I posted the other day about my favorite site for alternative art supplies, Mantofev.com. Now I’m going to talk about what I like to use in my creations. In the past few months, I’ve started branching out from my traditional bead jewelry into using different things, namely, things that were not created with the intent to be used in jewelry.
I started with creating bottle cap earrings out of vintage soda bottle caps. I sell a lot of them to older women who remember when those sodas were actually sold in stores. I enjoy the nostalgic style and I like how no one else has the same earrings I do!
I then got the idea one day to comb estate sales for old jewelry and fix them up to either resell or take them apart and reuse the materials. They often come packaged by the bag, usually for only a dollar or two, so you can spend $6 and get a ton of old jewelry. A tip for those of you selling at flea markets, set up a $1 jewelry basket with those pieces fit to sell without fixing up. I get cleaned out every time!
I was at Walmart the other day (yeah, yeah I know, but I’m a college student on a budget) and was just slowly meandering throughout the store, looking for ideas on new jewelry materials, when I saw packages of buttons, full of assorted colors. My brain started clicking, so I bought a few packs. I had a fun time making pink and white earrings out of buttons and jump rings and other similar pairs. Then I ran out of jump rings, so I found some elastic stretch cord to use and started criss-crossing it through the buttons, like my blueberry bunches.
My favorite materials staple is chain. I have a lot of it! I needed some plain silver earrings one day and realized I didn’t have any so I just made some out of some chunky silver chain. I’ve been experimenting with some really awesome bracelets using a combination of the same chunky silver chain, silver links and some delicate chain, so I’ll release those soon for your enjoyment!
Anything else you use for alternative supplies and sources?
~Lindsey
LovetheLimelight.com
Tags: art, bottle caps, business, buttons, earrings, estate sales, fashion, jewelry, vintage, women
