I opened my Etsy shop CosmicRenegade with my costume jewelry designs. It is starting out small; however, I will be adding more items on a regular basis. Right now it is mostly necklaces and some earrings. As time goes on I will add some bracelets and handmade items other than jewelry.

During the 80’s I wholesaled costume jewelry to a lot of shops in the West Village, East Village and a few shops in Westchester County and New Jersey. This is a new venture for me to be selling online retail but I have been getting some experience with my vintage Etsy shop recently. I have been making some Pins on Pinterest for a few of the items and slowly the shops are getting noticed. I still have a good amount of beads that I saved from the 80’s so some of my stock is vintage. This pink chain-link necklace with silver chain link on the back is a one-of-a-kind necklace since I have not been able to find pink chain link again that dimension.

If you have been to this blog before you know I like upcycling. I recently upcycled the necklace in the photo below out of vintage metal buttons. It took some playing with but I figured out how to make it work. I am hoping to be making more items with upcycled pieces. Another necklace pictured below is made from pink vintage shells. When I found it the metal links were rusty and falling apart. I upcycled it with new jewelry hardware and used faux pearls instead of the dark wooden beads it originally came with. The result is a lighter, brighter necklace that mixes a more contemporary look with the vintage shells. Also while many of my pieces will have all new beads, a large number will have a mix of vintage beads, or mixed media in general. I made my first necklace when I was seven and I have always enjoyed designing jewelry and making things. It is tremendously rewarding to be creative. I included a few pictures of other various pieces I have made.

The center round pieces are buttons

Pink shell necklace

I did go to a really cool thrift shop in Philadelphia recently, Philly Aids Thrift. It was totally awesome and an incredibly fun store. The music was lively and the way they set up the shop into various sections, even with a vintage section, created an atmosphere that is quite unique. I will wait and do a whole post about Philadelphia vintage shops, along with more about Philly Aids Thrift, when I get a chance to go visit more of the vintage shops there. I went on a Monday so several were closed.

Philly Aids Thrift

I have a feeling I will be going back to Philadelphia quite often. As far as day trips out of NYC it is a five-hour trip from Brooklyn and back but it is great to get out of Dodge and go somewhere different. The architecture there is rather awesome too in terms of old homes and historical buildings. I included just a couple of photographs.

Well I hope you are all enjoying summer. We are having heat waves so I am postponing the Dottie Angel dress post about the last dress I made just a bit longer. I made it out of a thicker fabric thinking I could wear it year-round but it is a tad too thick for a heat wave!!

All written material and photos by Marilyn Lavender. © Marilyn Lavender, 2016.  “All rights reserved.”