Gifts For Yourself or a Loved One?

Green & Brass Shamrock
Purchase on Etsy

Adding a couple of chains!

The Green Shamrock!

This is one of two or three necklaces that I keep wearing because I have fallen in love with it. I always wear them to make sure they hang right, or if there are any other issues. Finding the brooch and then creating a necklace from the many antique and older beads I have is "soooo" much fun.

You can see in the second photo how it can be worn with a couple of other chains. It can be fancy with a nice dress or top, or as shown here, a t-shirt works well also. The closure on the back is a toggle, so there are no little pieces you try to open with your fingers in the way! This necklace is one of my "Summer" necklaces and is offered at $75 not including the shipping or the extra chains. If you are interested, you can follow the link to my Etsy shop.

I will really hate to see this one go out the door! It would make a wonderful Christmas present to yourself, or to someone you love.

Here are three that just went as gifts to good homes!

 
  

This is a "toggle" closure for those of you that were not sure of the reference above to this term. The dragonfly charm is on all my necklaces as my signature!

Special Gifts of Vintage Jewelry

Art Deco Flower & Trifari Necklace
$125 plus shipping
Purchase On Etsy

What do you consider a special gift? 

Would you think a necklace put together by a visual artist, from vintage brooches, or earrings, along with repurposed chains and old beads might fit that description of special gift? That is exactly what I do when I take a break from a painting I am working on.

I enjoy working with the pieces of vintage jewelry... and the different thoughts regarding size and weight brought to the three-dimensional aspect of these pieces of jewelry. To me they are another piece of art!

The necklaces I put together are one of a kind and cannot be duplicated. I can make something similar if I have sold one you are interested in! They have all the "character" associated with older costume jewelry.  They have slight wear, but nothing easily seen. I use a "toggle" closure and also include a dragonfly charm at the back as my signature. Below are close-up shots of the necklace shown above.

   











Here are a couple of other images of necklaces you can find on my Etsy shop page. Enjoy!

Black Jet & Enameled Dress Clip
Purchase on Etsy

With Other Jet Bead Chains

Green Shamrock Brooch
Purchase on Etsy

Five Leaves & Amber
Purchase on Etsy

Where can you find my necklaces?

"Orange Cream"
$65 plus shipping from Etsy

I now have created a lighter weight necklace called "Summer Necklaces" which will be most times a one-strand necklace and not as long and the "Winter Necklace" category. A third category will be a "Simple Necklace" that will be mainly a chain found at consignment or thrift stores with an added vintage small earring or brooch. This necklace will fit the bill for those people that do not like a "chunky" type of necklace. Both of these necklaces look good with a v-neck sweater or t-shirt... or an open neck button-up shirt!

The Etsy store, along with word of mouth, is the sales vehicle for my repurposed vintage and vintage-inspired necklaces. These necklaces will not be available in a retail store at this time. Etsy is one of the easiest ways to promote and sell original handmade items. Etsy pieces will be shared to my Facebook page as a way to reach a wider audience... along with posting necklaces on Pinterest!

This is a "Summer Necklace" and is a simple necklace that fits our lighter weight clothing of the summertime!

Close Up View

Purchase Orange Cream Summer Necklace

Be sure to check out my post from last year where I debuted my "Winter Necklaces." Five of those were released for sale earlier last year. These necklaces are multiple strand or heavy brooch inspired necklaces.

Here are a few of my other necklaces you can find on Etsy or Pinterest! I will be posting these a few each week for you to read more about them and my process!

Red Flower & Sparkle
Can be purchased on Etsy

Sparkling Flower & Pearls
Can be purchased on Etsy

Customize One Just For You from Family Pieces!

If you have vintage jewelry (costume only please), you might want something made specifically for you from different pieces. One of my first posts on this blog shows what I created from one friend's many pieces. You might not wear the hand-me down pieces as they are, but would enjoy a necklace made from them! Contact me and let's talk!

Who Wants A Necklace Like No One Else Has?

Vintage jewelry has a style all its own...


And I have collected and enjoyed wearing many pieces over the years. These days I seem to only wear my smallest brooches but sometimes I'll wear three to five at a time! And, lately I am not wearing any of my rhinestone necklaces ... I favor the more artsy chunky necklaces.  So, what to do with all my accumulated stuff? Well ... why not take them apart, or combine them in new ways ... in a more contemporary style!



Red & Black Magic
$200 Plus Shipping

So, here are the first five ...

Necklace No. 1: "Red & Black Magic"

A large link necklace with some links covered in a faux snakeskin black. I added two brooches with red stones, one a flower, and one a starburst with clear rhinestones also. There is an earring with various grey faux pearls on a filigree back ... some of them dangle. And then there are three glass teardrops that are a smokey clear. This was a very fun necklace to make with adding such different items hanging on that chunky link necklace! 

Ivory Flowers
$200 plus shipping

Necklace No. 2: "Ivory Flowers"
 The flower at the top left side was a brooch, and I had a beautiful double link goldtone chain to use with it!

The lower strand has glass beads in white, ivory, amber and a few larger milky glass ones ... with that beautiful ivory flower and an amber bead hanging from it.




