My Weekend Garden Project

I wanted to share this fun and easy garden project with you. Large flower containers can be soooo expensive at the garden centers and I prefer something with a little more “charm” to it. I found this large vintage galvanized tub at the flea market…$5 bucks!!! I grabbed a bottle of blue-ish-green-ish craft paint and watered it down a bit and then lightly wiped the paint all over the outside of the bucket. It gave the bucket kind of an aged, been in the garden for a long time, kind of look. Dearest Husband drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom and then I filled the bottom half of the bucket with empty soda cans to help with drainage. Using soda cans instead of rocks makes the container lighter and easier to move around. Then a layer of dirt and an assortment of colorful flowers will add the finishing touch. I love to mix different flowers in my containers. As the flowers grow and fill-in, they will spill out of the container and look better every week. I think it's such a sweet romantic country shabby kind of look! I even tucked in a little bunny sculpture in the bucket…maybe you can see her peeking out?

My Romantic Home

Hello blog friends! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Things were hoppin’ around our bungalow this weekend. I spent a good portion of it sending emails to the most wonderful ladies all around the world. On Friday, a new blog friend introduced my work on her blog. The response, to say the least, was incredible. I met so many new bloggers and I am just thrilled to make these connections. We all have so much in common, it’s a little like meeting a long lost friend. Click HERE to read the posting by Cindy at Romantic Home. Her blog is truly lovely and very inspirational and should be added to your blog roll immediately! You can also find Cindy featured in this months Romantic Country magazine! Cindy is very gifted at making her home a romantic and peaceful retreat. The photo above is just one of her many lovely transformations. Do I even have to tell you how much I am drooling over that gorgeous Cupid headboard? Click HERE to read how she did this. Please visit Cindy and tell her Joy sent you!

Almost like a stroll through a French rose garden...

The beautiful spring weather here in Florida really has me enjoying my workday in the studio. I can actually work with the doors and windows open and breath fresh air. I love that and it’s not something I can do often since the air conditioner is nearly always running and the humidity levels are always pretty high. I was inspired to create this beautiful French Rose Garden broken china bracelet. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these plates! I found a stack of these turn-of-the-century china plates in a small antique store in Virginia while visiting my family. Every plate was chipped or cracked which is why I am sure they were still there when I happened upon them. They are French Limoges, have gold gilt and hand painted touches. So very special and romantic. And I have taken these poor broken plates and recycled them into a new life as pretty jewelry so their beauty can live on in some small way. I just love doing that. Click HERE if you would like to see additional photos. I hope that spring has come to visit you too!

Fly Birdie Fly

How far away can spring be with this sweet little red robin bracelet adorning your wrist? I had to share this custom Broken China Bracelet order I just finished today for a lovely customer in Sydney, Australia. And her name is Robyn too! I created this bracelet for her using a rare and hard to find vintage pattern from the 1930’s. It features a red robin sitting in a wreath of blue forget-me-nots and lush pink cabbage roses. There’s also genuine mother of pearl and rose quartz beads mixed in with the Swarovski Crystals and Pearls. All of this attached to a vintage style Sterling Silver chain. This is one of my favorite bracelets to make because the pattern is so beautiful. And now this little sweetie is flying all the way to Australia. Enjoy the bracelet Robyn!!

xoxo ~ Joy

Create Your Own Vintage French Mannequin!

If you’ve had your eye on a vintage French mannequin but the price of such a treasure had you double checking your credit card limit, please go purchase the April edition of Romantic Homes magazine. Inside you’ll find a great “make it" project produced by two Tres Chic Mademoiselle’s, Tara and Heather. Their step-by-step instructions will have you owning a vintage looking import in less time then it takes to say ooh-la-lah! This was my craft project for last weekend and it was soooo easy! I found my white, plain-jane dress form for a mere $39 on eBay, and with a little paint, Voila…C’est Magnifique!!! So with much fanfare and a drum roll too…..I would like to introduce Miss Gertrude, the official French model for Cupids Charm jewelry. This was a simple and fun project that I am sure you would enjoy too!

