Looking for colors

Last year when I worked on my Mermaids Garden Necklace I selected an unusual color combination of copper and aquamarine to pale blue - to express an ocean theme, and I haven't expected that many people would like that palette. From time to time I play with different colors - I love it!


Looking back at the Mermaid's Garden, I wanted to try colors like those, but of other shades. I got from AuntiesBeads.com Bronze Swarovski crystal pearls, Caribbean Blue Opal Swarovski crystal bicones, and Metallic Indigo Iris Miyuki seed beads, this combination seemed to be very interesting for me!


I was eager to challenge and when I received my order, I immediately started beading. Oh, no, I wanted just to try my idea! Look at the picture, here is my new necklace. I don't know how you like it, but yesterday at the Art Activation in the Torpedo Factory Art Center (Alexandria, VA), where I demonstrated beading to public, my necklace attracted a lot of attention. I guess, partly because of colors. Now I'm thinking how to name the necklace... Any suggestions?

How is it on a model?

I like the visitors in my studio who makes the photos with my jewelry on. As a rule, they ask my permission to do so, and I'm always glad to see them modeling my beadworks. Sometimes in my turn, I ask them to pose and the answers are positive. Here is a sample: Dorothy from Maryland modeling my Phoenix Firebird Necklace. How is it on Dorothy? I think, it's a nice view!

Russian Pendants

The story with The Dream by Pablo Picasso will continue! Last week I bought seven more Russian pendants!


Birthday, by Marc Chagall


The Painter: To the Moon, by Marc Chagall


Judith, by Gustav Klimt


The Kiss, by Gustav Klimt


The Virgins, by Gustav Klimt


Winter, by Alfons Mucha


Renaissance - Mask Your Face

DARK TOPAZ & DEEP RED/PURPLES MAKE THESE VINTAGE COSTUME SETS by SHERMAN and BERGERE WORTH COLLECTING!

Glass crystal bead sets by Sherman continue to be ever popular amongst collectors and this 2-piece signed set of earrings and 2-row necklace weighing 125 grams is sure to please. Depending on your screen settings, this set may look black but it's anything but. It's a deliciously warm but deep brown topaz. Perhaps you can see the brown shades better in the closeup of the lovely clasp below:


As you can see, the glass crystals alternate between topaz-washed aurora borealis and clear Swarowski crystals. The glitter is outstanding, especially since the beads are in great condition. When we received this necklace, as it's a very old set, unfortunately one of the strands snapped. I wanted to cry, especially since the set is so beautiful. But my daughter went to work and quickly re-threaded both strands on fresh nylon. Now, whoever buys it will get years of wear from it. You can learn more about this set and purchase it from OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE.

While you're over there, if you love glass crystal bead sets especially those in siam reds and purples, why don't you take a look at the sensational 3-piece parure by Bergere that we've just relisted. Bergere is another vintage costume jewelry designer whose work and designs remind me very much of Sherman and certainly are as good quality. The set we have is this one:


It's utterly gorgeous and like the Sherman above, very weighty with all those glass crystal beads. The bracelet itself is about 3/4" wide over the two rows, as is the 15" necklace. The earrings are over 1" wide all round. To see and read more about this BERGERE parure, just click the photo above or HERE.

Both the Sherman and the Bergere set are priced to sell but I'm receptive to reasonable offers. So why not slip over and take a closer look. It's worth the effort as these are two wonderful sets of vintage costume jewelry by two top designers.

RARE HONEY BEE PIN by SHERMAN FETCHES HUGE DOLLAR ON EBAY

Those who collect Sherman or other famous vintage jewelry designers know that when it comes to "investing" in Sherman and not just "buying" Sherman because you like it, that there's a big difference in what to look for and what you will pay when you find it. Take the honey bee pin shown on the right. It's a Sherman .. no I didn't know he made pins like this either ... and this rare pin recently sold on ebay for $1250. The members of our costume jewelry group were floored. No doubt the vendor was in 7th heaven, especially if he or she picked it up at a yard sale for pennies. Yes, sometimes vendors get lucky and come across a treasure in a box of trash. Not that that happened here. I know nothing about the history of this piece but I thought my readers might like to know what to look for when they're "investing" in Sherman.

