Lizzy B

Greek Coins

2011-09-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Our cousin just returned from Greece with a ton of vintage Greek Coins! They will soon be repurposed into these great vintage coin cuffs!

The classic owl figure

The Greek coins are riveted on to either brass or antiqued silver cuffs. Vintage French & Italian coin cuffs will be available for your holiday shopping!

Always be grateful...

2011-09-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

Festival of Sail

2011-09-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

Join us at The Festival of Sail this weekend along the Port of San Diego. There are tons of activities, entertainment, battles and shopping!

These Half Penny vintage coin necklaces will be available, some are dated in the early 1930's!

Pearls of wisdom...

2011-08-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Vintage sterling salt shakers are so small & delicate. I polished mine and then filled them with 3 vintage pearls and a small page from a vintage dictionary that might define 'search, discover or wisdom'. I then cut a small circle from a vintage spoon and handstamped similar words as inspiration.

Industrial Chic

2011-08-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

My husband and his partners just moved their office into a run down building-look what was under years of neglect-a perfect spot for a photo shoot of my new jewelry line! Behind this front door lie the walls I hope to put models in front of...

Mike's office with white brick walls & a huge steel door.

Not sure if I'll dress the model in tans or black....

Board Room

Buddy

And, the absolute best part of his office? It is right next to Pat's!

Pat's is an eclectic mix of vintage & junk! You will find old maps to old tables, chippy patio furniture to old silverware-it's an adventure every time!

An afternoon at The Hotel Del

2011-07-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

Join me this Saturday at The Hotel Del for a trunk show! I will be at Est. 1888, the hotel lobby gift shop, from 11:00 am until 4:00 pm. Here are a few samples of items I'll be bringing:

vintage map pendants

Marilyn Monroe & Tony Curtis stayed at The Del

vintage chandelier crystals

vintage spoon bracelets

Hope to see you on Saturday. Shop, have lunch and discover all that The Hotel Del has to offer!

Vintage Brooch Bracelets

2011-07-18T07:48:00.000-07:00

I took a bracelet class with Ruby Walker at The Urban Barn in Escondido last week. The techniques involved wire wrapping, chain work and just simple creativity! The bracelet on the left is the one I made in class. Then I came home and went through my boxes of vintage jewelry to make the bracelet on the right. I also used a spoon handle to make the toggle clasp!

I think I'm addicted!

Vintage Cheese Markers

2011-06-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

Inspired by The Oracle greek wine lounge, at our Greek Festival, I made some vintage Cheese Markers from old forks.

(Mezethes-small Greek plates of appetizers)

We cut and flatten the vintage fork and then hand-stamp differnt cheeses on the front. We had a welcome surprise when we actually cut and served the cheese with the same fork!

The Cheese Markers are available at The Little Italy Mercato & at Vignettes in Ocean Beach.

In Bloom

2011-05-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

These Daisies were so beautiful at the Mercato last weekend that I thought I'd try making a flower out of spoons:

We flattened and hand shaped the 'bowl' of a spoon and then hammered in a little texture.

What do you think?

To Mom...

2011-05-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

As Mother's Day approaches, it's time to reflect on how much our mothers have given us and taught us over the years...

Thanks Mom!

Ham-ology

2011-04-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

My husband is a ham radio operator. We have strange wires going from our house to tall trees in the yard. At neighborhood gatherings I've met new neighbors that tell me stories of them watching my husband with a half filled water bottle tied to a wire and he is throwing it up in the air to catch taller branches or other wires-they are hysterically laughing at this point in the story and I'm mortified at what he is doing while I'm in the house...

I go to bed early and he retires to his ham-shack to contact other ham radio operators. As I lay in bed our home alarm system starts beeping...it took two nights for us to realize he was causing the alarms to beep because he was on a 'high-frequency'. (he thought it was funny!) We drive through neighborhoods and he points out other ham radio operators and I realize that they too have tall antennas and lots of wires. Who knew?

I thought I was alone in this techy world. Last week while on a walk I met a new neighbor whose husband runs a Sunday morning ham radio show with boat operators (I think that's what he does)...she started saying that their home alarms have been going off! She thought our husbands should meet! (I'm not sure this is a great idea...) The more I admit to people that he has ham radios, the more people tell me about their dads or uncles or grandfathers who are into this 'activity', 'craft' or maybe it's a 'sport'.

There are good things about Ham radio operators. They will help us during natural disasters. During Hurricane Katrina, the only way people could communicate for days afterwards were through ham radio operators. During the last huge Southern California fires, we sat listening to broadcasts through his radio. He has been trained in Emergency preparedness so I know we will be safe if there are any natural disasters in La Mesa!

