Mandala Necklace Re-do Finished

Well, the re-make of the Mandala necklace is finished! I wore it yesterday to coffee with one of my girlfriends and it was met with very nice compliments (I mean, really, what was she going to say?). I like it, too, but it's a hard piece to find something to wear it with. I do have this dark red jacket and maybe a denim jacket would work. It's also lacking a name - feel free to offer suggestions. Anyway.... here it is - let me know what you think :)

Mandala Necklace Re-do Continued

Just some quick pics... I'd love to hear what you think!

Embroidery in progress

Embroidery trimmed and mounted on leather backing

Ready for final trim and beaded edging

Mandala Necklace Re-do

In an earlier post I asked for opinions regarding remaking items that had been languishing in my inventory and was pleased at the response! Everyone said (in a nutshell) to go for it and I have finally started. Yesterday evening I pulled "Mandala" out from its hiding place and set about remaking it. Here are just a few shots of the progress - Enjoy (and comment, please!)

Before...

...and in-progress

Re-make and make do

What do you do with projects that just don't sell?? I have several. most of those are large (aka. expensive) gallery pieces that I'm happy to keep around for gallery shows. Not that I wouldn't LOVE to send some of those off to new homes but... anyway...

I have a few pieces that I plan on tearing apart and re-doing. Here are the ones at the top of my "re-make and make do" list:

Here's Lookin' at You

There are things about this piece and matching earrings I adore - the combination of orange and blue and the evil eye theme - but I think it can be more than what it is at present. It was made for a beading challenge and probably rushed a bit to make the deadline. This one deserves a make-over.

Southwestern Cowgirl Steampunk

First off, this one just never got a "real" name and, second, the plethora of beads laying (I hate to say it!) uncomfortably about the neck just will NOT do. I love the concept and the center focal but it's just not working as it is.

Mosaic

This one came about because of a personal challenge I gave myself - you can read about it on my blog here. I found a nice jar of junk jewelry at a thrift shop and decided to see how many new pieces of jewelry I could craft from the beads and goodies in the jar. I did pretty well for a while, finishing half a dozen or so pieces but then decided it was time to move on to something else. I really do like this one but feel it has run its course - time to for this little caterpillar to become a butterfly!

Seaside Wedding

This one has been a favored selection in my shop for some time so some of you will probably wonder why I want to change it. Again, the theme and overall concept are great. I wanted it to look like something you might find washed ashore on a beautiful white sand beach (originally I wanted to call it "All Washed Up" but that wasn't quite romantic enough!). Lately, I have seen this one becoming something a bit fancier. I still hope to keep the organic nature of the piece but... we'll see.

So, I'm not sure when I'll get started on this little project but I'll be sure to keep you in the loop once it gets underway. Let me know what you think about putting earlier pieces "to pieces" and re-making them - I'd love to hear your comments! :)