Flea Market Finds

A quick trip to a local flea market this morning yielded a few new *old* treasures!!! I was excited to find a number of vintage rosaries…

Several of them are sweet Christening rosaries for baby girls…..precious…..

I found a couple of vintage French cut steel buckles…..it’s getting harder and harder to find good ones and even harder to find them in matching pairs….and they can be very pricey too. I’ve learned the art of the deal from “Frank” on American Pickers….it’s all about the “Bundle”!! The vendor with the buckles also had all the rosaries and when I suggested a price for all if purchased in a "bundle", she was willing to accept prices that made them affordable for me. Yeah! Watching TV can be an educational experience!

I also found a couple of Victorian era pins, vintage rhinestone pins and vintage sterling crosses.

One of the best deals was for two antique French Limoges china plates. These are very old and have pretty painted flowers and the edge of the plates are decorated in real gold gilt with feminine bow details….sooo pretty for a luncheon!

These plates will NOT be used for broken china jewelry, but I will add these to my ever growing set of mis-matched china.

Our flea market allows individuals to drive up to a field next to the market and sell from their trunks. I purchased these two plates from the trunk of an old station wagon! The grand total for these antique gold edged French plates?….. $3 for both…..deal of the day and not even necessary to ask for a “bundle”!

Hope your weekend is full of found treasures and stay tuned to my blog for updates about pretty new *old* jewelry pieces coming to the website soon. Merci ~ xoxo ~ Joy

Marie Antoinette, Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun and me…

Last weekend I was thissssssss close to Marie Antoinette…sort of. By way of a happy surprise, my husband and I visited the Museum of Fine Arts here in St. Petersburg, Florida. As I turned a corner, I first saw her from across the room and she caught my breath….

Could it be? An original Lebrun? I walked closer with hopeful anticipation building………

Yes! A new 18th century portrait had been added to the collection. This gorgeous painting is the original Vigee-Lebrun painting of “Julie as Flora, the Roman Goddess of Flowers”, circa 1799. Julie is Lebruns daughter and she is 19 years old in this portrait.

Vigee-Lebrun is recognized as one of the most famous female painters of the 18th century and as her career blossomed, she was invited to the Palace of Versailles to paint Marie Antoinette. Marie was very pleased with her work and took her under her wing and the two became friends. Oooooh, to have been a fly on the palace walls to watch the scene as those two worked together!!! Over the next six or so years, Elisabeth would paint more than thirty portraits of the Queen and her family.

She was well known for painting beautiful skin tones and being just a breath away from this beautiful portrait was just magical. My photos cannot pick up the gorgeous detail of this painting, but her work and painting style are superb. You cannot even see brush strokes in her painting. It’s as if the paint is as smooth as glass and one tone flows into another.

Having studied fine art in college, I have a deep appreciation for the techniques and talent needed to do such work. It was a very special moment for me to be standing before the work of such a talented artist from the past and an artist who worked so closely with Marie Antoinette. Now if I can only make it over to Paris to see her portraits of the Queen displayed in Versailles…close, but yet so far away.....sigh….

Earrings On Sale!!!

There is nothing like a little sparkle on your ears to perk up a girls mood! Just doing my part looking out for your mental health!!! Come shop for your favorites before they are gone. Merci ~ xoxo ~ Joy

Earrings at Cupids Charm

Vintage Rhinestone and Wedding Rosary Jewelry

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the sparkle of vintage rhinestone pieces. They always catch my eye when out shopping for special jewelry pieces.

Especially when the old silver is faded and has that wonderful patina that only aged jewels can have. When creating my jewelry, I never use acids or chemicals to “age” my jewels or metals. It’s just a personal preference I have for the beauty of naturally aged metals and stones.

Vintage rhinestone pieces are a favorite because I love that you can wear these special pieces all dressed up in your favorite little black dress or when you are kicking around on the weekends in your favorite pair of blue jeans and white tee shirt. It’s a classic look that never goes out of style.

I pulled a few favorites from my collection this week to create these special new *old* jewelry pieces. They are fresh to the website and you can find them HERE!

I am still enamored with old religious pieces and combining them into new jewelry pieces. I’ve been saving a couple of very special antique Wedding Rosary’s. These are rare and special and I could not bring myself to dismantle these precious pieces. They are slightly smaller than a traditional rosary and I finally came up with the idea to just embellish what I had. So I added a clasp so you can wear it as a necklace and I added extra crosses and sparkles to make them one-of-a-kind beauties to be worn and loved in a new way rather than tucked away in a dark drawer.

I think it’s a beautiful way to remember all the blessings in your life as you notice their sparkling beauty when wearing these special pieces. We can all benefit from moments of reflection during our busy day and I know that I enjoy wearing my pieces often. And I can’t begin to tell you how often I am stopped and asked about them when wearing my rosary jewelry pieces. It seems many of us are looking for a way to express our spirituality in a new and different way. You can find these special pieces HERE!

What’s next? The workbench is loaded this weekend with antique and vintage bracelet components being created into new jewels coming soon to my website…stay tuned for more vintage beauty! Merci ~ xoxo ~ Joy

French Macarons…

Is it wrong to serve your husband Macarons for dinner?

I came home with these luscious treats today from a local French bakery. They are beyond delicious and I would be a happy girl just have a plate of these and a glass of champagne for dinner.