My husband travels to Ham-ventions and other ham activities. He always wanted me to come up with jewelry for ham radio operator's wives...I couldn't imagine what this would even look like. What would I use to start a project? Then...last week, my neighbor, who's uncle is a ham radio operator popped in my workshop because she saw Morse Code jewelry using beads and thought it was perfect. So...while the beads were cute, it's not what I do. What would be vintage?

Then it hit me...

'MOM' is hand stamped on a vintage heart-shaped spoon!

'XO' is spelled out with vintage dictionary 'dots' & 'dashes'

So...thanks Val, you inspired me!

Send mom your love for Mother's Day. Limited words can be stamped but truly a unique gift for other ham radio wives!

Auntie's Watch

2011-03-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

My neighbor asked me if I could re-style her Auntie's watch. It was a beautiful piece that was a pleasure to change into a necklace and these dainty earrings:

Greek Folk Dancing

2011-02-16T07:27:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we are off to FDF 2011-a Greek Folk Dance competition in Ontario CA. Each year 100's of kids get together for 'Faith, Dance & Fellowship' while competing for the gold in Greek Dancing and Singing. The handmade costumes are amazing and the performances bring tears to your eyes as you realize the culture and traditions that have been passed down through 100's of years. These pictures are some of our dancers in San Diego.

Best of luck to all of the St. Spyridon dance and choral groups!

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

My wonderful husband dug through our spoons and made this for me...

I hope you all have a great day!

Vintage Baby Spoon Pendants

2011-02-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was contemplating cutting a pair of sterling baby spoons.One of them had had a little trip down the garbage disposal and had some issues! If my plan didn't work out, I wouldn't feel too bad!

Happily-I was able to flatten and stamp the two spoons with children's initials and birth dates.

I even made myself a pair of earrings! I buffed some of the garbage disposal 'dings' out but actually liked the marks left behind-it added character and showed they were well loved.

This is how our Valentine jewelry starts...

2011-01-29T08:49:00.000-08:00

Brimfield 2010 A beautiful pile of silverware!

January 2011 These scrap pieces will be used in something...

and now......

Two vintage spoons have been redesigned into this necklace...I can hear the Beatles song as I type!

Only one word...

2011-01-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas wrappings...

2010-12-21T05:49:00.000-08:00

I've only wrapped one gift so far and this one is travelling to NH for my mom.

I think I'll be wrapping everyone's with vintage sheet music!

Chrismas Shopping

2010-11-29T06:09:00.000-08:00

Our elves are very busy this week preparing for 3 shows this weekend! On Saturday we will be at The Little Italy Mercato and Saturday night we move over to India Street for the Little Italy Tree Lighting & Christmas Village. On Sunday-be sure to come by the McKinley Elementary Arts & Crafts Fair in South Park. Dress warm for our blustery San Diego weather!

Time is ticking...

2010-11-25T06:30:00.000-08:00

Join me at Papertales in Point Loma this Saturday from 4 to 7 for a wonderful evening of

Christmas shopping!

Boxes & Boxes...

2010-11-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

We have stacks of empty flatware chests and typewriter cases that I can't part with. We started to paint the silverware chests white and line them with vintage sheet music. Then...we thought we would enhance them with small Christmas trees with vintage sheet music rolls, a little burlap and more sheet music...

These trees & more are available at The Cornerstore in El Cajon, CA.

19 years ago today...

2010-10-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

This beautiful hand made spoon heart was sitting next to the coffee pot this morning!

After 19 years of marriage I still get incredibly thoughtful anniversary gifts-truly from the heart...

NYC

2010-09-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

While we were in New York we decided to go to Hoboken, New Jersey-home to Carlo's Bakery aka

The Cake Boss!

After a 20 minute $45 cab ride, we discovered a line of about 50 people outside. When we were selected to go inside, there were another 40 people in a very small bakery! We bought tons of pastries, saw Buddy's sister and one of the bakers from tv! We enjoyed our cannolis and cupcakes then found a $9 bus back to the city! Evelyn was a good sport and let me stop at a flea market on the way to New Jersey.

Vintage Hair Accessories

2010-09-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

My daughter thinks only "old" people would wear these! We stained a piece of leather, sewed on a vintage shoe buckle, added the stick and voila! I'm back in the 70's!

NYC

2010-09-18T04:34:00.000-07:00

Lizzy & I are off to New York City this morning, we were chosen to be in the audience for Martha Stewart's Show on Consignment/Thrift Store finds! We are very excited about the show and spending a quick weekend in NY.

I'll let you know all of the details next week!

Tony

2010-09-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

I just finished a custom belt buckle for a new friend. This is a photo of her dad with his horse "Tony". I was lucky to find a rhinestone horseshoe amongst my treasures!

