Vintage Jewelry Gift Box Discoveries Amazing

Anyone who loves to research the histories of vintage jewelry, collects, and/or sells pieces, has at one time or other made surprising discoveries in "lots" of jewelry purchased or given.

A friend of mine asked me if I could use "a few clip on earrings." She knew that I loved vintage jewelry and will sell or even repurpose into handmade jewelry. She said she had "some stuff" from her mother-in-law, who passed away years ago.

When she gave me the box, my jaw dropped. The box was huge and the photo above shows some of the items! I was in jewelry heaven!

As I rooted through the items, first looking for jewelry with makers' marks for my GalleriaLindaLoft Vintage Jewelry shop, I discovered quite a bit of sterling Navajo and Hopi jewelry.

Oh my goodness! And, black hills gold.

These photos are just a few pieces.

As I did research on these I decided that I could not keep them due to our friendship and the value. I gave those specific pieces back to my friend with explanation of value in uniqueness, collectibility, and some values I found on the Internet.

She was stunned, but grateful. We boxed up these pieces and she will be saving them as collections for her new baby granddaughter. What a moment that will be when that darling baby girl is of age and receives this box! All of the jewelry is from her great grandmother!

If you love vintage jewelry, please visit GalleriaLindaLoft's Vintage Jewelry shop for beautiful jewelry of years gone by!

Find Treasured Items to be Cherished for Gift Giving

Every where I turn, I see the frantic, urgent  push for Black Friday, Grey Thursday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, Handmade Tuesday, and now….Cyber Week, of all things. Everywhere I turn I am assaulted with flash sales, hourly sales, one discount one day and another discount another day, and bait and switch advertising. It is insane!!

Gift giving traditionally is for fun and the excitement of shared experiences with loved ones and friends. To think of the recipient in such a way as to ponder what they would actually cherish and finding that unique treasure is the real meaning of gift giving. The giving comes from the heart.

GalleriaLinda Contemporary Handmade Beaded Jewelry of Lakeland, Florida, is offering sane shopping at your leisure online, where you can ponder your gifts and select something to be cherished for years to come that no one else will have. It is a reflection of your thoughtfulness.

Examples of unique jewelry are the Pottery Shard Pendant Necklaces by GalleriaLinda. No two are alike and they all have an interesting history - read the history in the jewelry descriptions. 

GalleriaLinda jewelry loves to tell a story that appreciates the loveliness of vintage components, such as antique pottery shards, vintage chains, natural verdi gris brass pendants that are 50-years-old, retro colors and styles of vintage beads, and more. It is the story and history that draws GalleriaLinda to these components.

Designs in the GalleriaLinda shop are one-of-a-kind and a few limited editions that include no more than two alike.

Visit the 

GalleriaLinda Contemporary Handmade Beaded Jewelry Shop.
Quiet. Cozy. Friendly. Variety. Open 24/7.
Go unique this year. Give the gifts made with love.

iCraftGifts.com/GalleriaLinda
30% off all – through Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013

Contemporary Designs Using:

Genuine Unused Vintage Components, Pendants & Beads;

Czech Glass, Gemstone Pendants, Wood, Pottery Shards, and More!

Some Goodies Waiting for You:

Pottery Shard Necklaces

One-of-a-Kind Vintage Pendants

Long Chain Necklaces with Gemstone Pendants

Vintage Earring Components with 50-year-old Patina

Uniquely Designed Earrings

Much more!

Sharing the Love

Do jewelry designers buy from other jewelry designers? Why, yes, I believe they do! Jewelry makers appreciate all types of design aesthetics that are not their own and often have favorite "other" designers. Many buy from each other to "share the love" of jewelry.

I have a designer friend in Canada, who makes gorgeous Indian-inspired ethnic jewelry. We met online through Facebook and have shared fun jewelry-ness ever since. Her jewelry aesthetic is gorgeous, colorful, and special. As a handmade jewelry designer, she also is a great online marketer of her designs.

For Christmas, I treated myself to two of her necklaces that show her versatility! I absolutely love these two necklaces (pictured above) for their uniqueness and materials.

Ahkriti's Handmade Contemporary Ethnic Indian Inspired Jewelry can be found on Etsy and on iCraft.ca.

Oh, did I tell you? She also purchased one of my most contemporary GalleriaLinda Contemporary Handmade Beaded Jewelry designs last year. Sharing the love....

Final Fifty!

At this time of year, most retailers have sales. This helps finalized the year's sales figures and also reduces inventory that would need to be counted for tax purposes.

GalleriaLinda Contemporary Handmade Beaded Jewelry does not run many sales throughout the year, so this opportunity is unprecedented! Never has this gorgeous jewelry been offered at this discount of 50% off. I am excited to do this for YOU! Who knows? Maybe this will become a fun, annual event.

You can take this opportunity to think about upcoming Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. And, sneak in a few awesome earrings and necklaces for yourself!

