A Token of Love

Phew! I am whipped...this past weekend was a lovely but very busy show at the Swanky Plank Marketplace at Rippavilla Plantation. It was the first year they did the show and overall I think it was a success. I sold my giraffe ~ he was a popular guy ~ could have sold him ten times.

While I was there, I had the chance to meet some other great vendors including Kim Hanauer who creates the most amazing, beautiful and unique jewelry from vintage finds.  She has pickers all over the world search high and low for unusual rare vintage finds...Kim then turns on her creative mind and transforms them into gorgeous, one-of-a-kind statement pieces.  She has a impressive collection of lockets, medals, coins and charms that are over 100 years old. Each with it's own history, each one rare.

One of the necklaces she had was a Victorian love token with the initials ESA (I think).  The love token is a coin that has been smoothed one side or both and then hand engraved.  These coins were made as keepsakes from the giver to the recipient and most commonly included the giver's initial on one side of the coin.  For more on the history of love tokens click here.

I was in love ~ what an interesting piece.  Kim then crafted stones and sterling down the chain to make it a piece any girl would be proud to wear.  I immediately fell in love. She told me as a precaution, I should buy it before someone else picked it out, but I didn't. It was the beginning of the show and well, I hadn't made any money yet. I thought better to wait.

Well, the lady standing next to me ended up purchasing MY NECKLACE! sniff sniff.  I could have kicked myself for not buying it.

The next day at the show, Kim brought me one of her special tokens she had been holding on to for "just the right person" and she thought of me! :)  It was another Victorian love token, silver like the first, a bit smaller, with the initials A.R.T. ~ hello??!!! Oh my!! I was thinking ~ wow ~ this one is SO much better because it spells out art and I am an artist! How flipping cool???

Needless to say I wore it and let my husband know it was an early birthday gift..hee hee!  So if you are ever in the market for an unusual piece of jewelry, Kim is your gal.  Check out her Facebook Page and visit her at the shows she attends, you too will fall in love!

Jewelry Update

I have been trying to create some fun new pieces of jewelry for my etsy store. I temporarily closed the store so I could "create" and then unload a whole bunch of fun stuff!! Well, I got busy creating and made some really funky pieces (lots of necklaces) and decided to post them to my Facebook wall to generate some interest before I placed them in the store and re-opened the shop. I ended up selling all but three pieces!

I know, what a great problem to have, right?! So now I need to get busy making some things so I actually have an inventory on etsy and at the local Mom & Me Boutique which is carrying some of my pieces. Here are some pictures of the pieces I made. Both bracelets shown are still available.

Thanks for your support! I really do appreciate it!!

etc. designs selling at Spring Hill Formals

I just made a line of formal earrings and bracelets for a local store - Spring Hill Formals to go with their prom dresses and formal wear. So if you are a local - go check them out!

Family Photo

I decided to adopt a new tradition for the year - to take a family photo once a month. Not necessarily a fancy or formal photo - in fact, I would prefer it not be! I just want to document "us" through the year, watch the changes and reflect on times we were together. Already, my new great idea has been derailed because we saw very little of each other - together - in January!! Gasp! I have pictures of 3 of us together - but not all four...and 5 if you count Raffy. Life is already moving at breakneck speed and I do not like it, Sam I am! I did enjoy an great weekend away on my annual scrapbook journey to the Delaware coast - brrr! Made some great memories while documenting those of my children's school years. When I came back, Vince left to be with his dad in Texas; then home for a night only to leave again to Atlanta for a national meeting. So when Vince gets home on Friday I plan to take a picture of all us - no matter how sloppy or sleepy - I am going to make it my mission! In the future, be on the look out for more monthly photos and a few words to let you know what is developing in our lives.

In other news...I am still designing jewelry for my company etc designs and came out with a line of Valentine bracelets that sell for just $15! I think they are quite cute! Business was great at the holidays and I am hoping things go as well this spring. I may even consider a craft show or two. Not sure!

This week I am planning on playing catch up in my office: hook up my new printer (actually try to get the new hooked up printer working); make some jewelry for a local bridal shop; purge my old magazines to the recycle without looking through them for hours; write some snail mail (I'd really love to create some handmade Valentine's!!) and journal all those pages I created in DE!