I found out that there was a Monday second hand market while Marc was staying with me so we both thought it would be most rude not to give it a go …… however when we were greeted by only about six stalls my heart sank, but the last stall we looked was its salvation, as it at was selling old costume jewellery at 3 for £1 and it was then that Marc started to tell me what to look for if I wanted to make jewellery on a shoestring. He pointed out old and new pieces that could be taken apart, for chain, jump rings and charms/pendants/beads etc. instead of spending a fortune in hobby stores.
……. and it’s amazing what I began to see and find through fresh eyes.
For example this necklace (above) must have been made up of over 200 antique finish jump rings, 6 charms and a fastener ….. and we paid approx. 33p for it in the 3 for £1 deal!
Then, throughout the rest of Marc’s stay we must have gone into every charity shop we saw, goodness knows how many and Marc would challenge me by taking me to the jewellery section and asking me which pieces he would buy and why …….
So these necklaces (above) were bought because of the en trend metallic/industrial style of the beads, the number of them and the fact that once broken up and used with other similar beads they would take on a totally new look.
While this jumbled up pile would provide me with thousands and thousands of spacer beads bought again for about 33p.
We also discovered that Poundland now have a range of jewellery (Purple Ivy) that when disassembled would provide another a very cheap source of bits for jewellery making and my jewelled mirrors.
By the end of the week I had massed a very interesting collection …… both of pieces to take apart and others, mainly bracelets that I can embellish further. All I now need to do is do something with them.