The two jewelry shops each have unique, one-of-a-kind affordable jewelry and are located at:

Etsy - you must use the code FINALFIFTY2012 at checkout to get your discount. 

iCraft - your sale price will show during the normal checkout process - no code needed.

Have fun! Mingle and browse. Contact me with any questions or chat. I love to "talk jewelry!"

Sale ends January 1, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

GalleriaLinda Handmade Jewelry Designs Featured in Blog

GalleriaLinda was featured in Magpie Gemstones Client Art Blog.
What a great idea to feature jewelry work done from these gorgeous stones sold by Magpie Gemstones. I must say that these stones are just fabulous!

Early 80s Vintage Nativity Scene a Favorite

Sharing my third vintage nativity scene, this one has a vibe all of its own. Made from terracotta and painted in lively trim colors, this was one that I personally purchased in the early 1980s. I just loved the style, colors, and design of this group of figurines.

I display all of these nativity scenes each year! The fourth vintage nativity scene will have to wait to be shared. I could not find the box this year!!

Have a very Merry Christmas and holiday season, from the jewelry store of GalleriaLinda Contemporary Handmade Beaded Jewelry.

Vintage Nativity Scene Brings Warm Memories

This is the second of my four vintage nativity scenes. Previously, I posted my goofy but fun 1970s handmade bread dough nativity scene. Above, is a more polished hand carved nativity scene from 1960.

Made in Brazil, it is carved and smoothed all by hand and made from Jacaranda wood. Jacaranda wood has such a rich, red-chocolate brown color.

When we got this nativity scene in Brazil, my dad added a tiny light bulb in the apex of the ceiling of the stable to represent the light of the star.

Every Christmas, my family would display this wonderful piece of art. Now, years later I continue the tradition and take it out each year to enjoy the warm memories.

As the owner of the GalleriaLinda Contemporary Handmade Beaded Jewelry Store, I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas next week. Hug your loved ones and hold them close.

Vintage Christmas Craftiness

Each year, as I unpack our Christmas goodies, I always love to see what we have. For some reason, there are always fun surprises. I figured out this Christmas that we have four vintage nativity scenes. I never thought of it that way.

I have one hand-carved Jacaranda wood nativity from Brazil from when I was a small girl. Another is a plaster molded handmade one - a gift to my parents. Then there is the painted terra cotta one from the 80s, and this one I am sharing with you today!

Way before my GalleriaLinda Contemporary Handmade Beaded Jewelry venture, I was always trying some sort of crafty thing, along with my mom. We tried everything from knitting to painting to glass swirling and more.

Do any of you remember the crafty bread dough craze of the 1970s? There was a time that I was making more bread dough things than I could use. It was fun and I couldn't stop.

One Christmas, I made gifts of bread dough - I made woven bread baskets and gave to the ladies in my life. Oddly, they loved them and used them for biscuits and rolls for years!

Another Christmas, I was determined to make an ambitious bread dough nativity scene for my new mother-in-law. I first made these figures solid and tried to bake them and quickly found that they were not cooking in the middle. So, mid-process, I took them out of the oven and hollowed them out. Then, to my horror, they started to squish down into little pudgy characters as they were baking!

Recipe for easy bread dough clay. 

Here is the result! Cute, pudgy, figures of the nativity scene. My new mother-in-law was so gracious with this gift. She displayed it every Christmas - at least the Christmas' we were there!

When she passed away, I became the keeper of the bread dough nativity scene. By then they had a few tiny bug bore holes but that does not keep me from displaying it. I laugh every time I unpack it!

It is a true vintage crafty experience I won't forget.

Fun Collection of Winter Green

It is always fun to be included in an Etsy Treasury. This is the second treasury feature for me since I reopened my shop at Etsy in late October.

A lovely Winter Green color theme brings in deep emerald and forest greens in a variety of handmade items.

I was excited to see my Polka Dot vintage bead necklace included! This necklace is so rich in a jewel-tone emerald green and is a fun piece with the unexpected polka dots. The polka dot beads are vintage and very special!

Click to see this GalleriaLinda Contemporary Handmade Beaded Jewelry emerald green polka dot necklace with vintage beads.

Click to see the Etsy Winter Green Treasury collection by Etsy curator ChYMieRa.

It's Terrible, I know

You have no idea how many blog post ideas I get - at 11:00 p.m. after I go to bed. Some, I even write out in my head. They never get written down on a list, or written! It's terrible, I know.

Nurturing a blog is something I must carve out time to do each week. And I don't. It seems that the din of life takes over - kind of like the "squeaky wheel gets the oil" and the blog is not the loudest squeaky wheel.

Blog life for me is an exercise of always starting over. Today is a new day with all its opportunities.

I have many things to tell you and will carve out that time to do so!

In the meantime, here is some earring eye candy - my latest. I found these vintage sleek, minimalist matte silver tone rectangle bars online and thought they were fabulous!