Celebrating Marie Antoinette - It’s Time To Start This Party!

Her youth, her beauty, her grace…this is my week to Celebrate Marie! And since every party needs music, as a treat I’ve added music to my blog this week from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette movie - my favorite Marie movie that’s just bursting with beautiful macaroon colors and sparkle. So turn up your volume and let’s get this party started!!!

Welcome to my celebration! Why am I celebrating? On newsstands today is Stampingtons newest magazine “Marie” – a gorgeous publication filled with the most scrumptious art, crafts, jewelry and more, all celebrating the Queen of France. I am beyond excited that my Marie Antoinette Charm Bracelet is included in this publication!

It’s always thrilling to be published, but this issue was extra special to me because it is dedicated to all things Marie. If you’ve followed this blog for any amount of time, you already know about my passion for all things Antoinette. A little over a year ago, I hardly knew anything about her life… just that she was Queen, she was guillotined and she said “let them eat cake”. After seeing creative artwork everywhere about her, I decided to read her biographies and learn about her life. Her life was more extraordinary then I could even have imagined….oh, and by the way…she never said that infamous line, let them eat cake. Historians now attribute this quote to another Queen over 100 years before Marie Antoinette’s time. After learning about her life and all she went through, I almost cringe every time I see or hear this line because it just perpetuates an untrue myth about her. And many experts will tell you that Marie Antoinette was the first victim of bad PR!

The more I learned about her life, the more I wanted to focus on the good and create a line of jewelry that would honor her life. She endured so much pain at the end of her life and yet when things got tough, she showed such strength and courage in the face of unimaginable sorrows. And I have to admire that.

In doing my research, I came across this fascinating document:

This is a copy of the French official revolutionary inventory of her jewelry, along with several pieces from the Princess de Lamballe. This inventory was done in August of 1795, a couple of years after Marie was executed. I am amazed that there was even anything left that hadn’t already been stolen or looted at that point in time to even inventory!

There’s no doubt about it, Marie loved her jewels and diamonds and pearls were known to be her favorites. This inventory is from her personal collection and is not to be confused with the inventory of the Royal Crown State Jewels, which were stolen from the Treasury during the revolution in 1792.

Since these were her personal pieces, I was inspired to create little soldered charms of my favorite Marie portraits over a copy of this historical document…. jewelry about her jewelry, so to speak. I selected my favorite portraits of her ranging in age from a young girl through being the Queen of France.

After awhile, I became curious about what these actual pieces of jewelry were. My French is limited and I was having a hard time using Google to translate each word. I posted a call for HELP on my blog and THIS dear blogger, who is a 3rd year French language major, graciously translated the document for me.

I am going to share this translated information with all of you during my weeklong celebration! The document lists a total of 113 pieces of jewelry, so I will break it down and share snippets each day during the celebration.

I hope you have enjoyed this little peek into history and seeing the descriptions of the actual pieces of jewelry she owned. And speaking of jewelry, I also wanted to create another piece of jewelry that would coordinate with the charm bracelet that’s in the Marie magazine. Here is my newest piece, the Versailles Charm Necklace…



….just a little something to wear as you stroll around your own chateau!!! And because I am celebrating Marie this week, I’ve put all my Marie Antoinette jewelry on SALE at 15% off! And to make the celebration even more FUN this week, I will be having 3, yes, count them 3, Secret Giveaways during the week!

Each giveaway is for a large Marie Antoinette Charm that you can wear as jewelry or hang someplace special as a small ornament. The secret part is that I am not announcing the DAYS the giveaways will be! To enter, you need to come visit each day and leave a comment, since you won’t know which day I’ll pop in and let the random number thing-a-mah-bob pick a winner from that day’s comments. I'll announce all the winners on the final day of my celebration.

I hope you’ll join in the fun and come back to visit each day through Tuesday, April 7th. And Tomorrow’s fun? We’re gonna get our sparkle on with the real jewels of the French Crown!

She’s Coming!

Just a gentle reminder to come visit tomorrow as I kick-off my weeklong celebration of Marie!

I’ve been working hard to prepare a fun event full of history, glamour and some giveaways too! Hope to see you here….

Recycled Treasures….

I just finished a custom order today for the sweetest customer. Jodi contacted me a little while ago about making 8 Broken China Necklaces from her grandmother’s china. She intends to give this special jewelry as surprise gifts to various family members.

