Featured Item. Tribal Necklace and Earrings

In this weeks featured piece I'm going to be talking about the Tribal Necklace and Earrings I made.

My inspiration for this piece came from a wanderlust I get every year around January, just after Christmas when all the good will for the cold, sometimes snowy, weather has started to wear off and now I'm just feeling cold and broke with no money!
That was when I started thinking of my bucket list of places I'd rather be in that moment, from that the tribal set was born.
I thought what would I like from a holiday and immediately thought of sun, so I picked out the reds and yellows of the necklace. Brighter the better to make it feel warm!
Next up, I picked out the tribal bead centre on the necklace and the crackle glass hexagon beads, to me these represented adventure and other cultures. I imagined the focal bead was something that had been inscribed on a wall somewhere centuries ago, like the pictures on rocks in the desert. The crackle glass reminded me of a school trip I had taken when I was younger down a mine which was full of fools gold.

I love visiting zoo's around the world when I visit places too, which is represented by the leopard print beads. Leopards are beautiful creatures, you can't help but be impressed by the power of them. I will never forgot the first time I saw one.
I used the leopard beads for the earrings also with a delicate filigree flower on top.

To finish off the necklace I added various decorative beads to compliment the ones I had picked. Placing them on a bead board I changed the beads around until they 'made sense to me.' Originally I had planned to string them on a tiger wire and hang them from the chain that way, but I changed my mind. The necklace was to static and I wanted it to be more free flowing just like a holiday, so I did the beads one by one onto eyepins and strung them together that way.

If you would like to be the one to buy this Tribal Necklace and Earring Set, it is £19.99 with £3.20 UK Postage and packaging. I do also post aboard.

It will come to you wrapped and in an organza gift bag.

You can find Fashion Magpie Jewellery at the below links

Folksy Website www.folksy.com/shops/fashionmagpiejewellery

Etsy Website www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FashionMagpieJewels

Facebook www.facebook.com/fashionmagpiejewellery

Pinterest http://uk.pinterest.com/fmjewellery/

Fashion Magpie Jewellery Blog is a celebration of antique and handcrafted jewellery, with regular featured items from my shop, antique jewellery showcase, interviews, reviews and tutorials.

 

To be the first to hear the latest news from Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

Top 10 pieces of jewellery from movies

It's been a long time since I've done a top 10 post on here so here it is the top 10 pieces of jewellery from movies.

I'm sure many of you could tell me many more then the 10 I have listed but these are what I've found

1. Lord of the rings. The one ring.
 

 

The one ring, is a gold ring made to rule all other rings of the realms and finds it's way to Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit in the Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. He is charged with taking the ring to Mordor to be destroyed the fires of Mount Doom.
 

2. Hunger games. Mocking jay brooch

This brooch is owned by Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games and depicts a mocking jay holding an arrow in its beak, representing the fighting spirit of the character. In the movie the brooch, worn by actress Jennifer Lawrence, is made of sterling silver and plated with 22 carat gold.

3. Pretty woman. That necklace

The necklace of rubies and diamonds was worn by Julia Roberts in the romantic movie Pretty Woman. This necklace marks a turning point in the movie and also marked the actress as a A lister after this movie was released.

4. Twilight. Wolf bracelet.

 

I remember after this movie came out there was an explosion of people wanting a Bella Swan charm bracelet with the wolf Jacob Black gifts her in the movie.

5. Breakfast at Tiffanys. Pearl necklace
 

If you think of Katherine Hepburn it is hard not to think of this iconic picture of her in Breakfast at Tiffany's. The necklace she is wearing is made of multi strands of pearls and helped start a new trend at the time for pearl necklaces. Everyone had to have one!  

6. Titanic. Heart of the ocean necklace.

The heart of the ocean necklace worn by Kate Winslet in the blockbuster Titanic was actually 3 necklaces in the movie but after filming. Arpels and Cleef decided to make the real thing. (Read more about it here)

7. Pirates of the Caribbean. Skull coin necklace.

 

The skull piece is the last piece of the cursed treasure and features in the first of this fantastic franchise of movies, the black pearl. It's owned by Elizabeth Swan.

