Charmed Bracelets

Dramatic Swirled Bakelite Earrings

 Every so often when I'm shopping for jewelry-making components, I'll buy a piece of vintage jewelry. 

I'll buy vintage jewelry to add to my collection (See: Vintage Jewelry, My Collection), or because I like the design and want to try something similar, or because I want to study how it's made.

I've decided that--in order to keep myself from being overwhelmed--I need to sell on some of these pieces occasionally. 

So, I am looking for a new home for a very dramatic pair of bakelite earrings. 

These started life as earrings, but they probably had a screw back--very few women wore pierced earrings in the 1930s and 1940s. I added new sterling silver ear wires to these, and gave the bakelite a good polishing with simichrome. The swirling of yellow and spinach bakelite was very well done, as you can see. 

Price: $35. The price includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. mailing addresses. 

Want to learn more about bakelite? See: My Bakelite Bangles

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010. 

Text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

The Brown Button Necklace

 The fantastic chocolate-brown button that I used to anchor this necklace came from Xurple, my favorite place to get vintage bakelite buttons. 

Xurple is run by Jen, who is an artist and jewelry-maker as well as a seller of vintage buttons and other cool items, and she's been giving me an education into bakelite and also selling me some amazing buttons. 

 The button is a bit larger than an inch across, and has a deeply carved leaf on one half of the top surface. I added a handmade Thai silver leaf that seems to echo the first carved leaf, and a round button of orange bakelite, which becomes a berry or a little fruit. 

The cluster of button, leaf, and fruit hangs from a strand of black onyx beads which is then connected to short lengths of sterling silver chain. The fastener is a handmade hook of sterling silver wire, and the extender chain is weighted with another smaller leaf of Thai silver and a butterscotch bakelite flower.

It is about 20 inches long. 

Price: $100. The price includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations.  If you are outside the United States, e-mail me to discuss shipping options. 

Oh, here's the link to Xurple: Xurple

Photos: @ Monica Strasen 2010. 

Design and text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

A Gift for Julie: Flowers and Puppy Dogs

 I made this one-of-a-kind bracelet for my friend Julie, who has been having a tough time lately. 

So it is not for sale, and Julie will have the only bracelet like this in the entire world. I kinda like that!

The "charms" on the bracelet are vintage bakelite buttons, probably made during the 1940s. Scottie dogs were popular in jewelry and buttons then, supposedly because FDR had a Scottie. 

My friend Jen at Xurple found the little dog buttons for me, three of them, still on the original card. The card held six buttons when it was new, and they sold for 9 cents at JC Penney. 

The other buttons are a simple flower shape in chocolate brown bakelite. 

I really love this warm combination of colors, butterscotch and chocolate. I added a round button of butterscotch bakelite to weight the end of the bracelet chain. 

With this design, the toggle can slip into any link on the chain, making it adjustable to fit most wrists. I used a lighter chain for this bracelet than I usually do, and I think it suits the size and scale of the buttons. 

It's going into the mail tomorrow, and in a few days Julie will have something to remind her of all the friends in our blogging world who care about her. 

See another one-of-kind bracelet in this color combination: 

Warm Bakelite Hearts

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010. 

Design and text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

Luscious as a Bowl of Cherries

Peaches and cherries? Or bakelite?

Stop and take a second look before you bite into these. Luscious as they look, they aren't edible. 

These vintage pieces are classic bakelite button earrings, one pair in cherry red, the other in butterscotch. 

They have screw backs, which was typical in the 1940s, when not too many women pierced their ears. 

I bought these to wear with my own bakelite jewelry, bracelets and necklaces I've made from recycled bakelite buttons. 

But if you'd like to buy a pair, I could probably be persuaded to part with them. E-mail me if you're interested: jeanne.sather@gmail.com

See also: 

Happy Bakelite Bracelet

Red Button Necklace

Playing With Bakelite

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010.

Text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

The Lady With the Cane

 Let me say, first of all, that I just don't see myself as The Lady With the Cane. 

Not my self-image. 

However, I have been using a cane for a couple of weeks now, because of the pain in my left hip. I need the cane to get out of bed in the morning, and for the first little while after I'm up because I can't put all my weight on that leg. And I need it each and every time I get up from a chair or the couch. 

This situation seems likely to continue. 

(Don't know what I'm talking about? See my cancer blog: The Assertive Cancer Patient) 

Given this situation, I may have to bow--not gracefully, but with my own sense of Assertive Cancer Patient style--and accept a cane. But not just any cane.

I want to be The Lady With the Totally Cool Cane. And I've found the cane, online, of course. To top it off, this cane has a bakelite handle. Those of you who know my jewelry will know that I am fascinated with bakelite right now and making a lot of pieces with vintage bakelite buttons. (See: Charmed Bracelets: Bakelite) 

The cane--vintage, of course--is topped by a bakelite parrot. How cool is that? 

I snatched the photo above off the seller's Web site. Since I'm buying it, I figure he won't mind.

Can I afford this cane? Of course not. It costs $650, including the shipping. But I'm hoping that my friends and readers will chip in and help buy the Assertive Cancer Patient her signature cane. 

By my math, if thirty-two and a half friends and readers send me $20 each, that will cover it. If you make a donation through PayPal, please add a note that it is for the cane. 

Thanks, everyone. 

