Le Fabuleux Collier d'AMELIE Poulain IMAGE HEAVY

[heathersy]

My Amelie-inspired necklace:

Quirky Cute Fun a la France

The Backstory: I was "commissioned" yesterday afternoon to make some jewelry for a friend of my DH's, whose birthday party we were to attend that night. I do not know the girl and he could not remember if she has pierced ears, so I went for a necklace and had him pull up the birthday girl's My Space page so I could get some idea of her personality, style, interests. She had listed Amelie as one of her favorite movies and I had a "Eureka, I have a gnome figurine!" moment.

From there I was off and running with a French flag color theme, hearts for the romantic element, the two windmills for the restaurant where the title character worked, and two quotes from the movie:

vous n'avez pas des or de verre (you do not have bones of glass)

et

meme des artichauts ont des coeurs (even artichokes have hearts)

I made the hearts, windmills and quotes beads (including the closure findings) from no. 6 plastic, Sharpied and oven-shrunk. I love, love, love the way the text came out:



I shall leave you now with the obligatory 'action' shot for a sense of scale. (See how tiny the quotes script is?)



p.s.: This was a project of many firsts for me: making my own jump rings (need practice, hate the plastic coated wire I unwittingly picked up); making shrunken plastic beads (literally shrieked at the test batch's cuteness); Dremelling and drilling away at a plastic figurine (disturbingly fun.) So feedback is appreciated.

[TheMistressT]

Super cute!  You did a really good job of sticking to the theme w/o using the movie logo or a photo of the characters which is the more clever way to go.  I hope she likes and appreciates this wonderful gift!

[heathersy]

Thanks, MistressT! She actually said something along the lines of "This is f'n amazing! I love it!" when she opened the box and immediately put on the necklace. The gnome struck a nerve, it seemed.

[kaitopenguin]

*gasp*  I want it!  Amelie is one of my favorite movies too, and you made a perfect necklace for the film.  I especially love the quotes that you incorporated into the necklace, and, of course, the gnome. 

[panul]

A very cute idea nicely realized. I bet she'll love it!

[TheMistressT]

Thanks, MistressT! She actually said something along the lines of "This is f'n amazing! I love it!" when she opened the box and immediately put on the necklace. The gnome struck a nerve, it seemed.

Maybe she'll be inspired to take pictures of herself in all the places she wears it!  It might be really fun, even just around town.  "Here I am at the dry cleaners," "This is me in line for a latte," and "Here I am getting my teeth cleaned!"

[heathersy]

MistressT, that would be a RIOT. I'll bet if I could find another gnome to make one for kaitopenguin, that SHE would do so . . .

Thanks for all the feedback! -heathersy

p.s.: I totally neglected to mention the quote on the clasp, which reads J'aime rechercher des choses que personne d'autre attrape (I like to look for things no one else catches.)

[underthemountain]

Heathersy, that is really, really awesome.  I love the quotes and esp the gnome.  I bet she loved it!!

[batgirl]

That's so cute! Great job!

[bigyellowtaxi]

I LOVE this!

Quel magnifique!!!