......................................: Necklace

I have an old necklace that I got from my mother when she passed away. She had it for a long time before I was born even, given to her by my great aunt Elsie. I think Elsie brought it back for my mother from New York.

I used to think it was awfully ugly, but over the years my feelings towards it have softened, and I kind of like it now. I even wore it to work last summer (feeling very self conscious) wearing all black to even out the sheer amount of decoration of the thing.

Since last summer, I've been thinking about replacing the tear-drop jewel that is missing. I developed a complicated plan of attack: On one of our none-too-busy trips down to Toronto (hah) I would bring the necklace to every bead shop I could find on Queen St, making a day of exploring the fashion district, hunting down this 40 or 50+ year old costume jewel, or at least making an effort to find something to fill the hole. This was my plan. And it made me tired to think of it. Waste an entire day of a trip to Toronto on a bead?

Then I found Etsy. I love Etsy. I could spend hours on Etsy. www.etsy.com is my favourite place to go and hang around, browsing for hours, if I had hours. It's like a flea market and the One of a Kind Show combined. Crafts. Vintage clothing. Needlework. Handmade children's clothing. Knitted things. Earrings. (Love the earrings.) Really really interesting artsy things. Someone sells terrariums (terraria?) with moss in tiny teacups, in glass teapots. So beautiful. And you can order online and have these things shipped to your house. Go there. Check it out. I'll wait. Hours, if necessary. :)

As well as crafts, Etsy has supplies for crafters. And one day a couple weeks back, I had a brainwave. I searched for "vintage purple tear drop jewel." Imagine my surprise when someone in Montreal was selling the EXACT thing I was looking for. Which I found in 30 seconds or less. She was selling 8 of them for $1.75. Plus shipping, which brought the total to $4.00. Can I say "Wow?" Just wow. They fit. They are exactly the right colour. I didn't have to wander the streets of Toronto. And they came straight to my house. Wow.