The Keeper Necklace (and a jewelry tip)

Along with my brother's Satyr costume I have some smaller project ideas which have mostly been in the pipe-dream stage because the materials are limited. One I've had in mind for a long time is what I call the Keeper Necklace.



Why I'm a kleptomaniac now

You probably know by now that I'm a huge nerd, and I'm a nerd to a very detailed degree. I like to express my love of a fandom in very small, unnoticeable ways.

Thief 2: The Metal Age was one of the finest games to ever exist (as I mentioned in an earlier post) and I've always wanted some kind of way to express my love for the game other than breaking into people's houses and lifting them of all their valuables (I gave up when no one lit their house with torches and I broke both my legs trying to climb a rope arrow.)

In the game is a group called the Keepers, they're a secretive organization that taught Garrett (the game's protagonist) the skills of stealth. They have massive libraries of information and generally run around in the dark with cloaks on. All of which make them my favorite of all the warring factions in the series.


Rainbows and hearts and happy! *barf*

Because their symbol is a keyhole I wanted some kind of keyhole charm to wear as a necklace. The problem with finding such a thing isn't very popular. Though thanks to Steampunk, there has been more of an interest and I have often been finding locks paired up with keys or else in the shape of a heart.



Awesome: all summed up in one symbol

I'm pretty picky about what I want. What I want is a plain, ordinary keyhole, but all I can really find are keyholes in locks. I was lucky to find a keyhole charm online, but I have yet to actually acquire one in some manner.

Last time I was out, however, I struck project gold: A whole set of locks with keyholes not in the shape of diabetes-inducing hearts (of which Wilford Brimley strongly suggests against wearing)


If you're as turned on by locks
as I am, seek help.

Just do what the man says.

So now I've got a bit of a problem. What do I do with all of these locks? I was thinking of making the silver ones into a matching necklace and earrings pair, but I don't know if I have the right kind of matching metal for jump rings or chain. I have absolutely no idea what to do with the brassy lock on the top, and I'm hesitant to make the bronze-type ones on the right into earrings because the earring hooks I have that would match, while comfortable, eventually start turning green.



Oh no she di'n't! Gurl, hold mah earrings.

Which brings me to my tip. The human body is a very interesting thing, and one part in particular that fascinates me is the acidity of the oils on our skin. Now, it's not acidic on Xenomorph-blood levels, but it does start to wear things down after awhile. I've had the same keyboard for about 15 years. I'm pretty stubborn about it because it's the only one I'm comfortable using. Anytime I get a new one it's about a week before I'm back to it. On the lesser-used keys you can actually feel the grain of the lettering on it (I'm feeling up my Print Screen button and it's pretty obvious) and, because I am a serious PC gamer, I'm pretty sure you can guess which 4 keys are smooth and faded. That's right: J, Q, Z and Num Lock. In all seriousness WASD are my best friends, with E, C and V coming in second place.

Now, what point am I trying to get across? First, I'm stubborn about keyboards, and second, that's just a keyboard. With jewelry, it's going to be something you have against your skin all the time. Unless you have something like gold, which doesn't react to a lot of things, your skin is going to eat your jewelry eventually.

For earring hooks I can't offer much advice other than buy quality, I suggest Blue Moon Beads. They're affordable, and I haven't had any problems with them other than the occasional weirdly manufactured hook in a package full of them.

For necklaces, it's much easier. I made a cross necklace for a friend but, after a couple of weeks, her skin had eaten the backside of it. I don't wear necklaces very often, so I was surprised. Luckily I had come across something forever ago that had suggested painting a thin layer of clear nail polish on it. I haven't tried it myself, and I never heard any news of her results, so she either never tried it or it didn't work. Either way, I suspect I might find myself trying it on my lock necklace one of these days.

But first, I have to make it.