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I've been meaning to do a post on my Mum's brooch collection for a while now. Most of these are op shop finds but a few Mum already had in her collection before it officially became a 'collection' (if that makes any sense at all haha). I can't really remember what sparked the beginning of Mum's brooch collection. We always keep an eye out for interesting jewellery at op shops and I think it just grew from there, as collections do.

I found this guitar brooch in an op shop on Chapel Street in Melbourne and thought Mum would love it. The back is stamped with 'BROOKS' but I haven't been able to find much info on it's significance. I thought the design was really unique and love the gold wire strings and pearl on the base.

Mum found this one in our favourite op shop. The gems are such a beautiful blue colour and so sparkly. I can't remember the exact price but it was under $4 which is amazing because once we got home we inspected the back and it's stamped with '9CT' - 9 karat gold! It has one of those fancy little chains to make sure it doesn't fall off. The gems could be real, who knows?

This last one is one of Mum's most recent acquisitions and a definite favourite. I was looking on Etsy for vintage Avon brooches and came across this artiste's palette for $15 plus postage. I decided to try my luck on ebay first and see if anyone was selling any on there and found someone in Adelaide who had it listed for 99c. Thought I might as well try my luck so placed a bid, and after a few days when the listing ended no one else had bid! It turns out the seller actually lives in the same area as me so she dropped it in our letterbox free of charge; how lovely is that! It also came in its original 1970s box with a pair of stud earrings that match the red stone on the brooch.

So there's Mum's brooch collection. Most of the jewllery in the op shops lately seems to be from Diva and the likes so we haven't bought any for awhile. We always keep our eyes peeled though. Is there anything you like to collect or look out for when you go op shopping? I've started collecting Frankie magazines but don't have much luck finding them in the op shops. Always keep my eyes peeled for Avon jewellery and Glomesh of course =)