Using Vintage Flower Cabochons: DIY Embellished Sun (flower) glasses

 

We've been long enamored of Dolce & Gabbana's Autumn/Winter 2012-13 collection. Big accessories with even bigger jewelry makes this collection remarkable.  

With spring vacation just around the corner, and the promise of warm sandy beaches in the near future, we got to thinking about some pairs of stand out sunglasses.

Inspired by Dolce & Gabanna and this and this, we whipped up a couple pairs of our own beflowered sunnies.

 

We pulled out a large box of flower cabochons and used glue dots to temporarily adhere the cabs to the glasses to plan out a design. 

All of the vintage Japanese and vintage West Geman flower cabochons used are available at Bumbershoot Supplies.

 

 

When we were pleased with the arrangement of flowers, we used E6000 glue to permanently adhere the cabochons to the glasses. (Our pointers for working with E6000 glue here!)

Definitely wait a while for each piece to become firm before gluing the next piece on. 

With these bright sunnies everyone at the pool will know that you're no shrinking violet! 

New at Bumbershoot Supplies. Vintage Cabochons Galore

Several new types and styles of vintage cabochons newly available at Bumbershoot Supplies this week.  See if anything here sparks your creativity...

All of these vintage cabochons and cameos are ready and waiting for your creating at Bumbershoot Supplies...

Until next time, 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!

Look What I Found. Vintage Japanese Handpainted Glass Bird Cabochon

This arrived in the mail today.  It is breathtaking. It is a vintage Japanese glass cabochon, with 2 tiny birds perched on flowering branches, all handpainted with incredible detail. It is quite dirty. I used a cotton swab dampened with water to clean around the paint, but after working with it, my guess is that the paint is pretty robust, so I'll clean a bit more agressively in the next pass. 

The backs of these cabochons were originally foiled in red, green and yellow, so the colors would have shown behind the birds like a glowing rainbow.  You can catch glimpses of that in this cabochon, but the foil is seriously damaged and is easily removed. The glass is frosted, so I think that if the foil is removed, the cabochon will still be quite beautiful, just a bit different from how it was originally intended to look.

One of the features of this cabochon that leaves me awestruck is the size. This cab is about 17mm or 5/8 inch long. The only word I seem to be able to come up with to describe the degree of detail, artistry and craftsmanship is "breathtaking".

Look What I Found. Vintage Handpainted Japanese Kiddy Jewelry Set

If you have visited Bumbershoot Supplies, you know we carry a lot of vintage Japanese handpainted flower cabochons and embellishments, ranging in age from the 1940's to the 1960's.  I have never met a handpainted vintage flower cabochon that I didn't like :) and I'm convinced you can never have too many flowers of any kind in your life.  Imagine my delight when I discovered this handpainted "kiddy set" in a Seattle antique store I visited for the first time last week.

This charming set consists of a bracelet, ring and flower basket pin, all painted in soft colors that have faded perfectly with time.  The bracelet is exquisite, with roses, daisies and lily of valley curving around the sides. These pieces are tiny - this set was designed for a very little girl. Remember playing dress up way back when?  Perhaps you still do sometimes :)  How wonderful it was to have a matched set of jewelry - these 3 pieces would make it a "demi parure" in costume jewelry jargon. Very special.

Emma and I still enjoy playing dress up sometimes. Indeed, we were at the antique store looking at some vintage dresses for Emma.  She found a wonderful 1950's - 1960's navy with white polka dot dress with matching jacket.  It came home with us and looks fabulous with her vintage white gloves and the navy hat in this blog post.

New at Bumbershoot Supplies. Welcome to Somerset Studio and Belle Armoire Jewelry Readers!

This week, we welcome new customers via Somerset Studio and Belle Armoire Jewelry magazines to Bumbershoot Supplies.  We are thrilled with your response, thank you!  It's been a busy week packing and shipping orders but I've still found a moment or two to restock 9 of our items and add 10 new items since our newsletter on Sept 1.  

I'm continuing to expand the trims and millinery section of Bumbershoot Supplies, this week adding vintage fabric lily of the valley stems in 4 lovely colors.  When the weather gets grey and you need a reminder that spring always comes, these may be for you...

We have one new vintage glass pearl bead drop this week, the lovely twisted leaves shown in the photo above, making a total of 12 different vintage glass pearl bead drops offered at Bumbershoot Supplies. These are vintage Japanese, and we also have some new vintage glass flower cabochons from 1940's to 1950's Japan, 2 paisleys and one 18mm round...

These are just a few of our new items. I invite you over to Bumbershoot Supplies for a bit of window shopping to see the rest.  Keep watching over the next few weeks as we continue to expand our offerings with more vintage metal items, some beautiful rhinestones, a collection of french jet mourning beads, additional vintage glass pearls, plus more of those lovely vintage Japanese hand painted flower cabochons....

Until next time, wishing you a great weekend!

