Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

I have several pieces and parts of old jewelry and I’m always on the lookout for more.   The thrift shops, second hand stores and interesting boutiques are places I tend to seek out.   I also am very fortunate to have had a mother who loved jewelry and old things.   I’ve had a wonderful time going through her jewelry and remembering the best of times with her.   Going through the jewelry box, I found this beautifully painted porcelain cabochon of two lovers set in a brass triangle.   It had been a brooch at one time and the clasp was broken.   Of course, I used it in a necklace.   Vintage brass and pearl chain combine with pearls and crystals to make quite a charming necklace! Another day, I attended a trunk show at Bead-It in Prescott and purchased a vintage belt buckle with rhinestones.   I used half the buckle; wire wrapped a vintage rhinestone button on the bar and made a sparkling pendant with matching earrings for the holidays!   I...

Do you find yourself drawn to thrift shops, second hand stores, recycle shops, antique shops and estate sales?   No matter how I try to avoid them, an invisible magnate pulls.   Why do I try to avoid them?   Well, there are so many possibilities for all the things I see.   And I tend to keep things until I’m inspired to use them.   That means there are boxes under beds, in closets, and stacked in corners waiting …waiting … waiting!   One of my goals for this next year is to make a glorious piece of jewelry once a month that uses one of the treasures I’ve found; something that creates a story and connects the now with the past.   Being in a new town, Prescott, with so many intriguing places to explore is similar to being in Wonderland.   Looking in, around and under the items encourages me to make up stories about who made something, what the owners lives were like, and inspires me to combine the old with the new.   I’m sharing a few of the pi...