I dropped the buckle off a little while ago, I hope she likes it!

Yesterday...

2010-09-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I bought this leather belt at Amvets Thrift Store. It was half price!

Today, it is a cool new cuff for my daughter!

Did you know that Martha Stewart has a show coming up on Consignment/Thrift Store finds? I can't wait!

Restyled leather & vintage spoons

2010-08-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

Look what you can do with scraps of leather and vintage spoons!

A flattened spoon, a few rivets, bits of leather and wow!

We added two snaps so you can adjust the cuff to fit your wrist.
These will be available to purchase soon!

Rethink, re-purpose, re-style....

vintage jewelry for the bride & her party...

2010-08-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day! Our first Bridal Bazaar! We've covered the dress form with sheet music, painted cinderella's coach chippy white, made t-shirts (with a minor spelling error!) and made lots of vintage jewelry for the brides of San Diego! Take a peek...

vintage spoons with restyled earrings and buttons

a link from a belt & a button make a fabulous bracelet

buttons & earrings make blingy bracelets & cocktail rings!

We are very near the wedding cakes! They look just like Cake Boss or DC Cupcakes and we get to sample them all! Can't wait.

Getting Ready for the Bridal Bazaar...

2010-07-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

Lizzy B and I took some photos for our upcoming day at The Bridal Bazaar in San Diego. It was quite an eye opener to see my teenager put on a wedding dress to model for me!

Vintage floral curtain tiebacks

These bracelets are made from vintage dictionaries!

I am working on a custom boutonniere for a groom, I'll post the picture as soon as he picks his favorite piece!

What happens to the rest of the typewriter?

2010-07-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

Someone just asked me what happens to the "rest" of the typewriter after we remove the keys...

it ends up in our garden of course!

Wedding Accents

2010-07-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

Can't you see these on a handsome guy in a tux? These custom cufflinks were made from vintage typewriter keys! The B's are for two brothers and the vintage maps are for a special Mercato customer! More cufflinks will be available by special request and at the upcoming Bridal Bazaar in August.

Happy Father's Day...

2010-06-20T07:31:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of my dad from the 1930's, I made the photo into a belt buckle and added a few vintage rhinestones. He's no longer with us but I'm glad I have this wonderful piece to remember him by!

Happy Father's Day to my dad, husband, brothers and all of the wonderful dads in our lives!

Take dad on a tour...

2010-06-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

Visit funky South Park with dad! You can tour the homes, shop, have lunch and grab a latte at Grant's Market! Then, stop by my booth to see our new line of vintage mosaic tile jewelry and floral curtain tieback necklaces!

Mermaid's Mercantile

2010-05-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! Lisa, Tricia, Rita and Christie were all at Glitterfest on Saturday and then some of us continued the fun at The Mermaid's Mercantile on Saturday. Here are a few photos:

My spoons made into stamped circles Vintage Bling 4 U

Vintage Bliss

See you gals in June!

Brimfield!

2010-05-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

We left at 6:30am (I was still on CA time, 3:30am!)

The car was empty when we started!

The first stop was my brother's booth in May's Field. He showed me a copy of Antique Toy World which had a tribute to my dad and 2 friends who have recently passed away. In the day, they were a big deal at Brimfield!

It took 2 hours to find my first typewriter! By the end of the day we had 4! I also found out what Santa does in his off months!

Score! We spent hours digging through piles of silverware. Liz quickly learned you can get a nasty wound from a fork!

We had a great day at Brimfield and are planning our next trip. (oh, as we were leaving for the day, trying to pull our wagon full of silverware, typewriters, Fiestaware and the pair of antique skis, my sister in law scored 6 diningroom chairs and she won! She spent more than me!)

Mermaid's Mercantile giveaway...

2010-05-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Join us on May 23rd for The Mermaid's Mercantile in Solana Beach. It is a magical market with over 20 artisans. If you go to the Mermaid's site you will see that many of us will have special giveaways during this month's show! I will be giving away a vintage typewriter key necklace with 'XO' on a sterling 18 inch chain. Simply leave a comment below or on my facebook page and on The Mermaid's Mercantile site letting me know that you will be joining us at the mercantile. The winner may pick-up the necklace at The Mermaid's Mercantile on Sunday, May 23rd. Just stop by my booth and introduce yourself!

For those of you who can't make it to the marketplace, a second name will be drawn!

Good luck and see you on May 23rd at The Mermaid's Mercantile!

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

2010-05-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

My bags are packed and I'm off to...

The Brimfield Antique Show! This is one of the largest and best known shows in the country. I haven't been since I was little when my parents used to set up at Mays Field. Now my brother has taken over the tradition and is there 3 times a year selling antique toys.

