This Blog Has Moved!

I will no longer be posting here on Blogger.  Come visit me on MY NEW BLOG!!!  Click the link below to visit my new website and blog. 
Merci mon amies ~ xoxo ~ Joy


http://www.cupidscharm.com/blogs/cupids-charm-blog

CLOSED for Construction!

Working on a new and improved website for 2014!  My shop will be closed until later in January.  Please stop by then to see the new site and blog. ~ xoxo ~ Joy

White Chocolate Peppermint Martini

Christmas is almost here and I wanted to take a moment to thank YOU!    And share a favorite holiday cocktail.....a White Chocolate Peppermint Martini - the perfect drink for the holiday season! 

I made a batch up for happy hour tonight and decided to snap a few photos along the way....does this not look YUMMY? !!!!

It starts with these fixins'........

First crush some peppermint candies..........

Then dip a glass in a small plate of Marshmallow Sundae topping....then dip again in another plate with the crushed peppermints.

You'll end up with something beautiful like this......

...now take some more of the Marshmallow Sundae topping and drizzle some inside the glass and then place your glasses in the freezer for a bit.

In a shaker with ice, add the following ingredients to make 2 martini's:


4 oz. Vanilla Vodka
2 oz. Peppermint Schnapps
4 oz. White Chocolate Liquor
2 Heaping Tablespoons of softened Peppermint Ice Cream

Shake for a minute.  Remove the glasses from the freezer and pour the mix from the shaker into each glass.  You can sprinkle extra crushed peppermints on top for extra yumminess!


Enjoy!

As this year winds down to an end, I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who comes to visit my blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and website too.  Your support and friendship means everything to this little business of mine and I never forget that without you, it would not be possible to follow my dreams and passions every single day.  I hope the new year will bring you and your loved ones many blessings for a year filled with love and happiness.  

Merci mon amies ~  Joy

 

Just Listed......

Popping in during this busy week to share just a few of my newest (old!) jewels listed on my website....

xoxo ~ Joy

In My Studio...

....and sorting my newest one of a kind creations to list on the website this week! 

Stay tuned...... xo Joy

On My Nightstand...

At the end of a busy day, I really love to curl up with a good book while snuggled under blankets in bed.  It’s a great way to relax and wind down from the day before heading off to la la land.  Two new books hit my nightstand last week that I want to share with those of you who enjoy French history and anything related to Marie Antoinette….

Marie Antoinette’s Head – The Royal Hairdresser, the Queen and the Revolution, by Will Bashor.  Just published last month, this new biography about Marie Antoinette’s hairdresser, Leonard, is a fun read.  It’s been reviewed as being “The Devil Wears Prada comes to Versailles”.  I found my copy on Amazon, HERE

Marie Antoinette’s Versailles by Cecile Berly.  This book is beautifully photographed and features the public and private places of Marie Antoinette at Versailles.  The book is produced and sold in France, but there is an English translation available from the boutique bookshop at Versailles.  I ordered my copy online direct from Versailles and received it in less than a week.  You can purchase a copy too by going to HERE.

 

xoxo ~ Joy

Holiday Sparkle....

Just in time for holiday parties and gift giving!  

Just a few of the special treasures headed to my website next week :)     ~ xoxo Joy

Plan de Paris - Turgot's Map of Paris in 1739

As the renovation process with our new home dragged on....

I was planning how I would decorate our new space.

There was one piece of artwork that we had been saving for a special place and I knew exactly where it would go.  Come on in and see the "after"......

I had been wanting a copy of Turgot's Historical Map of Paris published in 1739.  While in France, I searched the flea markets and book shops of Paris searching for a vintage version of this perfect souvenir.  I had no luck.

We finally found our map in Kansas City of all places!  We had seen it on a shop wall and the owner offered it to us at half price because he was taking it down to decorate for the holidays.  It was very large and since we were flying we turned down his kind offer.  It was one of those decisions you come to regret. 

This past May, about a year and a half later, we returned to that shop and I mentioned our regret over missing out on that opportunity while chatting with the shop owner.  "You're in luck" he said!  He had stored it in the basement and he kindly offered it to us at a great sale price.  This time we said "YES"!  We packed it in large shipping tubes, crossed our fingers that it would find its way back to Florida and it did....and now it hangs in our new living room....

According to Wikimedia.org.... 

"Turgot's map of Paris is possibly the most ambitious urban mapping ever undertaken. Shows the whole of 18th century Paris and offers a wonderful perspective on the city prior to Baron Georges Eugène Haussmann’s 19th-century redesign. Turgot, who held the mayor-like office of Prévôt des Marchands de Paris , commissioned Louis Bretez and Claude Lucas to produce this map in 1734. Oriented to the east on an axonometrical projection, this map is best understood as an aerial view where in every building, window, tree, shadow and park is shown. It took the team nearly five years of exhaustive sketching and surveying to assemble this masterpiece. In order to produce the thousands of sketches and surveys required to complete this map, Bretez was issued a permit to enter every building in Paris."

As my husband is an Urban Planner and I am such a dork about anything related to Paris, I feel like this is the perfect piece of art for our home.

And it's also useful!  While reading my French history books, I can go to the wall and locate the exact building or streets to put everything into perspective.  Not to mention that I am easily distracted during TV commercials and find myself retracing our steps when we were in Paris last year.  I see something new every time I look at it.

