Featured Artist: Rebecca Leonard of Fuchsia Bloom Studio

The natural world is a constant inspiration for my art and balm to my spirit and it is always a joy for me to discover another person who feels the same way.  Even better when they are someone who also loves vintage!  I’m so happy to share with you the designs of Rebecca Leonard of Fuchsia Bloom Studio.

Rebecca named her business Fuchsia Bloom Studio after the beauty of the fuchsia bushes growing wild along Irish roadsides. 
Picture that in your mind…

There are so many beautiful pieces in Rebecca’s shop, it was hard to choose what to share, so I decided to pick some of her flower designs.   We sell a lot of vintage flower components at Bumbershoot Supplies, and I am always interested to see how they are used.

Can a person ever have enough flowers? I don’t think so…

These beautiful pieces reflect Rebecca’s love of color and the beauty and mystery of nature.  Rebecca has been creating artisan jewelry for almost 20 years now . She graduated from Massachusetts College of Art in marine illustration, so the mix of nature and art has been part of her life for a long time.

In her words, her designs “…reflect my love of color, nature and my passion for all things vintage.  There is an eclectic mix of styles in my shop-some with an antique feel reflecting my interest in jewelry from the Medieval, Edwardian and Art Nouveau/Deco periods, some reflecting my love of Celtic and mystical things and also those with a funky, artsy vibe.”

In addition to her Etsy shop, there are many opportunities to see Rebecca’s designs in person.  She sells to specialty boutiques and at artisan fairs. Her work can be viewed in shops in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maine – see her Etsy shop for all the locations.

I hope you will enjoy a visit to Fuchsia Bloom Studio.  I’m sure you will find much inspiration in Rebecca’s designs, her color sense, and her creative use of vintage components. Plus, until July 18, everything is on sale, so head on over and check it out!

Featured Artist: Delight Worthyn of Delight Worthyn Art/wares

It is still grey here in Seattle, we are in suspended animation, still waiting for summer to arrive.  At times like this, when I crave a feeling of lightness and possibility, I just love to visit Delight Worthyn’s shop, Delight Worthyn Art/wares. 

Among her many talents, Delight is a milliner.  Her hats are the most extraordinarily creative blending of old and new, and I’m thrilled that she has been able to use various items from Bumbershoot Supplies in some of her designs.  Here’s what Delight says about her process:

“Years ago I found a how-to sewing book from 1927. It contained the original owners notes. All of my pieces have a nod to vintage style because that is what I love. Something about the workmanship, colors, details, I don't know, clothes were more joyful. My pieces are totally usable but beautiful enough to sit out on a dressing table when not in use.”

Delight has coined the phrase “eco couture millinery”, a term that aptly describes her unique combination of wearable art made from recycled and vintage materials, inspired by vintage fashions and esthetics.

If you visit Delight’s shop, you will find everyday hats, wedding hats and veils, handpainted silk hats, wraps, headpieces, and lavish feathered stick pins for embellishing your own hats.

In Delight’s work, I am transported to a place that is both old and new all at the same time, a place with the vintage vibe I recognize and love, plus a fantastical place of imagination where everything is possible. 

Maybe even summer finally arriving in Seattle…?

I hope you will enjoy a visit to Delight Worthyn Art/wares any time of the year to view Delight’s gorgeous  designs and be inspired by her art of possibility.

Bohemian Rose Matrix Glass Cabochons. History and Provenance

These pretty vintage glass cabochons have a history and a story, these are a really cool find. The original packaging calls them rose matrix, but they are more of a salmon color, with brown and white glass that together, makes each cabochon unique and gives them an organic, natural feel.

These arrived in really interesting original packaging, with the applied sticker Bohemia-Germany, the Made in Germany stamp, and the second stamp, "Released by the Joint Boycott Council". With a bit of research, I learned that after the Nazis took power in 1933, there was a wave of boycotts across Europe, eventually reaching the United States. In 1936 in the US, the Jewish Labor Committee and the American Jewish Congress, both bodies already engaged in the boycott process, joined forces and instituted a "Joint Boycott Council". This committee was one of two major organizations in the US spearheading a boycott of Nazi Germany between 1936 and Pearl Harbor in 1941. Of course, boycott efforts became unnecessary when the US entered WWII in 1941.

The original packaging thus allows us to date these cabochons to the period of time when the Joint Boycott Council was active, between 1936 and 1941.

Very pretty and rather unassuming little cabochons, but think of what was going on in the world and Bohemia when glass artisans made these - that's a story...

Products related to this history can be found right here on Bumbershoot Supplies.

Featured Artist. Ellen Ikemoto of streetnoodles on Etsy.

