Get Your Witch On!

*** Now Available!! ***

I love celebrating my inner-witch, especially for Halloween! That’s why this year, I created a few new designs, each one celebrating those girls in the pointy black hats.....Witches…


I’ve created Sweet Baby Witches……

...... and even a little French Witch, has joined the collection …...

…there’s a sassy Glamour Witch too……

…and your classic Good Witch/Bad Witch combo…..

…and even Witches who network at clubs….

For those looking to add a little frightful fun to your haunted fashions this year, please grab your broom and fly on over HERE for a visit - and priced at just $18 - $25 each, it’s jewelry that won't Kill your budget either!!!! xoxo ~ Joy

Roses and Romance

Did you know that flowers have a language all their own? The term is Floriography and it was very popular during Victorian times.

Just by sending various flowers or floral arrangements, you could express feelings and sentiments that were otherwise unspoken.

My personal favorite, the rose, has it’s meaning expressed by color. For example:

Red = love and desire

White = innocence and purity

Pink = grace and gentility

Yellow = joy and gladness

Peach = modesty


It was with these thoughts that I created my newest vintage Broken China Charm Bracelet that features Roses and Romance as the theme.

There are 3 charms with different images of an 18th century couple captured in various stages of romantic courtship. One charm features the lovers tender embrace, another features a courtship dance and the final charm features his beloved receiving a single rose. I love this bracelet because it has a very Marie Antoinette feel about it!

The two other charms each feature a single Moss Rose. This is such a romantic and pretty bracelet! It’s all Sterling Silver and loaded with beautiful Swarovski Crystals in romantic colors of Pink, French blue and Topaz and I also raided my stash of precious vintage pearls to add just the right finishing touch.

This is a one-of-a-kind bracelet and I used my very last pieces of the vintage courting couple china. I am almost hoping this special bracelet does not sell because I want to keep this one for myself! It’s available on my website for purchase (and my 20% discount Anniversary Sale is still going on too). Click HERE for sale details.

So if you would like to wear a little romance, 18th century style, around your wrist, please come visit HERE to see this sparkling beauty before I change my mind : ) xo ~ Joy

Balance

Today is a busy day of shipping orders for me but I wanted to share a photo I snapped this morning as I dropped Barkley off at the groomers. Their shop is located at the beach, so this is what I see as I park the car.

Normally, I dash in and dash out. But today I had my camera with me and thought it was a great opportunity to make myself stop for a second… breathe deep….. and notice the beauty of the morning all around me.

I don’t know about you, but I am one of those souls that when I get busy I tend to put my head down and just plow through the work, not looking up until the job at hand is completed. I am trying to learn the lesson that sometimes stopping for a breath, raising your head and taking a peek around you, can give you a new perspective, refresh your outlook and energize your spirit to carry on with your tasks.

I think they call it balance and Mr. Cupid thinks I need more of it. Easy to say… hard to do…. especially when you love what you do. But I think it’s a good lesson for all of us to learn. So if you need to take a moment too, I invite you to imagine yourself here at the beach with me… the calm gulf water lapping at the shore…. seagulls calling to you from overhead….. sailboats bobbing in the distance…. and the warmth of the sun on your shoulders.

Thank you for visiting with me today and I hope you are having a day that is both beautiful and balanced.

My Life On My Wrist

Do you love charm bracelets? I know I do and when I came across my high school charm bracelet while cleaning out a jewelry box this weekend, I was transported back in time with sweet remembrances.

I love everything about them! From how they jiggle and jangle when you move around, to the sparkle, to the personal memory each charm represents. My bracelet features charms from my birth through high school graduation. The part I love best is the beaded chain that spells out my last name.

See those pink and white beads? Those of us of a certain age, wore beaded bracelets in the hospital nursery after being born. Unlike today, newborns are given plastic bands, but we had little beads that spelled out our last names…. my first piece of personalized jewelry!

And now it all makes perfect sense to me… within moments of being born, a pink beaded bracelet was slipped onto my wrist. I can’t help but feel that my love for jewelry started practically with my first breath in a hospital basinet. How could I possibly not grow up with a love for beads, sparkle and jewelry?

I am so happy that my mom kept those beads. One year for Christmas, she had our beaded baby bracelets restrung and attached to sterling chains for my sisters and me. This is one piece of jewelry that will always be truly dear to me.