I only have one day to shop but hope to find wagons full of vintage treasures! I'll post photos as we walk the thousands of booths. I can't wait!

Mom

2010-05-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

This is my mom at Hampton Beach, N.H. probably in the late 1950's. I think my brother, Julio, is the little blondie! I love her bathing suit and towel on her head. In honor of Mother's Day, I made her photo into a belt buckle for me to cherish:

I added a note of vintage rhinestones, sealed everything with an epoxy coating and I love the way it turned out!( you'll have to wait until Father's Day to see my dad's photo!)

If you'd like to order a belt buckle from your own photos, send me an email gina@lizzybees.com

These make awesome graduation, birthday, anniversary or any day gifts!

So exciting!

2010-04-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to have some of my sterling spoon necklaces featured on Jenny Doh's site crescendoh! Just click on the 'shop' button-just in time for Mother's Day! Jenny's site is full of wonderful art as well as inspiring stories-check it out today!

a little thank you goes a long way...

2010-04-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

My neighbor's daughter dropped off a handwritten thank you note the other day...

I knew her mom was having a particularly trying week so I decided to make her this...

I used the original thank you note, vintage french book pages and a vintage chandelier crystals. I hope I made her day a tad brighter...

Then I went back to Poofy...

How my garden grows...

2010-04-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

I took a quick walk around my yard today. The last rains have made everything so colorful!

April Events

2010-04-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, join us in Ocean Beach as Rachel Ashwell comes to Vignettes Antiques! It will be an afternoon to remember! Rachel and her associates are flying in to talk about her Interior Design services which are now available to you.The French champagne and Petit fours will be just the treat for this wonderful event!

On April 24, I will be at The Point Loma Garden Walk from 9 am to 4 pm. Besides beatiful gardens, you will find a variety of vendors with vintage jewelry, pottery, artwork and other garden tresaures.

Meet Poofy

2010-03-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

My friend Jovi sent me a photo of her dog, Poofy, and we made this beautiful watch pendant. I pick up the old watches at flea markets and estate sales. Many times the seller has a wonderful story of their grandparents and how they remember seeing them wear the watches.

If you have old watches, or a photo you'd like to put in a watch, please come and see us at the La Mesa Antique Show this Sunday.

Spring is here...

2010-03-23T06:18:00.000-07:00

Nothing says Spring more than the sounds of birds in the trees. They just signal that my flowers will soon be blooming and I better start planting my vegetable garden (although it's much easier to buy fabulous produce at The Mercato in Little Italy).

We had a great time last weekend at The Chateau de Fleurs Marketplace in Fallbrook. This Sunday we will be at The La Mesa Antique Show from 9:00 to 4:00-they don't have a website but feel free to email me for more information. April will be busy with The Mercato, The Point Loma Garden Walk and new this year...The Olivenhain Grove Sale...all of these events will have wonderful vendors!

I almost forgot! Rachel Ashwell will be at Vignettes Antiques in Ocean Beach on April 10!!! Definitely an event NOT to miss!

Chateau de Fleurs Marketplace

2010-03-06T06:01:00.000-08:00

Join me on Friday, March 19 in Fallbrook for this wonderful new marketplace. You will find wonderful vintage treasures from your favorite artists!

A perfect gift for Mom...

2010-03-05T08:19:00.000-08:00

These are my cute nieces on the East Coast. I embellished their black & white photo with vintage rhinestones and applied a protective coating. Their initials were then stamped on a round 'tag'. All pieces were made from spoons! This would make an adorable Mother's Day gift for that special mom in your life!

Email me for ordering details.

Look what My Mom sent...

2010-02-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

My mom is 82 and still goes to the Country Auction every Saturday night. She lives in a small town in New Hampshire and drives through rain, sleet and snow to find the perfect treasure. Now, she has a list from me each week of what to bid on. Some day, we will drive to NH and Indiana to pick-up all of my treasures stored in relatives garages but that is another story...

A battered box arrived this morning (she uses whatever box and packing material she has-very funny sometimes!), and I couldn't believe what she bought for me last week. She says there is another box on its way with even better treasures in it....

These Tea pots are unbelievable! One appears to have a cross on the top of the lid. I'm not sure if I'll be able to part with these....

This little fish sits on a rectangular lid, not sure if there is a bottom coming but I love this little fish! My mom has no idea why I get so excited about silver-plate but to me it's romantic and gets my creative mind working overtime! (I can tell you that the postage was more than she paid for the entire lot of pieces). Oh, my mom...as I said she is 82, has been an antique dealer most of her life, still restores antique dolls and drives anywhere in New England for a good auction. When I was little, they would pull me out of school for a week to set up at Brimfield! She had no idea what an impact she was making on my future...