Featured Artist. Jeanne van Etten of The Nantucket Mermaid, on Nantucket and Etsy

Tell me, who can resist a shop with the name "The Nantucket Mermaid"?  As the last days of summer wind down, I'm not at all sure I've had enough of the season, so I'm doing what I can to hold onto sunshine and warm weather and beaches for a bit longer. 

 It is with pleasure I go 30 miles out to sea to Nantucket to share with you the work of

Jeanne van Etten, The Nantucket Mermaid in Nantucket and also on Etsy.

I regularly lurk on Jeanne's blog.  I love to see the photos of her shop, which looks like it is absolutely crammed with things I'd love to have :)  I am so inspired by Jeanne - she does everything! She makes jewelry from vintage components, which is how she ended up at Bumbershoot Supplies, and how I came to know of her work.

Look carefully, there are lots of pieces in this cabinet using our vintage Japanese hand painted flower cabochons.

And a bracelet around the stone mermaid's neck using more of the same vintage handpainted flower cabs.

Jeanne also makes dolls....

Beautiful candles and other tempting trinkets for her shop....

And also she paints...

...and paints...

...and paints...

I am in awe of Jeanne's diverse creativity and the hard work I know she must put out in order to stock her shop with her own hand crafted items. It's really inspiring for those of us who like to try different media, and who like to make all kinds of things.

If you are looking for a bit of summer any time, I recommend a visit to Jeanne's blog and Etsy shop. Also, if you contact Jeanne, I'm betting she can get you fixed up with your own bit of Nantucket summer to hold onto.

Featured Artist. Joanne Depape of Jaded Seas Designs on Etsy

I'm very happy to share with you the work of Joanne Depape of Jaded Seas Designs on Etsy. 

OK, wrap your mind around that shop name, Jaded Seas...  Doesn't that evoke images of deep green water, tropical flowers, hot sun and cool drinks....  If you are not there yet, head on over to Jo's shop and check out her splendid banner, it will get you there. 

Jo is in New Zealand.  One of the gifts of Bumbershoot Supplies is that it connects us, however briefly, to people all over the world, and also to diverse locales within our own country.  We all intersect at our love of art and craft and in our desire to work with beautiful materials to make fine and beautiful things.  I'm grateful to all my customers for showing me this connection on a daily basis, and for transporting me to exotic and varied locales, as least in my imagination :)

Jo's work will transport you to exotic locales through the components and images she uses. Jo uses sterling silver, beautiful Japanese paper, clear glass domes, and vintage glass cabochons, some also Japanese in origin, like the ones from Bumbershoot Supplies featured in this post. With these components, she creates unique rings, pendants, earrings and necklaces, including her innovative cluster style pendants.

I hope you will enjoy a trip to Jaded Seas Designs.  You will find the experience customer friendly and accomodating. Jo can make rings adjustable, or with a solid band in your ring size. She can set rings in your preference of portrait or landscape orientation. Necklace chain lengths can be adjusted.

Plus I'm sure you will be inspired. 

And don't forget to check out the banner :)

New at Bumbershoot Supplies. New Vintage Glass Beads, Cabochons and Yes More Roses

We have some very pretty new glass beads to offer at Bumbershoot Supplies this week, including these lovely vintage 1940's Czech lipstick red watch beads, already distressed and antiqued.  For a bracelet I designed with these beads, see my blog post "Time Flies" here. There will be several new vintage and antique Czech glass beads at Bumbershoot Supplies in the coming days.

And from Japan, some gorgeous "simulated pearls" in a champagne color with a rainbow iridescence on the glass. This special effect doesn't show up as well as I'd like in the photos, but these are really pretty beads, just like bubbles. I love the teardrop shape on an embedded wire since the point of the teardrop is so fine and precise.

Again, back to the lipstick red, we have some small vintage glass buckles, a very versatile size and shape for all kinds of jewelry and mixed media applications. I've put these ones in with the vintage beads, since they are of a smaller size, but there are other vintage glass buckles in the vintage sequins, trims section of Bumbershoot Supplies.

One of the new glass cabochons listed this week is truly spectacular. These vintage glass hearts are some of the loveliest glass cabochons that I have ever seen. The color of these is so soft and romantic, the surface ridges add depth and interest, and the glass is gorgeous.  These GLOW! These are very, very pretty vintage West German glass cabochons.  

And finally, more 1950's vintage plastic flower cabochons from Japan, in the vintage plastic cabochons section.  These ones are in a glossy coral plastic, perfect for this time of year and thinking ahead to fall designs. 

Finally, I'd like to be sure you know about the giveaway we're doing with our newsletter subscribers. We're giving away a $25 gift certificate to one of them! Everyone who has signed up for the Bumbershoot newsletter by midnight Pacific time on June 30 is eligible to win a $25 gift certificate to Bumbershoot Designs or Bumbershoot Supplies. See all the details here in this blog post, and if you are interested, you can sign up for our newsletter here.  Winner announced July 1, 2010.