But my dream is to dine on true Macarons…. in Paris at Laduree. Here is a link to their charming new website where you can join me in my dreams of luscious Parisian treats. Bon Appetit!

Laduree ~ Paris

Hello Vodka! Saturday Night Party Necklace...

Just listed….. a colorful beaded necklace that I created using a vintage English Staffordshire porcelain liquor bottle tag as the attention getting centerpiece. What fun!!!

Can you imagine what great service you would receive when stepping up to place your drink order at a favorite bar, restaurant or night club?

If you’d like to add a little fun and sparkle to your weekend party attire, please click HERE to visit my website for more information. Merci! ~ xoxo ~ Joy

New Vintage Friends…

Thought I would introduce you to some sweet new friends who have taken up residence in my studio…

A small, vintage French couple, hand painted and made out of chalkware, found while antiquing this weekend. They had to come home with me and of course, I’ve named them Antoinette and Louis : )

They hold a sparkling pair of Vintage Peach & Clear Rhinestone Earrings (the last pair available for those of you looking for a touch of sparkle!) ~ Merci ~ xoxo ~ Joy

Vintage Jewels…

…just a few that are headed to the website very soon!

I’ve been busy assembling my recent vintage finds into new jewels and they will be listed on the website soon….

My workbench is covered with sparkle and I can’t wait to share the newest pieces with you. Hope your weekend is full of sparkle too. ~ xoxo ~ Joy

Studio Snap

"Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art"
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

A quick snap from the studio today of a few vintage rhinestone necklaces waiting their turn to be recreated into something new and beautiful!

~ xoxo ~ Joy

Broken China Bracelets

...fresh to the website this afternoon! Several new One-of-a-Kind Broken China Charm Bracelets in a link style.

...back to the studio to work on more new *old* jewels! Hope your week is off to a beautiful start. ~ xoxo ~ Joy

Treasure Hunting

I hit my favorite antique shops this weekend looking for new *old* jewels to create with. Some weekends I search in vain, some weekends the pieces practically jump out of the cabinets into my hands. This was a good weekend.

While shopping, I could not help but overhear two women nearby who were talking and one laughed that rather than calling it “antiquing” she called it “treasure hunting”. I could not agree more!

My finds really are more like “treasures”…or at least special pieces on their way to becoming “treasures”….

I came home with several antique rosary strands, vintage religious medals, vintage cameos, antique porcelain pins and numerous strands of vintage freshwater pearls.

On the way home I stopped for my studio roses that I buy each week at our local Fresh Market. A dozen roses for $7.99…a small price to pay for all the enjoyment they bring me all week long.





This week I changed it up a bit and combined creamy white roses with white Hydrangia….so pretty! I’ll be enjoying these treasures from nature this week while I create jewelry from my newest pieces found while treasure hunting.




Hope your weekend is filled with treasured moments too. ~ xoxo ~ Joy

From My Studio Bookshelf…

I LOVE BOOKS! In particular, books on jewelry design and history. I thought I would share a few favorite books from my studio library.

My reference collection is growing and I am always challenging myself to learn as much as I can about jewelry history, techniques and beautiful designs from the past. School is never out of session for a self-taught artist whose passion grows stronger every year!

This is a great book for artists and crafters. It’s chocked full of copyright free designs that you can use for your projects. There are beautiful historic monograms for every letter of the alphabet and even combined letter monograms.

There is also a section on historic crown and tiara styles, which is fun to combine with the stylish monograms. I use this book often to create personal stationary and gift tags.

This is my current favorite…everything you could want to know about Georgian Jewelry. This period in time is my personal favorite for jewelry design as it reflects the styles, trends and techniques of the 18th century. This is jewelry from the time period of Marie Antoinette and the glittering French and English Courts. Just imagine the stories these fabulous pieces photographed in this book could tell from that period of time…..sigh…….

I am fascinated at the artistic quality of this period in jewelry making. Just imagine trying to cut, carve and shape these gems and metal settings without benefit of electricity and the power tools we use today to create jewelry.

Although the gem facets are cut very simple and rough compared to the computer cut facets of today’s gems, the age old sparkle and patina of these gems is breathtaking and speaks to my soul. I find it so interesting to learn about the old ways and hope to use this knowledge more and more to influence new ways of creating jewelry for my own collection.

I hope your day is filled with a passion for learning and creating too! ~ xoxo ~ Joy

Friday Finds!

On Fridays, I like to take an afternoon break and visit a few of my favorite antique shops to search out new *old* treasures. On my radar this week…

…anything with a French Marie essence….L*O*V*E this old picture and the image will be making her way into a future portrait jewelry piece. Until then, she graces my workbench…

…vintage rhinestones are ALWAYS on my list and I found a few necklaces and pins that captured my imagination. I also found a couple of French Souvenir Bracelets…SCORE!!!. The old vintage ones are getting harder and harder to find and I was fortunate to find 2 pretty ones….

I am also being inspired by vintage shoe buckles right now. Whether made with old pot metal & paste rhinestones or from antique French cut steel, I am savoring ideas for turning these pretties into revamped cuff bracelets…

I think my newest sparkling treasures will keep me busy in the studio this weekend and I hope to have the results on my website next week. Until then, I hope your weekend is full of fun and sparkle too!