Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Accessorize like Cleopatra


If you have a fascination with Ancient Egypt, mummies and curses, you're probably a nerd like me. And you've probably watched all "The Mummy" films too. Okay maybe not.

As a volunteer at the Royal Ontario Museum, I often browse the jewellery section at the Ancient Greece, Roman and Egyptian exhibits. Yes, I am a huge fan of antiquity and as a teenager I wanted to become an archeologist. No lie. I would have had to go away to study at McMaster University. The only Ontario post secondary institution offering an archeology program in the 1990s. Going away to study was unheard of in my family and as such, I never pursued my dream of traveling to distant lands and digging in dirt to find ancient relics...sniff.

So when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. As a result, nowadays I make jewellery reminiscent of ancient civilizations.

Case in point, these Egyptian-inspired sterling silver earrings. They are shaped like a pyramid and are made with (thin yet sturdy) 22 gauge sterling silver wire shaped with pliers. The beads are made of lead crystal, also known as Swarovski crystals. I chose red crystals for their vivid colour and how nicely they looked juxtaposed against the silver triangles.

They look just gorgeous in the sunlight as the crystals pick up the light. I will be making more pairs of these earring using other coloured beads, so if you would like to see another colour in these earrings, leave me a comment here or send me a message via Etsy.

Next on the agenda, Grecian key pattern jewellery...

4 comments:

cserdan said...

gorgeous lemonade!

I didn't know you volunteered at the rom. very cool!

Joanne said...

Thanks Charlene!
I've been volunteering at the ROM since April of this year. Before that I volunteered at the Design Exchange and before that at a non-profit second hand clothing boutique that donates clothing to unemployed people.

kickpleat said...

Very lovely! You really are getting back into your etsy shop and making again, hooray!

Joanne said...

Doh, how did I not see your comment kickpleat? Thanks for your compliment! I'm really enjoying making the jewellery, the creative process is such a joy ride.