WHY I DO WHAT I DO ~ MY INSPIRATION

When I was a little girl, my sisters and I always sat with my mom and went through her jewelry box, trying it all on. I remember one day I came across this necklace wrapped in tissue paper, tucked away in a corner of her jewelry box. I had never seen this one before. Mom explained to me that it was her grandmother's; my great-grandmother's. It was left to my mom when she passed away. I have admired this necklace ever since. 

I always loved stories of the earlier, simpler years of this country and I read books on the subject as much as I could. Although times were simpler, everyday things weren’t all that easy to do. When I see old things in museums, old towns when I traveled and items like this necklace, I can almost see a story in my head about it. Times were tough and items like this necklace were so precious. Imagine how this was made back in the late 1800's, early 1900's. I try to imagine what it must have been like back then. How easy things are for us today. Imagine having to make a meal on a wood burning stove or fire for 6 to 8 people. Can you imagine making all your clothes by hand, not only for you, but for your entire family? Washing clothes with a wash board! Have you ever had to wring out clothes because your washer broke down right in the middle of a washing cycle??? Can you imagine doing that for every load? Twice! Well, these are just some of the things that go through my head.

When I asked my mom where my great-grandmother got this necklace, she didn't know. She imagined her grandfather gave it to her though. She had admired it just like I did when she was a young girl. If you look closely, it is carved coral or turquoise mounted onto a brass setting. The coral or turquoise stone is also faceted in the back. The chain used to be antiqued, which made it look like brass, but it's actually sterling silver. My mom said it just rubbed off over the years. I often wondered if it was fixed in some way and she assured me it never was. The only thing that changed was that a small carved coral rose that dangled off the bottom of the pendant is missing from the necklace. My mom doesn't know what happened to it. I have been looking for one to match it for almost five years now. Each one I show my mom, it's just not quite right. Some days, I hope to find one and bring it back to what it really looked like. Then some day's I just want to leave it like it is. I can imagine my great-grandmother wearing it only on special occasions...to church or maybe a social. It’s a very beautiful necklace.

Since I saw this necklace, any jewelry I bought was compared to it. I always loved old, vintage looking jewelry the best. One day, about 5 years ago, I needed a certain color necklace to wear with a special dress to a wedding. I looked everywhere and couldn't find what I wanted. My dress called for an old, vintage look. It just so happened I was in a local, well known craft store one day and came across beads of all kinds, jewelry findings, chain, charms, everything I needed to make that necklace. So I did! I just loved how I could make exactly what I wanted. It turned out beautiful and I received many compliments on it. The next thing I did was start making necklace sets for my family and gave them out for birthdays and Christmas. Little did I know that I started a new hobby that changed my life. Before I knew it, I went to craft shows and had home parties and actually started to earn a little money from it.

I was continually told to sell my necklaces on line and heard about Etsy one day. When I was going to set it up, I needed a name for my shop. I planned to use a picture of my great-grandmother's necklace for my avatar. When I was looking at it, I admired the workmanship on it. The chain was made up of delicate hour glass and oval links. Delicate Links. To me, it was perfect! So, for almost one year now, I've been selling there too! All because of one, beautiful necklace! One special note, I got a convo one day telling me they were disappointed not to find the necklace on my avatar for sale in my shop. So I decided to take it down for now. Maybe once people know me a little better, I will put it back up.

OK, so now I'm blogging. Who would have thought that this would turn into such an adventure! It’s hard, hard work. I work full time too. But I really enjoy making my necklaces. Things are so uncertain right now and it helps me to relax as well as make a little money to help me pay some bills. (Not many, but it helps!) I'm planning many things here on my blog. I can't promise to update every day, but I do plan to have a giveaway soon. So stay tuned!