I love silver, the whitest metal and these looked so bright and summery this year. I had been looking for a big kanji for years. Can anyone help me figure out what this one means?

Halloween

I'm so bummed that I forgot to blog about my Halloween jewelry on Halloween that I'm doing it now. When you work in an office holiday themed jewelry rocks. Happily I have not worked in an office for five years so I've kind of forgotten about my boss collection of holiday wear. These are just a few of my favorite Halloween wear. I love the black cat motif.

Mystery hands

Can anyone guess whose hands these are? Jewels are courtesy of me (for the most part).

teardrops

 I love teardrop style pendants. I have a collection of two. One is a peridot color and the other is smokey quartz. These pendants look really good with open collar shirts. I also have a beautiful peridot colored jacket that I can use with the green necklace. The smokey quartz looks great with all shades of brown.

Mexican enamel

I love Mexican enamel work. The fish is TaxCo and the humming bird is signed, but I can't read it. I think both these pieces are super charming, but I'm extremely fond of the fish. Ever since I got my Escada  Heart necklace, I haven't been wearing anything else. But I'm sure to return to these little pieces soon enough.

work for trade

Yesterday I worked at Traci's Thrift Store pricing her jewelry items. In return I got these lovely globe earrings and amazing glass stone ring. I couldn't be happier. I love doing the job, and the rewards are great!

Holiday rings

I've been collecting these little colorful rings now for many years. And I always wear them around the Holidays. They are so festive. I'll take a picture of my hands when I put them on this year. I always get so many compliments!

monkeys

These adorable monkey earrings I've had for over 20 years. But they are too heavy to wear for any length of time. I got them at the wonderful Rainbow Collection back when it was such a fabulous store in the '80's. I love the way each monkey is cast separately and has it's own unique tail.

monkey

I was inspired by this picture to find my little monkey pin so I could share it with you. I love monkey designs but don't often find them. You can tell that my monkey is supposed to be holding a banana or a bunch of grapes. I thought I'd have no trouble replacing this missing charm but never have found the right thing.

Dogs

One of the best gifts to me is a silver dog charm! Especially around the Holidays I like to wear my dog charm bracelet. I was very tempted to buy a gold pug charm at The World of Charms in Union Square, San Francisco. But the price was too much. There are lots of opportunities to buy dog charms online, but the prices always seem a little high to me so I stick with the thrift store finds mostly. Like white fur lined boots and blue velvet coats, a dog charm bracelet seems like an old fashioned Christmas thing to wear.

Dog Charm Bracelet from eBay

Everything old is new again

I have some stretchy bracelets that a similar to these by Sidney Garber (Image from Gem Gossip). I'm always fascinated by how old styles reappear in slightly new incarnations at the most unexpected times. I guess a good design is always a good design. So that means buy it at the thrift store if you like it. At some point it will become fashionable again.

some old rings

As you can see this is kind of my circus collection. There's clearly a lion, and if you look twice you can see my elephant ring which carries a ruby on its tip. The other red rings accompany the animals. I got the elephant ring when I was pregnant with my son so it holds a lot of good memories for me.

A last bit of summer color

Before everyone commits to dark winter wear, here is a last bit of summer color with two neutrals: pearls and turquoise. I love the stunning yellow of these beads which I got at the Sutro St. Salvation Army.

favorite possession

This is one of my favorite things! My sister (Cary) and bother-in-law made a dozen of these with different designs in them for Christmas presents Most people got their first initial illustrated in medieval manuscript style. But I got this lovely mosque with gold gilt details. I just love it. My sister did the illustrating and brother-in-law did the wood working.

green beans and turquoise

This is such an original look. But beautiful and I get a lot of compliments whenever I wear it as a thick choker. Turquoise is a neutral really and can be worn with almost any other strands of beads. That's why I always advise people to buy as much turquoise as they can.

pretty in pink

In these last few days where we can still wear shirts without collars or turtle necks, we can take advantage of our collar necklaces. I have several which I've already posted about, but here's a nice pink shell and brass collar that I like to wear with a cz choker. The glitter really adds to the rather severe collar.

80's coins

These are some coin necklaces I've had since the 80's and now they're back in style. The darker, smaller coin is Kenneth J. Lane. It is an enhancer and can go on many different kinds of necklaces. I like it with these large gold pearls.

my hands

These are the rings I'm wearing today. I am planning to start an Etsy shop called Bows and Eros. I will be selling some some vintage pieces that I find while shopping around. My collection is too big for me to add anything else to, but I still like to find nice pieces for others! Don't expect this until the new year though. I am too involved with my poetry writing for the time being.