I always enjoy working with my customers to create something beautiful for them from their broken treasures. Why toss that cracked or chipped plate, teacup or bowl into the trash when it can be turned into sparkling jewelry?

Jodi and I went back and forth via email confirming the details and when it was time to ship her items to me, we discovered that we live in neighboring cities….just across the bridge from one another! These necklaces really turned out beautiful in person…so colorful, just like a springtime garden. I hope Jodi and her gift recipients will enjoy this special and sentimental jewelry for many happy years to come. Her order is packed and ready to ship and since she lives just over the bridge, she should be sparkling in no time flat!

Mothers Day Gift Idea!

Although Mothers Day is a little over 7 weeks away, I am already busy with custom orders for this special day. I wanted to share with you a special order I just finished today…..

A Mom ordered these 3 Broken China Necklaces for herself and her 2 adult daughters, who are each mothers too. She asked me to create a matching set of Mother-Daughter jewelry using stock from my collection of vintage French Limoges china. She wanted all 3 necklaces cut from the same plate and she asked me if each necklace could feature a different part of the pattern.

She also requested different colors of Swarovski Crystals for each of the pendants. The idea was that the jewelry would represent how the mom and the daughters are each cut from the same mold, but yet, they are each different and unique. How lovely is that? I am sure these sentimental gifts will be treasured for years to come.

This is just one example of how I can customize my jewelry for you and there’s never an extra charge to do this. There’s still time to be added to my production schedule right now for this fast approaching holiday. If I can also help you create something special for your Mothers Day celebrations this year, just click HERE and let’s create something beautiful together!

A Message From Barkley…

My mom said I could post on her blog today because I’m 3 years old!!!

My people went all the way to Savannah to adopt me from HERE.

I was a birthday gift to my mom from my dad!

I do lots of chores to help out. I have to supervise A LOT!


I also like to supervise the trash can (you never know when something good might go in there)…

I also like to supervise my people. I can’t let them out of my sight for a minute! When they try to leave the house, I have to jump up and grab hold of their pants leg and hold them back… I don’t understand why I can’t go EVERYWHERE with them. I only want them to stay home and play with me all day long…what’s so wrong with that?

Even though my mom says I am spoiled rotten (what does that mean?), I know I’ll get even more love & hugs tonight. I’m sure I’ll get a new toy plus lots of extra yummy treats!!! I wish you could be here to help celebrate, but thank you for letting me share my special day with all of my moms’ blog friends.

Sincerely,
Chantilly’s Sir Barks A Lot (that’s my fancy-pants name)
aka Barkley

Finding Your Creative Bliss….

I often receive emails asking me how I do what I do, how I got started, how do I find my inspiration, etc…. Although as an artist, you want to protect your work…it’s your baby after all, it’s also fun to share inspiration and to help others along their path.

These are two of my favorite books and if you’re a creative sort, you might enjoy them too. The first is “The Business of Bliss – How To Profit From Doing What You Love”. I’ve had this great little book in my library since 1999. It’s been around awhile, but it’s still relevant for today.

The next book “Where Women Create” has become my bible. This is the book that inspired the new magazine that is being published by Stampington. I’ve had this book for a couple of years and still adore it.

Here is a little secret I’ll share…. They contacted me a little while ago and my studio was under consideration for this publication! Although my space ended up not being quite what the editor was looking for, I feel so honored that I was even contacted. Being in "Where Women Create" has been a HUGE dream of mine since 2007. I knew my studio was not ready for this publication… and I vow here and now, that my next studio will be worthy! The reason our house will be on the market soon is that it does not fit our needs anymore. My dream is a full-fledged studio, in an old carriage house with overhead beams, whitewashed walls, crystals chandeliers, old farmhouse plank tables and plenty of room to create and invite others in for fun workshops. It may take a year or so to get here…but I promise, I will!

I also want to share a couple of websites geared to women entrepreneurs. Bliss Guild is a creative community for women and is a great source of information on getting started, planning and growing a business. I started visiting their website years ago and often stop in to visit their informative forum. Registration is free and is open to women everywhere! And they are helpful too! I was recently contacted by Louise who sent me a congrat’s letter for being published in Artful Blogging. As a member, she wanted to feature a bit about me on the homepage of their website. Click HERE to visit this inspiring and informative community.

