Make Your Own Fashion Style....African Necklace Found At The Flea Market, Dismantled And Made Into A new One!

in #lifestyle7 years ago (edited)

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The added agate pearls at the back (hidden) made the necklace longer

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the finished necklace complete with the copper closure

When I was visiting a rastro (flea market) in Southern Spain, I discovered a necklace displayed by an african dealer from Senegal. The necklace was handmade but it was primitively produced, perhaps due to the absence of materials in its region from where it came from. The necklace was kind of dusty and the closures are just made from a wire that was twisted to make a hook. But, the beads used were unique and I saw its potential and I knew right away what to do with them and how I would turn it into a nice looking bead necklace.

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The spiral designed beads were big in form, they were lovely and attractive, so I bought the necklace and when I reached home, I dismantled everything. Then, I added brown agate pearls to make the whole piece become longer.

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The closure was made of copper that I twisted and turned. I used copper wire to make each chain... not actually difficult to turn since copper is a bit softer.

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To get the african style I wanted to have, I found a rest fabric which I have been hoarding for sometime and used it to make a wrap-around skirt. And so the style I wanted to have is achieved and at a fraction of a cost and I made the ensemble with really savings!!!

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Hello @mers
If you like this kind of stuff much check out my friends company Treska they have lots of designs like that. You can copy them easily. She started in her garage now she has a big Company. I used to do repairs and maintenance for their home and the office warehouse.

Thank you for the tip, yes I did check on Treska and they have beautiful stuff I have seen on amazon.com. I used to design mineral jewelries for my Etsy shop. That was about 5 years ago when I was still working. But, my corporate job was very stressy and when I came home each time, I was already exhausted. The only time I was able to do it was over the weekend and my household suffered, so I had to give up the shop.

I got orders from the U.S. and from Japan, I had a customer who ordered about 40 sets of earrings at one time. It was fun once you felt someone was liking your work. But, like I said, it was not worth the trouble because my health was suffering too! I had that syndrome of a total burnout. Now, I only do things I like and since my retirement 2 years ago, I had more time at home. Perhaps I will design mineral jewelries again but only to make as gifts for friends.

Beautiful necklace you fixed up made me instantly think of My friend Kay Pile the founder of Treska.

I have seen lots of beautiful jewelery from them. I used to work at their place many times every year.

I would like to know more about etsy Yami and I are trying to build an online store and I think some costume Jewlery would be profitable item to resale. I might have to call Kay and see if I can get some stuff that is old to resale. They have a giant warehouse maybe 50000 Sq foot full of new and old Treska stuff It is incredible. She used to let Yam come and pick out what ever she wanted. Yam got some nice purses wallets necklaces and earrings the last time we were in Texas about 7 years ago.

Congrats on just enjoying life. I hope to enjoy all my life and never forget this could be my last day.

Hi @iamstan... Anyone can create an account on Etsy. You need to have payment options for your customers. When I joined in I had to provide a Pay Pal account, a credit card and bank account. At least that was what they were asking for. Pay Pal is of course the easiest for Etsy buyers since it´s fast. But Etsy will have other payment options too. They have great information for their members to follow and it´s not that bad about their conditions about their fees. If it still applies, they have asked $0.20 cents for every items which you can advertise on your account for 3 months...

You have to remember though if you are offering finished products, 1). the items offered have to be handmade or at least done at home by the member herself. Like you are into carpentry or construction, you may offer products you made like a DIY pieces.

2.). You may also offer craft supplies or in your case, in construction, you might want to offer used pieces like old windows, door, gates, etc. And like if you are a crafter or dressmaker, you can sell fabrics or buttons as part of dressmaker´s supplies...

3). vintage items ... things you don´t need any more in your household like plates, casseroles, old kitchenwares , even clothing. I know one follower of my FB page was encouraged by me to sell her old buttons, kitchenwares, etc... ow, she ´s been busy as ever and head been successfull in selling her items and her shop grows bigger and bigger on Etsy. Visit Shellyisvintage so you have the feel on what to sell.

Oh by the way, Etsy sometimes checks on finished items handcrafted by you and might ask for proof that you really made the item yourself by sending pics on the stages of the work in process of your items. If you fail, they might block you. This is the link of Shelly Decker at https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/ShellyisVintage?ref=search_shop_redirect

Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply. Were going to need to start selling everything so we can move Home to the Philippines.
So every avenue will be helpful. I do have some things I have build that will need to be sold. Just dont know if it going to be worth it to a buyer to pay for the shipping?

I think it would be too expensive to ship wooden crafts unless they were very small. But maybe I don't know because I have never done it? Or even tried to do it.
Yami tried to sell some stuff on Ebay some time back. We sold one item and the others never sold. Its a lot of work and small return if it doesn't sell all.

Ang ganda naman @mers, perfect pang formal occasions o kaya naman sa beach. :)

Salamat kabayan.. meron pa akong isa na ganyan ang story... post ko minsan.

wow i like jewllery so much i have a lot of collection,some gold or 2 ring in diamond or others artificial,my weak point is fashion dresses makeup or mostly jewllery
resteem your post

Thank you@noorijaz for resteeming and thank your for visiting... I can sense your style by just by looking at your pretty face. I wonder if they allow women to drive in Dubai? As a medical student, you must be enjoying fashion so much. I know they are relaxed there because they are more liberal, women do not have to wear a burka like in Saudi Arabia. So, I´m sure you are enjoying it because you can wear what you like. Cheers to that!

Really nice necklace.
It is so much fun making your own items. Been learning for the past 2 years, and still learning. Wire work is what I love the most. In that I have begun working with clay, and combining these different forms. If you have time, you can see some of my journey of creating items on my fb design by maria stahlberg.
Again, really lovely necklace. Hope to see more in the future.

Hi! Thank you for liking the necklace. Crafting is a constant learning process, but I love it. I find your clay works beautiful. I visited your FB page and all I can say is "wow"! Your creations are beautiful! Keep it up my friend!

Very nice necklace, good job :)

Thank you so much, appreciate the nice comment.

Very clever use of resources, good design sense, resulting in a great final piece! Reminds me of my wife, she works with jewelry also, @mariastahlberg I'll definitely show this to her :) Thanks for posting

Thanks for dropping by.... hey, Maria is a super designer! I like her pieces and even followed her FB page.
Thanks for bringing me to her, I love the clay designs too! Your name is german which means steel mountain! Prost!

Prost! It means the same in Swedish (swedes add an umlaut on the A that no one else uses, so I usually leave it out) :)