New.....

Between the holidays, winter festivities, colds, sprained backs & an all-around busy life, there hasn't been a lot of time for jewelry. But with the promise of Spring and all things sweet & new, I've found inspiration in the simple things.

Spending a Sunday making jewelry with a friend I worked on simple sterling & gemstone bracelets, letting the stones speak for the pieces.

Spring Kisses

The Poetry of Purple
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As Spring get's closer, the brutal fact is that we still have a bit of winter to go here in Maine, and often the dreaded "cabin fever" syndrome kicks in. For us, aromatherapy is a great way to lift the spirits & that's why we're having a contest at Sweet Mojo's Facebook. Head on over, and give us a quick line or two on the "How do you kick the winter blues?" post. We're giving away a bottle of our "Sunbeam" or "Under The Sun Perfume". Both scents are made with citruses blended with other unique oils for a cheerful & sunny aromatic experience.

weathered driftwood & shells

The first two pieces were designed especially for the Spring 2010 issue of A Jewelry Affaire magazine. I had taken a trip to Alaska last year with my hubby for our 10 year anniversary. Yes Maine and Alaska are different, but there are similarities in their rustic beauty. I brought home with me a few pieces of driftwood and lava stone.... once I got back home, I dug through my shells, all found right here in Maine while beachcombing.

"Drifting" bracelet

"Morning Tide" necklace
I wanted to eventually have a small collection of seashore treasures to share and sell. I strove to keep each piece simple, rustic and natural. This vintage jewel has been attatched to a beautiful worn bit of shell.

"Set Sail" shell brooch

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I've been doing some cleaning and started a SALE section at Junque Revival's Etsy shop.
PHEW... it feels pretty darn good!

xoxox

birds & shells

New at the shop....

Seashore

Little Bird

I've posted some great photos of the Art & Vintage Market over at Sweet Mojo's blog if you'd like to see some lovely art & displays!
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xox Jes

only two weeks away!

We are getting close to the sale at my house, and I am just a wee bit excited!

We have artists bringing pottery, jewelry, art, tie-dyes, photography and so much more.

My Mom is coming with vintage buttons and costume jewelry and there will be lots of tag sale tables set up. I will also have some vintage wares at very reasonable prices.

Of course SWEET MOJO will be set up in the sunroom, so it's a perfect time to smell all of our scents!

I wish some of my bloggy friends lived closer, I know we'd have a ball!

look how pretty!

Seriously... can you stand how cute this is??!!

Maine gal Paige who sells her jewelry at her Etsy shop sent this in for the contest. Her use of thrift store chains and vintage flower brooch paired with the pretty blue butterfly make me think of blue skies and summer.

love. love. love.

Paige writes:

"This piece is "Butterfly Wishes". I started by looking through some of my images I'd purchased previously from Vintage Image Madness, and then through Piddix's shop. The blue butterfly and Parisian ladies looking over the bridge seemed to go perfectly together, and my necklace began. I wanted to have a flower component as Jes does, and set out to search my box of vintage plastic, lucite, and metal flowers. The flowers seemed to stack themselves together as I looked through. I loved the way they looked matched with the images! I then set out to look for chain. I found some pieces of chain from various thrift store and clearance bin finds, and thought that I would go with the multi-chain, mixed metals look. "Butterfly Wishes" seemed to be a puzzle, waiting for me to put the pieces together."

THANKS Paige for being part of the contest :)

HAPPY EASTER!

Hope everyone will do something extra special today!

Big Daddy and I are staying home & catching up on outdoor chores as it's going to be a GORGEOUS day today.

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AND NOW I'd like to share our first contest participant!

Lisa from Willow and Me

I have to tell you I feel so honored that the fabulously talented Lisa took the time to participate! I took a PMC class from her this past winter, and learned oodles of new things. Check out her Etsy shop when you get a moment. And if there are any family members out there wondering what to buy me for presents, well, by all means, buy me this GORGEOUS BRACELT from Lisa.... (hint-hint... does my husband still look at this blog I wonder?)