8. Moulin Rouge. Nicole Kidman necklace.

Made of real playium and diamonds this necklace broke the record as the most expensive movie prop ever, costing $1 million. In the scence when Nicole Kidman's charcter has the necklace ripped from her neck a stunt double had to stand in.

9. Harry Potter. Time turner.

 

This piece is from the 3rd book, the prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling and belonged to Hermione Granger. She used it to go back in time to fix the future

10. Up! Grape soda pin.

 

This is one of my personal favourite movies and the only piece on this list which belongs to a cartoon character. If you wanted to join Ellie's club you had better have her grape soda club pin she made herself.

Fashion Magpie Jewellery Blog is a celebration of antique and handcrafted jewellery, with regular featured items from my shop, antique jewellery showcase, interviews, reviews and tutorials.

 

To be the first to hear the latest news from Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

Thursday Throwback. The Teeth of Queen Victoria.

For throwback Thursday I look for something from history to do with either a jeweller, their work or an individual time period. This week I'm focusing on Queen Victoria and what would be considered in our modern world to be quite a barbaric collection of jewellery.
Queen Victoria ruled the United Kingdom from 1837 until 1901 which equalled up to an impressive 63 years of rule.

By her side was her husband the prince consort, Albert. With him she had nine children, the first of which was Princess Victoria who was nicknamed Vicky. When at the age of 7, Vicky's baby teeth began to fall out, Queen Victoria and her family had the teeth made into jewellery. A brooch which resembles a thistle holds the tooth aloft in the flower position of the brooch. On the back is inscribed a description of when the tooth was extracted by Prince Albert him self at Ardverikie (Lock Laggan) on the 13th September 1847.

Far from being the only tooth related jewellery the Queen owned, she also owned a necklace made of stag teeth with each tooth inscribed with when the beast was killed. It's thought her husband was the hunter and all the jewellery were gifts to her from him.
Among the pieces is a choker necklace with rows of teeth from deer shot at Balmoral by Albert, set in gold.

Also in gold are a brooch of 4 teeth in a clover pattern and earrings.
Rather then be repelled by these gruesome pieces of jewellery Queen Victoria loved then and wrote them when in private. She seems to have liked quirky unique items like these and even made a few pieces of jewellery herself with her own hair twisted into the designs. She gifted a bracelet to her governess made with her hair.

I think if this post today tells us anything its how much the times have changed, the Victorians though nothing o fusing a hummingbird on a bird because they loved the colours but today we'd blanch at the thought of it!


Fashion Magpie Jewellery Blog is a celebration of antique and handcrafted jewellery, with regular featured items from my shop, antique jewellery showcase, interviews, reviews and tutorials.

 

 To be the first to hear the latest news from Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

 

Treasury Tuesday. Bristish Woodland by Leah Wilkinson of Fashion MagpieJewellery

Yesterday I set my fellow etsy shop owners a challenge to show me all their lovely makes with the theme of woodland. I wasn't disappointed! I had over 50 posts showing me woodland pieces so I decided to make more then one treasury with this theme.
Encase you don't know what a treasury is, its a list of items, up to 16, normally with a common theme which are complied into a treasury on Etsy.com.
Part one of the woodland themed treasuries is called British Woodland part 1: Trees.

Part 1, as the title suggests, is mainly trees and other nature related pieces which you would find if you went to the woods today. Out of the two treasuries, I think this one has the most pieces in which I would want for myself.
Part 2 is called British Woodland Part 2: Animals.

 

This treasury focus' more on the animals who live in the woods and I love the imagination in these pieces.

Please click on the links to view these treasuries
Part 1 click here
Part 2 click here





Fashion Magpie Jewellery Blog is a celebration of antique and handcrafted jewellery, with regular featured items from my shop, antique jewellery showcase, interviews, reviews and tutorials.

