Happy Halloween...

Happy Halloween everyone from my 

beautiful boy!

He did such a great job posing for me!

BOO!

Karen

My Creativity is on a Roll....

 I am on a creative roll right now.  With the holidays coming up quickly

I have been trying like mad to get all my design ideas realized

and then hope that it will translate into sales.

Here are some of the most recent items now in the shoppe.

A vintage french steel cut shoe buckle is now a gorgeous 

bracelet.  I adorned it with an old 

rhinestone brooch, glass pearls, chain and lots of

ooh-la-la!

The antiqued brass hammered cuff is adorned with an 

old, sparkling vintage rhinestone brooch.  I love this piece!

The center piece of this necklace is an old cameo locket that I 

made even more charming by adding a vintage postcard image of the

the Eiffel Tower.  The necklace has old rhinestone bracelet links,

black onyx and gorgeous faceted citrine gemstones.

These stunning earrings are vintage victorian filigrees

that I have accented with citrine and pink tourmaline briolettes.

I love the colors.

Beloved Notre Dame is the center piece of this one of a kind necklace.

I used a vintage postcard image and place it in an old brooch setting.

I hung it from a sterling silver winged cherub bust.  The necklace is an 

assortment of freshwater pearls, aquamarine gemstones, amethyst and

rhinestone beads.  This is such a fun and versatile piece.

I love old shoe buckles!  This is another french cut steel vintage buckle

that I made sparkle with an old jewelry finding placed right in the center.

I added glass pearls, two old genuine shell cameos in their original settings and

sparkling tourmaline gemstones.  This is a gorgeous bracelet.

And I am now offering gift certificates in the shoppe for anyone

 on your list.  And don't forget to put this down on your holiday list.

They are good an anything in my etsy shoppe.

Thanks for coming by and spending some time here.

Have a wonderful rest of your week and keep checking back

for more designs and new listings.

xo

Karen

Hauntingly Scaaaaary Pumpkins....

Tonight is trick-or-treating in our area, always the Sunday before Halloween. When I grew up

we trick-or-treated on Halloween no matter when it fell during the week.

That was SO much fun.

My husband is the master pumpkin carver here and her really gets

into it every year.  Thought I'd let you see his scary creations for this 

Halloween.

He searches for all his new designs and then goes to get the best

shaped and the best sitting pumpkins.

He doesn't cut the top off.  He cuts the back out and goes in that way to clean it

out.  It is so much easier too for candle or light placing.

He doesn't cut all the way through (well, except one).  He carves away at the 

outside, following the pattern he drew, not breaking through but carving away 

enough that the candle light will illuminate the pattern from the inside.

And here is the end result!  A perfectly spooooooky pumpkin!  

So can you make them all out?

And this is my son.  He is a quad drum player in the hight school marching band.

Friday night was a home playoff game and the band kids all wore

Halloween costumes for the performance.  It was a lot of

fun seeing all the great costume choices.

I wish you all a very spooky and happy Halloween!

BOO!

xo

Karen

Beautiful Blog, Beautiful Giveaway...

Modern Country

xo

Karen

A Little Happiness to All....

Happy, Beautiful Fall Everyone!!!

Enjoy the view.

xo

Karen

Some Creative Updates...

Just a few new designs to start your week off.

A delightful vintage shoe buckle made into

a modern new bracelet.

An old brass pendant that I inserted an image of 

Mary and Child into, surrounded it with vintage 

rhinestones and hung it from a vintage scatter pin,

old rosary chain and other vintage findings to make this

one of a kind necklace.

Shimmering faceted labradorite gemstones surround

vintage rhinestone findings in this fabulous pair 

of earrings.

Just a little creative update for you this evening.

You can see these and other pieces in the shoppe.

Thanks for coming by and spending a little time here!

xo

Karen

From Flea To Fabulous...

This is such a busy time of year for anyone who creates for their

handmade business.  With the holidays fast approaching everyday is a 

crunch to get as much done as one can.  Part of that is what I call

"hunting and gathering".   When your business involves using vintage finds

you have to go out and hunt down those key items.  I recently attended the 

last of the season flea market in Elkhorn, WI.  It was a gorgeous day and lots 

of great finds to be had.

Here are a few of the results of all the fabulous finds.

This necklace was inspired by the beautiful art deco sterling silver

center piece of a woman with blowing hair.  Below it I have  hung a vintage 

cameo from an old rhinestone encircled bead.  The necklace is a beautiful

old mother of pearl rosary that I accented with faceted deep blue iolite 

gemstones.

I do love cuff style bracelets.  This one is an old french cut steel shoe buckle

that I accented with a vintage rhinestone former brooch.  I attached silver tone

vintage chain and a decorative jewelry hook.  Love it!  It has so much style.

This beautiful, feminine necklace began with the little aqua blue pendant that was

a vintage pin that I removed the backing from.  In it I place a vintage prayer

card image of Mary.  It hangs from a vintage brass finding with a little

rhinestone center.  The necklace is a lovely faux pearl vintage rosary strand 

highlighted with two faceted aquamarine gemstones.

And these sparklers are just incredible.  They are two circa 1956

dangles that are just dripping with sparkling old rhinestones.  They hang from

faceted graduated gray colored quartz beads.  These would look fabulous with

just about anything!

These pieces along with lots more are now in the shoppe.  

Lots more to come soon.

Do check back!

Thanks for coming by.  Have a great week!

xo

Karen

all images via google and me.