Here's what she wrote:

"I knew almost immediately what I wanted to do for your contest when I read the post. I had three small PMC links I had made that I really wasn't sure what to do with. I also had some slightly smaller Swarovski crystal flatbacks. They had foil backs, which I gently sanded off, and added pictures of flowers, butterflies and dragonflies. I didn't paint the backs afterwards because I liked the translucent look. I did the pendant over a couple of times and finally settled on what you see. I like the way the crystal magnifies the butterfly. Everything is put together with matching Swarovski crystals on sterling silver wire and a sterling silver chain."

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have a happy day gang!

she's having a contest!

This contest is being held for YOU special folks who are attempting my project in the Spring 2010 Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine. The article is called, "A Little Goes A Long Way" and it starts on page 6. Here's the skinny....

1. Pick up the Spring 2010 issue, and use the article as your muse. The only requirement is that you incorporate a decoupaged crystal into your design.
2. You can create any type of jewelry... necklace, earrings, bracelet, brooch, etc. Once you have finished your piece, take photos and write a short paragraph about your jewel. You can write a little about your technique, inspiration, or anything you feel like.
3. send 2-3 different photos of your creation, along with your paragraph, your blog or website info., you first, last name & state to berryandco87@hotmail.com If you don't have a blog or website.... that's OK too!
4. All entries must be sent to the above email by Friday, April 30th
5. This contest will be a drawing. All names will go into a hat and three names will be pulled out one by one.
6. By entering this contest you are giving me permission to show your jewelry photos and to publish your paragraph, name & state here on Junque Revival. You are also giving me permission to touch-up your photos as I see fit. I can't guarantee that I will be able to show off all of your entries, but I WILL MAKE BY BEST EFFORTS to get everyone on here!
7. I will draw the names on Monday, May 3rd and I'll post the winners here on this blog, and email the winners as well.

Would you like a chance to have your name entered into the drawing a second time? Just post about this contest on your blog or website, let me know you've done so and your name goes into the hat a second time!

NOW FOR THE PRIZES!

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The first name that will be drawn will win:
5 FREE COLLAGE SHEETS OF YOUR CHOICE FROM PIDDIX

http://www.piddix.etsy.com/ & http://www.instantcollagesheets.com/
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The second name that will be drawn will win:

A FABULOUS COLLECTION OF BATH & BODY PRODUCTS FROM MY NEW COMPANY, "SWEET MOJO APOTHECARY"
You'll get:

(1) 8 oz. jar of Divine Sugar Scrub
(1) 8 oz. jar of Soothing Salt Soak
(1) 1 oz. jar of Hot Oil Hair Therapy

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The third name that will be drawn will win:

A SIGNED COPY OF BELLE ARMOIRE JEWELRY MAGAZINE AND THIS NECKLACE FEATURED IN THE ARTICLE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I look forward to hearing from you and seeing your lovely designs!

xoxox ~Jes

New in the shop.....

I've finally been able to get some time in the studio to work on jewelry and other bits of art. I was inspired to create this simple and elegant piece after reading the poem, "The Lady of Shallot" by Tennyson. I wanted to keep the simplicity of the sterling cross and chain that I recovered from an antique rosary, yet added a bit of drama with a handmade ruby glass choker.

THE LADY OF SHALLOT

The pieces from the winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry showed up on my door step last week! Though a couple were allready spoken for, there are a few left to be sold!

I hand cut the cuff and dragonfly from the copper scraps, then smoothed, sanded and hammered away at the copper. I added "DREAM" onto one of the wings and then finished the pieces with a gentle patina finish.I twisted up the beaded body with black glass beads and copper wire, then attatched the dragonfly to the cuff.

DREAMING DRAGONFLY

The best part of these pieces is that the wings can be gently bent up and down to give more or less the impression of flight.

Today ended up being a Sunday all to myself.... so guess where I'm headed?

BACK TO THE STUDIO!

