Stopped at a garage sale on Friday because I saw a bunch of great looking vintage suitcases. I ended up buying 2 green ones to use for my display at the DIY Street Fair next weekend. She gave me this nice big box of little rusted machine parts for free. I was in heaven!
The box was like a Christmas present for someone like me. I worked all weekend cleaning them up using my dremel and made the pieces into some really interesting jewelry. (pics below)
I also want to mix things up by combining tough metals with nature. I coated these twigs with resin (my first time using resin). I drilled holes in each side too. Today I am going to work on wrapping them up with wire.
This is my BEST GARAGE SALE FIND EVER. Ha. Seriously I have been searching for one of these babies for a long time and I found one last week for $50. A steal plus the money went to charity-bonus. I can't wait to photograph it and make some fine art prints out of it.
One of my lock necklaces that I am pretty proud of. It has the look of a Tiffany necklace at first until you realize it's a vintage lock. Super cool.
Another upcycled lock necklace.
For this piece I used a 2 part epoxy to glue (I tried soldering and it didn't work) the bottom metal piece to the bigger piece. I used wire to attach swarovski crystals on both ends. Then I used leather strap and wrapped the ends with copper wire. It hangs from a brass chain.
I also made some new recycled pill bottle necklaces. I got a hold of some awesome green ones and cut it up into little squares and stacked them.
I love this piece! It's actually fairly small and delicate looking. It's some sort of wedge tool to use with a hammer. It was old and rusty and I polished it right up and wrapped it with sterling silver wire.
These were dark brown and actually quite stinky. I polished them up and combined them using wire and added a swarovski to the top. It hangs from a mixture of different types of brass chain and wire wrapped leather.
These plastic beads were actually on the ends of my bikini and when I put shorts or pants over it they really got in the way. So I took them off and made this sort of punky necklace.
Oooooh I just love this one! The funky weird bottom piece was taken from the antique cash register I took apart over a year ago. I'd been hanging onto it waiting for inspiration. The piece above it was from the magical box of junk and it is both brass and silver. I used brass circles to join the pieces together and it hangs from one oxidized silver chain and a brass chain. I love the layered look and the mixed metals...in fact I might just have to keep this one...
The bottom piece was some sort of crank screw. I wrapped it in wire and filled up the inside of the coil with sparkly beads. You can't really tell from the photo but when light hits it it sparkles a bit. I'm toying with the idea of stamping something on it but I'm afraid I'll ruin it.
I will bringing all of these (maybe) to the DIY Street Fair next Saturday and Sunday. Look for my booth and say hi!
One of my lock necklaces that I am pretty proud of. It has the look of a Tiffany necklace at first until you realize it's a vintage lock. Super cool. Another upcycled lock necklace. For this piece I used a 2 part epoxy to glue (I tried soldering and it didn't work) the bottom metal piece to the bigger piece. I used wire to attach swarovski crystals on both ends. Then I used leather strap and wrapped the ends with copper wire. It hangs from a brass chain.I also made some new recycled pill bottle necklaces. I got a hold of some awesome green ones and cut it up into little squares and stacked them.
I love this piece! It's actually fairly small and delicate looking. It's some sort of wedge tool to use with a hammer. It was old and rusty and I polished it right up and wrapped it with sterling silver wire. These were dark brown and actually quite stinky. I polished them up and combined them using wire and added a swarovski to the top. It hangs from a mixture of different types of brass chain and wire wrapped leather. These plastic beads were actually on the ends of my bikini and when I put shorts or pants over it they really got in the way. So I took them off and made this sort of punky necklace. Oooooh I just love this one! The funky weird bottom piece was taken from the antique cash register I took apart over a year ago. I'd been hanging onto it waiting for inspiration. The piece above it was from the magical box of junk and it is both brass and silver. I used brass circles to join the pieces together and it hangs from one oxidized silver chain and a brass chain. I love the layered look and the mixed metals...in fact I might just have to keep this one... The bottom piece was some sort of crank screw. I wrapped it in wire and filled up the inside of the coil with sparkly beads. You can't really tell from the photo but when light hits it it sparkles a bit. I'm toying with the idea of stamping something on it but I'm afraid I'll ruin it. I will bringing all of these (maybe) to the DIY Street Fair next Saturday and Sunday. Look for my booth and say hi!