Jewelry Art and a Giveaway

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Hi everyone, Winnie Griggs here. Today I thought I’d do a post on one of my more recent hobbies – jewelry art.

I first stumbled on this when visiting a small town Texas festival. I walked inside one of the vendor booths and saw all of this beautiful metallic and bejeweled artwork everywhere. There were Christmas pictures that featured trees, wreaths and angels. There were romantic pictures that featured hearts, flowers and gowns. There were message pictures that featured names, occupations and short sayings. Everywhere I looked there was something new to delight the eye and each of them were entirely unique. And what made it even more fun was when I looked closer I could see that each picture was made up of dozens of pieces of jewelry.

I didn’t take pictures that day (and kicked myself for that later!), but if you want to see some examples, you can look HERE and HERE.

My mind immediately went to the box in my dresser where I tossed all of my broken jewelry, the earrings that no longer had matches and the beads and rhinestones that had fallen from their settings. At last! Justification for holding on to all those seemingly useless bits and bobs. And for the costume jewelry I no longer wanted.

The first thing I tried my hand at was a Christmas tree. While it didn’t come out as polished as some of the ones I saw at the festival I think it looks pretty good ?.

I’ve made several others since then but have given them away and don’t have pictures. But I also tried my hand at forming words which resulted in this Book Lover one.

I eventually ran out of jewelry and put the hobby aside. But I still look for inexpensive pieces when I’m in thrift stores or at garage sales and estate sales and am gradually rebuilding my stores. So who knows, I may give it another go soon.

So what do you think? Have you seen examples of this particular craft before? Have you tried it yourself? Would you like to?

I’ll select one person from among those who leave comments to send the Book Lover picture to. (And in the interest of full disclosure there are several glue stains on the backboard)

 

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Winnie Griggs is the author of Historical (and occasionally Contemporary) romances that focus on Small Towns, Big Hearts, Amazing Grace. She is also a list maker, a lover of dragonflies and holds an advanced degree in the art of procrastination.
Three of Winnie’s books have been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, and one of those nominations resulted in a win.
Winnie loves to hear from readers. You can connect with her on facebook at www.facebook.com/WinnieGriggs.Author or email her at winnie@winniegriggs.com.

60 thoughts on “Jewelry Art and a Giveaway”

  1. I have not seen this done before. I also keep bits and pieces of jewelry with the intention of fixing or reusing it. I keep odd earrings because I saw them used as decorations on a small Christmas tree.

    • Well, now you have a use for those pieces! It’s not difficult – just lay the pieces out to find your best arrangement before you actually start gluing 🙂

  2. I ave not seen this art expression before. LOVE IT! Your tree is my fave….seriously LOVE it Thank you for sharing. When my mom gives me jewelry I think I will try this art form to keep it alive and well used and often used and loved

  3. I’ve not seen this either. How clever! I really like the Christmas tree. What did you use for the tree shape under the jewels? Oh, and I love exploring thrift and antique shops. There’s no telling what you can find but the hunt itself is such fun!

    Have a blessed day!

  6. Hello. I have seen this type of art before and find it very creative and beautiful. I’ve wanted to try this. Maybe one day I will.

  7. So pretty.

    I’ve seen people request broken jewelry for repurposing on internet forums, but I’ve never seen the actual art.

  8. I have seen this but never tried it. It amazes me what people come up with. A friend did the shape of Texas that was beautiful.

  10. I’ve seen similar things, but not the same. Here we do similar things with shells, sea glass, and other ocean-themed cast-offs. Art is a wonderful thing. I am no professional, but I enjoy it and find more value in the journey and learning than in any of my final pieces.

  12. I think they are cool. I have seen jewelry art similar to this but they never spelled anything to my knowledge. I think they just showcased a beautiful piece. I have not made anything like this but I am also not one to go and get jewelry from garage sales or anything similar

  14. I haven’t seen art like this and I am amazed. So beautiful and artistic. I love them all.They are real treasures to be cherished and displayed.

  18. Yes, I have seen it! My Mama had so much jewelry and so much of THAT was costume jewelry. So, after Mama passed away, we got her jewelry boxes and drawers of jewelry and all of the granddaughters and great granddaughters took pieces, matched sets or not, and have made different things. My youngest daughter, 40 years old, made a beautiful big old “B” for our last name, and my oldest made lots of magnets out of things that Mama loved to wear the most! Very beautiful! I think it’s a great idea, but I don’t think they’re really doing much of it now. But yours are really good ideas!! I might have to do a little of this myself!!

  19. welcome today. this looks like such a fun hobby. useful and pretty. thanks for the wonderful give a way. years ago, I had a friend who would take pieces of jewelry like this and make broaches and small pins. she made them for herself and really close friends. as she wore them, so many women loved then that they started giving her their extra pieces and she would make something for each of them. we had a whole lot of these walking the church halls. it was so fun to see.
    quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

  20. I love this!

    Two years ago the Dallas Arboretum featured a collection of Christmas trees–the lady who made them covered styrofoam or wooden cones with brooches and other jewelry to make 3D trees. They were so pretty and interesting! You couldn’t see the cone at all underneath.

    We wanted to try, but didn’t think we had enough materials!

    I’ve never seen jewelry art framed on a flat canvas before. What a great effect! And what a clever idea to spell words!

    Thanks for the post!

  21. I have seen pieces with maybe one or two pieces of jewelry incorporated, but none where jewelry was the primary medium. One group was using pieces of wallpaper as the background and decorating it with beads, written phases, artificial flowers, and sometimes a piece of jewelry.
    These are both lovely works. You definitely have the talent for this type of craft. It is a nice way to use jewelry that is out of style, not expensive, and not likely to be worn again. Much better to let them shine as a piece of art. I will be filing this as an idea to try once I finish some of my other projects (likely years from now, but I can hope).

  23. Winnie, your jewelry art is beautiful. I am familiar with this type of crafting but have not yet tried my hand at it yet. Now I will be searching for information and inspiration for my future project. Thank you for sharing. ?

  27. I haven’t seen any of this kind of art work. I have seen a picture, using vintage jewelry to make a bouquet for the bride instead of flowers.

  28. I have never seen this done. The closest thing I’ve seen to use old jewelry for, are the bride’s bouquet.

  29. I think is so cool. We have two ladies in our area who one makes memory bracelets out of broken jewelry, another makes Christmas trees with the ornaments being the jewelry pieces and also shadow boxes. So neat..

  30. Wow! What a Awesome idea! They are beautiful. I got a lot of jewelry when my, Mother passed. Now, I can display some of it in a way I’m sure she would approve of. Enjoy all your books.

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