The Best Statement Necklaces by Independent Designers on Etsy Right Now

I'm obsessed with giant statement necklaces, but I very rarely find any that I would actually wear. Except for these. I spent hours on Etsy and I would, without a doubt, wear every single one of these. They're not cheap, but really great art shouldn't be, and each necklace here is absolutely a piece of wearable art.

Raw Brass Necklace by Ttereve.

Soutache Necklace by StudioGianna

Leaf Necklace by Inbarshahak

Blue Sparkle Necklace by AllThingsTinsel

Necklace by Distinguished Jewelry

Couture Necklace by Monikque

Petal necklace by BuddhaBead

Fluorite and Pearl Necklace by GinnyTaylorDesigns

Where does the time go?

It seems like every year I make a promise to myself to really get focused on Hey Lola, to start taking this blog more seriously and really define myself as a jewelry designer.

You guys....it's SO hard!

It's not really, it's just that I feel like I have the whole world at my fingertips and it's incredibly easy to get sucked into all of these other great things that I have in my life. 

Currently, I'm distracted by the tavern that my husband and I own together (Blue - have you been? You should go!) and the community association that I helped start (Renaissance Park Community Association - we're doing great things!). 

I closed the physical location of Hey Lola to really get focused on Hey Lola, but it seems like everything else keeps pulling me away.

The moral to this story? I'm bringing my focus back again. I have a pop-up shop at Blue every First Friday, the website - www.loveheylola.com is up and active, I'm sending a bunch of jewelry to LA for a photoshoot, and spending a lot more time in the studio working on new projects. Here's a peek at some of what I've been working on:

Earrings!

Bracelets!

Simple necklaces!

Statement pieces!

Thanks for sticking it out with me during my distractions - you are the very best!

Coral Reef Inspiration

These blow my mind...

Jason de Caires Taylor creates these lifelike, lifesized sculptures, and submerges them in the ocean, where nature then takes its course. I've been obsessed since the first moment I saw these, and visiting them is one of my dreams. In the meantime, I used my obsession to inspire a coral reef inspired necklace:

The gold and silver chain links, pale pink cats eye beads, the red beads,the dark blue beads and the pink crystal beads are all from discarded/salvaged vintage jewelry (pre 1960's). The pink freshwater pearls, the gold tube beads, the gold seed beads and the head pins are all new. The clear blue acrylic "crystals" were recycled from a holiday candle ring.


Necklace is not currently for sale in my shop, but more information is available by contacting heylola {at} sbcglobal {dot} net.

For the Love of Great Big Obnoxious Necklaces

I have a really difficult time reigning it it and creating delicate and simple, everyday type jewelry. I do try...but chains and beads and random weirdness keep adding themselves to my mannequin as I work and bizarre conceptual ideas refuse to be kept down. I think there might be something wrong with me.

The good news is, I very rarely use anything new to create these big, obnoxious (FANTABULOUS!) pieces. I hit up garage sales, antique malls, flea markets, my friends give me their broken things...I love the idea of recycling and I'm even more fond of creating something recycled that doesn't really look recycled. Hopefully I'm succeeding :)

A little obsessed with sea anemones the day this was born:



I wanted to create a big, fairytale, woodsy necklace that would make people talk about the girl who was wearing it...in a good way, of course:


The circles on this one? Old curtain ties from the seventies - seriously. I came across a huge bag of them, in all of their macrame, 1970's goodness. I used vintage seam binding and thrifted ribbon to wrap them, and combined various beads and chain links to finish it off. Did I mention how much I love pink and green? Because I love the combination so much that I made two versions of this:


Pearls and punk rock:


I have these moments where I feel very Frida Kahlo-ish...Or maybe more Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo. Either way, sometimes I need to wear a big and vibrant necklace just like this:


These were all created by me and can be found at my online shop here (www.shopheylola.com)

Do you make new things from old things? Let me know - I'd love to feature you here!