vintagejewelrysource.com

I am the proud owner of said domain name. My friend and computer Guru is helping me launch the new site. I am pretty fascinated and just all around passionate about vintage jewelry. OK let me re-phrase that. I love jewelry. I am pretty partial to rhinestones. I love the sparkle and the glam of a well made piece of costume jewelry. I had in my possession a wonderful one of a kind opera bib by the Schreiner Company of New York look in my archives for January 22,2007 for more details about it. I buy and sell a lot of costume jewelry. I keep a few pieces for myself. I sold the opera bib because honestly where will I wear it? OK I DID actually wear it to an event and it was too much fun. Talk about feeling like a million dollars. A few weeks ago a customer brought me a beautiful pearl necklace by Schiaparelli. The clasp was this huge topaz and mocha rhinestone focal point with two strands of gold pearls about the size of chick peas. She needed a pair of earrings to go with the necklace for her daughter's wedding. I was able to find two pearls in my vintage repair drawer to make her a pair of earrings. (A picture is worth a thousand words and my camera had nothing to say on this one)

What's the website about? There are a lot of sites out there dedicated to vintage jewelry. I wanted mine to be a bit more than that. I am getting things together when I can offer vintage buttons, belt buckles and trims. Those of you who collect and wear vintage clothing can check the site out for the perfect vintage buttons to finish the outfit. Or perhaps you have a wonderful vintage dress that is missing the belt- I most likely have a buckle that would match and all you need to do is make the actual belt....see what I mean? Maybe you like to re-fashion vintage jewelry and incorporate it into your own design. I have a lot of items there too- rhinestone clasps, beads, etc...I am also figuring out a missing in action page- I have a single signed earring and you have the rest of the pieces to finish the set- I love reuniting beautiful jewelry pieces with their mates.

Pet Peeve: When I attend an auction and the jewelry is just thrown into boxes with no thought to pieces that match. I was at one auction where there were 8 foot tables filled with pop flats of jewelry. As I was looking things over I noticed that this earring was in that box and the mate was in another box and then even farther down was the bracelet. I am just obsessive enough to have something like that bother me. I gave the auctioneer a piece of my mind about it. Actually it wasn't his fault- the family members who were selling the pieces didn't take the time to really look at it. Needless to say the auctioneer was very kind and he told me it would be several hours before they got to the jewelry and to feel free to match things up all I wanted to. I love small town auctions where everyone knows each other. Now when I show up at auctions they just laugh and point me in the direction of the jewelry.

So what do you think? Vintage Jewelry Source- I can't wait to get it going!

Here we are in Poland. After discussing different traditions our families brough to America from the old country- I used my example of the food my family eats at Christmas Dinner. I am from Italy so in addition to the traditional American turkey we also have ravioli, braciole and other wonderful goodies. In Poland we made wycinanki(vih-chee-NON-key) symetrical paper cuts used to decorate at Easter time. They were left up in the house for an entire year and replaced at the next Easter.

Passports ready and here we are!

We grabbed the passports and went to Ancient Egypt. Here's the group showing off their artifacts! Come join us for Art Around the World. You never know where we'll end up next! I was alot of fun having my nices and nephew stop by and have fun with us!

...and in the Afternoon...

The Ladies of Harley- as in Harley Davidson. These ladies had a great time making this suncatcher that I designed just for them. It features the Harley wings and the front wheel, handlebars and headlight of a Harley.

Ancient Egypt in the Morning

It was a busy Saturday in the studio. In Art Around the World we visited Ancient Egypt. I have been collecting Egyptian artifacts and novelties for years and the kids enjoyed trying on my treasures. The kids made their own "beaded headbands" and I gave each one a cartouche of their name in hieroglyphics.