 

To be the first to hear the latest news from Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

Treasury Tuesday. Nautical Treasuries By Secret Squirel

This treasury Tuesday I've been thinking of the seaside since the good weather finally rolled into the british isles so I thought the perfect treasury to show you could be one I was included in called Nautical Treasures by Georgina Young of Secret Squirrel13.
Before I show you the treasury I thought I'd give a brief description of what a treasury is. For those who don't know it's a list which can be created on Etsy.com which normally have a theme. Each week I pick a treasury I've either made or been featured in to show you.

It's a fun treasury this week with lots of colour and bags of creativity. The piece I have featured in this treasury is the nautical inspired wrap bracelet from my shop, with red white and navy seed beads on memory wire and finished with a drawbench bead of crimson red with a stripe of silver and cobalt blue.

Fashion Magpie Jewellery Blog is a celebration of antique and handcrafted jewellery, with regular featured items from my shop, antique jewellery showcase, interviews, reviews and tutorials.

 

To be the first to hear the latest news from Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

Featured Item. Dichroic Glass Purple Stud Earrings

My weekly feature item post is a piece from my Etsy.com and folksy.com shops which I have selected to show you more about. This week I have chosen the most viewed item in my etsy shop to feature. The Purple Dichroic Glass Stud Earrings.

 

These beautiful earrings are the product of a simple idea. I have several different variations of these earrings and every pair are slightly different. These are the only purple earrings of this kind I have.
There made with dichroic glass cabochons and a stud earring back.

Dichroic glass is fused glass made by layering pieces of glass with micro layers of metal or oxides. This gives the glass a colour shifting quality, so for example with this earrings you may see the gold from one angle on the purple, but from another angle you can see silver or blue hues on the purple.
All dichroic glass comes with a black back which helps the colours to stand out.
The Dichroic Glass makes for very difficult photographing conditions, especially if it is a bit of a miserable day outside so there isn't much natural light, which I prefer to a flash. I find under the flash of a camera the dichroic glass does not look as good but you can define the layers easier.
None of my stud earrings are identical, which I state on their descriptions. Instead I pick out cabochons which are of simpler size and pair them that way.

The dichroic glass stud earrings are now sold since publishing this post.


You can find Fashion Magpie Jewellery at the below links

Folksy Website www.folksy.com/shops/fashionmagpiejewellery

Etsy Website www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FashionMagpieJewels

Facebook www.facebook.com/fashionmagpiejewellery

Pinterest http://uk.pinterest.com/fmjewellery/

Fashion Magpie Jewellery Blog is a celebration of antique and handcrafted jewellery, with regular featured items from my shop, antique jewellery showcase, interviews, reviews and tutorials.

 

To be the first to hear the latest news from Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

A Brief History of the Eternity Ring

Normally on a Thursday I do a Thursday throwback post looking back at jewellery from history or there designers but I decided to try something different this week and take a look at the eternity ring.

In a way this post could still be considered a throwback post because the Eternity ring has been around for about 4000 years of human history. It is first recorded by the Egyptians as a plain metal or plaited ring with the circler form representing eternity. It could also be found as a snake biting it's tail these rings where known as 'ouroboros'.

 

 

 

 

Modern tradition has use giving the rings to celebrate an event in the couples life. Some husbands give their wife one after the birth of their first child to celebrate the start of their life as a family. Other people give them to show the time spent together as a couple, which often has them being given for anniversaries. Common anniversaries are the first year of marriage together because lets me honest a ring of diamonds very easily out does the traditional first anniversary gift of paper! Another common anniversary is the 40th wedding anniversary where a eternity ring can often be set with rubies and diamonds alternatively.

Half Eternity Ring

 

To us today an eternity ring is a band of diamonds which circles the finger, this type of ring is called a full eternity. A half eternity ring only has half the ring circled with diamond, some people prefer this style because it makes it easier to be resized if need be. The half eternity is also easier to wear and usually a cheaper alternative to the full eternity ring. To price a full eternity ring the jeweller has to consider the number of diamonds which need to be used to make a full ring, this is a skilled task and is often reflected in the price of the piece.

 

Full Eternity Ring
 

 

The finger of choice for a eternity ring is the ring finger with both the wedding ring and engagement ring on although it is entirely up to the preference of the wear with some women wearing them on the ring finger of the left or right hand.