If you have a passion for charm bracelets, you might enjoy this book, Charmed Bracelets by Tracey Zabar, that I recently found at Barnes & Noble in the bargain bin for only $6.98. It’s chocked full of wonderful photos of charm bracelets and their history. And that’s what I find so charming about charm bracelets. They can be sentimental, fashionable, feminine, glamorous, kitschy or classic, but every bracelet tells a story….your story.

Blog Makeover!

Notice anything different? : ) I gave myself a little blog makeover!!

I was getting tired of the heavy background colors and the overly ornate graphics I’ve been using forever. I’ve wanted to lighten things up for some time now, and after reading Tara’s Blogging For Bliss book, I was inspired to sit down at the computer and just do it.

I’ve noticed on my travels through blogville that many of you are also feeling this urge. The best blogs out there seem to be graphically very “clean” and focused more on content and photos. I also like it when I visit blogs and see rotating banners… and I will be doing that too. I’ve become more comfortable with my camera and I’d like to get more creative with my banners using my own photographs.

Doesn’t my cake look yummy? It’s the best kind of cake too because it’s a FAKE cake… no calories!! I think I’ll have a second slice….please help yourself too. I am still in celebration mode for the 3rd anniversary of my website and thanks to your emails, I’ve decided to continue the sale through the end of the month. Mr. Cupid is taking me out for happy hour tonight to celebrate so I am raising my glass to toast my dear blog friends. Cheers to blogging and friendships all over the world! xoxo ~ Joy

A Milestone For My Shop!

I am celebrating my anniversary!!! 3 short years ago I started my website and began my journey for independence and creating my own way in life.

In celebrating this milestone, I’ve decided to have a celebration sale where you receive the gifts! Everything in my shop is 20% off when you enter the Coupon Code “xoxo” at checkout. Just click the re-calculate button to see your savings ~ and there is FREE shipping too!

I’ve been busy creating lots of new handmade pieces and many of them are one-of-a-kinds, so shop fast if you have a favorite. You can click these links to see my newest pieces in Broken China Necklaces, Broken China Bracelets, Spoon Bracelets, Lace Jewelry and Soldered Charm Necklaces.

It’s so hard to explain how much it means to me to be able to do what I do. It’s not an “important” job, it’s certainly not rocket science and no lives are saved by sparkling jewelry, but what I do is “important” to me and I feel truly blessed to have met so many wonderful customers who continue to urge me on. Thank you to everyone for your past patronage and continued support. It means to world to me. ~ xoxo ~ Joy

On My Nightstand.....

I always have a small stack of books on my nightstand, lined up like little literary soldiers, awaiting their turn to be called up. I stack them neatly and in the order I wish to read them. Seems silly, but I like knowing that they are there and what book will be the next world I immerse my imagination in.

The problem is that my appetite for reading is insatiable. I gobble through books and can’t wait for the next one to follow. I am always reading. I was once told that if you spend just one hour a day reading about a subject that interests you, then within an 11 month time period, you would become an expert in that subject. I think this is true!

Since I discovered my passion for 18th century France, Marie Antoinette and the Court of Versailles, I have read every book I could get my hands on regarding these subjects. Before going to sleep each night, I visit these worlds for at least an hour, sometimes for two or three hours. I find it’s a relaxing way to end the day, and you’ll learn something too.

I am not very fond of reading books with “made-up” stories. My preference is for true stories, biographies and reference books. Books that actually teach you something about the past.

Having an insatiable appetite for books can be expensive. I will bypass fashion boutiques for bookstores without thinking twice….. a new dress or new books?…. not even a choice – I’ll head out for books.

There is a wonderful family run bookstore in my neighborhood that has been in business since the 1930s.

It’s a great space to get lost in… full of new books but also lots of old books… collectible books… used books that can be purchased for less than a dollar. When I buy stacks of books, it’s from here that I shop.

I am filling my reference library of books on Marie Antoinette for just a dollar or two per used book. Every now and then I come across something special, like this book….”Famous Women Of The French Court – The Duchess of D’Angouleme”, who was Marie Antoinette’s daughter and the only member of her immediate family to survive the French Revolution.

This book was purchased for a song and it was published in 1897! It’s hard to believe this little book is over 112 years old. It’s filled with charming illustrations and this book is at the top of my nightstand stack.