Purple Majesty
$200 plus shipping

Necklace No. 3: "Purple Majesty"
This necklace started with the double brass chain and the pendant with purple and red glass stones in it. I also had a lovely purple glass stone link necklace to put with it. Now the fun begins!


The brooch in this necklace sparkles with purples and many other colors ... called Aurora Borealis!




 

Pink Power
$165 plus shipping

Necklace No. 4: "Pink Power"
The necklace consists of a silvertone chain and the pendant is died pink mother of pearl with the dangles of pink beads. I made two different necklaces to go with this one ... one is a variety of pink glass beads and the other is small turquoise beads. 

This necklace sparkles with the large funky pink disk ... a "retro" style! Here is a close up of that portion of the necklace.

Dogwood Gold
$225 plus shipping

Necklace No. 5: "Dogwood Gold"

I think this was the first necklace that I made! I had this wonderful dogwood bracelet that has a beautiful white finish on the blossoms.

I decided to combine it with two of my beautiful brooches ... one a large faux pearl in the middle of goldtone flower petals, and the other a topaz rhinestone circle pin with a spray of clear rhinestones. All this is put together with another goldtone rope chain and a second chain with topaz glass bead drops and clear rhinestone drops of various sizes. I added the topaz rhinestone earring drop to the middle!

Here is a collage of close ups of various parts of the necklaces. If you are interested, I will be glad to send you several photos of the necklace you are interested in and the close ups.

I have been creating two to three paragraph stories from the view of a dragonfly as it moves across the landscape and interacts with various subjects... they are a little childish... but that is my point for them. Each time I release a selection of necklaces, I will have one story and print to release. The print will be of the painting with the story on a heavy weight watercolor paper. Each client that purchases a necklace will receive one of the prints, or if you commission a necklace you will receive the print of that time-frame. So, they are limited and special to those buying a necklace. At some point, I will produce a book of these stories.

Here is the first story and print!

The Dragonfly & the Sunflower

Since this is my first release, please let me know if there is any problem with a "Buy Now" button for Paypal ... or if you have any other suggestions to make this purchase of necklaces and/or purses an easier thing to do. Thanks!



What Makes a Nice Gift?

Have a drawer full of old jewelry?

Do you have pieces of jewelry that belonged to a family member? A prized piece from your Grandmother might be something you would love to wear, but maybe it is a brooch and you don't pin those on your clothing. How about making it into a beautiful necklace. Would you wear it then? I bet you would. Here is a sample of what I am doing as commission pieces for clients.

"Family Locket"

This necklace has a centerpiece that is a locket with two photos inside of family members. The rest of the pieces are a brooch, a bracelet (the white flowers) and another necklace that had the aqua pieces and silver chains. I took the silver multi-chain necklace apart and put pieces back together in different combinations. That multi-chain necklace became part of four or five necklaces this person commissioned!

"Green Fever"

Here are several photos of necklaces created for this client ... six necklaces were commissioned from the variety of odd jewelry from various relatives.

"Noah's Ark"

"Rosebud"

"Here Kitty Kitty"

There is one more necklace being worked on .... and it is proving to be the hardest one to make work from a design standpoint .... So....

Do you have some jewelry you love but don't know what to do with. Give me a shout ... e-mail me at marshasavageart@yahoo.com and let's talk about the possibilities! Hope to hear from you.

The Start of Dragonfly Jewels and Stories

"Brooch Box"
Some of the items I
will use in creating!

This blog will showcase my repurposed vintage jewelry and handmade purses from vintage and unusual fabrics... mostly! These new creations will be one of a kind and are only coming out a few at the time.

Why have I chosen "Jewels By Dragonfly?"

The dragonfly has always been something I have watched ... and collected pins and necklaces to wear. They seem to have a special significance for me. I did just a little research and found quite a few stories about them... one of them saying they are considered to be a "messenger." I like that!

So .... I have also been writing little stories of about one paragraph from the perspective of a dragonfly in her journey across the landscape. Each of these stories will come out with a few purses and/or pieces of jewelry. They may have nothing to do with the purse or jewelry ... they are just an added part of this hobby. I might even try to illustrate the paragraphs. These could possibly go along with the purchase of either a purse or piece of jewelry as a print . They will just be a little "added extra" for you!

My paintings in oil, pastel or acrylic are my business. My jewelry and handmade purses are my hobby ... for clearing my mind when I need to take an "eye" break from the paintings. Here are a few photos of some of the items in progress. Now.... don't think these are finished ... they are a work in progress, remember? And, they could possibly change drastically before hitting the "product page" here.

Elements on One Purse!

I have been making purses for about a year ... in between creating my fine art. I have only been making the jewelry for a couple of months. The designs have been evolving over this long drawn out process. I have not carried one of the purses yet, but I have worn each necklace to make sure it is wearable, and they hang correctly. This has resulted in several changes for a couple of the necklaces!

Here is a teaser,
one of the necklaces
in the process.

I have created two pages to go along with this blog... one for the purses and one for the jewelry. These two pages are still under construction. When the pages are finalized and the first necklaces and purses are released, I will post something here on the main page and then post two or three items on "its" page. Each time I release a few new pieces, I will post here on the main page ... with the dragonfly story ... and the products will show up on their "page."

When it goes "live" ... I will also create a Paypal "buy now" button for ease of purchase. Remember, these will be special and not your average purse or jewelry!