locket series ........

watch part tin, non branded... I added a new material cog and vintage clock part by rivets on the front.

 Well it's that time again, when I have none.  This Thurs - Sat is Dutch Market which is part of the Pella Tulip Festival.

This starts a chain of shows that lasts for 10 weeks at least, so my blogging will probably slow down as it does every year around this time.  Bead soup reveal is next.. this Sat.

I'm sharing pictures of the first of my locket series.  I've  been planning this for almost a year.  I made one last year and enjoyed it so much I wanted to make more, but I needed the small vintage tins to do so.  I've been picking them up at flea markets and antique shops whenever I found interesting ones that didn't cost an arm and a leg. These three boxes didn't want to be super fancy... but a few in my pile are whispering " I need wings ", "I need a row of crystals hiding inside" , or "I want color".

Those boxes are not done talking to me yet, so I can't make them yet.  Of course if they don't hurry up they aren't probably gonna get made this year...... time time time.

here are the first three.  These just wanted to be simple.. but... a couple of the little boxes are calling out for more more more

Time and Obsession

earrings using vintage watch and clock gears.  I know these don't match, they are from 2 different pairs  :)

"knight in shiny armor" earrings, using vintage pocket watch bridge pieces, vintage clock gears, and brass dangles. 

Making pieces for my Mechanical Romance line --- love playing with the gears, odd bits of metal, etc.   My favorite parts are from watches and clocks.. but you all have probably figured that out. 

It's not just because they are incredibly kewl looking, and amazing to think about- the first ones were hand made, can you imagine???? - because they are about our obsession with time itself.

Do you have enough time to do everything you want?  Will you lose your job if you are not on time everyday?  Look how fast your kids grow up, where did all the time go? How much time did you just waste messing around the Internet?  How long are the commercials on this show?   Why is that car taking so long to move, they have the light!!  Sorry I'm late, I lost track of time.  The train ran on time.  Tea Time.  8 hour work day (HA!)

You get the idea.

Time is indeed a "versatile performer," as Franklin P. Jones once observed. "It flies, marches on, heals all wounds, runs out, and will tell."

1st show this weekend!!! Mini Shopper Showcase April 19th in the Junction!

dragon bracelet

 This weekend from 10 to 4pm is my first show of the year!!! woooo hooo! Come see me in Valley Junction with over 20 other vendors this Saturday April 19th.  It's called Mini Shoppers Showcase.  Below are just a few of the new jewelry pieces I've got done in time for this show... You can view more info about the show here.  I don't have my "full" 10x10 but I'll have some of the new displays out so you can see them in person.  We are located at 415 5th St Valley Junction, IA.

various brass and change bracelets

Mechanical Romance earrings... vintage pocket watch parts, crystals, yummy!!

table set up ... sneak peek

I've been updating, or maybe "retro"dating my set up.  I'm pretty pleased how it looks so far.   The tables focus on selling my main line, Mechanical Romance.  Mechanical romance is using recycled parts from clocks, watches, adding machines, sewing machines, etc and turning them into art jewelry.  I'm really pleased on how this new set up compliments what I'm making!!

I still have the 2 shelf units, which will feature chain-mail, crystal and pearl jewelry. 

The top picture shows a 1920's singer sewing machine wood curved box that I've wired a dowel rod with hooks on it, to display chain necklaces.  On the other end is the lovely trunk from my last post, and in the middle is the drawer from a 1945 cash register.  It's hard to tell from my crappy pics, but it will host my cuff bracelets and such.

The second table has 2 altimeters (1940's and 1898) used as props for extra height.  you can just see a vintage camera ( 1930's ) peeking around the earrings.  This weekend I picked up another older camera cheap.  I haven't dated it yet, but it's definitely older.  I'll be keeping my eye out for more small items to enhance my display, but I think it's a nice balance between functionality, portability and style.  What do you think??

