Bumbershoot Supplies' Vintage Heart Button Cards Featured on The Daily

Bumbershoot Supplies' beautiful vintage heart button cards were recently featured on The Daily, a news service for the iPad, Android and Facebook. It was very exciting, we send a big thank you to The Daily!  As a result of that promotion, we are running low on our heart button cards, but no worries, we will be restocking these. If you want a button card, check the Bumbershoot Supplies website here, or email me at sjdurfy@bumbershootsupplies.com and I’ll let you know when our next shipment arrives.

These gorgeous buttons are about 1 inch in size and were made in the US Zone of Occupied Germany. For that history, see my blog post here.

Featured Artist. Nancy O'Connell of Black Rabbit on Etsy

I didn’t have to go far to find our featured artist for March. Nancy  O’Connell of Black Rabbit on Etsy is a neighbor of ours, located here in Seattle.

The main component of Nancy’s designs is vintage tin, which she has been working with for more than 15 years.

Nancy creatively refashions vintage tin containers into unique and unusual jewelry items.  Nancy says, “I am attracted to texture, color and pattern - especially in unexpected combinations…

… I am fascinated by wood and metal and the effect of time on their surfaces. I have a passion for fabric and tin containers which I collect with abandon.”

Nancy’s gifted eye for pattern and patina is apparent in each design. 

One of her customers says it best, “stunning – I love the way you capture the beauty in the patina and patterns – and then put it all together in a unique and beautiful way”.

This necklace caught my eye because it is reversible, two different pieces of tin riveted together – two pendants in one! This is one side….

And this is the other.

And I love the story that this necklace tells. Nancy calls it “little village”.

I hope you will enjoy a visit to Black Rabbit to view Nancy’s gorgeous limited edition and one-of-a-kind designs. Be sure to check out the sold section, too – there are many beautiful pieces to see there as well.

Book Review: The New Kimono. From Vintage Style to Everyday Chic

I’m including this book, The New Kimono. From Vintage Style to Everyday Chic, in the list of design inspiration resources on the Bumbershoot Supplies webpage “On Our Bookshelf”, even though it does not specifically refer to jewelry or vintage costume jewelry materials because I LOVE this book!

This book is about wearing vintage kimonos with a modern sensibility and it is one of the most inspiring, creative and fun books I’ve enjoyed in a long time. It is a collection of magazine articles from Nanao Magazine, one of Japan's leading contemporary kimono publications. Translated into English and beautifully photographed, I find myself drooling over the gorgeous vintage kimono fabrics and inspired by how vintage patterns, fabrics and accessories are combined for a fresh contemporary look. Many jewelry designers who work with vintage materials share this goal of creating fresh pieces using vintage materials, and for this reason alone may find this book of interest.  Book details can be found on Amazon.com, here. For other books that may be of interest, see On Our Bookshelf on the Bumbershoot Supplies website.

Skeleton Key Pendant Tutorial Available at Beading Arts

A while ago, Bumbershoot Supplies hosted a vintage bead giveaway with Cyndi Lavin over at Beading Arts.  In addition to the giveaway, Cyndi used some of the vintage glass pearl leaves, shown above as part of the original giveaway, to create unique skeleton key pendants.  She has generously posted a tutorial describing how she made her pendants, see the pendants and tutorial here.

Bumbershoot Designs on the Etsy Blog. Handmade Weddings: A Rustic Beach Affair

I'm so excited to have 2 of my designs from Bumbershoot Designs shown on the Etsy blog today! Handmade Weddings: A Rustic Beach Affair shares the story and photos from Lorena and Dustyn's wedding in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Lorena wore the Wagner earrings and necklace set.  I am so excited to actually see Lorena wearing these pieces, she and Dustyn both look so beautiful!

I'm sure you will enjoy a visit to the Etsy blog post to see their beautiful wedding photos and to enjoy all the inspiring and special handmade touches included in their wedding!

Estate Sale Vintage Glass Cabochons From Bumbershoot Supplies

I have previously blogged about our recent estate sale purchase of vintage Venetian glass flowers, you can read that post here.  I am still working to photograph and list these flowers on Bumbershoot Supplies.

However, I wanted to let you know that we were also able to purchase many rare and unusual vintage glass cabochons and a few lovely vintage rhinestones from this same estate, and some of these are now listed at Bumbershoot Supplies.  Check ‘em out! Many of these lovely vintage glass cabochons and rhinestones are available in limited quantities.

We use natural light for photographing all our supplies and designs because we have found it best reflects the colors and character of the vintage materials we offer. And natural light is somewhat limited at this time of year in Seattle. For this reason and because and we did purchase quite a large lot of vintage glass from  this estate, we expect to be listing new items for several weeks. You can always visit the “new arrivals” section at Bumbershoot Supplies to see what is most recently available.  Or send me an email – maybe we have what you are looking for.

On Our Bookshelf: New Vintage History Resource On Bumbershoot Supplies Website

We are often asked about this history of the supplies at Bumbershoot Supplies and as time permits, I’ve been sharing tidbits about specific vintage supplies in the History and Provenance section of this blog.  For a long time, I have also wanted to share various text resources we find useful and inspiring so I am very happy to announce that Jim has created a new web page on the Bumbershoot Supplies website called “On OurBookshelf”. 

