The Elegant Muse Blog

I love creating unusual and unexpected pieces (remember the buffalo pin?) so when I found a vintage bowling pin I knew it was right up my alley!  The pin itself was in great condition. Not wanting to spare a bit of glamour, I added a swirl of ebony rhinestones, a filigree backdrop and stitched onyx stones which I felt fit the mood of the piece better than pearls. I love how it turned out, and I’m sure the bowling league birthday gal who received it is having a ball wearing it as she sends her ball down the lane into...

I confess, I had to do a bit of research on this question. I knew that a brooch was a decorative pin and to broach a subject was to bring it up. Yet, I’ve heard the decorative pin pronounced both as a word rhyming with “pooch” and as a word rhyming with “coach!” Since I planned to make and talk about these lovely decorative pieces, I certainly wanted to be sure I was pronouncing the word correctly! As it turns out - according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary - both pronunciations for these unique pins are correct. Whew! Isn't it nice when everyone's right? Some of the brooches in this new...

If you put a musical instrument in the hand of a child, he or she will not pick up a gun. I heard this quote years ago, and it has stuck with me ever since. I thought of it often while creating this special necklace for the Sound Impact Soirée auction. Sound Impact is an amazing organization that takes music outside of the concert hall and into schools, juvenile detention centers, and international destinations to connect, engage and empower youth through the power of music. Founded in 2013, SI boasts a varied roster of renowned musicians who perform regularly with the...

What on earth is the Treasure of the Month program, and how did it start? When we were all sequestered during the pandemic, I thought it would be a good time to add pieces to my website. This is a lengthy process for me - photos, edits, descriptions, etc. - but when would I have more time? To keep myself motivated I decided it would be fun to discount one of these new pieces each month. Since I don’t normally do sales, this quickly became a special event for my subscribers (because they were and are always notified first!). To my surprise (I...

Not only spiders, the Victorians were obsessed with all manner of crawling creatures as part of their fascination with natural history. When urban society grew more and more detached from nature, the Victorians tried to reconstruct it in their homes and - as in these spider buttons - fashions, sometimes in a truly shocking way! It was common for the most fashionable society women of the time to dot their upswept curls with flickering fireflies or let live beetles leashed to pins roam around their bodices! In 1891, one story was told of a Victorian woman who strapped a diamond to...