Thanks mom!

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for entering my vintage Spoon Heart giveaway. The response was awesome!!!! The winner is Dana from Tutu Monkey!!!! Congratulations Dana. Keep watching-we'll have a cool giveaway next month and maybe you'll win!

Look what my husband had for me this morning sitting next to the coffee maker with a Red Velvet Cupcake from Daily Scoop (the best red velvet cupcakes in San Diego)...

Yes, it was a spoon! Now it's an unbelievable 3 dimensional heart! He's been busy in his shop these days and now I know why. He wanted to show me how he made it and the craftmanship is so simple and pure-no fancy machines, he used wood, a hammer and a long tool thing to pound the shape. Just from the heart. Wow.

Ok, don't forget, I'll be at Vignettes today from 11:00-5:00pm. I will be hand lettering knives and spoons for a short time. Come early-I'm demonstarting first so I won't be nervous all day!

The place to be on Valentine's Day...

2010-02-04T19:05:00.000-08:00

On February 14, grab your friends and join me at Vignettes for a soiree to remember...

The festivities are from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Join us for edible art, pink champagne, amour and so much more! All we need is vous!

4828 Newport Avenue

San Diego, 92107

619-222-9244

Valentine's Day Giveaway

2010-01-26T17:00:00.000-08:00

Love is in the air!

To celebrate Valentine's Day, I'm having a special giveaway!

My husband makes these hearts from vintage spoons! Each spoon is hand pounded, cut and then sanded into a beautiful unique heart! They are incredibly time consuming but so beautiful! Everyone is so surprised when they find out the heart was from a spoon! I put the smaller one on a short sterling chain and the other two on chunkier gun metal chains. One lucky person will win a vintage spoon heart necklace! If you'd like to enter the giveaway here is the scoop:

You will get one "entry" for each one of the following that you do:

1. Post a link on your blog mentioning this contest.

2. Become a follower of my blog.

3. Post a comment below.

4. send me an email

The drawing will be on Sunday, February 14.

Good luck!

(If you have an old spoon that you'd like me to make into a heart, email me for details!)

Little Italy Mercato week 3

2010-01-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was another beautiful day at the Mercato! Of course we started with a latte from Joe's on the Nose and then went right over to Loic Patisserie for this awesome fruit tart.It had fresh strawberries and blackberries along with a rich pastry cream and fresh whipped cream-yum!

After a couple of hours of selling and meeting lots of dogs on their way to the dog park, it was time for lunch. We decided to try the gourmet tamales. Mine had feta, spinach, corn and tomatillos-pretty good. They were from Gourmet Tamales of Carlsbad. I generally don't eat tamales but the combination of feta and spinach was perfect-spanikopita anyone?

Before packing up we needed to decide on dinner. We knew we had to pick something other than pasta. As I was walking through the crowd I spotted a new booth with deep dish pizza! My husband loves Giordanos in Chicago and I knew he'd have to try this! We brought home a par-baked pepperoni pizza and 20 minutes later had a great dinner. It was definitely as good as Giordanos' take-home version. I can't wait to try their spinach & mushroom next time. The pizza is available at the Mercato and for delivery ONLY from

Berkeley Pizza .

We're taking next week off from The Mercato but hope to see you there on Saturday, January 30!

Are you ready for some football?

2010-01-18T16:47:00.000-08:00

Buddy was all set for the Charger game yesterday but,the San Diego Chargers were not destined to go to the Superbowl. Maybe next year!

Little Italy Mercato week 2

2010-01-09T19:51:00.000-08:00

It's week 2 at The Little Italy Mercato and I designed some new Dog jewelry in honor of all of the dogs that come to the market each week. Each pendant is a vintage chandelier crystal with an image from a vintage dictionary glazed onto the back. The piece is wire wrapped and finished with swarovski crystals. The vintage images are truly unique. Unfortunately, all breeds are not available.

It's very early at The Mercato as we wait for Joe's on The Nose to open. Our lattes are artfully decorated with a foamy milk heart. We take our lattes and head over to Loic Patisserie for blueberry scones. (We really want to try a new pastry booth this week but they are the only one open as we are setting up!). After a busy day of selling, my husband tries the Pad Thai at Saranya & The Black Thai. It was good but I went for the Eggplant Parmesean from....sorry, the photo didn't come out!

The eggplant was perfect, just enough breading, light fresh tomato sauce and a small hunk of bread. Yum! Ok, the pasta my husband picked out to take home this week? Lemon Basil linguine! I think we've had lemon basil something for 3 weeks now, we need a new flavor. But-it was excellent with their sundried tomato pesto-I could eat the pesto alone with a loaf of bread :)

Hope to see you next week at The Mercato!

