Swell spring

Hello everyone!

How are you? Did you have a lovely Easter holiday?

I spent my Bank Holiday Monday beavering away, making some new pieces that I'd love your feedback on:


Apologies for my terrible photography! This necklace is made from a vintage brooch, tweaked and altered with vintage faux pearls, hung on vintage chain with freshwater pearls. It took a looooong time to link all of those pearls individually on sterling silver wire, although it was a labour of love!

This is one of my simpler necklaces, made from a vintage pendant and hung on vintage chain with freshwater pearls.



This necklace is made from a vintage brooch, mounted on a vintage brass locket and linked with vintage chain and freshwater pearls.


So what do you think? These pieces are part of my collection for Fru & Fröken Kellerman, a wonderful boutique in Stockholm, Sweden. I love to hear your thoughts, so please let me know!

Also, I know have one of those Formspring account thingies. If you don't know already, Formspring allows you to ask questions anonymously (or you can be named - it's up to you). You can ask me anything! Just hop on over to the Swell Vintage Formspring profile page.

Anyway, that's enough for one evening. Have a good week, lovely people!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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Swell Sweden

I've mentioned Fru & Fröken Kellerman in past blog posts, but I think it's time to go into a bit more detail...

The lovely Fanny of Fru & Fröken Kellerman, a new boutique in the stunning city of Stockholm, got in touch a little while back to ask about selling some of my jewellery. Of course, I jumped over the moon and back at the chance - not just because it's a new stockist, but also because I could tell that Fanny and her talented Mother, who are the brains behind Fru & Fröken Kellerman, share my love and passion for vintage and fashion (hey, that rhymes!).

Fru & Fröken Kellerman is a lifestyle shop that stocks a mix of vintage, vintage-inspired goods and new designs, so I have no doubt that Swell Vintage will fit in perfectly. I've already shown you some of the pieces that will be Sweden-bound soon, but here's my latest one:



The Goddess Locket: a locket necklace made from a vintage brass locket and vintage cameo, hung on vintage faux pearl and brass chain.

So what do you think? Do you like it? I want to make my collection for Fru & Fröken Kellerman really special, so any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated!

If you fancy reading more about Fanny and Fru & Fröken Kellerman, you should pop over to her lovely blog. It's full of lovely things, news and gorgeous fashion!

That's all for now, folks!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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Swell doings

I can't believe how quickly the weekends seem to fly by. Sunday already?! Surely not...

...and how was your weekend, my lovely friend? What did you get up to? I've been surprisingly productive, and managed to get a fair bit done.

For example, I finally got round to sewing pin backs onto the corsages I made ages ago:


I'm really pleased with how these have come out, but what do you think? If people like them, I'll definitely look into making more with a variety of vintage fabrics and brooches. I've just ordered myself a little sewing machine, so I can't wait to have a play and expand Swell Vintage into more than just jewellery.

I also made a few new pieces. As always, your feedback will be welcomed and appreciated:



My dear Mother commented, "That's very Anne Boleyn!" when she saw it - perhaps I'm watching too much of "The Tudors" these days? Anyway, this necklace is made from a vintage locket, adorned with a vintage pendant I found in a charity shop and is hung on vintage chain and faux pearl. I've put some of my cheeky floral inside the locket, but that can be removed and replaced with personal photos, or even Henry VIII portraits!


This cuff is made from an antique drawer pull that I have molded to fit around the wrist. It's linked with vintage chain, and adorned with a single vintage faux pearl. It's definitely a striking piece, but it's also comfortable to wear. Not to mention durable!


This necklace is made from vintage chains and vintage faux pearl. I'm really in love with the vintage weave chain that makes up the shorter part of the necklace (is it weird to be in love with chain?!), and I like playing with different textures within pieces. It's one of my more simple pieces, but I quite like it. What do you think?

I think that's enough for now, so I shall stop prattling on. I hope you've had a lovely weekend, and that the week ahead is even better!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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Swell websites

Hello my lovely loves!

How has your week been so far? Mine's been okay thanks. My little London holiday was lots of fun, but unfortunately I was struck down by a rather nasty lurgy on Sunday night (boooo). HOWEVER, I am feeling much much better now, so it is officially all good.

So I've been a little slack on making new items, which is very bad of me because I'm going to be exhibiting at the Handm@de Fair in Winchester on 5th July! Needless to say, I need to get a wriggle on, but I am very excited about it.

Also, the rather lovely Kitty of Vintage Shop of the Day wrote about me and Swell Vintage! I'm feel truly honoured, as I've been a big fan of her blog for a good while now. Fancy reading it? Oh, go on...click here.

I'm really enjoying writing for Queens of Vintage too. They are such a lovely group of ladies - they're so encouraging and allow me lots of creative freedom, which is just brilliant. In fact, I wrote an article about vintage lockets just last week, which you can read right here. I'm still pretty new at writing on specific subjects, so I'd love some feedback if you'd be so kind! What do you think? Is there anything you'd like me to write about it? I am open to suggestion.

I have no new jewellery pictures to show you - sorry about that! Instead, here is a hideous picture of my stupid pale face:


Thanks for reading! I love you! No, really...I do...I hope this hasn't made things awkward between us...

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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Swell silver

Happy Sunday, one and all!

Did you have a lovely weekend?

Mine has been pretty good! I actually have lots to blog about (Look magazine's fashion swap, PLUS I need to complete the personal style questions the wonderful and brilliant Couture Carrie tagged me to do), but I'm going to dedicate this post to the jewellery I made today.

Both of these necklaces share similar parts and have a similar look and feel. They're slightly different to my other pieces, as I wanted to make some necklaces that are really easy to wear and will go with everything. I'd love to know what you think, so your honesty and your words would be greatly appreciated!



