Imelda Marcos' jewelry: 'Worthless and priceless'

Imelda Marcos' jewelry:'Worthless and priceless'
MANILA, Philippines -- Imelda Marcos has launched a jewelry line that she describes as both worthless and priceless.
The Imelda Collection includes earrings, necklaces, bracelets, brooches, pins, combs and cuff links made from a combination of glass beads, gemstones and gold-plated chains.
Many of the items feature images of butterflies and shoes, trademarks of the 77-year-old widow of Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
During her heyday, Marcos was called the "iron butterfly" for her ability to get her own way. Following her husband's ouster in a popular revolution in 1986, she was found to have collected 1,220 pairs of size 8 shoes.
Speaking to a crowd of mostly women at the seaside Philippine Plaza Hotel on Saturday, Marcos described the collection as "worthless because it comes from worthless materials, but it is priceless because it is the creativity that's coming from the soul of human beings to bring out what is beautiful and what is God in them."
Marcos said the one-of-a-kind pieces came from her old accessories and clothes, mixed with newly bought stones and other materials.
Each piece carries a message from Marcos saying the item is "guaranteed to tarnish, fall apart, maybe even disintegrate. When this happens, just be Imeldific! Be ingenious and find ways to put it together."
Many of the items were recycled from things she picked up on her travels, while others were fashioned from items the government failed to seize after the family's fall from power.
However, prices for items in the collection aren't for ordinary Filipinos. A hairpin made of olive jade, freshwater pearls, antique French glass, Austrian crystals and woven glass beads with a white gold-plated chain was priced at 116, about half a month's salary for an office employee.
Stolen painting recovered
NEWARK, N.J. -- FBI agents in New Jersey have recovered a 1778 painting by famed Spanish artist Francisco de Goya stolen as it was being taken from Ohio to an exhibition earlier this month, the agency announced Monday.
The painting, "Children with a Cart," disappeared en route from the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. It is estimated to be worth about 1.1 million.
The artwork appears to be unharmed, said Les Wiser, special agent in charge of the Newark FBI office.
The FBI said extensive media coverage of the theft led to tips that enabled the agency to recover the painting. But the agency did not reveal when, where or how the painting was recovered, citing an ongoing investigation.
The painting was taken from a professional art transporter's truck parked overnight in a hotel parking lot in Stroudsburg, Pa., on Nov. 8. It had been scheduled to be displayed in the exhibition "Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso: Time, Truth, and History," which opened at the Guggenheim on Nov. 17.
Today's birthdays
Baseball Hall-of-Famer Stan Musial is 86. Actress Marlo Thomas is 69. Singer Dr. John is 66. Comedian-director Harold Ramis is 62. Actress Goldie Hawn is 61. Actress-singer Lorna Luft is 54. Rock musician Brian Ritchie (The Violent Femmes) is 46. Actress Nicollette Sheridan is 43. Singer-actress Bjork is 41. Football player Troy Aikman is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chauncey Hannibal (BLACKstreet) is 38. Baseball player Ken Griffey Jr. is 37. Actress Jena Malone is 22.