Summertime blues ---- and pinks

When the weather starts to heat up, my brain just shuts down.  It did have one brilliant idea before it closed shop for the summer:  I had two things I wanted very much to incorporate into necklaces but they were just "too pretty" for their own good.  One is a free form glass heart that I bought on Etsy that's PINK.  I don't do pink.  I guess I thought I could work it into a charm bracelet somehow.  The other thing was a square of abalone shell that was part of a necklace in the 60's, very iridescent and all, and actually, pretty boring.  But collaging them has elevated them from the banal and I'm much happier with them.  I have 5 coats of Mod Podge protecting the leaves and paper, but I'm wondering if I need to also use a micro-wax or something in addition.  I thought that resin might leave the finish too glossy.  The Chinese writing is from a box of ointment I once bought in a Chinese pharmacy in NYC on a field trip with my friend and acupuncturist, Liz.  I loved the graphics on the package and the instructions in English that said it was for radiation burns.  The stuff smells like a mixture of hoisin sauce and beanpaste and works really well on non-radiation burns.  And the bonus is that over the years, the oils have made the instructions all lovely and translucent.

pre-collage

post-collaging the back
tip:  don't use black velvet if you share your house with cats and dogs.  you will NEVER get all the hair and linty bits off.