French Mother of Pearl...

Bonjour mes amis and lovers of all things French! I was recently commissioned by one of my French friends who now lives in Atlanta to make a necklace out of her seriously beautiful collection of French mother of pearl rosaries and trinkets. She spends her summers in the lovely French countryside collecting some of the finest 'swoon-worthy' pieces of antique jewelry that I have ever laid eyes on. Here is what I created from her lovely collection...

some new earrings coming to Etsy...

...rubies, garnets....

...rhinestones...

...and gorgeous old enameled Victorian belt panels.

I'm also hosting a new giveaway. I'll be giving this signed rhinestone cuff away to one of you!

I made this piece using a silvery beaded cuff from Nepal, Art Deco rhinestones, my signed sterling bird charm and a petite silver antique European cross charm.

All you have to do is leave me a comment anywhere on my blog about anything you want and I will put you in the contest festivities. I will draw a winner, the good old-fashioned way...out of a hat, the last week of September. Good luck to all of you and thanks for stopping in!

European Holiday...

Hallo Freunde! That's German for "hello friends"! wanna know why I'm  

sprechen Deutsch??? Well,  I'm GOING to Europe next month!!!!!

I am so excited I am beside myself! I'm starting out in the beautiful countryside of Germany to visit my sister, brother in-law and sweet little niece.

...and then I will the be traveling here for a few days... 

I'm GOING to London too!!!! My vintage jewelry designer friend is debuting some of her collection of vintage designs for fashion week on the runway! How cool is that, may I ask????? She has invited me to come stay and attend the runway show with her right in the heart of London. Pinch me, I must be dreaming!!!

We plan to do some major antiquing while we are there, and you know me, I will be taking pictures and buying  EVERYTHING antique I can get my hands on! And I'm bringing my video camera too, so I can document everything my camera might miss. So stay tuned my friends, you will see everything I do and see right here on my little ol' blog.

Since planning my trip this week, I have planned to move out some old stuff here laying around my art room. This is so I can make room for more precious jewels to buy in London, and the flea markets of

Belgium and Germany.

Here are some new designs inspired from my upcoming trip....

The piece below is a special order for my friend in Mississippi, Kathleen. She has the most fabulous collection of art noveau jewelry and commissioned me to make her something with the Georgian brooch she provided in the picture below, I LOVE making custom pieces using beautiful focal pieces...

 this is the brooch from her personal collection, isn't it fabulous????

The rest of the necklace are pieces she loved from my collection of baubles...

...and coming to Etsy tonight, a very special piece using an antique Belgian locket I found last year...

..."A Swan's Tale"..... 

Guten Tag meine Freunde... See you next time and thanks for stopping by!

 Stay Tuned, I have some more REALLY exciting news coming soon!!!!!

Sweet Old Tin Types...

Bonjour mes amis!!! Wanted to share with you some of my latest treasure findings....gorgeous, provocative, mysterious, sweet, and fabulous old tin types. These tin types are ultra small (also known as 'gem types') and are just so perfect and a lot of fun to use in jewelry. Here are some of my latest creations using these wonderful old lasting bits of history....

I really thought the lady that is the star of these particular earrings was just so mysterious and beautiful!!!!

...a sweet little young couple, or brother and sister perhaps???

...all dressed up and nothin' to smile about!

...Et Voila!!! Instant Ancestors! You can see more of these cool old people in my 

Etsy shop later this evening. Have a great weekend!!!!