Little Italy Mercato

2010-01-08T19:32:00.001-08:00

Don't you just love Farmer's markets? Last weekend I set up at the Little Italy Mercato on Date Street. The food and scenery were unbelievable. Only in San Diego can you be outside in short sleeves on January 2nd, facing the bay,eating scones and drinking lattes. I'll be there each weekend and will share with you the exciting foods we eat each week, sort of Julie & Julia meet The Mercato!

Our first stop while setting up was Joe's on The Nose for a vanilla latte. Perfect! There was even a design on the foamed milk! To go with the latte, we headed over to Loic Patisserie for a chocolate croissant and raspberry scone, dee-lish!

I couldn't figure out why there were so many dogs at the market until I realized there was a dog park right behind us. And...between me and the dog park there were Bocce Ball courts! There were 5 elderly gentleman playing bocce ball and speaking in Italian. They made me laugh and think of my dad who grew up on the streets of New York. My grandfather was a fruit peddlar and my dad had the task of "bouncing" the melons on the sidewalk so they would seem ripe (I hope he was kidding).

My husband bought lemon basil angel hair pasta to take home to cook and it was the best (I'll have the name of the vendor for you next week!). There is nothing like fresh pasta! We are committed to try a new pasta each Saturday. I can't wait to try a new flavor this weekend!

Fabulous flowers

Stunning view of the bay...

So,...if you are looking for a Saturday Farmer's Market, meet me at The Mercato in Little Italy.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-20T05:57:00.001-08:00

I wish all of you much Joy this week with your families...

I hope Santa brings everything you wished for...

May Peace surround you this holiday season...

Best Friends Animal Society Holiday Home Tour

2009-12-12T07:43:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all those who came out to support the Best Friends Animal Society Holiday Home Tour. Even though it was overcast and chilly, we had a great time shopping in the marketplace!

Porcelain pocket watch faces have been mixed with vintage sheet music to make these beautiful ornaments.

Men's vintage watches are now Christmas baubles.

I have one more show this week at Sharp Hospital and then it's time to concentrate on all of the Christmas orders!

Enjoy the time...

2009-11-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

I've had these pocket watches for quite a while and decided to make them into Christmas ornaments. Vintage Christmas seals and black & white silhouettes were added to catch the Christmas spirit. They will be available at this Saturday's Holiday Home Tour in Point Loma.

Vintage Wreaths

2009-11-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

My friend Kelly & I are making these beautiful wreaths out of vintage glass ornaments.I have been buying glass ornaments for years and now they have found their special place to be displayed. Each wreath takes on a special personality of it's own. This pink one is the best so far!

Find The Cure

2009-11-03T05:50:00.000-08:00

My friend, Gina, will be walking in the Breast Cancer 3-Day in a few weeks. I designed a necklace for her and others to wear. When I wear mine, it makes me think of others who have passed in my life, my nephew Michael died of SIDS and my dad died from Pulmonary Fibrosis. May they find cures for all of these sicknesses.

The vintage spoons are hand pounded and hand stamped. They are $24 and 20% will be donated to my friend Gina for Breast Cancer Research. An Additional 20% of the purchase price will go to The Concord N.H. Hospital, in honor of my nephew Michael. They will be available for purchase at The Cornerstore and Vignettes Antiques. If you would like to order one, please send me an email.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T08:59:00.001-07:00

These are my kids many years ago. Time passes quickly, enjoy the day with your families!

Thank you to our judge

2009-10-22T05:14:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Karen, for choosing our winning spoon phrase! Here is a small token of my appreciation for all of your support and encouragement (and playing with Buddy).

We also had a shop winner...

2009-10-22T05:12:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, Sheila! I love your Tattered Goods

The winner of my October Contest is...

2009-10-22T05:11:00.000-07:00

'Serenity' submitted by Sandra from Under The Sun with Me

Thank you to everyone who submitted phrases!

I appologize for the delay in posting. My computer crashed and it has taken my sweet husband almost a week to get me back to blog land!

October Contest

2009-09-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

I've been stamping phrases on spoons and I need a little inspiration. I've done "Blessings", "You had me at hello...", "Live your life with Grace" ...now I need a few more. Send me a phrase or quote that inspires you, not too long as I'm hand stamping each letter! French sayings would be great too! I'll have my neighbor pick the one she likes the most and if your phrase is chosen, I'll send you a hand pounded and hand stamped spoon necklace!

Just post your idea in the comments section. The contest ends October 15 and I will post the winning phrase stamped on a vintage spoon! As an added bonus, if you refer to my contest on your blog, I'll enter your name into a drawing for a spoon stamped with your store's name on it. How cute would it be to wear a necklace with "The Attic Girls" or "The Cornerstore" stamped on it? The drawing for a "store" spoon will be October 16. Thank you and good luck!