Easter Wishes

Happy Easter greetings to all my peeps! My wish today is that you will enjoy abundant blessings during this very special time of year.

Dearest Husband and I have a weekend agenda full of springtime gardening projects and even a few projects to welcome spring INSIDE the house. I hope this holiday weekend finds you enjoying all the beauty of springtime renewal too.

xoxo ~ Joy

Getting Crafty In The Studio...

I have to share a project with you that I just completed this weekend! I am a total novice at furniture refinishing, but I had a cabinet in my studio that I use for china storage that was just bugging me. I went online and found directions on how to “shabby-chic” furniture and then ran over to Lowe’s for my paint supplies.

...and here is how it turned out! I am really tickled..…it's just like what I had pictured in my mind. I am no expert, but if you have some furniture around your house that is “bugging” you too, just let me know and I’ll be more than happy to email you the directions I followed to redo my cabinet.

xoxo ~ Joy

A Touch Of Sparkle For Your Ears!

New items for the website! I’ve added several new categories of jewelry this week on the website and I am happy to announce the listing of over 20 pairs of beautiful handmade earrings…all created with a nod towards vintage glamour and romance! There are two things I never leave the house without….lipstick and earrings!

I hope you like the new additions. Please feel free to leave a comment if you like this style, or if you have suggestions of other styles you would like to see, just let me know. Click HERE to see the new goodies. Hope your weekend is off to a “sparkling” start too!

oxox ~ Joy

Romance & Antique Shopping!

I had such a lovely weekend that I just had to share it with you! The most special part was that Dearest Husband and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary. This sweet man has made all my dreams come true and is such a wonderful husband. He is my most prized “treasure”. The weekend started with these beautiful roses…

I used some of the roses to make this small arrangement in my favorite Cherub vase. It’s a bit hard to see, but the bottom of the glass jar is filled with vintage white buttons. I like to use buttons in the bottoms of my vases to hold the flowers in place.

We then popped into a number of my favorite antique stores and even managed a few hours at a favorite flea market too. I really enjoy spending time with my hubby this way. He doesn’t antique with me often (there are limits!) but when he does, we spend time sneaking kisses and holding hands while we browse. He has really developed a good eye for helping me find items that are on my “always looking for list”. I found a BEAUTIFUL stash of vintage and antique silverware. Just look at the detail on the handles! These pieces (some dating to the late 1800’s) will be turned into jewelry.

I also met a lovely woman from Columbia at the flea market. She was selling items from her home and had these BEAUTIFUL vintage Cherubs for sale. They are very old, hand painted chalkware and she had them when she lived in Columbia. I can’t wait to find a special place in the studio for these little sweeties.

And finally, I love vintage award trophies and I found this old Loving Cup. It is charmingly engraved “Bill, It’s been great, August 13, 1947 Love Colleen” I don’t know what Bill did, but apparently Colleen was really pleased! In addition to being a wonderful vase, I also plan to use this special piece as an ice bucket. Can’t you just picture a great bottle of wine or champagne chilling in this? Perfect for our summer patio parties!

Hope your weekend was filled with beauty and romance too! xoxo ~ Joy

Inspiration Thursday

Sparkling jewels…some old, some not. Pretty little things on my radar right now… tarnished vintage tiaras (love to wear mine while doing housework – who says doing the dishes can’t be glamorous?)… vintage rhinestone necklaces… vintage lockets…. silver filigree heart charms (always)… vintage house & cabinet keys… clear fire polished crystals that act like tiny prisms reflecting back colors on nearby objects. These photos show a snippet of items I am inspired to work on next week. New items coming…my mind is a whirlwind of things I can’t wait to create….if I could just grow another set of hands I might…just might…catch up to my ideas. Hope your week has found you inspired to create too.

xoxo ~ Joy