More Flower Power!

Yep! Still paying with flowers... still loving it! I've been able to find several sources for hand dyed reproduction vintage Lucite and they are GORGEOUS! The shades they are creating are fantastic and the pieces with multiple color tones are to die for!

I'm still of course playing with my Czech glass flowers as well.. so many colors, sizes and finishes available in these, both vintage and vintage reproduction. I really like combining the Lucite and Czech glass together. The end results are beautiful and still very light weight to wear.

I have some more of the beautiful vintage jewel pendants in the Daisy settings coming. I am setting some myself these days in both the antiqued brass and a silver plated brass. I've found it to be quite labor intensive setting all those little navette jewels! And quite hard on my hands! It's also not easy to find the necessary size jewels needed for the settings. A lot of the price of each necklace is all in the pendant.. they aren't cheap little trinkets.. lots of jewels, which take quite a bit of time and some finesse to get in place.

Most days when outside taking pictures, I do have a very "helpful" photo assistant named Daisy. She's my ten year old, overweight Tabby cat, who loves to spend the warm Texas days out on the porch. I think she thinks, she is a big game cat, out in the wild, soaking up the heat. She alternates to the cool cement when needed and of course has plenty of fresh cool water at her personal "watering hole" (aka dish hiding under wicker love seat, so slobbering dogs don't defile it).

I did manage to get some beads made over the past couple of nights, but don't have photo's taken of them yet. They should be listed in my Etsy shop Principessa Glass early this next week. The jewelry shown here is (or will be) available in my other Etsy shop, Principessa Jewels. Thanks for stopping by!

Shop in Full Bloom!

Spring is fully upon us, at least here in the south, my condolences to those living in areas that seem to be off to a slow start moving from one season to the next. Here in Texas, temperatures are firmly planted in the mid to upper 80's through the upper 90's depending upon the week. I love the warm weather and am glad it is back. We had a cooler winter this year and it was beginning to get to me.

I have been very much enjoying working on vintage inspired pieces and have recently added Vintage Lucite flower and Vintage/ reproduction vintage, Czech glass flower earrings to my line. The array of colors and styles is amazing! The Lucite is extremely light weight, even the Czech glass weighs very little compared to the lampwork beads I make! These flowers range from very dainty little things to larger more focal sized flowers. I am having a lot of fun playing with combinations of colors, layering, etc.

My focus thus far has been to buy only Vintage as much as possible, especially with the Lucite, but I came across a source the other day that take the vintage reproduction pieces and hand dyes them. The results are stunning! Each batch is unique and different, just the kind of thing I love!!! I have been searching for interesting and not so common filigree bead caps to layer with these flowers to add to the uniqueness. I have been using gorgeous, handmade antiqued brass, ear wires on some of the earrings which are so pretty! I love the little touches that make my pieces a little different from the other similar items being made by other jewelry designers on Etsy.

I am working on adding more beads to my Principessa Glass shop. Admittedly, I have been severely lacking in inspiration these days, so I have decided to go back to basics! I have been playing around with the large collection of pixie dusts that I have and combining them with different colors of glass to come up with unique pairs of spacers. I will try and get more bead sets made, but we'll see how my creative flow goes! Thanks for stopping by!!

Flower Power!

In life.....We seem to have the best of intentions, but some how get side tracked by other things.....Many other things! A number of years ago, I can't even say how many anymore, I started buying vintage Czech glass. Mostly flowers, some leaves and other beads, but my focus was on vintage... I LOVE VINTAGE! Then one day I stumbled across vintage Lucite flowers and was smitten again. I bought quite a number of both, but aside from making a couple bracelets from the vintage Czech glass, I have had them all sitting in a big plastic tub for years. I wanted to make really cute flower earrings with a vintage flair out of them, but never got around to it.............Until now!

I've seen a number of other people making similar type earrings, so I am not pretending to have invented this version, but rather I aspire to do my best to improve upon it in using the best materials, and adding my own personal flair where I can. I use sterling silver wire and head pins, along with some silver plated brass bead caps and ear wires for the silver versions. For the antique brass versions, I use only pure brass head pins that have been oxidized, high quality antiqued brass wire and ear wires, along with bead caps and findings. I try to buy supplies that are made in America! This is important to me. With so much being made overseas, and not always being able to know what the metal content is, I'd rather pay a few cents more and get a well made products that supports THIS country!

I generally buy only vintage Czech glass and vintage Lucite. I do occasionally make an exception and buy vintage reproduction pieces if they are unique, such as hand dyed flowers etc. I use beautiful Swarovksi crystals, which are hands down the best crystal beads on the market. You won't find more sparkle or durability in any other crystals. I also use Swarovski pearls, which are fantastic! My creations are always wire wrapped together whenever possible. I rarely ever use jump rings, especially on earrings, and I don't very often use a simple loop. I like knowing that what I make will stay together! 

I think I am still trying to find my "niche", but I feel I am getting closer to where I want to be all the time. I love making pieces with a vintage flair, combining old with new. If you haven't had a chance to visit my new Etsy shop Principessa jewels, please pop over and take a peek! My bead shop, Principessa Glass, is still on Etsy selling lampwork glass beads, handmade by me! Thanks for stopping by!