Finding Found Objects

{I love gumball machine containers, I have some ideas for these!}

Although I have resisted for such a long time, I think its time I confessed that I love making jewelry. Believe it or not, I have found there to be a lot of similarities between paper crafting, altered art and jewelry making. From paper crafting I use my knowledge of layering, depth and color mix. From altered art I use the juxtaposition of objects, composition and perspective. Put that altogether and you can just hang it on a chain and wear it! The hard part about jewelry making is that its very hard to be original. It seems that no matter what idea you have, somehow somewhere someone has done it, or something similar. But one thing for sure is that my personal style has come out the most in my jewelry. I love big, chunky, industrial, mixed metals paired with sparkly crystals and found objects. And speaking of found objects, even though I am suffering from a serious back problem right now, I decided to get out of the house I have been closed up in for three days now, and head to LB Flea and find some goodies.
     So what do you look for and how do you find it amongst the hippy clothes, old tools and junk? Well here are some tips and tricks for navigating the flea and finding those sweet surprises.

#1- don't narrow your focus too much, the minute you start looking for "dragonflys" you will not a find a single one! Try focusing on a size of object, say no more than 2 inches high.

{I was looking for some small perfume bottles and was not disappointed for once, usually what I am looking for I NEVER find}

#2- Open boxes, jewelry boxes, tins, shoe boxes, I always find hidden treasures away from the naked eye.

{OMG, I love this tiny metal sewing machine, I found this in a sewing box with a bunch of old thread}

#3- Display case theories! If I see a vendor that has, say one display case and everything else out...I stay away from the case, as they are obviously pricier items. However if everything the vendor has is under a case they probably do that for ease of set up and storage... I usually find that the items in those cases are more reasonably priced. This is only a theory, but I found it to be true!

{found these under a display case, I love the eyes that are beads on the owl}

#4- Ziplock bags, oh boy do I love a good ziplock bag full of junk! Usually they are priced to sell. Not all of the items might suit you, but if you would pay what you did for even one of the items in the bag, you got your moneys worth!

{seriously, found these little barbie ballet slippers in a ziplock bag for $5. I just wanted these so I gave the rest of the bag back}

#5- Bargaining at the "catch all" box, some vendors have a sign that says everything this box, table ect is $1. I usually pick out 6-7 and then offer $5, they usually take it.

{keys are cool, but keys on tags are a buy!}

{here was a dollar table selection, I got 7 pieces but got her down to $5. I will be putting these inside some of my wire wrapped globes....oh did I tell you I submitted those for publication to Jewelry Affaire? Can't wait to see if they get published!

-Denise