A footnote: Parrots were a popular subject for bakelite carvers in the 1930s. Here's a parrot pin for sale from California Girls, a dealer who sells me sterling charms and bakelite: 

Bakelite Parrot Brooch

@ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

The Yellow Button Necklace

 Here's one more necklace designed to show off a beautiful, vintage bakelite button. 

This button, which was made in the 1930s-1940s, is hand-carved. The color is known to collectors as creamed corn, and it is as yummy a shade of yellow as you will find anywhere. 

I paired the button with two strands of small black-onyx beads, which are pulled into flower-shaped cones of Thai silver and then attached to several inches of sterling silver chain. 

The one-of-a-kind necklace is finished with a handmade sterling silver hook and a Thai silver leaf and large rectangular bead of black onyx.

The length is about 20 inches, plus a two-inch extender chain. 

Price: $80. The price includes all taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations.

If you are outside the United States, please e-mail me to discuss your shipping options: jeanne.sather@gmail.com 

See also: Red Button Necklace

Photo: Monica Strasen. 

@ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

Red Button Necklace

 Vintage bakelite buttons, like the one I used to make this necklace, were hand-carved. It amazes me that craftsmen put as much effort into carving a button as they did a bangle bracelet, a pair of earrings, or a brooch. 

I can't begin to fathom the economics of that--what did a single button cost in 1930?

Economics aside, though, the buttons deserve our attention for their beauty.  

This rich red button has an Asian feel, and I paired it with black onyx beads for even more drama. The one-of-a-kind necklace is finished with sterling silver chain and a large onyx bead to weight the extender chain. 

Price: $80. The price includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations. 

Photo: Monica Strasen. 

@ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

Playing With Bakelite

 I've been collecting round bakelite buttons for a couple of months now. 

I think I bought two separate batches from two different dealers, and then I played with them for awhile, working out a design. 

The result is quite similar to a style of vintage bakelite bracelet that I've seen in guides for collectors, but this bracelet is a new piece made with vintage materials. I used sterling silver chain and wire, and the vintage bracelets were more often brass or another inexpensive metal. 

The buttons are those delicious bakelite colors--cherry red, orange, butterscotch, and black-- in various sizes. I attached them to a sterling silver chain with wrapped loops, and added a flower-shaped button of butterscotch bakelite to the end for a little extra whimsy. 

The one-of-a-kind bracelet closes with a handmade sterling silver hook, and it fits most wrists. 

 I made two pairs of matching earrings with the extra buttons. You can buy the bracelet without the earrings if you choose, but you can't buy the earrings without the bracelet. I want the new owner of this bracelet to have the matching earrings if she wants them. 

Price: $150. That is the price for the bracelet and both pairs of earrings. If you don't want the earrings, or want only one pair, e-mail me and I will send you a Paypal invoice.

The bracelet alone is $120.  

As always, my prices include taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations. 

jeanne.sather@gmail.com

Here's a similar vintage bakelite bracelet: Chunky Charm Bracelet

And one more: Beaded Bakelite Bracelet

Photos: Monica Strasen. 

@ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

My New Postcards

 The new postcards for my jewelry business landed on the front porch the other day, and I'm thrilled with how well they look. 

Monica, one of my closest friends, shot the photo. She shoots most of the photos for this blog and has  a wonderful talent for making my pieces look good. That's important when most of my customers don't get to handle or try on my jewelry before buying it.

  Laurie, another close friend, took the image and put the postcards together in Photoshop and ordered them from the printer. 

That's a task I could do, but it would stress my abilities a bit (I'd have to learn something new, which is hard sometimes when you don't have a lot of bandwidth), and it is so nice to have a competent friend take over the job. 

Now I have postcards to promote my jewelry in a low-key sort of way, which is all I'm comfortable with. I always include a few postcards when I mail a jewelry purchase. I leave them around town at restaurants and coffee places where I hang out. My friends have stacks of them as well. 

The previous batch of postcards featured a photo of a turquoise bracelet with a vintage sterling charm. It was a great image, but after that bracelet sold I wanted to use something else. (This is the older postcard: Sterling and Turquoise Bracelet . I still have a few and am happy to send you some with your order. Just ask.)

I am determined to start a new fashion with my jewelry made with vintage bakelite buttons. Each piece is unique, each piece has the charm of an object that has been used and lived with for decades--what the Japanese call wabi sabi--and there is a quirkiness about taking such a mundane, everyday object, a button, and making jewelry with it. Or so I think. 

See: 

Bakelite

Vintage Jewelry: My Collection

Photo: Monica Strasen. 

@ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

Warm Bakelite Hearts

 This butterscotch, or amber, is my favorite color of bakelite. 

I like it paired with black--as in these buttons, Happy Bakelite Bracelet.

I also like it in combination with red and orange.

But the prettiest, warmest combination just might be butterscotch and chocolate brown, as in the bracelet that I made on Sunday. 

The four heart-shaped buttons are vintage bakelite, made in the 1930s or 1940s. Two are brown and two are butterscotch. I spaced them with round bakelite beads, also in a rich butterscotch color. 

The bracelet closes with an adjustable toggle, and will fit wrists from about 6 to 7 inches. The chain, toggle, and wire are all sterling silver. The bead that weights the end is jade, in the same amber color as the bakelite. 

This bracelet is one of a kind. 

Price: $120. The price includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations. 

Here's a pair of earrings made with the same round bakelite beads: 

Butterscotch Bakelite Earrings

See more: Valentine's Day

See also: 

How to Use This Web Site

Bakelite

Photo: Monica Strasen.

@ Jeanne Sather 2010.