Two Great Boutique Parties Coming Soon!

This year get your holiday shopping done early and feel excited that you are giving unique distinctive jewelry from Blumensnapdragon.

 Come out to the 37th Annual 

Church Mouse Boutique on 

Saturday, November 2, 2013 from 8:30am-4pm 

and Sunday, November 3, from 7:30am-1pm 

at Blessed Sacrament Church

11300 N. 64th St.

Scottsdale, Arizona 85254

The second event is a come-as-you-are 

Virtual Holiday Jewelry Party on 

Sunday, December 8, 2013. Browse our 2013 sale items from the comfort of your own home. Click on the Blumensnapdragon Boutique button on the left hand column of this blog and start shopping!

These two upcoming events will help you "WOW" those certain people who just need a good WOW-ing and allow you to enjoy a stress-less season. You will also be supporting our local economy and homegrown artists and crafters. 

These Distinctive Jewelry Designs And Much More Will Be Featured At The 37th Annual Church Mouse Boutique November 2-3, 2013 At Blessed Sacrament Church In Scottsdale, Arizona 

 Rennaissance- Real Baroque & Shell Pearls with Crystals

 Doubled Up Amazonite

Hearts of Magnesite
 

 Quartz and Magnesite Funky Bracelet

 Shapes Around the Wrist with a Sterling Silver Extender Chain & Clasp

 Aquamarine Glass with Sterling Silver

 Upcycled Chandelier Earrings with Crystals

 Patina Flower Pendant, Faux Pearls, & Magnesite

 Rough Citrine Chunks with Copper Chain & Findings

 Faceted Swarovski Drop with Upcycled Jewelry Parts 

 This Looks Much Better On!The Drop is Actually a Citrine Color

 Sterling Silver Hollow Heart with Flourite Prisms

 Tiger Eye and Magnesite with Sterling Silver

Blue Lapis, Druzy, and Smokey Topaz with Variable Bronze Chain

 Lengthened Version

 Shortened Version

For Pricing And Availability, Please Leave A Comment For Me On This Blog or email me at schnakie@yahoo.com. Hope To See Everyone At Both Events!

Devon

Where Bloggers Create 2013

Welcome to my little 'studio' in the corner of our home office/fitness equipment & craft storage room where many  Blumensnapdragon designs are created or finished. You wouldn't think I know where everything is as it's quite cramped, but I do! Like most of you, I can't design until my space is organized. I use antique milk glass pieces, candy bowls, silver trays, etc that have been handed down or found at garage sales.

Some of my favorite 'uniquities' are created with crochet hooks that I have had since I was a child. I still worry sometimes that they will be confiscated by TSA so I rarely take them in my carry on to work on projects.

Normally, I don't think of myself as having ADHD or ADD but when it comes to designing, I must. I cannot just design one piece. No. Sometimes. I will sit on the floor and start emptying jars of semi-precious stones or my vintage elements and if I don't like the exact combination I will start on another piece but still look to finish piece #1, but in turn start on #3 and so on. I think I bought a lot of blue at the 2013 Tucson Gem Show!

The red multistrand necklace above is vintage and I really like it as is, but I really want to dismantle it and create 3 things with it! (see previous story). The other necklace is one I just finished. I am loving these patina crosses from the Gem Show as well as these baroque fresh water pearls and pyrite chunks.

Definitely needs organizing! This is the leftover jumble after designing. But I see a few possibilities...I did the silver cuff with magnetic closure a few years ago and want to do the color scheme with something else. I use broken pieces of jewelry and vintage items passed down from relatives to create one of a kind fun jewelry.

I have found baby food jars to be the best container to hold everything. I do travel often to a friend's house to design and then I rethink schlepping numerous glass jars!

(Grateful to have my angels looking over me) 

I love these paper roses Karen Valentine  adorned my birthday present with one year. I glued magnets to several and you will see them on my vintage ceiling tile bulletin board.

The spice jars and caddy work well too.

Because you can never have too much inspiration!