See Notre Dame?



...and the Louvre....

...and the Tuileries Palace which long ago burned down.....

Although the shop we purchased this from no longer has this map in stock, you can find a copy at Restoration Hardware, shown below....

 

...or with Majesty Maps,  HERE

 

 

xo ~ Joy

Getting Organized...

Took time to organize the studio this weekend...

Now I am ready to start the week fresh!  Hope your week is filled with beauty and sparkle :)  ~ xoxo Joy

Shop Update!

My newest vintage Paris bracelets have been added to the website!  Yea!

This may be my last batch for awhile.  My stash is getting low and I think this may be the perfect excuse for another trip to Paris for jewelry shopping.....if only I could talk the hubby into that one :)

 

 

Other pretties are being added every day....

 

....come see what's new HERE.   

 

Merci mon amies ~ xoxo ~ Joy

Coming Soon.....

Happy Monday!  I've been busy in the studio! 

 

 

...just a few of my newest One-of-a-Kind designed jewelry pieces that will be available on my website tomorrow for purchase.  ~  Merci mon amies ~  Have a beautiful week ~ xo Joy

Pop-Up Sale! 1 Day only!

SALE!!  1 Day only!!!    Today marks the 220th anniversary date of Marie Antoinette's execution.

To honor her memory I am offering a beautiful golden antique locket necklace filled with photographs that I personally took of her bedroom ceiling at Chateau Fountainebleau on my last trip to France.  

Gorgeous painted angels and cherubs that Marie's eyes once gazed upon, grace this beautiful one of a kind antique necklace.  

This one of a kind necklace is on sale for 20% off with FREE shipping too.  Click HERE to come shop and save.

Merci mon amies - Vive la Reine!   ~ xoxo ~ Joy




 

Paris Photo Collage Project

Last weekend my hubby and I worked on a wall collage project.   I converted some of our favorite photos from Paris into black & white images and framed them in simple silver frames that I found on sale at Michaels.

It looks like a simple project but it took nearly 3 hours for us to hang 12 pictures...LOL...there was math involved...there were rulers and level bars involved.....there were templates cut to use as guiding placement layouts....it took FOREVER to make sure everything lined up straight.   We tried our best to avoid ending up with 1,000 holes in the wall trying to hang these.....

 

But we like the results.  It looks like a mini-gallery now.

 

 

 

 

Whenever we walk through this room now, we are reminded of our special trip and all the beauty we saw in Paris,  We also get a kick out of the fact that these are photographs that we both took.  Neither one of us are professional photographers, but thanks to Photoshop, we do an OK job.  

 

 

 

 

This area is located in the dining room of our new home that we just finished renovating.  For those interested in the details:  the wall color is Sherwin Williams Urban Putty and our new wood floors are Mohawk Hardwood Flooring in Soft Scraped Maple Cognac.   The buffet is a $60 vintage find and is one of my DIY makeover projects that I painted using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and then glazed with Annie Sloan Clear and Dark Wax.  The Louis chairs are new reproductions that I purchased from Matter Brothers Furniture and they were my biggest splurge for the room, but I LOVE them!  The Mercury Glass lamps and carved & gilded wood box are from Home Goods.  The Venetian Glass mirror is from Bassett Mirror Company.

 

Slow and steady, our projects are coming together and we are starting to feel like we are home.

 

xoxo ~ Joy

LOVE LOVE LOVE working with these antique Edwardian era paste rhinestone lockets! This beauty was found in an antique shop in London and is now looking for a new home. ~ xo Joy

Just Listed!!!

New jewels are being added to the website!

Stop by to see what's new.  Click HERE to come visit.  ~ xoxo Joy

The Paris Memories Continue...

It rains in Paris.  A LOT.  During our 2 weeks there, we only had 1 day of sunshine.  It rained every other single day.  But Paris in the rain is still beautiful. 

One of the first things we did before leaving the airport was to purchase Museum Passes.  Ours were good for 7 days and you could see as many museums as you wish.  They also get you quick entrance so you don't have to stand in long lines at the museum ticket office.  We could use the express lane!  The Louvre for one, is notorious for lines that take hours to get through.  If you go to Paris, get a museum pass!

One very beautiful museum is the Musee des Arts Decoratifs.  It is located at the end of the Louvre and it is dedicated to all things interior design wise...especially 18th century. The wonderful thing about museums in Paris is that you can walk around rooms like you were a guest in a private home.  Every museum we visited allowed photos, with the exception of the D'Orsay.  You just can't use your flash.  I was in heaven.....

An 18th century salon....

...a royal jewelry box.....

.....18th century perfume bottles......

.....a display of chairs owned by royalty........

....an original chair that belonged to Marie Antoinette......

......china that belonged to Madame Du Barry......

Another 18th century devoted museum is Musee Carnavalet.....once a private home now a museum filled with treasures.....

Notice the worn stone stairway.  You can see the wear from ancient footsteps that have worn the stone smooth over centuries of use.......

It took everything I had not to crawl into this gorgeous bed for a quick power nap.......

Hallways were filled with paintings by my favorite French artists....Francois Boucher and Jean Honore Fragonard....

.....and this delightful treasure......a small sculpture of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette that was a gift given to the royal couple.

Thanks for your visit....hope you enjoyed a small sample of some of the beauty Paris has to offer.  Merci mon amies ~ xoxo ~ Joy