*in Austin Powers voice* YEAH BABY!

for the holidays....

Just gearing up for a little holiday majic!

These two pieces were featured in last winter's Belle Armoire Jewlery magazine in my article, "Christmas Pendants".

December 25th

Christmas at The Cottage
Speaking of Belle Armoire, I just got my early copy of this winter's newest addition .... all I can say is WOW! Tons of talented artists and beautiful projects .... I can't wait to dig in!

Flowers Fit For a Fairy

"Wild Rose" now in the shop!

I created these flowers for my article "Flowers Fit For a Fairy" for Belle Armoire Jewelry's 2009 Fall issue. Each flower was created from polymer clay and handpainted with many layers of paints and glazes to give them a vintage-shabby feel.

Summer Challenge

The Etsy Maine Team is having a summer challenge!

For me, summer in Maine has lots of different meanings, but one of my faves is the time I spend right here at home in the country. Surrounded by gardens, fields, woods, butterflies and birds, I am constantly finding inspiration! I created BFF using a vintage Grange name tag holder. I used an image from my antique photo collection to make the little fairy-girl, who became best friends with the little bird, both born the same day in a secret Maine garden in the woods.

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER

If you'd like to see all of the entries from some fabulous Maine artists, just go to Etsy and search (under handmade) MAINESUMMER

Summer Treasures

I got my pieces back that I had published in the summer issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine. One had sold when the article came out, but I had a couple to list in Junque Revival.

The article was called, "Summer Treasures" where I had framed out old shards and seaglass with polymer clay. I made tiny flowers, leaves and tendrils for some. I collaged these two with vintage ephemera and images.

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MY LOVE MUST COME ON SILKEN WINGS

The chain on this piece was made from fine sterling wire, a Victorian pin, Mother of Pearl, Peace Jade and (my favorite) Garnet.

ALL THIS FRENCH TO ME TODAY

I hung this one a chunky copper chain

I like to paint polymer clay with many layers of paints and glazes to give it a warm old feel. When you use your own unique blend of paints, your pieces will be sure to stand out from the crowd and they will be your own.

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We have had endless rain here in Maine, except for two fairly nice days on Friday and Saturday. Friday, a warm breezy day, I went to Wiscasset with my Dad and Stepmom at Sarah's Cafe. I had this SUPER-YUMM lobster roll on whole-wheat and tomato bread. I knew I had to feed Big Daddy that night, so I got one of their cobb salads to-go. (we love the dressing at Sarah's!) Then we stopped by Treats (and as always it is a special treat to go there!) I grabbed a big hunk of veggie lasagna to go with the cobb salad from Sarah's. I never leave Treats without picking up one of their little fruit pies. Dinner was hit that night!

vintage to wear and to decorate

Urban Boho

I just put this new piece up for sale at Junque Revival

I wanted to keep it a bit more modern then my usual look. I combined a vintage drawer-pull plate with an antique victorian button, but kept it light on a simple copper chain.

I have a second shop at Etsy where I have been selling vintage items and destash. I've found some boxes of old treasures in the second story of the barn from the antiquing days. There are finds that I forgot I even had. I've kept a few found-objects for making jewelry, but most I'm cleaning out in hopes they'll find a new home with a new appreciation!

This Goddess wall plaque is ultra shabby-chic

I adore this English bone cup and saucer....

Whenever I look at it I think how fun it would be to have a garden tea-party!

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Last fall I found a stray kitty at my bird feeders. It's occured to me that I haven't kept you all posted on our little Bella. Well she's not so little anymore. It didn't take long for the dirty bag-of-bones to clean up! Here she is 9 months later.....

As you can see, she knows a good home when she sees one!

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So after writing this post, I'm finding it will definetly take a little getting used to here at Blogger. The one issue I just had, was that the photos went straight to the top when I uploaded them, making it a total freakin' pain! I usually write, add a photo, write some more, add another photo. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but if anyone has some advice, I'd love to hear it! After all these years of blogging with the same service, it might be hard to change my ways!