Life Gets Busy

I have been busy with the holidays!  Trying to get all the shopping done in between my son's wrestling tournaments.  I am proud to say he placed 1st last weekend AND won most outstanding wrestler!  YEAH!

The other day I took the time to finish a necklace that I will soon place in my Etsy shop.  My poor Etsy shop has been neglected with every day life.  My new years resolution is to sit down a few days a week and make a piece.  I also have another Etsy shop for vintage goods.  I need to get my ass in gear and get them both filled up!!

This necklace is amazing!  It is black and white glass beads and I added a small skeleton key for that little touch of mystery.   The beads don't always lay perfectly flat, which gives it such an amazing look.  You can wear it with a classy dress or it can even be worn with your everyday jeans and sweater to add a rich look!  LUV IT!!  I showed a lot of people this, as I always do with my pieces and they fell in love with how unique it is.  I think it will sell fast!

I have recently went to NJ and visited local boutiques.  I love local shops, vintage shops and thrift stores!  Look at what I found.  I really love to look through them and find treasures and unique things from the past.  A few of my favorites back home on the PA side are Salvage Goods, Phyllis's Boutique, Underwire and Mercantile.  Support your local shops!

This is a Sarah Coventry necklace.  Love the pirate ship.  It is so different.  Can you find this in your brick and mortar store?  Nope.

This vintage pendant grabbed my eye!  LUV IT!!  I don't know to much about it, if you do let me know.  It is amazing!!

Ciao!

Wear Your Hardware

Once in a while my husband goes through the mundane task of cleaning out the garage. Trying to make room for his bikes and bar stool racers. As he was building his trash pile, I saw old slatted doors in the pile. The hardware caught my eye.



I have a big love for skeleton keys, key plates, old keys of all shapes and sizes. Maybe it's the allure of stories of past lives the key holds.



I knew I could come up with some sort of design. It did not take me long. I just grabbed a few beads and wire and whipped something up.



I am wearing this piece today and as I was out and about I got a lot of compliments on it. I have been meaning to make another one to put in my Etsy shop.



What ever it is you design, YOU are your biggest advertiser. Wear your stuff. People will gravitate to you and ask you about your pieces. Have business cards on hand to pass out!

I did not do anything to the finish of the key hole. On my next one I may....not sure yet.

Ciao!

Skeleton Keys & Things I love

I started working on a skeleton key necklace. I used black and gray beads I had laying around and made a necklace. I love it. I never get rid of beads. Even if I think I never will use them, because you never know when creativity will strike and you could come up with a fan-dam-taskic design with beads you never thought you would use again. OH, and the blob of fur around me? A black and gray 60's style vest I bought on sale for a steal....$10...marked down from $58...SCORE!

I am not sure what it is about skeleton keys that I love so much, but I do. I love the vintage look of them, the idea of that back in the day they opened many doors in old style houses or farm houses....that I would love to own one day. Who owned them? What story lies behind those old doors? I am going to create a line of key necklaces and add them to my Etsy shop.. I should have some up in a few weeks.

Nicole Atkins..............



LOVE her! Not only is she from Jersey, like me....grew up in a Sicilian family like me! Her music ROCKS!! The first song I heard from her was a song called Neptune City, homage to her hometown in NJ. The video is awesome. She is on the boardwalk in a pink vintage dress and the back ground is gray scale...very nostalgia.

I just bought her latest cd, Mondo Amore. Her sound is different; she has a bluesy, soulful....just fabulous sound. If you like artists like Neko Case you will love Nicole Atkins.


As for this picture.......



I saw this on the internet as someone's background. When I first looked at it, I liked it....the colors the dress...then when I really looked at it I was like WOW, she is shooting herself. Kind of morbid........The more I looked at it the more I liked it. I guess it is called "butterfly suicide" It is different....I like different.

On other notes, I decided to go back to school. I want to take a few art classes, psychology, graphic design and English/writing classes. I am not going for a particular degree...I just want to take these classes. I want to continue my education and keep my mind active. I consider myself an ongoing student of life, but it is fun and beneficial to be in a classroom. The hard part is deciding what I want to take first.

I think ongoing education is very important, I think what is also very important is having a skill; such as welding, mechanics, contracting etc.. You never know when you need to be self-sufficient. It never hurts to be able to fall back on an old fashion skill. I don't believe you should rely the corporate 9-5 gig. Drive, ambition and the key to wanting to learn is the best desire you can have.

Have a fabulous week!!

Ciao~

I am taking over the webs design for our bead society. I am real syked about that. I can't wait to get back into that. I will be designing our new page!I am also scouring the world for vintage items to fill my other Etsy shop I will be opening soon. I am also trying to work on a facial scrub and candle line.....and learning Italian on my own. Yes, my plate is full and I love it!!

A Key To All Things

This is a recycle piece with vintage flair. We were getting rid of an old door and I saved the brass decorative plates. I just new I could make something out of it.

I love skeleton keys. I love the old look. I wonder how many doors they have opened and imagine how cool it must have been to live in the olden days. I like to think of keys as symbolic. Such as a positive energy, when your looking to pass from an old situation and into a new one. I like to look ahead and "unlock the secrets" of new things.

Collecting skeleton keys is one of my many obsessions. They are hard to find, but when I do, it is such a satisfaction.

Ciao!