Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Celebrating with a New Giveaway

 
It's that time again! It's time to give away some precious little baubles to one lucky jewelry lover out there!!! In celebration of my recent trip to Britain, I plan on giving these gorgeous vintage Scottish thistle kilt buttons turned 'one of a kind' earrings away this month.  I found these gorgeous little pieces of Scottish history on my recent trip to London and immediately fell in love with them. I knew instantly that they would become a fabulous pair of earrings for one lucky blog viewer out there.
 I accented the old buttons with beautiful hand-faceted black onyx briolettes, vintage rhinestones, and sterling ear wires....

All you have to do to win, is leave me a comment and become a follower of my little corner of the Internet...my little ol' blog.
 
 
I also have been busy lately making earrings out of a few more pieces I found on my recent trip.
These old vintage sterling ball tassel pieces turned out really lovely paired with aqua quartz hoops and small old rhinestone crosses...


My newly designed "Just Bee-cause" Earrings...
 
 
...and I just love these old Victorian carved mother of pearl game pieces framed with draped chains...



 
These new earrings coming to my Etsy shop this evening...and more English inspired designs coming this weekend.
 Good luck to everyone on the new giveaway. I will announce the winner at the end of this month. Thanks for stopping by to visit with me!!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

In Full Design Mode...

 
Bonjour Amis! Sorry to have been MIA lately but I have been quite busy this past week designing with my newly acquired vintage treasures. With three shows and one large wholesale order coming up in the very near future, my design and 'panic' mode have been in full swing.
Here are a few pieces I have been working on lately...
 
 
An old English brooch and cameo....

 
 
A sweet old sparrow button...
 


 
An English rhinestone sparrow, antique French netted lace, and a gorgeous old ornate brass frame pendant... 


 
An elaborate vintage rhinestone encrusted English butterfly...
 


 
An exquisite Georgian enamel portrait pendant... 

 
...beautiful gemstones and creamy pearls...



Victorian brooches and chains...
 



an old Victorian tin type...
 

 
 


 
...an English paste heart and button...
 
 
 ...and some fun new earrings...
 



 

 
...are just some of the new pieces I have finished upon returning home from crossing the pond. Some of these pieces are already available in my Etsy shop and the others will be coming this weekend. And lots more vintage English charm to come in the days and weeks ahead.  Take care everyone, see you back here in a few days and happy creating!!!!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The London Journey...

A traditional guard outside the Tower's Crown Jewels Museum.
 
Cheers to Google Blogger!!! I think they have finally managed to straighten out the new interface, and I am ecstatic about it!!! Posting the last three weeks has been, to say the least, difficult! All better now, though.
 Just wanted to share a few more pics this post of my trip to London. My last post just wasn't enough to cover everything we were so blessed to go see and do. I also took lots of video from my IPad, but I promise I will not bore you with all of those!

 
This was our trip to the infamous Tower of London....

 
A true, authentic Beefeater was our official tour guide at the Tower.

 
The famous Bell Tower at the Tower of London.
 
Mary Kay and myself outside the British Crown Jewels collection....

 
 
The beautiful Victoria and Albert Museum...

 
...the white pointy 'awning' cover is a highway cone sculpture at the entrance of the museum.
 
 
Some beautiful antique clothing on display at the V & A...
 


 
 
 
The magnificent British Museum...
 
 
...just look how grand the entry way is, this museum is HUGE....plan a whole day for this one!

 
 
 
A very cool and colorful mural of the Queen just down the block from the British Museum...
 
 
...LOVED it!
 
 
 
This was our main form of transportation the whole trip...
 
 
...and boy did we see A LOT of these red trains. It was a great way to get around the city because they were fast, safe and very economical!!!
 
 
Mary Kay posing with the Queen...
 
 
...Now she can tell all of her friends she got her picture taken with the Queen! ha ha
 
 
 
This was our yummy and traditional British dinner after our museum visits...

 
...there was Yorkshire Pudding, Bangers but no Mash, Steak and Kidney Pie with traditional herb sauce (I passed on the Kidney Pie), delicious chips dusted with cheddar and my favorite part of the meal...a real authentic British made Ale.

 
 
 
 
Below is a fun looking pub on the infamous and several hundred year old Fleet Street....
 
 

 
....St. Bride's Church was a cute little old church tucked back in a little alcove of Fleet Street.
 
 
The view of St. Paul's Cathedral from Fleet Street...

 
 
 
I loved this old Fleet Street building and it's old, exquisite architecture...

 
...and one of my favorite London restaurants 'Pret A Manger' was just underneath it.
 
 
 
Our shopping trip to Carnaby Street was just amazing...

 
...there was lots to see...

 
...my new favorite London clothier, "Bolongaro Trevor", was there!
 
DJ's spun records and live bands performed on the sidewalks as we shopped...
 
 

 
 
 
One of our last markets we shopped...
 
 
...I loved it because there were British Flags everywhere...
 
....a live string band played beautiful classical music as we strolled the market's stalls...perfect music when shopping for antiques....

 
 
One of our favorite market antique dealers....Martin...

 
He always has boxes upon boxes of the best treasures!


 
...check out our fingers from digging through the treasure troves of fun!!!
 
 
 
And the very last thing we did...

 
...was to see the whole city at once from this magnificent structure...

 
...oh yes, the London Eye definitely did not disappoint!!!

 
 
...check out the sunset over Buckingham Palace from the very top of the Eye...It really felt as if we were at the 'top of the world'....

 
 
Mary Kay laughed and snapped this picture of me during our eye in the sky ride....

 
...she said it was mostly how I looked during the entire trip due to my excessive video taping.
 (except when I was digging for antique treasures!)   :-))
 
 
 
And finally some of my new favorite pieces I stumbled upon...
 
Old portrait pieces...
 
 
Fabulous English Whitby Jet...
 

 
 
Beautiful handcarved cameos and Victorian filigree...


Porcelain French dolls and stunning Scottish agate brooches...


 
Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing the pictures of my incredible London journey. It was everything I had expected it to be and then some. I highly recommend traveling to this truly fabulous city!Everyone there is so kind, the weather is divine this time of year, and the sights are amazing and full of history.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week and be sure to stop by my Etsy shop tomorrow because I will be listing some new designs with some of these exciting new pieces!!!