At the outdoor shows, we also have a vintage metal stand and we are planning on putting one of the 1920 singer sewing machines on it.  I haven't decided if I'm going to try to use it for jewelry, I'll probably just use it as a customer draw. 

Trunk Display !!

OK I know I've promised on facebook to show my new displays all set up from the mock up I did last weekend of the booth.. but... I'm sooo proud how the suitcase ended up, I want to show it off first, and then next blog I'll show you the new set up.

Jerry holding the adding machine "bones"

 
Let me tell you about this suitcase first...


A couple of months ago, we were at the Des Moines Flea Market at the fair grounds ( which BTW is a excellent flea market.. if you haven't made it down there, be sure to do so, it's pretty much the first weekend of the month except for August, when the fair is on. That means this weekend if you really want to go.. we are going tomorrow)  Jerry and I missed it the first go around; fortunately, we had the kid and her friend with us.. her friend is the one who spotted a large, clunky ( probably 1950's) adding machine in it's own, sturdy, beat up travel case.  A haggle and a ten spot later, we were the proud owners of a Clary adding machine, and with research it indeed looks like a 1950's model. 

The outside has rough charm, the inside was butt ugly!!

I love the well used grungy look of the outside!

Side view.. didn't do anything to the outside

The finished trunk display, done in faux-suede and distressed faux-leather

It's a fun piece that makes my imagination run wild... it had stickers on the machine that indicated it was a rental... it boggles my mind that someone would rent this out to small businesses.. how many companies rented it over the years?  It had to weight 15+ pounds, and now, assuming it's not just a computer program, a machine like this might weight 6 oz, it's all plastic and circuit board.

 Jerry is still ripping it up, and it's got some juicy mechanical parts on it...  but I fell in love with the case.  It's such a interesting size and shape, it's only 10 inches wide, but almost twice that in length. 


I knew I wanted to Incorporated it somehow in the booth set up.  I did some researching online and ran across a picture of someone using fabric covered paint rollers as bracelet bumps, and that is when I knew exactly how to pull this off.  Regular sized paint rollers are just 9 inches, fitting in the case perfectly!!  The hooks are just brass from the hardware store that I rough up and painted to make them look older.

Jerry and I bought some great fabric to redo the insides... fake leather in a rich, dark distress brown, and fake faux-suede in a complimentary lighter beige shade.  I bought off Etsy vintage 1950's upholstery tacks that worked great.

I'm guessing the case cost around $45.00 start to finish.  I think it's a deal at that price, it's feels so good that Jerry and I made it, and it compliments our Mechanical romance line beautifully!

My conceptual drawing, done on my new IPAD!! woot!

chock-full of goodies !!

I need to be a better person

Feeling pulled in a couple of directions today... first I've been teaching at my day job, and it's amazing how much it sucks out of me.  Everyday I come home from work and I'm just useless for a couple of hours. 

I'm getting excited / nervous about shows .. just found out today I got into a BIG one... The big downtown Omaha Summer Arts in June.  I'm up to 17 shows so far for the summer.  I'm only looking for a couple more, and of course I'm hopeful to sneak in a Jazz in July or 2, and East Village Sunday Bazaar.  I always start freaking out this time of year over how much or how little inventory I have.

The big pensive feeling of the day is My hubby's lovely dear Grandma Violet passed away today.  She's been doing poorly for awhile now, but it's still something of a shock, not quite 2 hours after I heard the news.  Jerry and Little Bit are dealing well, but again, it's pretty fresh and hard to process just yet.

  We hadn't visited in over a year, and I feel really bad about that.. for health reasons I couldn't really go, so I didn't push Jerry too hard to visit either.. and with school schedules, work schedules, and shows, finding time to visit just kept getting pushed to the side. 

I really regret that.  I hope she knew we cared, even if we weren't very good at showing it.

It makes me think of the people in my life I care about, and I don't make enough of an effort to see.  Even if our lives are incredibly busy, we need to make that time.