oldnewborrowedblue

"Make new friends
but keep the old,
One is silver
and the other gold."
~ old song sung at my Brownie meetings

When I was a child I would sneak into my grandmother's jewelry box and sort through all of the rhinestone earrings and pins. I thought that they were all real jewels and that my grandmother had quite a treasure chest.

As I grew older I used to go to vintage resale shops and pick up pretty clip on earrings and brooches. In the 80s I wore my favorite with a peach paisley jacket. For my Junior prom, my mother found a small round rhinestone pin. We attached it to a black velvet ribbon and I wore that as my only adornment with the raspberry and black striped prom dress {oh how I loved that dress! It was striking, since every other girl was dressed in bubble-gum pink or seafoam green. It was 1985 after all}.

And as I have grown up, I have kept my love of old things. I have amassed quite a collection, partly because people are always gifting me with these treasures from their own past.

I live to do custom jewelry orders. When I am asked to make something special for someone my whole process changes. It is not about just making pretty things, or thinking about what might catch the eye of a magazine editor. It is also not about making what I want to wear. It is all about telling the story of the client. Or in this case, telling the story of the client's niece who is preparing to get married this June, connected to the story of the great grandmother.

My client, Sharon, asked me to make something to give the bride-to-be on her shower this weekend. So we met at my favorite local coffee shop, Emy J's, my "office." We had coffee and smoothies, we talked about Sharon's adorable granddaughter. I take the time to be with my clients and get to know them, and find out more about who the person is who will wear this gift. I ask a lot of questions. Some of which are obvious {favorite color palette, necklace length, type of clasp preferred}. Some of them are more subtle {where does she spend her time, what are the things she loves the most, where do you see her wearing this}. I take the time because I am very serious about telling the story of the wearer. In the end it is not about me and my tastes or what is current on the scene. It is all about the person who will open that box, look inside, gasp and say that it is so very perfect.

Sharon gave me two pairs of rhinestone earrings that would be the bride's great grandmother's I believe. One was a bright blue in goldtone metal; the other was a light blue in a silvertone metal. She was okay with me taking them apart and mixing metals. Sharon asked for something fun but not casual, more elegant.

I call this "oldnewborrowedblue" as a perfect title for one about to be wed.

This is a convertible necklace. It is 16" long but is really made up of two separate 8" bracelets. You can wear it as bracelet {or two} or a necklace. I incorporated various goldtone and brass chains, bright blue freshwater pearls and two really stunning blue lampwork beads from FireLily. And I was able to use every single piece that she gave me. For this look, the color was key, and by finding pearls to match the exact hue of blue I was able to breathe new life into a tired look and honor the past while looking to the future.

So how about you? Have you given the Inspired by...Before & After challenge a try?

There is still time to enter the Inspired by...Before & After challenge. I know you all have access to some old costume jewelry, or some treasure from your own box from another decade, or cruise the clearance racks at your favorite stores looking for special components. You have until Friday, April 30th to upload your photos to the Flickr account (see the link in the sidebar). So far we only have one entry {thanks, PeacockFairy!} and it is pretty cool. The winner will have the choice of the prizes shown here.

What are you waiting for? Go and be inspired!

Enjoy the day!