If I was to summarise this article, I would say the Eternity ring is a symbol of ever lasting love of a husband for his wife. I love the concept of the Eternity ring and the romantic in me would love to receive one someday!

 

Fashion Magpie Jewellery Blog is a celebration of antique and handcrafted jewellery, with regular featured items from my shop, antique jewellery showcase, interviews, reviews and tutorials.

 

To be the first to hear the latest news from Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

Treasury Tuesday. Bridal Bliss by Moss Root Designs

Welcome to Treasury Tuesday, where I share a treasury from etsy.com I have either been entered into or made myself. For though of you who don't know what a treasury is, it is basically a list of 16 items which someone makes up, normally with a common theme in mind.
This week I am celebrating all things weddings and started off the week with my featured item, the wedding leaf earring and necklace. So keeping with this week I've chosen to show you a treasury I was added to called Bridal Bliss by Moss Root Designs.

 

I love the candles in this treasury and I have the mold which makes the tubular rose candle, it looks easy but take it from me it is not. So I can appreciate first hand how good these candles are!

The piece Fashion Magpie Jewellery have in this treasury is are the long dangling earrings. A simple design of a pearlescent white bead on the end of a chain, they look very elegant when worn.

Fashion Magpie Jewellery Blog is a celebration of antique and handcrafted jewellery, with regular featured items from my shop, antique jewellery showcase, interviews, reviews and tutorials.

 

To be the first to hear the latest news from Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

Featured item. Wedding Leaf Earrings and Necklace set.

Sundays are featured item day at Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog. Every Sunday I pick an item from my shops at Folksy.com and Etsy.com and write a short post about the item. This week is the Wedding Leaf Earrings and Necklace Set.

The story behind this set is that it started out life as just earrings, which I had listed in my folksy shop. There made from a Tibetan silver leaf charm and small 4mm Swarovski crystals with nickel free ear hoops.

They caught the eye of a lady who loved them and was going to be a bridesmaid for her friend. After trying on the dress she felt they where perfect except for one thing. They needed a necklace.
So I set to work and made the simple necklace which mirrored the design of the earrings.

Then, silence, she stopped replying all together. About a month later I got a reply eventually, the bride had had a melt down and decided she hated her bridesmaids dresses and changed all of them, so now the newly made set wouldn't be needed.
The thing I learned from this is always take a deposit. This way if your customer changes there mind you haven't lost out, it also makes the customer more committed to the sale.


If you would like to buy this wedding leaf earring and necklace set it is £19.99 with £3.20 UK postage and packaging. I also can post aboard.
It will come to you wrapped and in an organza gift bag.

I've also recently added a new Weddings section to my Etsy shop click here to see

You can find Fashion Magpie Jewellery at the below links

Folksy Website www.folksy.com/shops/fashionmagpiejewellery

Etsy Website www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FashionMagpieJewels

Facebook www.facebook.com/fashionmagpiejewellery

Pinterest http://uk.pinterest.com/fmjewellery/

Fashion Magpie Jewellery Blog is a celebration of antique and handcrafted jewellery, with regular featured items from my shop, antique jewellery showcase, interviews, reviews and tutorials.

 

To be the first to hear the latest news from Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

Treasury Tuesday. All things horses by Leah Wilkinson of FashionMagpieJewels

For Treasury Tuesday this week I've chosen to make my own treasury of items to show you. A treasury is a list of items on Etsy.com which have a common theme, My theme is All Things Horse. Originally this treasury was meant to be just horses as a celebration of the new horse racing season in Britain but this was harder then it should have been to find pieces to put in. So instead of abandon the idea I instead decided to expand it to include other horse types. These included, unicorns, zebras and donkeys.
The treasury still isn't full so if you have a etsy shop with a horse related piece in it you would like added to the treasury please write your link in the commons below and add it to the treasury.


Fashion Magpie Jewellery Blog is a celebration of antique and handcrafted jewellery, with regular featured items from my shop, antique jewellery showcase, interviews, reviews and tutorials.

 

To be the first to hear the latest news from Fashion Magpie Jewellery blog you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+