I've almost run out of Czech vintage glass beads, and I don't have any more of these exact beads so if you want this pair of earrings, buy them now.
The glass beads are floor sweepings from factories in what is now the Czech Republic.
I love the beads as much for the story as for their gorgeous colors and that feel in the hand that new beads just don't have.
Read more: Vintage End-of-Day Beads
This pair is $25, and it is one-of-a-kind.
Photo: @Monica Strasen 2011.
@ Jeanne Sather 2011.
"Where?" you ask. Right on your ears.
These pale-pink dogwood flowers are vintage glass and just perfect for spring. Think Easter. Or spring festivals of various kinds. You can even wear these earrings to work, except this pair is guaranteed to make you want to play hooky! Spring fever.
The flowers are a bit more than half an inch in size. The centers are small carnelians, and the findings and wire are sterling silver, of course.
These flowers came from my favorite vintage bead dealer, Cynthia, who lives in Colorado. In her past lives she has also designed jewelry, raised her kids as a back-to-the-land hippy mama (in a cabin with a wood-burning cookstove), and she still makes a few pieces of jewelry.
She also works 80-hour weeks routinely--this is a grandmother, mind you--and is thinking about retiring.
Of course I want Cynthia to do whatever she wants to do, but I'm worried about having my supply of vintage materials cut off. She says she'll still sell to friends even if she closes her online shop. Or maybe she'll find a way to cut back ... uh, huh, the people who know her are saying.
This pair of earrings is $30. I only made one pair, but they turned out so well that I e-mailed Cynthia while her online store was closed for vacation, and asked if she could let me have any more dogwood flowers. She is sending me four more, as a gift, so once those arrive I will be able to make two more pairs.
Buy the earrings:
One of the reasons I like pearls is because of the place they've taken in our language. Cliches, granted, but sometimes it's fun to play with cliches. At least for me.
"Pearls of wisdom." "A pearl of great price." "Pearls before swine"--originally a quotation from the Bible, but now the name of a comic strip.
Brides wear pearls.
I didn't, of course, but I was not a traditional bride. My legal marriage was at the courthouse in Seattle (no pearls). The joke is that we lived in the premier wedding destination of Hawaii at the time, so we flew to Seattle to get married.
Then my Japanese husband and I had a traditional Japanese marriage in his home town on Awaji-shima, an island in the Inland Sea known for its Bunraku puppets. I wore kimono and a wig, plus the heavy white makeup. No pearls.
Anyway, back to the pearls. I've started playing with pearls recently, cultured pearls of course, but very nice ones. And I've made earrings with them in several different designs. I wanted untraditional designs with a bit of zing, and I think these have them.
Double Pearls
This pair of earrings has two pearls of different colors--cream and peach--on each earring. The pearls came from the same strand as the ones used in this necklace, Branches of Pearls, so they match (if that is important to you).
The last pair of these is sold, sorry.
Price: $32.
Single Pearl
The single pearl earrings are attached to sterling jump rings and then to posts, also sterling.
The two pairs are different colors--creamy white and peach. When you order, please be sure to specify which color you would like.
Price: $28.
Buy the single pearl earrings:
If you've never owned pearls before, you might want to read: Caring for Pearls
Photos: @ Monica Strasen 2011.
@ Jeanne Sather 2011.
A teardrop--by definition--should be sad. But these elegant earrings are anything but.
The rich, warm red of the carnelians looks good on almost everyone, even women who think they don't like red. And the length is just right for a dressy pair of earrings--the teardrop frame is a little over an inch in length, and the carnelians are a half inch across.
All the findings are sterling silver.
I made only one pair of these, and they are $35.
Carnelians are very popular with my customers. To see other carnelian jewelry that is for sale: Carnelians And to see my gallery of pieces that are sold: Carnelian Gallery
@ Jeanne Sather 2011.
These vintage glass beads were made in the late 1940s and early 1950s at factories in Czechoslovakia. The loose beads were swept up at the end of the day and collected in jars.
They were called "end of day" beads or "floor sweepings." Once enough beads were collected, they were strung in interesting, varied strands, typically 55 to 60 inches long.
I use these to make necklaces and prayer-bead bracelets as well as earrings.
Read more about the history of these fascinating beads: Floor Sweepings Gallery
Buy the pair on the left (Floor Sweepings 5):
I started playing with pearls over the holidays, when Nicky, the owner of my favorite head store, gave me a short lesson on cultured pearls.
Since then, I've made a necklace (above) and a half dozen pairs of pearl earrings. Each pair is slightly different.
The first two pairs are shown here.
The pair on the left is $28.
The pair on the right is no longer available, sorry.
@ Jeanne Sather 2011.
This simple, elegant pair of earrings show off teardrop beads of smoky quartz.
As you can see in the photos, these beads bounce the light around, and the smoky gray color goes with pretty much everything.
The french ear wires and other findings are sterling silver.
I have one pair of these.
Price: $25. The price includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations.
Here's a pair of earrings to warm up the final weeks of winter.
The three crystals are bronze, amber, and pale peach.
It's a variation on my "triplets" design. I seem to be in love with this design, and I've made a number of triplet earrings with various gemstones and crystals.
This pair is dramatic, with three colors of crystals on sterling silver wires of graduated lengths. The ear wires and other findings are also sterling silver.
I have only one pair of these.
Price: $25, which includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations.
Here are two more pairs of earrings made from beads swept up off the floors of bead factories in Czechoslovakia.
Floor Sweepings 3 (at right)
Price: $25
I have some triplets made with gorgeous vintage crystals in three shades of blue.
The blue crystals are really special, and so far they are my favorites among this group I'm working on.
I bought enough of these to make four pairs--one is already sold, one I am keeping for myself, and I have two for sale. Remember, you can always request a different ear wire from the one shown in the photo. I have most of the basic styles.
Price: $30 a pair.
That includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations.
The other crystal triplets include an elegant pair in shades of gray, and two or three more pairs in shades of bronze or bronze with purple.
This group will be priced at $25/pair. Coming soon.
Photo: @ The Amazing Monica 2010.
@ Jeanne Sather 2010.