As you know if you've been following this blog, I've decided to get out of designer vintage costume jewelry and have been selling off my costume jewelry at cost. I still have some left and invite you to visit my SHOP AT RUBY LANE. I have some Shermans left, along with Alice Caviness, Schiaparelli, Juliana, Kramer, Weiss and others. No reasonable offer will be refused. As long as I cover my cost on the piece, it's yours. So please don't hesitate to make an offer. Several have already taken advantage of my "clearance", including vendors. It's amusing ... almost ... sob ... to see them listing the pieces they purchased from me at a higher price than they paid me and already getting sales on them. But that's the merry-go-round of selling.

On that note, don't be surprised if my postings in this blog become increasingly less frequent. If I'm not selling Sherman any longer, it's pointless to keep two blogs going (my other one is HERE) and it covers both vintage costume and fine jewelry. So if I have something to share with you re Shermans, you'll find it there.

And as I sign off, I have noticed a few interesting pieces at auction on ebay right now that you should consider bidding on for their style and color combinations. You find them at these links:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Sherman-PINK-DOVE-GREY-7-CLUSTER-BRACELET-NR_W0QQitemZ310159668262QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Costume_Jewelry?hash=item4836f4f426&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

and http://cgi.ebay.ca/Sherman-PINK-DOVE-GREY-CLUSTER-NECKLACE-EARRING-SET_W0QQitemZ310159666157QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Costume_Jewelry?hash=item4836f4ebed&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

These obviously go together but the vendor has separated them. You can thank me for the plug later Harry LOL!

This one is also a beauty: http://cgi.ebay.ca/Signed-Sherman-Purple-Pink-Necklace-Earrings_W0QQitemZ150363552251QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Costume_Jewelry?hash=item23025db9fb&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 There's a reserve on it but certainly worth having a shot at.

New collectors might like to bid on this Sherman lot: http://cgi.ebay.ca/LOT-VINATAGE-SHERMAN-JEWELRY-NECKLACE-BROOCH-EARRINGS_W0QQitemZ330348788762QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Costume_Jewelry?hash=item4cea527c1a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 Great way to start your Sherman collection.

Gee, I really must ask myself why I do this ie. why am I advertising for others? In business, you pay people to advertise for you. Hmmm... maybe I should think about charging for this LOL!

Picasso's Dream Necklace

Not in a couple of days, but the necklace with the Russian pendant featuring The Dream by Picasso is finished! It was a pleasure to play with colors and texture. I decided not to round angles you can see in my previous post on the base of my necklace, because the pendant is rectangular and I wanted to keep the common shapes. I've tried to use the same colors as on the miniature, but without big bright spots, just to accent the beauty of the pendant. By the way, I used in my work seed beads I bought on sale at Artbeads.com. I hope people will like my new beadwork. Thank you, Artbeads.com!


Here is the finished necklace live, I mean here is how it looks on. It seems to be pretty, and my model looks great wearing the necklace. Top secret: this girl is also Russian!

Incorporating Art

Once I've already written, that I added Artbeads.com to my list of on-line stores where I buy jewelry supplies. Surfing that website for some interesting things in June, I noticed the word "Russian". Hmmm... I wondered, what about Russia and Russians was there? I opened a page - OMG! Try to imagine: I found pendants replicated portions of famous paintings from artists such as Chagall, Mucha, Klimt, Botticelli, Matisse and Picasso, handpainted by Russian artisans! These Russian pendants feature just a small piece of the whole paintings, but in doing so, the essence of the artistry is captured!


For sure, my customers and I would love to wear a true piece of art with one of these gorgeous masterpieces, and I grabbed one pendant featuring The Dream by Picasso, first of all because I'm a fan of Picasso's talent. It doesn't mean I don't like the artworks of Chagall or Klimt, but The Dream reminds me of the traditional Russian folk art - Palekh lacquer miniatures.

The backing of the pendant is a piece of black onyx, and the pendant is drilled from top to bottom. It's great for a wide range of stringing opportunities but not for beadweaving. If we had those pendants drilled on top from side to side, it would add much more opportunities for beadworkers. Anyway, I found how I can incorporate a piece of art into my jewelry piece! I haven't finished my beadwork yet, it's in process, we'll see the result in a couple of days...