Another bargain I discovered was “My Lady Scandalous – The Amazing Life and Outrageous Times of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, Royal Courtesan”. A true life story of scandals and excesses of the late Georgian period of life in England and Marie Antoinette’s France. It’s a great glimpse into what life was like for a woman during the 18th century. And for just a couple of dollars, a real bargain too!

I admit to visiting powerhouse book sellers like Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Borders, for special books (like Tara's book!). But if you are trying to learn about new subjects, stock a library or just like to buy books in volume, take a look around in your own neighborhood. There just might be a little jewel of a family run bookstore where slightly used treasures can be purchased for budget friendly amounts and can take you on new adventures without having to leave the comforts of your own bed.

Blogging For Bliss Party

Welcome to the Blogging For Bliss book release party! Today the blogging community is gathering to celebrate the FABULOUS new publication “Blogging For Bliss” by our dear Tara Frey.

Another FABULOUS blogger, Kari from Artsy Mama is our gracious host today for Tara, so please be sure to return to Artsy Mama, so you can visit other bloggers who are celebrating too.

Kari noted on her blog that "every blogger has a story about how our blogs came to be and what it means to us". Today we are sharing the stories of our own Blogging For Bliss.

I started blogging in late 2007 and would never have guessed in a million years how important this creative form of art would come to mean to me. When I first started my blog, I thought it would simply be an extension of my website, providing a way to connect with my customers, much like a typical newsletter.

But I discovered how incredibly creative it can be to have a blog! All of a sudden I was looking at the world with new eyes. New words entered my vocabulary on a regular basis, like “blog worthy” and "posting". Whether it’s noticing the fragile beauty of a blooming rose, the smile on a child’s face or a creative project I finally completed, I found myself wanting to share it.

I discovered a love for writing and I rekindled a long lost passion for photography and graphic art. Before my blog, I was totally focused on making jewelry. This became my one and only source of creativity. However, once I started blogging, I began to carve time out in my day to try new crafts that I discovered on other blogs, or revisit a craft I previously enjoyed, but long ago abandoned. Today, I feel like I am ten times MORE creative than I was before I started blogging!

When I first started blogging, I was worried that I’d have nothing to say. How could I possibly be as creative, witty or as talented as the other bloggers I visited? But I’ve learned that once you start, it opens a river of thoughts, ideas and possibilities to share. And sharing is BIG in the blogging community!

I find such inspiration, encouragement and creativity out there in the world of blogging. And if you are a blogger, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

My blog has become something totally different from what I imagined it would be when I first started.The most wonderful surprise has to be about the connections I’ve made because of my blog. Working alone in my studio all day, I find that my blog has connected me with creative souls who are scattered all across the world. Through my blog, I feel like they are practically sitting in my kitchen with me chatting over a cup of coffee.

I can truly say that my blog has opened doors I never imagined I’d go through – between all the creative satisfaction my blog brings me, to my work being published, to the new friends I’ve connected with, I can truly say that I am Blogging For Bliss on a daily basis!

And I offer a BIG Thank You to Tara, for putting this all down on paper, being published, and being such an inspiration to so many bloggers. And now it’s time to party….. click HERE to return to Artsy Mama – Happy Blogging!!!

Romantic Broken China Jewelry

Last week was really productive for me! You know that feeling you get when the stars and the moon seem to line up and everything flows as smooth as silk for you?

Well, that’s the groove I was in last week and as a result, I was able to create dozens and dozens of new pieces of broken china jewelry.

These are some of the first new pieces to be listed on my website. As I sorted through the Great Wall of China, I found pieces I forgot I owned…. don’t you just love that when it happens to you? It’s almost like Christmas!!!

Many of the pieces I created are one-of-a-kinds and I am unable to make any duplicates. On one hand, that’s a good thing because my customers get a special piece of jewelry that no one else will have. On the other hand, it’s also a bad thing because once it’s gone – it’s gone.

I just love working with these beautiful pieces from the past. Taking a pretty, but broken plate and turning it into something that can be used in a new way – and also creating something that sparkles : ) is what makes me happy. And I think it makes my customers happy too! I receive so much positive feedback and comments from my customers about how special they find the jewelry and how many compliments they receive whenever they wear these pieces. That's like icing on the cake for me!

I’ve already listed many of my special one-of-a-kinds, ready for purchase and shipping. I still have my FREE shipping offer available, and with the fast approaching holiday season, now might be a good time to start shopping if you see something you like, before it’s gone. Click HERE to come visit and see my newest pieces.