Renewal of OLD!

I love vintage and antique pieces of jewelry.  I can appreciate the craftsmanship and the history behind old pieces.  I was lucky enough to acquire several pieces of old jewelry that belonged to a great aunt of mine.  One of the necklaces was made out of crystal nuggets of various shapes and sizes.  I'm not sure how old these crystals are but I would estimate around 75-80 years old.  I thought this piece, in particular, would be perfect to deconstruct and create something "new."  The deconstructed pieces have been sitting in a jar on my workbench just waiting to be changed into something more current.  I was waiting and waiting and then an opportunity came to me.

Since I am an Artbeads Design Partner, I get periodic emails about getting products to create with in exchange for blogging.  There current blogging challenge theme is "What's Old is New Again."  Now was my opportunity to use my great aunt's crystals.

I chose some great products from Artbeads.  Typically I stick with using silver-toned merchandise in my creations.  So, I thought I would step outside my comfort zone and use some brass in my vintage-inspired jewelry.  I wound up using some brass artistic wire and also a brass toggle clasp.  I also chose some really beautiful lamp work glass beads.

Without further ado, here are my "What's Old is New Again" creations.  The lariat-style necklace also contains Swarovski crystals, in addition to my vintage crystal nuggets, some Druk beads in a yellow/tan hue.  The earrings are made with gold-plated earring hooks.

Disclosure: I participate in Blogging for Beaders with Artbeads.com and have received the products free of charge from them. I am honestly reviewing the products and have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received.