Antique Key Necklace

This was made for LeapFeetFirst in the Asheville Adventure Swap.  The swap had partners who had not 'met' or didn't know one another well here on Craftster, get to know each other by exchanging a letter, and later a medium crafted item as well as a craft supply that your partner could use and some sort of local treat.  The final portion of the swap was optional, and allowed for partners to bring a final small crafted item to give their partner in person. 

The pendant base is an antique key.  It was decorated with a glass Christmas light bulb, stone beads, freshwater pearls, antiqued charms, a paper bead, bits of ribbon, and anything else I could find. 

Bad Ass Bitch Necklace

I recently had the great fortune to partner with kittykill in the Feminism & Diversity Swap.  I knew that I wanted to create a piece that felt like donning armor when putting it on; something with weight to remind her of her own innate strength while fighting for equality.  The result is almost a gorget in size and area covered on the body. 

I made the chain from large individual gunmetal links and Swarovski crystal 'cosmic rings' in jet black.  Each individual element was chosen to reflect intersectional feminist principals, or to reference kittykill specifically.  I'll list a few of them...  The central eye pendant to help us stay woke, and keep an eye on The Man.  The pink crystal hearts represent one of her favorite songs, Rebel Heart by Madonna.  A large claw shaped stone to remind her that sometimes we need to use our teeth and claws to grab and hold onto our rights.  A Mexican coin to represent the 'Bad Hombres' among us, working as allies in our fight for gender equality.  A Queen Bee bottlecap as a reminder of 'who runs the world'.  A resin pendant that reads 'elusive', as reference to the fact that after decades of bold suffragettes and women's libber's alike fighting for equality among the sexes, that equality still eludes us in the pay gap, in stereotyped gender-based marketing campaigns, in how we treat the victims of sexual assault, in what toys are marketed to our children, and so many other issues.

There is an antique key gifted to me as an extra in a Craftster swap, to remind her of the strength found in friendships among women and the communities we create for ourselves.  A 'P', for kittykill's first initial; a wing to soar on; a playing die for luck in the game of life.  I'm really thrilled with how it turned out, and hopefully it will bring her as much joy as I had making it.