Sparkle plenty…

I’ve been wanting to play with more sparkle in designs. And just received an order of a box of a dozen crystal chandelier pieces in the mail…so here’s my chance!  They are 1 and 1/2 inches in length and come with octagonal crystal accents, which easily come apart to use separately. They would make great earring-sized components.

 

 

The first thing I wanted to try was to tin solder the edge to give the crystal a more vintage flavor. Easier than I thought.  However, when I tried to apply  LOS to antique the edge even more, to my great surprise, it didn’t take.  Still shiny silver. I assumed that since there is some silver in the solder, it would oxidize just fine.  Apparently not.  I’ll have to have a think about this and investigate other options.  Any experience out there to share?

Another cool thing about these inexpensive crystals is that the back is flat…perfect for adding pieces of scrap book or decorative papers.  I’m going to try that very soon.

Next up is to use it in a construction project.  I think of this part of my work as piecing together interesting components to make a design…The beautiful bits of purple are from a gifted pair of broken earring pieces. Same with the marcasite heart…so thankful for generous friends!

 

 

 

Last constructed piece was to use up bits and pieces of chain into a long tassel necklace…adding a nice subtle bit of color with a large rose quartz stone.

 

Now that I see this chain tassel design in photos, I’d wear this one often!