Autumn collection begins

Well now look how much of a hard worker I have been lately!

I have been designing lots of new pieces with a nice Autumn twist - deep purples, ambers, rich reds, vintage metals and simple shapes all feature. And I've been playing with gemstones!

I have some Amethyst in my shop at the moment and I am hoping to introduce more gems very soon, watch this space!

My popular First Date Earrings are back in two colourways  - pink and purple and amber and pink. They are ever so sparkly!

My most favourite piece is the Opera Necklace, I spotted this filigree a while ago and couldn't resist it any longer, I am so glad I snapped it up. It is a one of a kind piece, I think the filigree is quite rare too, and ever so elegant.

All of these pieces are for sale in my Etsy shop, some will also be available in my folksy, dawanda and All Things Original shops.

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vintage pearl custom order

I have been fortunate recently to work on a really lovely customer from fellow artist and crafter Julie from Moaning Minnie (who makes lovely hats and bags!)

She had a string of vintage freshwater pearls (amazing!) from a relative which she wanted to be put into a new piece. They were absolutely gorgeous pearls, it is very very hard to get hold of vintage freshwater pearls - I have never seen them myself - and they were in perfect quality.

She like the asymmetrical earrings I recently put in my shop and also wanted a necklace to be made from the pearls.
The asymmetrical look was perfect for the pearls as each pearl is different, so the different shapes lined up perfectly in mismatched earrings.  I made lots of teardrops from silver and strung them together to make the earrings.

The necklace was made from 4 hoops of sterling silver, each a different size to go with the different shapes of the pearls, and strung on sterling silver chain. I love the way this necklace could be worn every day but also dressed up for the evening.

Julie was generous enough to let me keep the pearls leftover from the project, so I have made some earrings to sell in my shops (I am keeping a pair too!).  Another lovely thing to match pearls with is oxidized silver, so I put them with some teardrops of dotted wire which really brings out their colour and smoothness.

Moonlit Pearl earrings are for sale in my Etsy, Folksy, Dawanda and All Things Original shops (links to the right).

I so enjoyed working with these beautiful beads, I love coming across finds like this!

Thank you Julie :)

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new blue things

I've been eagerly awaiting these beads, they are both very special and both my favourite kind of vintage beads.

These are vintage rough cuts or English cut beads, they are rare and very old, I would say probably 1950s. Each of the beads is hand cut so every bead and facet is different from the rest. It also gives the beads a beautiful chippy rustic look that I love.

The crisp blue works so well with brass so I put them together (straight away, I couldn't wait!) with this lovely golden chunky brass chain. The Capri bracelet is one of a kind and in my Etsy shop.


The second lot of beads are these dimpled textured beads that you may have seen in my shop before in different colours.


This time I have found them in a glorious deep midnight blue colour. As yet I'm not sure what to do with them but I'll keep you posted! I have just two of these beads so whatever I do make will be one of a kind or limited edition. They will also form part of my new Autumn collection.

If you are a newsletter subscriber stay tuned for a special offer on my Autumn collection, if you haven't subscribed already you can do so at the top right of this page :)

xx

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rarities

I love scouring for interesting beads, its half the fun of jewellery making, and lately I have been lucky to find some very rare and very beautiful vintage beads.

I don't claim to be an expert but I do know some people that are! I got these beautiful vintage beads from a relative, I thought them to be made in England but it turns out they are venetian beads and very rare. My lovely etsy friend and lampwork glass aficionado Leeski told me about them.

They are venetian glass with a sparkle of aventurina, which is the gold swirl you can see. Apparently very hard to find and rarely seen, and they are handpainted too!


I have just the one pair in my shop, and those beads are the only ones I have, so they are definitely going to be one of a kind!

I could talk forever about some of the other rare beads I have found lately, but I won't waffle too much, instead I'll leave you with some pictures. Click on the photo to see the listing, which has more information.




xx

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Simple Vintage

Simple Vintage Collection
Two Lockets Necklace : Simple Rose Earrings : Paired Lockets Necklace

Normally designers create an idea of a collection before producing the items that go into that collection, but this has come the other way around. I have a lovely stock of simple vintage items in my shop which will now form my Simple Vintage Collection.