I’m so very pleased to share with you the designs of Ellen Ikemoto of streetnoodles on Etsy.

Ellen makes beautiful jewelry designs, many of which feature vintage components, including vintage glass pearls from Bumbershoot Supplies. Since vintage glass pearls are some of my personal favorites, I am drawn to see how customers use them, and that is how I learned of Ellen’s shop streetnoodles.

Ellen offers many beautiful designs, so it was hard to decide what to share in this post, but I decided to focus on 2 of her collections, her embellished hair combs and her bird designs.

The combs are glorious confections of flowers, pearls, baubles, some with rhinestones, that are so lovely, I found myself wishing I could see them in person, so I could turn them in my hands to see them from all angles and make them sparkle.  Because I like so many different types of vintage components, I love this type of design that collects so many diverse elements together in one place for me to enjoy all at once.  

The second collection of Ellen’s designs that I hope you will enjoy are her designs featuring birds and inspired by her father.

Ellen says… “this whole series of birds is INSPIRED by my dad...we were never as close as my mom & me...he was a quiet intellectual scholar caught in wartime situation that left him not valuing what he had loved as a child...art, literature, poetry…”

“…years later, when the wounds had healed, dad had passed on... i bought my dad's house. i found in his garage, several boxes of his; one filled with his poetry, one of his calligraphy...and one filled with wonderful wood carvings of birds...so many birds...i found out later that when he had been sent to the internment camps during WWII, he was taught how to carve wood...he chose birds..they reminded him of "home"...but more importantly of his "freedom" lost. when he returned home...he never carved another bird again.”

I am so honored to be able to share Ellen’s designs and this part of Ellen and her father’s story with you. I hope you are as inspired and moved by it as I am and that you will enjoy a visit to streetnoodles to enjoy Ellen’s beautiful designs first hand.

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week. Cameo Memories

...my grandmother's locket cameo, rediscovered this past weekend...

I have only to take down this or that to flood my soul with memories.

~Dorothie Deluzy

New at Bumbershoot Designs. Old Favorites Restocked: Vintage Boot Buttons, Vintage Rhinestones, Vintage Glass Cabochons

We have listed many more new vintage rhinestones and vintage cabochons at Bumbershoot Supplies over the last week.  I'll describe them more in our upcoming June 15 newsletter, and you can always see the new arrivals section at our website.  But today I thought I'd mention some of our popular items that I have been able to restock in small quantities, always an exciting event, since with vintage supplies, restocking is never a sure thing. In addition to the cabochons above, here are some more supplies that have been restocked this week...

I hope you enjoyed seeing these returning vintage treasures! Until next time, wishing you a happy and art-filled weekend!

Look What I Found. Vintage Turquoise and Gold Feather Beads

Since Bumbershoot Supplies, I don't purchase very many vintage beads for my personal collection any more.  I use the same ones in my designs that we offer at Bumbershoot Supplies, plus beads that have been in my collection for years. 

However, every once in a while I come across some beads that I just cannot pass up. 

Like these...

Years and years ago I purchased a notion kit from the French General that had a few of these gorgeous green turquoise feather-like beads in it. The ones from the French General were much larger and I used them as an accent in this one-of-a-kind bracelet. My recent acquisitions are a smaller version of the same bead. 

I am so thrilled with being able to locate a few more of these beads.  I love how these are drilled, they curve so gracefully. I love this greenish turquoise vintage color, and I love the aging gilt paint.  I've got these sitting out on my work table in my studio, where they will stay until they tell me how they want to be used. 

At the same time, I also purchased a few of these...

And these...

Both of which are also whispering quietly to me...

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week, Graduation Inspiration

1920's -1930's Art Deco medals of achievement, from my personal collection

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

~Henry David Thoreau

New at Bumbershoot Designs. More Vintage Cameo Necklaces and a New Demi Parure

I have really been enjoying working with vintage resin cameos lately.  I really loved the long ivory cameo necklace I made a few weeks ago and have continued to add some beautiful vintage resin cameos to my collection and designs.

The narcissus above is a larger version of the vintage cameos I used in this bracelet...

...and these earrings.

These beautiful romantic blush pink and white cameos were perfectly complemented by some pink enamel metal flower bead caps that I made up into a layered flower and pearl charm.  I'm really excited by these bead caps since they were made for Coro, the famous vintage costume jewelry design house.  They are textured on the enameled side and reflective gold on the inside of the flower.

Perfect for flower charm earrings too, they make me think of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream "...and hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear...".

I was able to only find a few of the blush pink cameos, but there are a few of the same cameo in crystal matte still available at Bumbershoot Supplies, if you are interested.

Until next time, wishing you a great weekend!