Featured Artist: Karen Troeh of CourtlyCharm on Etsy

Bumbershoot Supplies' latest featured artist is Karen Troeh of CourtlyCharm! Karen creates unique designs inspired by actual pieces from the medieval period through the Elizabethan era. Her years of experience creating pieces for renaissance festivals and plays is readily seen in these designs. 

Karen uses many different materials to create her designs, including set rhinestones, beads, filigrees, and wire-work.

Karen is very skilled at mixing metal work such as layered filigrees with pearls and rhinestones to create an opulent look. Many of her pieces are designed from historical pictures of crowns and jewelry worn by royalty.

Karen has shared a huge collection of her previous designs on her Pinterest board. We highly recommend perusing them for some regal inspiration. 

Be sure to check out Karen's shop! Whether you are really royal, or just wanting to look like it, you're sure to find a piece that will show the world how majestic you truly are.

Featured Artist: Debbie Lynch of ChicMaddiesBoutique on Etsy

Our latest featured artist is the very talented Debbie Lynch of ChicMaddiesBoutique! Debbie's work draws on her childhood memories and her love of color and vintage to inspire her designs. 

Debbie's designs incorporate vintage jewelry components as focal elements. She often mixes design elements to create new and stunning jewelry. 

Debbie is very skilled in her use of color to enrich her designs. Her work doesn't shy away from bright colors, and this often heightens the emotion of her designs, like this cheerful sunny yellow bracelet. 

Debbie is also a master at contrasting and complimenting textures, as she demonstrates in this necklace with its contrasting faceted labradorite chain. 

Be sure to check out Debbie's shop! It's simply overflowing with unique pieces that bring together old and new and tell the most colorful stories.

Featured Artist: Jamie Lee of ChatterBlossom on Etsy

Our latest featured artist is the lovely Jamie Lee of ChatterBlossom on Etsy!

Jamie creates her designs with reclaimed vintage and antique items so that they may continue to be used and integrated into their new owner's lives.

Jamie uses a lot of vintage and antique buttons as one of her design elements, and these are what first caught my attention. Her elegant and refined designs draw your eye towards the vintage element. In this way, the story of the piece becomes the focus of her designs.

Jamie says: "Each piece I make has a name and a small story of its own and I love thinking about the person that will see or read and connect with it in some way and anticipate some small adventure in which it will play a part."

Along with making jewelry and accessories, Jamie has a fabulous blog about her adventures in vintage and fashion.

Be sure to check out ChatterBlossom! Maybe you'll find something there with a story for you.

Featured Artist: Mandy Kallal of Jewelry4Reenactors

 

Our latest featured artist is Mandy Kallal of Jewelry4Reenactors!

Mandy's designs are unique because they draw on her years of experience as a Civil War reenactor and have been specially crafted to be period correct.
 

Mandy loves the Victorian era and many of her designs are inspired by pieces from that time. Her extensive research can been seen in each one of her handcrafted pieces and by her attention to detail.  

Mandy uses materials like coral and mother of pearl, as featured in this brooch and earring set, as they were very popular materials during the Victorian era. 

These bracelets are designed around Victorian mourning jewelry. Often incorporating jet black glass or onyx, these pieces would be worn for years after a loved one's death. This design features an old daguerreotype which was a fairly new technology at the time. 
 

Mandy's beautiful designs have delicately detailed filigrees which would surely look lovely to wear whether you are going to a Civil War ball or a modern day event. 
 

We hope you'll enjoy a visit over to Mandy's website (and also check out her Etsy shop too), to be inspired by her designs and their unique histories. Any one of her special pieces would make a great gift for someone who was interested in history, or just beautiful jewelry!

Featured Artist: Jhone of Persephone on Etsy

Our latest featured artist is the fabulous Jhone, Propriatrix of Persephone, who makes "pretty things for weird women".

Jhone's designs caught my eye because of their strategic use of images and delightful, intricately detailed mixture of materials.

Several of her designs are inspired by famous persons and artists. There are pieces that feature famous queens, such as Elixabeth I and Marie Antoinette, poets like Edgar Allan Poe and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and pieces featuring famous masterpieces like John Singer Sargent's Madame X.

 Jhone says, "Obsessed with archetypes and tales, my jewelry tells stories." Whether you're looking at a pair of earrings or a brooch the story is always there. See these fabulous steampunk pieces, below.
 

Jhone also makes beautiful floral earrings. The pair below perfectly captures a couple of luscious fuchsia blossoms at their peak, reminding me of sunshine and warmer days.

 

 

We recommend you check out PersephonePlus! You may find a story that speaks to you, or even a story that you'll want to share with someone else.

 

November's Birthstone: Topaz

Topaz Vintage Swarovski Crystal Rhinestone Navette.

November's birthstone is topaz.

 

The gemstone topaz comes in a couple of general color hues: "imperial" or "precious" topaz in shades of yellow, orange, and pink, and the blue topaz.  When it comes to vintage glass, generally the term "topaz" refers to the color of the glass, specifically the golden yellow shades and their variants.  We have a large collection of faux topaz glass at Bumbershoot Supplies and Bumbershoot Designs.

Dark Topaz Vintage Teardrop Rhinestone Earrings.

Light Topaz Vintage Swarovski Crystal Rose Montees.

Topaz Vintage Swarovski Crystal Diamond Shaped Rhinestones.

Real topaz gemstones are often mistaken with similarly colored quartz. Smokey topaz is often mislabeled quartz. In vintage glass, smokey topaz is a unique color that has been made into many spectacular cabochons and rhinestones.

Smoked Topaz Vintage Glass Cabochons.

Light Smoked Topaz Vintage Swarovski Octagon Rhinestones.

Smoked Topaz Vintage Deco Glass Rectangles.

Sometimes we'll come across vintage glass labeled as "Madeira" topaz; so named for it's deep reddish tones, reminiscent of the wine. Madeira topaz is a color unique to vintage glass stones - it is not an official color of topaz gemstones. 

Madeira Topaz Vintage Octagon Rhinestone.

Madeira Topaz Vintage Swarovski Rhinestones.

Madeira Topaz Vintage Swarovski Rhinestones. 

Topaz is Utah's state gemstone and blue topaz is the state gemstone for Texas. Topaz has been said to be a symbol of friendship. 

Topaz Vintage Swarovski Crystal Rhinestone Earrings.

Blue and Topaz Vintage Rhinestone Necklace with Dragonfly.

In 1870 Tiffany & Co. published a birthstone poem in one of their pamphlets. The poem for November goes: 
 

"Who first comes to this world below
In dreary November's fog and snow, 
Should prize the topaz amber hue, 

Emblem of friends and lovers true."

Topaz with Aurora Borealis Coating Vintage Swarovski Octagon Rhinestones.

For friendly inspiration, we invite you to browse our vintage faux topaz collections!

Topaz at Bumbershoot Supplies

Topaz at Bumbershoot Designs