Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Spring Fever

 

I just came back from the botanical gardens and in their commercial greenhouse was a beautiful scent that I haven't smelled since last Spring - Paperwhites and Hyacinths. There is nothing quite as divine as having fragrant Spring bulbs blooming indoors while outside the snow and ice still cover the ground. I truly have a love affair with fragrant white flowers and the association with Spring is inevitable. Snow drops, white Hyacinths, Lily-of-the-Valley, Easter Lilies, Apple blossoms...

Living in a place with such harsh winters Spring with it's snow drops poking out of the snow and vibrant green buds pushing out of bare branches is always a magical experience.

These next vintage selections will have to pull me over until the real thing...


These would also be amazing for a vintage style wedding! Instead of buying something mass produced which may be worn by many brides, vintage is eco-friendly and you can find some amazing one-of-a kind items. How many of these items have you seen being worn by brides lately?



Faux ivory pin with rhinestone


Lacy flower filigree necklace


Creamy white bouquet necklace


I can almost smell the perfume these would have if they were real!


I can't wait to be able to buy little bouquets of Muguet again from the local farmers market! Another 3 months...

This bracelet was even pictured in a budding pot of Paperwhites! They are the easiest to force and yet I forgot to buy some last Fall:(

Need something beautiful to hold all that jewelry? Here's a gorgeous upcycled vintage wooden crate painted with a beautiful cherry blossom design:


There is also a plethora of vintage materials available to make your own spring jewelry. You can make many things easily without any in depth knowledge of the craft. Mix and match with old jewelry you've had forever but never wear.

These would be great for a long necklace. All you need is some string!

Tiny Vintage White Czech Glass Nailhead Flower Beads

Large beads perfect on their own for earrings:

Large carved saucer beads

Love the creamy ivory color on these!

Creamy white carved beads

These delicate milk glass beads are already connected, just add a pendant and you're set!


Beautiful vintage cabochons are great: just glue a brooch pin on the back or glue them in a setting to make a pendant. You can even glue them on specially made ring blanks with flat pads.





Little ivory blooming branch


Check out Etsy's categories: Vintage Supplies, Supplies:Beads:Vintage and Supplies:Commercial:Vintage. Words I used to search for Spring themed materials: White, Floral, Ivory, Cream, Flower, Bud, Blossom, Bouquet, Bridal, Weddings. 

Here are some of the things I've made using uncirculated vintage materials:


 

 





Now I'm off to get me some of those Paperwhites before they sell out:)
Thanks for reading!
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Sunday, January 24, 2010

Giveaway winner!

Congratulations mframe00 you are my Valentine's Day giveaway winner!

Please message me with an address where I can send you these:


Winners have 48 hours to respond otherwise I will draw another winner so remember to check you spam folders :)

Thanks everyone for following my blog!
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Yarn Art with MeeksSandyGirl

 
MeeksSandyGirl

Eco-friendly materials for jewelry abound if you are open to the unconventional. A renewed interest in the old textile crafts like crochet and lace has percolated into other unrelated crafts including jewelry. Some amazing work has been done 'recycling' the old time crafts into something novel!

I'm happy to feature Sandy Meeks of meekssandygirl on Etsy, who has that rare combination of skill, talent and creativity to make something truly unique. I was astounded at the amazing work when I first visited her shop and later thrilled to learn that her cashmere yarn comes from upcycled sweaters!

She makes a variety of items including necklaces, bracelets and brooches as well as non-jewelry items like hair clips, corsages, scarfs, hats and mittens. Remember the bacon and eggs baby mittens from my last post?

Here's what she had to say:
I was an art major in college when I met my husband in 1992 in our painting class (he too is an artist). We have 2 children, ages 14 and 3. We reside in Hot Springs National Park Arkansas.

What are you most proud about and why?
Of all my pieces I have made, I really enjoy the sculptures, where I can put as much tiny details as I can!

What is your favorite piece?
It would be hard to choose between my heart mansion, and my Beatles inspired sculpture of "The Fool On The Hill"

Amigurumi Heart Mansion





Many of your flower pieces are based on real flowers with their accurate names - am I right in assuming you have a passion for plants/flowers?
:) It is not me that has the passion for flowers, that would be my late Grandmother, who had about a hundred green thumbs LOL!"

And yet look how true to their names these flowers are!

Dianthus Necklace




Pink Fuchsia Necklace




What inspires you?
I love Art Nouveau, the shapes, the curved lines, the botanical nature about it, Mucha is my favorite artist of that era.

Why have you chosen to use recycled yarn?
When I first started to recycle yarn (about 12 years ago) it was because I craved nicer quality yarn but did not have access to it in my hometown.

What do you hope to accomplish in the new year?
I really need to get more organized LOL!

I love how each piece has a pattern developed for it's unique design needs.



Lavender necklace





She really had an eye for design and color:

Cherry Blossom Necklace


Yet another style of crochet is used for these next pieces:

Cherry Necklace


 Lemon Necklace


South West Necklace


More of her incredible yarn sculptures including my favorite: an underwater scenery complete with a tropical fish dangling from a coral via fishing wire!

 






The Beatles themed sculptures!



Strawberry Fields Forever

 
For the Benefit of Mr Kite

 
Octopus's Garden
Notice the octopus' little watering can:)


Visit her shop meekssandygirl for more one-of-a-kind eco-friendly yarn art!

Thanks for reading!
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Monday, January 18, 2010

Jewelera

Today I found some amazing jewelry and.....yessss! The seller has some eco-friendly selections so I can share it here!



 This is the first time I've seen wallpaper being used in jewelry - wow!

From the listing: "An artful combination of different materials are featured in this design; the flying bird is cut out from an old wallpaper and mounted on vinyl, the antique copper vintage style pendant piece is from my original city 'Istanbul' and I've placed a clear crystal cabochon at the center, also a sparkling vintage rhinestone piece (once an earring) is dangling from it. All of those are connected to faux leather belt used as the neck piece. Oh, not to forget the draping white enamel chains, which I think completes the overall design perfectly!

I didn't put any closure as the neck piece easily goes through the head."

Her store is full of interesting pieces with innovative materials and techniques. It's rare to find so many unique ideas from one seller - I'm in love!

This is my favorite:

A combination of vintage findings (omg check out that amazing seahorse!) and faux Turkish ceramic tile.



I found Jewelera by browsing the nominations for the Handmade Olympics over at the rikrak studio blog.





You can nominate yourself and your favorite sellers in 8 different olympic events celebrating handmade, eco-friendly and vintage. There are a TON of prizes so read the rules and nominate and if you need inspiration you can find lots of great eco-friendly handmade jewelry on this here blog of mine:)
You have until January 31st

Here are some of my nominations....

Event #3 Favorite handmade eco-friendly item

One of mine of course:)
Creole Earrings made from recycled vintage parts



From hypothesis on Etsy
Mermaid cuff made from recycled leather belt (also currently in my favorites!)


Event #1 Favorite goody with an innovative design

from Etsy seller FoxAndClover
Etched glass necklace handpainted on reclaimed glass


Event #3 Favorite handmade goodie for kids

From Meekssandygirl
Bacon and Eggs baby mittens!


I will hopefuly be featuring Meeksasandygirl very soon and her amazing eco-friendly yarn jewelry!

In the meantime remember my giveaway is still going on until the 23rd of January. Just follow my blog for a chance to win these babies in time for Valentine's Day!



Thanks for reading!
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