Awwww. My inspiration and motivation. Pictures of my husband and I, our dog Mischa, good friends, slogans, words of wisdom, and things I am grateful for. Love the bumper sticker from a cafe in California; What Are You Grateful For?

Oh my gosh! There is also a backside to this...filled! I need to get this covered by our home insurance policy. That's how important it is to me.One side of beauties was gifted to me by my husband's aunt and the other by his mother and grandmother. It is so hard to use anything from this collection in my new designs. It will be a slow process, but I'm also not one to hoard things. I want them to be used, talked about, and enjoyed.

See my previous blog about "The Unveiling". The remaking (stripping) of my awesome dress form.

My mother's old train case. It went everywhere with her in her youth and I have even taken it on cruises just because I'm an old fashioned girl. It still travels, but just to display my finished pieces at jewelry shows.
Thank you for depositing some of your precious time here. Your comments are like gems to me. Thank you Karen Valentine for giving us the opportunity to open a virtual door into so many creative bloggers' worlds. xo

The Unveiling

I don't know how long I have owned this dress form. My friend Karen, from My Desert Cottage pointed out (in the nicest way possible),  that it's kind of hideous. :)

At first we were going to cover it with simple beige linen and maybe add to it some text or stamping. Then we decided to see what was underneath. Actually, we didn't know how we were going to cover it... what a bear!

The previous owner did go through great lengths to cover it with seam tape, cotton and hideous pink fabric with rickrack. 

She is so petite and cute underneath-the owner might not have been so tiny-I mean, look at that waist! It's so 50's.

 Sometimes, the best things are left alone and we certainly saved ourselves a lot of time. We sat around asking ourselves, "Now what do we work on?" We got the EASY button!!! How often does that happen? Thanks, my dear Karen.

Vintage Jewelry Re-Doux

 While I love to make jewelry out of gorgeous natural gemstones, I have a soft spot for the pieces made from jewelry pieces passed down to me from my mom or other family members. These pieces will  never make it to my boutique because they hold sentimental value and they are one of kind and can never be duplicated. 

The necklace in the above picture was made with a  pair of vintage daisy earrings from the 50's given to me by my mother. Connected to the daisy ensemble is a vintage pin and finally the drop at the bottom is an earring (not vintage, once broken and discarded)

The necklace below is one of my (many) favorites. The center piece was either a vintage earring or pin. I wired each bead by hand using sterling silver, crystal, and hematite. The drop at the bottom is comprised of a broken earring and a vintage Catholic religious medal given to me by a friend. I made it in the style of a rosary but shorter as I also wanted it to be its own piece.

 A little while ago I had a jewelry show at my house. I invited friends, family and coworkers.

 It was really fun to try and display all the jewelry in a creative way. Although I am still learning, I think I did a pretty good job!!!

 I borrowed a mannequin from my friend Karen from My Desert Cottage and it really helped to make the necklaces pop!

I am very grateful to have sold many pieces and will do it again for sure!!

The best part however, was just getting together with friends and playing dress up!!!

I was so involved in the party that I forgot to take photos of the guests trying on the jewelry and having fun! Oh well, next time!!!

I'm baaaack!!!

 I'm so sorry I have been away for so long!!! You know how it is....life just gets so busy and before you know it a year has gone by!!!  I wanted to share with you a taste of the wonderful earthy treasures I found at  this years Tucson Gem show.

 There were so many lovely stones, beads and gems to choose from!!!

I just loved all these greens!! The purple accents are wonderful too don't you think???

 This color palette reminds me of the ocean. I think it will make a gorgeous necklace or maybe some lovely bangles!

These chunky Quartz Crystals are so fabulous and I love the rough Aquamarine and the Pyrite!

 Greys and yellows are hot, hot, hot right now!!

 More gorgeous color!! I can't wait to find some time to sit down and create something with all these lovely stones.

And lastly, some beautiful cut Hematite. I could have easily spent another couple of days there shopping and spending sooo much more money, but I practiced great restraint!!!

Don't forget to pop over to my Boutique and check out the pieces that are already finished and ready to go to a new home!!!

See you soon!!!

xo,

Devon