New at Bumbershoot Designs. New Nature Themed Designs With Vintage Rhinestones, Lockets, Vintage Beads

Here's a look at some of the designs that have made their way into Bumbershoot Designs over the last week.

This vintage rhinestone necklace features 1950's West German cuba glass rhinestones, 2 tone with rose and topaz glass, just a lovely combination. Like roses and honey.

I found these wonderful vintage brass earring posts, a perfect complement to the flowers and leaves in the necklace.

We have had so much rain in Seattle this spring, I was inspired to make this raindrop necklace with vintage bombe style rhinestones from 1960's West Germany. These have high smooth domes and look just like the big drops of rain I have been watching outside my studio window every day for weeks.

Matching earrings for this necklace too, making a demi parure. Both the rhinestones and settings are available at Bumbershoot Supplies.

For this necklace I antiqued a petite brass locket from Bumbershoot Supplies, and adorned it with a vintage glass decal flower cabochon, also from Bumbershoot Supplies. The flower charm features a 1930's vintage glass pearl stamen within a shabby enameled metal flower.

And finally in celebration of the Spring that has finally arrived in Seattle, I have put together this ivory- sage-peridot-milky jade, shades of spring green vintage charm bracelet. Some of my favorite colors and floral themes, all in one place, with 2 different earring designs available to match.

Until next time, wishing you a happy and creative weekend!

Featured Artist. Karin Vergoossen of One of a Kind Jewelry Design on Etsy

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it is Spring, and that means the flowers are returning. In the spirit of Spring, it is with pleasure I share with you Karin Vergoossen's art and designs, found at her Etsy shop, One of a Kind Jewelry Design. 

Karin creates beautiful jewelry designs, many of them in the collage style with vintage components. She’s inspired by many things, including nature, local markets, vintage pieces and shops, and many of her designs feature flowers.

Karin began crafting her own jewelry years ago and eventually opened her own Etsy shop because “I started making pieces on request and discovered the great feeling of making someone happy with something I created. And I can tell you, if you once have felt that, you wanna feel it over and over again!” 

I love Karin’s collage jewelry pieces because it is always inspiring to me to see how individual cabochons, rhinestones, metal and other baubles come together and are elevated into a greater whole.

I often visit Karin's shop, just to see what new vintage treasures Karin has obtained and how she is working with them in her designs. 

I hope you will enjoy a visit to Karin’s shop, One of a Kind Jewelry Design. If you are still waiting for Spring to finally arrive, or if you just need a vintage flower fix, you will find it there! Perhaps you will even be tempted to take home a bouquet...

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week, Giving Thanks for Trees and More

Sun through maple leaves at the Japanese Garden, Seattle



i thank You God for most this amazing

day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything

which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,

and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth

day of life and love and wings:and of the gay

great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing

breathing any--lifted from the no

of all nothing--human merely being

doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and

now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

~e e cummings

Featured Artist. Elizabeth Wise of 3elizabeths on Etsy

Want to brighten up your day?

Pay a visit to Elizabeth Wise's shop, 3elizabeths on Etsy.

Elizabeth sews market bags, wristlets and tiny bags out of the most colorful, eclectic and quirky fabrics imaginable.

She describes her fabric art pieces as “unique, one-of-a-kind confections”.

Elizabeth embellishes many of her bags with vintage crystal and rhinestone buttons from Bumbershoot Supplies - that is how I came to learn of her work.

I love the sense of fun and playfulness that Elizabeth communicates with these designs. The cheerfulness of these bags spills over into how they are presented. I don’t know what those eyes are but they make me smile. And take a second look.  So do the penguins.

I've focussed on her smaller bags in this blog post. In addition to these bags, at 3elizabeths you will also find handmade aprons, bows, collages and collaged blank journals. So for a pick-me-up and some wonderful design, color and pattern inspiration, consider a visit to 3elizabeths on Etsy. Say hi to Elizabeth while you are there!

Featured Artist. Liz Hammel's Hoop Dreams

Welcome to Liz Hammel’s Hoop Dreams.

I learned about Liz’s art when she sent me a link to her website. Liz has used the vintage mother of pearl sequins available at Bumbershoot Supplies and kindly shared her designs with me. I was pretty excited because Liz is the first featured artist I have located who is using our vintage supplies to embellish stitched canvases.

Liz is a retired art historian, in her words “happily creating whimsy in thread and objects”.

