How I do this

My brooches, toys and toy cosy's are priced on the time I spend on making the thing and whether or not I bought extra stuff for decoration etc.

I get alot of material for free because of my nana's and aunties. Other reliable source are op shops- city ones and church ones, Garage sales- although they can be a hit or miss, and Markets- I got a few materials from Gillies street and The vintage market.

Gillies street market

I like using treasures that people throw away for my textiles.Many things are turned into jewellery these days, such as doilies, cutlery, microchips, coins, keys, lego

photo found at http://en.wikipedia.org

buttons, ribbons, old toys, old quilts, ex-clothes, wooden scraps, old type writer keys- although if you have a type writer in a good condition, don't gut the poor thing. It's too cool to take apart, chances are if you don't want it you'll be able to sell it to someone who will.

Photo found at vpsopenminds.com

Clock gears are good if your looking for a steam punk audience, and beads will be forever useful.

Photo from parrotsplaybirdtoys.com

I have seen someone melt an old vinyl until it was tiny, then mould it into a flower shape and stick a brooch backing on. Pretty cool.

Viva DIY xxo