On this web page you will find links to books about the history of beads, books about vintage costume jewelry and books of vintage beading inspiration.  All of these books are in my personal library.  As time permits, I will continue to increase the number of books on the shelf, and I also hope to expand the basic information to share how I use these books and why I like them.

For now, we are providing a link to each book on Amazon.  We are not affiliated with Amazon and do not benefit from this link, we provide it as a convenience for you, so you can easily locate the publication date, ISBN, reviews, and other pertinent information you may find useful.

This is just a start. Our bookshelf is continually growing and evolving. I hope you will find this to be a helpful resource.  Feel free to share any of your own recommendations, too!

Featured Artist. Nathalie Lozier of Eco Retro Bling on Etsy

It is about this point in time in the Seattle winter that I find myself craving color.

So I was delighted to discover Nathalie Lozier’s Etsy shop, Eco Retro Bling.

Nathalie is located in my home town of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which I know from experience is just as grey as Seattle during this time of year, probably even more so.

But a visit to Nathalie’s shop will quickly dispel any winter blahs you may feel.

Nathalie’s designs are filled with juicy, rich, vintage color.

Nathalie says “Since a very young age my primary interests have been the natural sciences and art. They are intimately connected in everything I do.”

You can see the connection in Nathalie’s jewelry designs, for example, this piece using natural branch coral.

Many of Nathalie’s designs feature natural motifs, such as this floral pendant…

And this floral bracelet featuring a bird charm. 

 I certainly felt my touch of winter dullness lifting after my visit to Eco RetroBling. I hope you too will find your day a bit brighter after a visit to Nathalie’s shop. Enjoy!

Vintage Miriam Haskell Vintage Pearl Bracelet: A Wish Comes True

I do not have a large collection of vintage costume jewelry, although I do love it and I also love purchasing pieces for our daughter Emma. Rather I am a collector of the supplies that create costume jewelry and books about costume jewelry, which I use to date our vintage supplies and better understand the original use to which they were put. But I have always wanted to own a vintage Miriam Haskell piece, and that wish has come true!

I was able to purchase this Miriam Haskell bracelet at an estate sale recently.  Some of the pearls are worn, the brass is quite aged, and some of the wire work for which the Haskell company is famous has seen better days. But it's still got plenty of flair for me and I couldn’t be happier!

A lot is said about “Miriam Haskell pearls”.  The phrase “Miriam Haskell pearls” has now come to be used as a general term to describe vintage glass pearls that have an irregular, dimpled and indented surface and often a baroque or irregular shape.  There were many more pearls made in Japan in this style than were ever used by the Haskell company however, and it is probably more accurate to refer to most of the pearls you will see as “Haskell-style pearls”.

Here is what Cathy Gordon and Sheila Pamfiloff say about the glass pearls used by the Miriam Haskell company, in their book Miriam Haskell Jewelry (an essential resource if you are interested in Haskell):

“From the 1920s until the late 1950s, glass beads were purchased and sent to Clio Novelty Company in Brooklyn or to Pongratchi on Long Island where they were “pearlized”; dipped and coated in an emulsion of fish scales…Both smooth and baroque pearls were made in a variety of shapes…The pearls people most consistently associate with Haskell’s Signature look came from the Niki Company of Tokyo, Japan. ..Hess visited the firm and was so impressed with the quality of the glass bead pearls he licensed Niki to be the exclusive supplier of baroque and smooth pearls to Haskell. For Haskell collectors, this is a benchmark date; any piece of jewelry using Niki pearls cannot be older than 1958.” (page 32-33)  Haskell's exclusive relationship withthe Niki Company lasted for about 20 years, until the Niki Company went out of business.

Are the pearls in this bracelet Niki pearls and can we use them to date this bracelet?  I don’t know. Gordon and Pamfiloff share that filigrees such as the one in this bracelet began to be used after WWII, so date to 1945 and later. The Haskell company added permanent signatures to their pieces after WWII, and the oval plaque you see in this bracelet was first introduced in 1951-1952. So it is possible these are Niki pearls, although it could also be that these glass pearls were some that were made prior to 1958. 

Whatever the answer, I am thrilled to have been able to purchase this wonderful piece and to be able to share it here. Here's to vintage!

Venetian Flowers on Wire: History and Provenance of Flowers at Bumbershoot Supplies

We are very excited to have recently purchased many vintage glass flowers and leaves on wire for your designs and inspiration!  We will be loading these up at Bumbershoot Supplies over the coming weeks.

The first flowers now available at Bumbershoot Supplies, shown in this blog post, are Venetian in origin.  We were fortunate to purchase a large lot of vintage glass from a local estate, including these flowers.  Because the flowers were part of an estate collection, we were able to learn their history. These particular Venetian flowers were originally purchased in Venice in the 1920's.

These lovely flowers just happen to be in Pantone's color of the year for 2012, tangerine tango.  Vintage corals are a wonderful way to capture this color in your designs, see my blog post here.

We're excited to have these Venetian flowers to offer because vintage glass flowers on wire are becoming increasingly rare. Within that rarity, it is more common to see vintage Japanese glass flowers on wire, so these Venetian ones are quite special. We will have at least 12 different colors available, perhaps more once we finish all the sorting :)

We have many more vintage glass flowers and leaves on wire to offer, including Venetian, Japanese and some Czech. I hope you enjoy seeing our flower collection unfold over the coming weeks!