There is a strong presence of nature in Liz’s work, both in the materials she uses (silk, mother of pearl, linen, jade, amber, and many others) and in the designs she draws with her needle.

Some of the pieces with heavy threadwork remind me of the grain in the bark of trees. They also remind me of the heavy swirls of paint impressionists like Van Gogh laid down on their canvases.

I found lots of inspiration in these beautifully stitched meditations on color, line and texture.

I hope you will enjoy a visit to Liz’s website for a view into her world of stitched whimsy, her Hoop Dreams.

Featured Artist Update: Sarah Elder of My So Called Junky Life in Jewelry Affaire, Again!

I'm so happy to see one of our past featured artists, Sarah Elder of My So Called Junky Life, featured again in the Spring 2011 Issue of Jewelry Affaire!  This is Sarah's second time published in Jewelry Affaire, I blogged about her first time in Jewelry Affaire here, and you can see the original featured artist post about her work here.

I'm a great admirer of Sarah's designs and I'm really glad to see her work being made available for so many people to enjoy. Congratulations, Sarah!

For more of Sarah's lovely designs, visit her jewelry shop at a new address: My So Called Junky Life Jewelry.

Sarah's supply shop remains at: My So Called Junky Life.

And if you visit her blog, you will find lovely designs there too: My So Called Junky Life.

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week, Red Tulips

Emma's tulips, from our garden at Greenlake, Seattle

Spring, thy name is color.

~Libbie Fudim

New at Bumbershoot Supplies. Beautiful Vintage Buttons!

I have been looking forward to the opportunity to share more of the vintage buttons we have sourced for you and the time has come! New at Bumbershoot Supplies this week are several glass vintage buttons (with more waiting for their photos). Here are some of them, available at both Bumbershoot Supplies and also Bumbershoot Supplies on Etsy...

Hope you like them!

Best wishes for a great weekend!

Surprise! Hairpins With Vintage Flower Cabochons

Aren't these beautiful!?!

I received this surprise box of treats in the mail a few days ago from my friend and fellow Etsy seller, Anne Toprak of PlumCreek22.  Wow, how exciting to receive an unexpected present!

Anne makes beautiful hair pins using vintage cabochons. These particular pins feature vintage glass and mother of pearl cabochons she purchased from Bumbershoot Supplies.  I just love seeing what happens to our supplies, and it is an extra treat to see the finished product in person. We were thinking of Anne - on the day they arrived Emma was wearing a flower hair pin that I had purchased as a Christmas gift for a niece, and that never made it out of our house :)

Beautifully presented on decorated cards and wrapped with some kimono silk that she knows I love, Anne infuses her work and presentation with her kind and generous spirit.

Namaste, Anne!

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week, The Sound of Water

red bridge over waterfall, Kubota Gardens, Seattle

At the ancient pond

a frog plunges into

the sound of water

~Basho

New at Bumbershoot Supplies. New Vintage Style Pronged Settings

This week, we continue to expand our stock with lots of new pronged settings for rhinestones and pointed back stones at Bumbershoot Supplies. All in vintage style antiqued brass finish. Some new connectors and several new closed back styles, here's just a few...

And in the coming week, fabulous new vintage glass cabochons and a new shipment of glorious vintage glass buttons. Stay tuned!

Until then, wishing you a great weekend!

Look What I Found. Vintage Flower Pins, Klutch-ettes

At Bumbershoot Supplies, we offer a lot of hand painted vintage celluloid flower cabochons and charms.  Our celluloid flowers were made in Japan in the 1940's to 1950's. I have often wondered how they were used back at that time.  Many would be perfect for mixed media and embellishing paper arts, indeed I once heard a rumor that some of these flowers were used for embellishing Valentine's cards.  Today, designers frequently use these vintage celluloid flowers in vintage-inspired jewelry designs. I regularly do research to learn how our vintage supplies were originally used, but in my travels, I have found very few examples of vintage jewelry using these celluloid flower cabochons. A few months ago, I was lucky enough to find a child's set in a Seattle antique store, I posted about it here.

Happy day, I found another! These are Klutch-ettes, three vintage celluloid flower cabochons, embellished with rhinestones, on the original card. They have pin backs for wearing on your lapel, sweater, scarf, perhaps even a hat? These are dusty, as you would expect, but the rhinestones are just as clear and sparkly as can be. One of the flowers was originally hand painted on the edges of the petals with blue which is fading in the most charming way.

Perfect for Spring!