Color, style, or era, you’re sure to find a piece to admire at Cheryl Larson’s booth at the Starbuck Vintage & Artisan Market. The Glenwood-based artisan has been collecting and crafting jewelry for 15 years, starting with a fascination for vintage costume jewelry with rhinestones and eventually encompassing antique silver pieces, Egyptian revival, African trade beads, wire wrapping, resin pouring, and more.

Larson loves the play that comes with approaching each new piece, determining how to best restore each vintage item, when to reset broken pieces, when to pair pieces into a cohesive set. “I carefully research my pieces and can tell you the story about many of them,” Larson says. “I try to learn as much as I can about each vintage piece that comes to me, the era, the designer, how it's made, the materials used."

One of Larson’s pieces is an Egyptian revival piece, pairing cool blue recycled glass beads from Ghana with a gemstone shaped like a scarab beetle. “The ancient Egyptians used the scarab in many jewelry designs. They believed the dung beetle was closely connected with the sun god Khepri, who brought the sunrise over the horizon each day,” Larson explains. “Thus, it became a symbol of rebirth, regeneration, and protection in the afterlife.”

Cuff, pendant, necklace, earrings, or brooch, you’ll find a perfect gift or personal signature piece from Larson’s collection. She also maintains online marketplaces on Facebook and Etsy.