The Pearls of Mary Lincoln

I've been working a bit lately on some jewelry lately inspired by a Pearl Demi-Parure (picture to the left). This is part of the The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana at the Library of Congress. I'm mostly focused on the Necklace for right now.

I've also focused on another Tiffany Pearl Necklace that was made around the same time (picture to the right).

The picture with the green background on the left is my first attempt was to emulate the brooch in the right-hand picture. Since it's a test it's made from glass instead of real pearls. I will have to use smaller pearls for the 3-tier oval...but overall I'm happy with the first try. Overall the brooch ended up being being about 40 x 30 mm.

Learning from the mistakes of 1.0 I've recently completed several smaller 2.0 pieces (see picture to the right). The background is the printed picture of the first image used in today's blog post. I just ordered a bunch of Lacy Brass Bezel findings and some gorgeous flower connectors for version 3.0. I plan to order the Swarovski Crystal Pearls I need for this project next week.

New Steampunk Jewelry & Civil War Recap

I've not been posting much as of late. I managed to mess up my left shoulder on the Sunday of the Rockford Air Show and have been "hobbled" by it ever since. I begin physical therapy on October 20th and we will see how it goes. I thought I might post recaps for a couple of day to get back into the swing of things!

New Steampunk Jewelry
I do have to show off some of the new Jewelry I've been working on. My jewelry is available in my Etsy shop, and my Ebay Store. You can also Antina's Uniques and Costuming Jewelry @ Windy-Con in the Traditional Treasures booth. Also we will have some pieces at the Rock-Con Convention, October 22nd-24th, 2010.
both of these pieces will be available on Ebay by 10/21/2010








Civil War Reenactments
The 2010 Civil War season as draw to a close for Company C, 1st United States Sharpshooters. All of the tents and gear have been packed away for the winter and now it's on to winter projects. Here were the Reenactments we (as in Mike and I attended in 2010

Naper Settlement, Naperville, IL (May) (thanks to whoever got this picture for me)

Reclaiming Our Heritage, Milwaukee, WI (June)~see my fencing outfit for the Fashion Show in older postings....

Civil Wary Days @ Lakewood Forest Preserve, Wauconda, IL (July)~(where the truck broke down on the way home......)

We didn't do any Civil War in August due to my injury and a death in the family.

Lehmann House Civil War Event, Lake Villa, IL (September) (thanks to Michka Bailey for taking this picture for me!). We are brigaded with Company E/USS Carondelet.

Battle of Morseville, Stockton, IL (October). If you are wondering, Mike and I are drilling on the Stadia Sight after working on Skirmish Drill with the Iowa Battalion. (thanks to Kate Moan for the picture)



Our last event of the season was a Saturday Day trip to the Shadows of the Blue and Grey, in Princeton IL. (Thanks to Jamie Rott for the Photos)


~Antina