I have not been very creative in my jewelry arts lately, so I thought I would share some more Croatian jewelry.  DH just came back from a business trip to the Netherlands, and stopped by Croatia to visit his family.  Here are two very beautiful pendants he brought back for my daughter and I.  The one on the left is a pendant depiticting the coat of arms of Zagreb.  It is also the design on the flag of Zagreb.  The one on the right is a Morcic pendant – one of my favorite types of jewelry.  Morcic jewelry have been worn traditionally as an amulet to ward off evil:

I am a lover of all beads, especially vintage beads. So when Vente of Vintage Beads From Europe approached me to try out some of her wonderful vintage bead mixes, of course I said Yes! Vente’s passion and interest led her to open her own on-line store where she offers a variety of soft and hard vintage plastic beads as well as metal findings and jewelry accessories.  And here are the bead mixes she sent me:

Ideas are already spinning in my mind as to what to make with these fun beads – check back  later to see what I come up with!

I found these pretty vintage earrings sometime ago,  and finally decided to update them for wear.  I replaced the old clip-ons with gold and silver ear wires, added crystals and beads where needed. Aren’t they nice!:

My friend Maria brought this beautiful Saint Benedict key medal and cross, back from Mexico for my daughter and I.  I just love adornments of crosses, religious medals, and spiritual emblems, so I thought I’d share:

This medal originally came from a cross in honor of St Benedict. On one side, the medal has an image of St Benedict, holding the Holy Rule in his left hand and a cross in his right. There is a raven on one side of him, with a cup on the other side of him. Around the medal’s outer margin are the words “Eius in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur” (“May we, at our death, be fortified by His presence”). The other side of the medal has a cross with the initials CSSML on the vertical bar which signify “Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux” (“May the Holy Cross be my light”) and on the horizontal bar are the initials NDSMD which stand for “Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux” (“Let not the dragon be my overlord”). The initials CSPB stand for “Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti” (“The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict”) and are located on the interior angles of the cross. Either the inscription “PAX” (Peace) or the Christogram “IHS“ may be found at the top of the cross in most cases. Around the medal’s margin on this side are the Vade Retro Satana initials VRSNSMV which stand for “Vade Retro Satana, Nonquam Suade Mihi Vana” (“Begone Satan, do not suggest to me thy vanities”) then a space followed by the initials SMQLIVB which signify “Sunt Mala Quae Libas, Ipse Venena Bibas” (“Evil are the things thou profferest, drink thou thy own poison”) – Wiki

DH just came back from a business trip to Saudi Arabia. He stopped over in Croatia to visit his mother, and brought back some wonderful artisan made replicas of Croatian traditional jewelry.

To the left is a pendant of a coin of the Empress Maria Theresa of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (18th century), and the other is a traditional jewelry from the region of Pokuplje, Dalmatia (17th – 18th century):

Here is a beautiful Southern Dalmatian cross with filigree (16th – 17th century), and a Sestine Heart, for our daughter (19th century):

DH brought these two back several years ago.  A decorative plate from the region of Runovic, Imotski (17th century), and a pendant of Saint Blaise (Vlaho), the Patron Saint of Dalmatia (Renaissance):

They are quite large pieces, but I’ll make an effort to wear them .  You can find them here: Hrvatski Tradicijski Nakit.