Dear Diane...this necklace is made from a vintage sterling silver locket, hung from a vintage do-dad with vintage faux pearl on vintage silver plated chain. Very lightly inscribed is the name 'Diane', and it has space for two photos inside. I like to think it's pretty special!





Shielded...never fear - I'll protect you! This necklace is made from vintage do-dads, hung on vintage chain with vintage faux pearls. It's very ornate, but I like to think it's still simple and wearable. What are your thoughts?

ALSO, I was so so pleased to hear that the brilliant Maria of Style Kingdom loved the necklace she bought from me! She was even kind enough to blog about and it post photos:

The rest of the photos can be seen here. Please take the time to have a look because Maria's blog is brilliant and she is a much better photographer than me!

I really enjoy gift wrapping all of my jewellery. In fact, it's quite worrying how much I enjoy curling ribbon...


Help me?

Thanks for reading. Will you be my valentine?

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell Sunday

Hello again!

Blogging twice in the space of one weekend - wowee!

So I've had a very productive day. Not only did I measure all of my pieces on sale at http://swellvintage.etsy.com following a popular demand, but I also made a few new ones!


Locked up in pearl! This is a locket made from a vintage base locket, adorned with a repurposed vintage pendant and freshwater pearl and hung on vintage chain. I really like working with real pearl, so expect to see more of that in the future!



This is one classy cat - not balls of yarn, but shiny pearls to play with! This necklace is made from a vintage 'leopard' broach, hung on vintage silver tone and faux pearl chain. It's a real statement piece!



The perfumery. This necklace is made from a vintage sterling silver perfume bottle, hung on various vintage chains and adorned with two vintage faux pearls. You could use it to store perfume or even a sneaky shot of something!


Wilma only wishes Fred would buy her a necklace like this! This is definitely my boldest piece so far - made with vintage faux silver pearl chain, it's a real beast. Think you could handle it?



Ruby-red ribbons! This bracelet is made from a vintage broach (kindly donated by the lovely Miss Amy at the Wonderland Boutique), linked with vintage chain. I took out one of the stones and replaced it with a freshwater pearl to give it a little something extra. It's a magpie's dream!

So as always, I've love to know what you think! I really value all comments and feedback, so please don't be shy. I'm always looking to improve. And if you'd like to see more, visit the Swell Vintage etsy shop at http://swellvintage.etsy.com.

I'm very sad Sunday is almost over. I hope you've all had a lovely weekend, and that the week ahead is pretty good too!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell twitterings

So I've gone and jumped on the 'twitter' bandwagon!

I wasn't too sure about it at first, but now I'm hooked. There are so many etsy members on there! Even etsy is on there! It's a great way to get updated about what everyone's up to. If you have twitter, please follow me!:

http://twitter.com/swellvintage

In other news, I think I need to buy this from TheHandofFatima!:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16627817

It's totally stunning and an amazing antique find. She's gone and done it again! I get paid on the 18th, and then (hopefully) it shall be mine.

I think this post needs an image. Here are some passport photos I had taken the other day:


Soon after I had them done, I realised that I didn't actually need them. Good one.

Please come back soon! I'll be working on some new pieces towards the end of the week.

Much love

x

Swell progress

What a productive day I've had!

First of all, I FINALLY managed to win a cheap and decent mannequin body on ebay:

Apologies for the nipple display! This is going to make getting chain length right SO much easier. I've found it tricky measuring it on myself. I'm still in shock at how much of a bargain it was - £3.15! I can't wait to see what my designs look like on her.

Also, I made 2 new necklaces today. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty pleased with them. I think I've just recently found my 'style' as it were, and I'm really enjoying it. A few people have asked to see photos of what I've done so far, and thanks to the lovely Bianca at Just Be Designs, I've finally managed to take some photos that aren't blurry! Hooray! I'm still trying to figure out the best way to position the items, so these photos are literally my first attempts. I will keep practicing, and fingers crossed that I'll manage to get some great shots for my etsy shop. Please please please let me know what you think! Any feedback will be welcomed!

So, here they are:



This is one of the ones that I made today. It used to be a small broach, which I've now mounted onto a vintage locket base. I've used a rather unusual double-link vintage chain that I think brings out the shine of the jewel in the center quite nicely.







I found this tiny perfume bottle in an antique shop in Edinburgh, and it was originally on a pin. Unfortunately the lid was glued shut a while ago, but I still think it's very pretty. I've linked it on some vintage pearl chain (you'll be seeing a LOT of pearl in my work), then used three stands of thin chain to make it look a little less dainty.







'E' is for Elixir - I was so pleased when I found this gorgeous perfume bottle. I threaded through some large jump rings, and linked it half to vintage pearl chain (see, told you!) and half to some vintage dark chain. I added a large pearl to the other side to create a bit of balance. This is one of my longer necklaces. I think it would be too crowded otherwise.







This is another locket of mine. The broach I've used was actually made to sit on it's side, but I think it looks much better in portrait style on this vintage locket. As you can see, once again I've used some vintage pearl chain to link it, as it matches the tiny pearl in the center. The photo quality isn't great for this one, so I've taken a close-up of the locket itself






That's better. I wore this locket to work as a 'test' last week, and received so many compliments on it! I'm really happy with it, and it makes me want to keep making more! I might have a hard time parting with it if someone were to buy it, but I guess I'll cross that bridge if I ever come to it!



So what do you think? Honest opinions please. I'm still very new to this, and am always looking to improve. I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a comment or send me an email with any ideas/thoughts/suggestions that you might have!

In other news, I can't believe it's nearly Monday already! I don't want to go back to work tomorrow, I want to play with shiny things!

Much love,

Frankie

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