Buying beads in the oddest places.

 At the War & Peace Revival Show earlier this year tucked away in a corner was a stall selling jewellery, baskets, beads and bags of mixed old beads (from broken necklaces) & broken oddments of jewellery. 


This was a long way away from the vintage village and the other stalls of clothing, accessories, and jewellery.
  http://www.thewarandpeacerevival.co.uk/

I brought several bags of the beads and a bag of the jewellery oddments.  Some of it was a bit nasty (but not very much), some of it not quite my taste and there were lots of real treasures.

It took quite a while to sort the beads into usable categories but it was great fun.  There were quite a few vintage beads in the mix.

 Lots of different sizes, shapes and styles - perfect for creating unique bags and purses.  
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/194691445/handcrafted-one-of-a-kind-floral-purse?

This is the first time I have seen glass beads as small as grains of fine sand, I hope I can get a needle through them.

There were lot of unusual larger  were in one of the bags, there were several crystals and pretty old glass beads in various sizes, shells, wood and pearls - beads of all shapes.  

The oddments of jewellery included a lot of earrings, clip-ons as well as ones for pierced ears, rings and brooches. 

I am really looking forward to designing and creating my new projects.  Adding oodles of beads amongst the ribbons and lace. 


https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/183566328/tattoo-skull-purseooak-gothpsychobilly?ref=listing-shop-header-3 

I love this little brooch

ART OR DESTRUCTION?

 I RECENTLY read an article in a craft magazine that gave instructions on how to make a cushion from old embroidered tray cloths, chair covers, doilies and table cloths. The way to do this was to collect these, cut them up and arrange the pieces prior to sewing them together.  

SO MY question as I begin a new project is when does 'upcycling, re-purposing and altering' items stop being art and become wanton destruction.  
I have just purchased this
little wooden pot froma junk shop for £1.00,  as you can see the original design on the lid has been quite badly damaged.  After conversation with my mother we decided it probably dates from the 1930's.  We also decided that the amount of damage that has happened to it means that it will be acceptable to do pretty much what I like to it.  So is this just me being precious
or do others feel the same at the start of a new project?  Is it right that we believe we can improve on the crafts and skills of our ancestors or are we really paying a form of homage to them.


I started to sand this pot and found when I (quite easily) removed the varnish that although the original design would take a lot more effort to banish on the bottom part of the pot the lid has only remnants left.  Not quite sure how to incorporate it and I do not want to paint over.  Some thought is needed.