Happy Birthday!

2009-09-25T07:08:00.001-07:00

Cordelia from Cottage Antiques asked me to make a special necklace for her friend Deb's birthday today. Cordelia helped to provide charms to make this truly a piece to be treasured.

La Mesa Craft Show

2009-09-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

Scaredy cats!

eek! A spider!

Saturday, September 12 come to the Fall Home Decor, Gift & Craft Show at the La Mesa Community Center in La Mesa, California. My friends Coli and Julie have the most awesome Halloween folk art. Julie's wooden signs feature vintage cats, and pumpkins . I bought several of her hand embroidered kitchen towels all adorned with vintage witches, pumpkins and crows. Coli made the wonderful velvet witch hat and stuffed hand with a spider on top of glass candlesticks. I will definitely use them in my display at Glitterfest!

Coli & Julie have their own show, An Alpine Christmas, November 5-8. More details to come!

Watch this!

2009-08-25T07:16:00.001-07:00

I'm always looking for new things to do with my vintage watches. This is a pocket watch with vintage paper and a fleur de lis charm then finished with epoxy resin. The Eiffel tower and swarovski crystal make it a fun piece with lots of movement.

This watch and others like it are featured at Vignettes Antiques in Ocean Beach. Don't forget their anniversary soiree on September 19th!

By the water's edge...

2009-08-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

While travelling in Massachusetts and earlier to Andros, Greece, we spent many lazy afternoons collecting seaglass or mermaid's tears by the water's edge...

The seaglass makes a perfect edition to my re-purposed jewelry. The glass has stories to tell of sailing in the ocean waves to distant lands. White, green and brown are common colors, while blue and purple are treasures to be found.

These pendants are made from tiny pieces of seaglass, too small to drill. My other creations will include earrings, bracelets and a belt buckle or two. I'll see where the creative spirit takes me! These pieces will be available for purchase later this week.

A Special Vintage Belt Buckle

2009-08-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

Gina created this beautiful belt buckle for my friend Lara's birthday from antique rhinestone jewelry. All I told Gina was that Lara loved the belt that she made for me and that Lara's favorite color is dill pickle green and look at the gorgeous gift Gina created for my good friend. I can't wait to see Lara wearing it! --Liz (Gina's sister in law)

Jewelry Design Contest

2009-07-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Rhode Island last night and was treated to a gorgeous sunset on The Narraganset Bay as well as a delicious lobster roll and a sparkling glass of Sakonnet, a Rhode Island Chardonnay-I'm in heaven! Too bad my husband didn't make the trip! We will be spending time with friends and family as well as antiquing my way up through the coast of Maine. I can't wait for the hunt to begin! On Saturday my kids, my 82 year old mom and I will go out on a lobster boat. Hopefully, we will catch something to photo!

While I'm here, I decided to enter my first jewelry design contest! I may not win but it is a good exercise in stretching my comfort zone! The contest is put on by House of Gems-you may want to join me!

Here is the scoop:

Featured Artist Sweepstakes
Looking for a Few Good Featured Artists:Do you do a happy dance when you come across a gemstone you don't already own?Do you find that every conversation you have comes back to your latest jewelry project?Do you love to help other people on their projects by giving tips or showing them step-by-step how to do things?

If you answered to yes to any of these questions, we may have the perfect opportunity for you.

If you answered yes to all three, then consider this destiny.

House of Gems is looking for Featured Artists to spotlight and promote on our website. In addition to the opportunity to present yourself as an artist, you will also generate traffic to your personal blog, Etsy store or social media profile. Artists may also be given opportunities to test new products, receive additional discounts and be the first to be informed of new releases.Grand Prize (1):$1000 Shopping Spree on HouseofGems.comRunners Up (1):$500 Shopping Spree on HouseofGems.comConsolation Prize (5)$100 Shopping Spree on HouseofGems.com

Timeline:Contest runs July 18th, 2009 thru August 15th, 2009Submissions:Contestants to upload a maximum of 5 original jewelry designs to the House of Gems Flickr "Featured Artists" group http://www.flickr.com/groups/featuredartists/. Any and all design types and styles are welcome.

Good Luck!

Where I Create

2009-07-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Karen, from My Desert Cot tage is having a blogging party today! She's asked everyone to share their "creative space" with fellow bloggers. What a great idea-a true spin off from Where Women Create magazine. Check out Karen's blog and all of the wonderful creative spaces we have!
This is my cottage where I create all of my pieces of jewelry. It has a game room for the kids, a ham radio room for my husband and a shop downstairs to cut and grind silverware. How cool is this?

