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Sunday, September 12, 2010

Italian inspiration at the Farmer's Market.

I wonder what you guys will think of this project.  It involves recycled plastic, a trip to the Farmer's Market and a memory of Milan, Italy.  Here are some pieces I made...





This month I am 'stashbusting' in sympathy with the cool blog T-Shirt Diaries, so for the rest of September I have pinky-sworn not to buy any jewelry-making supplies, and instead try to use up what I have.  But, um, er, I was at the Farmer's Market yesterday, and er, ahem, decided I really needed to buy some tomatoes...





And if I bought them just for the container, no one but us needs to know, right?



I was enchanted by the cathedral-window shapes in the plastic mesh; they remind me of one of my favorite places, Milan's glorious Duomo.






And so the jewels evolved.






Aren't those gargoyle charms cute?  Since I had the cathedral on my mind, they seemed the perfect ornament here.









This plastic mesh is thin, but super tough for its weight.  I found it easy to poke tiny holes with a push pin; you could also melt holes into the plastic by heating a straight pin or bead reamer.


My little brother gets to go to Milan next week - oh, man, I wish I were going too!  But no, staying home to work.  Ah, well.  To compensate, I shall wear some of these funny gothic jewels!




(While stirring homemade tomato sauce.)



17 comments:

  1. You just knock me out woman! I would NEVER have thought of anything close to this from a tomato basket. And tomatoes are TOTALLY necessary and not a Stashbusting cheat. Health first!

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  2. Gorgeous and thrifty. I love your unique sense of style.

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  3. I can see why you would be inspired by those italian arches (they are amazing) and by your tomato basket (it is so pretty and i love the ocean colour of the plastic). your jewels make such clever use of those beautiful basket lines! :)

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  4. oh my heck-i neve would have guessed it was plastic veggie holders on your jewerly!

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  5. Lovely as usual! I especially love the last necklace. The plastic reminds me of a little pagoda. Oh, and tomatoes are very necessary! ;)

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  6. Love these! Love the colour, and the source of the material!

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  7. GAH!!!!
    Gorgeous Gorgeous Gorgeous. You know, when I first looked at them I saw them as Art Deco or Art Noveau style...now I see the cathedral reference and it's all brand new again. To think it all started with a tomato basket!

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  8. Such awesome pieces! :) I love jewelry made from recycled materials. I'm especially loving the earrings.

    p.s. I linked you on my blog! Glad you liked the bracelet.

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  9. THAT is too flippin' funny, and I LOVE the little gargoyles- I have a thing for them!

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  10. I like the gargoyles!! I am a big fan of gargoyles. I buy things for the container too. :)

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  11. I was trying to guess what the green material was....never would have imagined. This is a great DIY/upcycle to try.

    ~L~
    join my link party
    U could WIN a MONTH LONG sidebar feature!
    http://avidaccents.blogspot.com/2010/09/make-my-style-monday-10.html

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  12. You are so creative! I love coming here so much. I'll be linking.

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  13. I love the brilliant use of tomatoes. I mean really how can buying tomatoes be considered buying crafting supplies? Really?

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  14. Your work is amazing, I'm a new follower. I love making treasures out of what other people would consider junk....great job.

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  15. Love all of these! I'm an envelope of doom receipient, and I promise, I'm using my stuff, just don't have time to blog right now. Corporate America is killing me!
    As a side note, do you sell this fabu jewelry? You must share with the rest of us! Please!

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  16. its great...as usual i will say again..."you are always awesome"

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  17. a unique way to use a tomato box! Thanks for linking up to Topsy Turvy Tuesday's!

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