by lynn krestel

fall charmer

 added today to my etsy shop is this sweet - get you ready for fall - charm necklace.

 made with a w ire wrapped steel charm that is a snippet from a 50's newspaper article. dangles along with authentic tiger ebony -definitely a retro feel!! - an amanozite gem and gold freshwater pearl!!

hanging from an aged 18" sterling silver ball chain necklace.

 

i also added some tiger ebony earrings today, please check them out!!

 

the table

i shared this story with my girlfriend shirley this morning - we have a love for yard saleing, thrift stores, rummaging through other peoples junk plus making jewellery - and we love doing it together!! unfortunately now i live across the country from her and now have to scavenge and create alone : (

so we keep each other updated via email and dream of times we can be together....

 

...so yesterday morning - it was pouring rain, and our pastors wife forgot her sunday school material at home. so beth (my oldest daughter, almost 17, senior in high school, works at starbucks, not into junking!!) and i went to grab it for her real quick..it was about 10:20am  and church starts at 11am ...so we raced over to their condo, grabbed the bag and went down their alley to head back to church...and there, in the rain, getting soaked, upside down beside a dumpster, is this table!!

i slowed, beth is protesting we don't have time, but me in my 'church' clothes, shoes, no coat, screech to a halt, throw open the back and try to lift this table into the van. it must weigh a ton, but i'm only thinking that is a good sign, its solid wood.. 

beth is pleading with me to stop and just go, i'm begging her to help me lift it in the van....

there is also this odor of rotting garbage but i keep telling myself it can't be the table, has to be the dumpster....

i drag it closer, lift and promptly drop it on my foot - thought i broke a bone (but its only a bruise!!) i think i wrecked my shoes, beth reluctantly joins me outside her safe-haven of the front seat and i got my table!!

 

we made it back to church about 10:45ish...beth is mad, not speaking to me, i whisper to my husband "i got a table".. he is such a gem (and used to my insanity), he just says a mater-of-fact OK...and i rush to the piano (i am the church pianist!)...just in the nick of time...

 

now, all through church, all i can think about is this table - its nice, but what am i going to do with it..

our place is small, i don't have room...,

but it has good bones, but when am i going to fix it...one leaf is unattached, no hardware..

I'm also hoping its not making my van stink, my husband is not going to be quite so happy if the carpet in the van is stained and stinky!!

you know, around and around....

 

however, i feel triumphant! (albeit damp and deflated that my shoes - tan suede pumps with rattan heels are scuffed and probably ruined) - but  its beautiful, old, and free!!

so this morning, as i inspect my treasure, i am satisfied it was worth all the trouble!!

it is beautiful - i will either have to re-finish it or paint it cream - but now i have a new work table!!

 

i better get to work,

 

happy monday!! 

inspiration

i am absolutely inspired by this wonderful piece of art! it is installed at a diner, gella's, in my hometown of hays kansas...it is a mirror framed with road sign petals. the table below is also constructed of road signs. my mother used to sing for us that she (and we) were sunflowers from the sunflower state. my mom loved sunflowers long before they became 'popular'!! although i am still perfecting my own metalworking skills for jewelery design, i also dream of welding bigger projects such as this - so uniquely one of a kind!!

i have been laboring for the past week on developing a new technique - it is in my head and i'm now working at getting it to come out with my hands..you know that feeling on being on the edge of a breakthrough, yet maintaining the patience to complete the piece as i want it!!

i have also been enjoying blogs of favorite designers - i must admit i read and am inspired by their openness to share their feelings and work and hope to have that same transparency - as well as have inspiring ideas to share!! 

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do."        Eleanor Roosevelt

souvenir pendant

my husband and i were able to spend four wonderful days in whistler last june. i wanted to be able to remember those days forever. while there, i plucked a small leaf - a maple of some kind - from the tree by our balcony.

i had brought along my molding compound, so i pressed the leaf into the compound. then later at home i was able to reproduce that sweet little leaf into a pendant of silver!!

now everytime i wear it, i think back fondly of crisp mountain air, fine feasting, exploring the villages nestled under the peaks of whistler and blackcomb mountains, some great coffee! and just enjoying the friendship of my best friend....

beginnings

"It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else." Erma Bombeck

I think the hardest must be the beginning! knowing where to start...

so I'll just jump in!!

I have been so blessed to be able to be a stay home mom, designing jewelery from my home studio, free to come and go with my sweet daughters. I work in silver, semi precious gemstones, as well as vintage crystals and buttons.

I was so fortunate to be able to take a class with susan lenart kenzart in portland this march. learning from a woman who is such an original thinker as she has challenged me to stretch myself even further this year than ever before....

so, on to dreaming and creating!!