This is my printers chest, full of wonderful little vintage keys,optical lens, charms and more!

My desk is always covered in projects and usually a cat sleeping in the middle of everything!

This is our lab Buddy, who is always at my side while I create. He occasionally brings one or five tennis balls for me to throw! This white chest of drawers was built by a local man. He took a chain saw and cut apart a desk, stacked the two sides of drawers on top of each other and added legs. It's very cool! It even has the pull out ledge to write letters on in the middle!

Below my space is our workshop. It's filled with saws, a drill press, grinders and tools galore to cut and shape my spoons. My husband and son cut the silverware and grind them smooth! Oh, the wires? For the ham radio nut in our life! My neighbors are always asking about the wires...this posting of Where I Create has inspired him to start his own blog...Where I Ham

Thank you, Karen, for this wonderful opportunity to share our spaces! After viewing everyone's blogs, I can't wait to go and create!

Where Bloggers Create

2009-07-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

Join me tomorrow for a wonderful look into the creative spaces of fantastic artists from across the country!

Save the Date!

2009-07-23T06:59:00.000-07:00

Parlez vous "Over the Top"?

Le Grande Fete

like no other!

Please join us for Vignettes 14th anniversary Soiree!

Saturday, September 19, noon to 5:00pm

Featuring a

Vintage Couture Trunk Show

and what about the Bon Bon bar???

Vintage Spoon Necklace

2009-07-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

A vintage silver-plate spoon looks beautiful with a sterling peace sign and blue stone. The engraved M makes it perfect for my friend Marilyn (I'm seeing a trend here). My sister in law Liz, just brought me a bunch of fresh vintage silverware from Massachusetts. I can't wait to start working!

Vintage Spoon Pendant

2009-07-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite spoon patterns-very California with the citrus design. Christine put her pendant on a leather cord-it goes great with a tee and jeans!

Vintage Butter Knives

2009-07-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

I stamped Matt & Kim on this vintage butter knife for Kandi at The Attic. These knives make wonderful hostess and wedding gifts!

Typewriter Key Necklaces

2009-06-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

These are 2 vintage typewriter key necklaces that I made for my friend Marilyn. Both are on sterling chains and one has the sweetest sterling heart attached. We buy vintage typewriters at flea markets and estate sales and spend hours grinding, cleaning and polishing the keys to make them into wonderful necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

Great Gift Ideas!

2009-06-25T02:43:00.000-07:00

Hi I'm Liz, Gina's sister in law, and I wanted you to see two of the great antique silver spoon bracelets that Gina made for us to give to my childrens' teachers and dance instructor for their end of the year gifts, which they all told me they love!

Here is the next gift I am giving to a good friend of mine for her 40th birthday.

These belt buckles are made out of antique pins and come in many different colors. My friend just happens to like dill pickle green, so shhh don't tell her but her birthday present is almost ready!

See something you like and don't live in California? Email Gina directly by clicking on the following link Email Gina and I am sure she can work with you by email and/or phone and ship it right to you.

2009-06-18T08:18:00.001-07:00

This is my new necklace made from vintage chandelier crystals, vintage pearls and a silver chain. The letter 'B' has been glazed onto the back of the crystal for a truly unique look. These necklaces are available at Vignettes in Ocean Beach and The Cornerstore in
El Cajon, California.

Chandelier Crystal Necklace

2009-06-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Cornonado Market in The Garden

2009-05-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

Please join us for a wonderful afternoon of shopping at the Market in the Garden. Some of the most talented women I know will be available to show their latest creations! This wonderful event is to benefit Jane Pollock's charity, Art Takes a Village. This beautiful beach front home will be the setting for a day filled with shopping and creative bliss!
1:30 pm to 6:00 pm
1110 Coronado Ave.
Coronado, CA 92118

Vintage Watch Jewelry

2009-05-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

Here’s my newest creation:

The pendant is a vintage watch with the photograph of my friend Marilyn and her sister Barb, many Easter's ago. She was going to give it to her sister but ended up keeping it for herself-Barb will get the next edition! We enhanced the bunnies to make them appear pink and hung the original watch face as a charm..

2009-05-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

Thank you to my wonderful sister-in-law, Liz, for getting my blog started! It's been a coast to coast exchange and a labor of love.

We will be in Mesa Arizona!

2009-05-02T17:23:00.001-07:00

Thanks for checking out my new blog! Please come and see my new designs at The Bohemian Bliss Soiree - Friday, May 15th, 7-10PM & The Vagabond Vintage Market - Saturday, May 16th, 7am- noon

http://bohemianblissmarket.blogspot.com/