And when you are ready to kick things up a notch…go HERE to visit the creative website of Ladies Who Launch. There’s lots of information here and you’re sure to find something that will be helpful. Inspiration can come from many sources so I hope I’ve provided a bit of inspiration for you today.

“What distinguishes a great artist from a weak one is first their sensibility and tenderness; second, their imagination and third, their industry” – John Ruskin

Home Staging

Here’s a little secret….we are just about to put our historic 1920’s bungalow on the market. Although it’s currently the worst real estate market in decades, we are going to cross our fingers and see what happens. We are fortunate that we have the luxury of not HAVING to move. It’s not like we have a job transfer or relocation to consider. We are both just ready for a change and a new challenge. Historic homes in our area seem to have a niche following and seem to always be in demand, so we’ll see how it goes….

This weekend I started work on the master bath. Since we have two full baths, Mr. Cupid has his own private space and I have mine.

It’s gotten a little girly in there over the years, so I pulled everything out and we painted the walls a gorgeous shade called “Fragile Beauty” by Sherwin Williams. Gone are the roses and heavy florals, gone are the antique china platters and plates that once adorned the walls, gone are the prissy aspects that sang “I’m a girl”. So now I am trying to add things back in, things that are more “neutral” in personality….that would appeal to a broader range of buyers. I am trying to create a bathroom that someone would want to come in with a good book and soak for awhile. Or feel like they have plenty of space to get ready in the morning.

So here are the bit’s I’ve added so far…. A thick white luxury feel shower curtain, like what you’d see at a 4-star hotel. I found this at Target! I also found the beautiful crystal shower hooks…. aren’t they pretty? Their classic design adds a nice touch of sparkle, without being too “girly”. They also mimic the original glass knobs on all our interior doors. I got those at Target too! They are from the Rachel Ashwell, Shabby Chic line.

This is a favorite beaded lamp that my parents gave me as a birthday present years ago. I think it adds an elegant touch and it shimmers so pretty at night!




I LOVE the detail and color of these towels. These are my “company’s coming” towels that my sister-in-law gave me one year for Christmas. I think they make the perfect “fancy” towels for staging.

This is an edge of a gorgeous antique mirror that hangs over my sink. Rather than use the standard bathroom mirror that came with the house, Mr. Cupid had an antique picture frame set with a mirror for me. This was a surprise birthday gift, but I think I will have to remove this from the bathroom… since it’s mounted to the wall as the bathroom mirror, I don’t want to confuse buyers and let them think this mirror is staying with the house! No way!

Then I’ve tried to bring back in the neutral accent pieces…. but only a few.

For months now, we’ve been pouring through magazines, watching home staging decorating shows on HGTV and visiting websites and blog’s. For the last couple of months, we’ve been following the advice of experts….repaint walls in a more neutral color, spruce up landscaping, get rid of excess furniture and accumulated “stuff” and de-personalize the house as much as possible.

I found this website with really good advice for staging your home. Click HERE and then click the video to watch.

If anyone out there has gone through home staging to sell a house or if you have any advice to offer, please leave me your words of wisdom!!!

Homes In Savannah's Historic District

The historic district in Savannah is only about 2.5 miles in size, so it’s really easy to walk around.

We really enjoyed looking at the details on these beautiful homes.

There is a wonderful mix of charming historic homes, with most being between 100-200 years old!

You’ll notice classic architectural styles and ornamentations.

You’ll see elegant town homes, spacious mansions and charming carriage houses, all mixed together. And resturants and shops are all within easy walking distance.

Almost all the homes seem to have hidden gardens, sometimes between picket fences, brick walls or beautiful iron gates.

If you want to live in the historic district, you'll need to have deep pockets!

You may see a few half-million dollar “fixer-uppers” but not very many.

Like most neighborhoods in today’s economy, we noticed an awful lot of homes with for-sale signs out front.

So if you have deep pockets, you might be able to pick up a deal.

Just for fun, click HERE for a good link to see some beautiful real estate for sale in the Historic District. If you love to “window shop” for homes, you’ll enjoy being able to take a peek inside some of these very special homes.

I hope you have enjoyed visiting Savannah with me this week. Mr. Cupid and I thoroughly enjoyed spending our romantic anniversary weekend in this charming town. If you ever have an opportunity to visit Savannah, I am sure you will be charmed too!