Lately I have found myself making more simple designs in order to show off wonderful vintage pieces with minimal extras. I love how classic these pieces look and how easy they are to wear everyday, but also similarly how well they dress up for occasion wear.

The whole collection is exclusive to my Etsy shop. These pieces are all vintage, with intricate but simple details - easily fitting all seasons, occasions and outfits.

One of these pieces is my most popular item - Two Lockets necklace. It is made up of two fantastic teardrop brass lockets and my favourite wavy link brass chain. It fastens with a brass lobster clasp. All components except the wire are vintage!

I hope you enjoy my new collection and I hope to stock it with lots of new pieces in the coming weeks and months!

xx

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New

New Earrings, originally uploaded by lazygiraffe.

I love all the beads that I find and use in my designs, that is the beauty of vintage beads. These beads are my particular favourite, they are so so interesting. I was very eager to get these and start using them. They are lightweight lucite with dark purple swirls, like ink in water. Just perfect.

Inkwell earrings, my etsy shop right now :)

xx

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Update

I don't know where the last 10 days have gone, it doesn't seem like 10 days since I blogged - well thats my excuse for being lax anyway ;)

I've been very busy today, I have used my day off work well and created lots of great stuff for the shop - very much aided by a lot of the supplies I ordered arriving at once today! All in my Etsy shop right now.



xxx

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button update

Its been a while since I've mentioned anything about my vintage button adventures (if you count sitting on the bed counting out buttons into little bags an adventure!).

Being as I had such a large, random lot I have been uncovering some real gems along the way, which always makes it more fun. Amongst my favourite ones so far are these cornflower buttons - such a great shade of blue. They are in the shop right now, I only have what is listed so once they are gone they are never to be seen again!


My button stash is looking smaller each week so I am hoping to source some more vintage buttons for my shop, hopefully as great as the buttons I've already had.

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A very good find...

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this yet!

As you may know I am having a lot of fun sorting through my newly acquired stash of vintage buttons for my button shop, and amongst the treasure trove I found this very vintage Homepride cloth flour bag which was full of old buttons.

I've never seen anything like it myself before so I did a bit of digging around and asking around and I got this reply from Homepride, it makes for very interesting reading.

"The item was from Paul bros, note it refers to Cambridge mill which was built after 1925. Paul Bros was sold to Spillers in 1945 so unless they used up all the old packaging it is no later than 1945. so is likely between 1925 and 1945. I think the character on the bag was called Tommy Homepride but I've never seen such an early reference to him before, he had a series of books in the 1950's."

So I am hanging on to it, it is safely stored away from cats who like to sleep on important things, until I find something to do with it. I might frame it one day, maybe for my studio or maybe for my kitchen.

If anyone knows anything else about these cloth flour bags I'd love to know!

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Treasures!

I've been a busy bee on the Etsy Treasuries lately, after a long break from them. I love creating treasuries, browsing through Etsy is great although it does make my wish list a lot longer.

This treasury was last week and was selected for the front page of Etsy, yay! One of the last summery ones I think I am going to do, I'm thinking of autumn more and more now.The inspiration for this Treasury came from the beautiful Cecily Ombre dress by Greygoat, such wonderful colours and a great shape.

My next two are on the site now, both quite autumnal, one a dark maroony brown and another a mossy forest green. Enjoy!


Please visit my treasuries:
here
and
here

happy shopping! ;)

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Never to be repeated...

I was hoping that whilst sorting through my button stash (yes I'm still doing it) that I would find something totally amazing to use in one of my jewellery pieces, and I have and I am so pleased.

This beautiful clear circle of faceted glass was sitting in the second box I opened yesterday, its gorgeous. A perfect vintage find, its in such good condition and the facets are lovely.

The necklace is in my shop now, hung on a long vintage brass chain. I will only ever have one of these glass circles so this is the only one of its kind, completely unique.

I've snaffled some buttons to use in necklaces so I shall be adding those to my shop soon too.

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