Swell plans

Hello again, my dear friends,

How the devil are you? How quickly time is passing these days! I still can't quite believe that it's March already.

The good news is I've got some exciting events coming up. Some of you may have heard about The Affordable Vintage Fair that is due to come to London on 4th April. The Queens of Vintage will have a table there, and they have been kind enough to offer me some space to exhibit a few of my pieces! They really are such lovely ladies. So if you happen to be in London that day, why not pop in and see us? Who knows - you may even find some vintage bargains too!

The bad news is that sometimes it feels like there aren't enough hours in the day, especially as I have a full-time day job...but I'm sure if I keep focused, I'll be fine. Here is one of the pieces that will be for sale at The Affordable Vintage Fair:



This necklace is made from a vintage brooch, adorned with a vintage faux pearl and hung on vintage chain. I love the colour of the stone in the centre, and because it's so clear the pink will adjust slightly to whatever is worn underneath it. It's nice and shiny too - perfect for any vintage magpies out there!

Also, I wrote another article for The Queens of Vintage - this time about some rather gorgeous and unique vintage brooches available online. If you have the time and would be so kind as to read it, I would be most grateful for any feedback that you may have. You can find it here.

So what have you been up to over this beautifully sunny weekend? I don't know about you, but I'm so happy spring is finally here.

Thanks for reading my little blog - it really does mean a lot!

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 times

Hello there!

It's been a while, hasn't it! How are you? I'm good thanks, finally feeling like I'm getting back on top of things. I've been a bit slack recently. Tut tut.

SO - what's been going on? Well, since finishing my Poirot DVD box set (best 11 days of my life), I've actually left the house a fair bit, which is pretty unusual for me.

I was accepted onto a 'Creative Industries' programme, an initiative run by Flying Start and the NCGE. They invited 33 students and recent graduates who wish to pursue freelance or business activity in any art and design related concept to Bournemouth for three-days of workshops and mentoring. It was a very intensive three-days in a hotel by the sea, but totally worth it, as I've learnt a lot. Hopefully I now have the knowledge necessary to take my jewellery stuff a bit further! Not only that, but they paid for EVERYTHING - the hotel, all of our food, the tutoring...if you're a UK student/graduate, I highly recommend you have a look at the Flying Start website.

Not only did I learn a lot, but I also met some very lovely, supportive and talented people! Hopefully I will have a chance to work with some of them in the future, as they all have something so individual and brilliant to offer. I'll let you know!

Due to my travels and general exhaustion, I've been a bit rubbish about making new stuff, but I finally managed a few new pieces today. Here are a couple:



Pure fan-tasy! See what I did there? This necklace is made from a very ornate vintage broach, hung on vintage brass chain and adorned with a vintage pearl. I debated adding more to this, but I think the fan itself is a fan-tastic centre piece. And an excuse for terrible, terrible puns.



The water of life! I am a non-drinker, but in my youth gin was my tipple of choice. This necklace is made from a vintage 'gin' decanter label, hung on vintage chain and adorned with vintage faux pearls. An ideal choice of any fan of gin, or if it happens to be your name!

Both of these necklaces are for sale on my etsy shop, http://swellvintage.etsy.com, along with many of my other designs. If you get bored, why not stop by and have a browse? Also, as always I welcome your feedback, please! It was recently suggested to me by Jody of Couture Allure that I should post measurements of my necklaces, and I think that's a great idea! I'll be doing that this very week.

Thank you for reading. You are rather lovely.

Where did the weekend go?!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell selling - UPDATED!

...well, hopefully anyway!

Yes, today I've FINALLY put my jewellery for sale on etsy! To browse the Swell Vintage etsy shop, visit .

It's definitely been a long time coming, so fingers crossed the lovely people of etsy like what I do! I also put two of my newest pieces on there today, and I'd love to know what you think:



This necklace is very unusual! Made from a vintage broach, I've added a touch of vintage faux pearl and hung it on vintage brass chain.




This necklace is rather lovely - I just wish I could capture it better in photographs! It's made from an antique drawer pull, hung on vintage brass chain and is adorned with vintage faux pearl.

So, what do you think, my lovely lovelies? I'd love to hear from you, as always!

Also, a very sweet lady named ZoeDuthie has blogged about me! Go and have a little look at her blog - her project sounds fascinating! http://zoeduthiejewelleryproject.blogspot.com

Not only that, but my dear friend Amy of the Wonderland Boutique has written about me in her blog too! You can read that here. I highly recommend that you check out her etsy shop, http://wonderlandboutique.etsy.com, where she sells gorgeous vintage-inspired clutches, totes and purses! Amy has been so so kind and supportive since I joined etsy. It's also nice to meet someone who loves vintage as much as me!

Is it freezing cold where you are? It certainly is in the UK!

Hope all is well with you, and that you're having a lovely weekend!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell resolve

Happy New Year, one and all! I hope you had a magical evening. I started the new year as I mean to go on - making jewellery!

2009, eh? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited about it. I have some plans coming up that could potentially lead to great things, so fingers crossed! I also have a few resolutions that I do hope to stick to:

• Get all of my jewellery items up on my Swell Vintage etsy shop, and hopefully achieve reasonable sales!
  
• Visit Edinburgh again and pop in to see my jewellery in Trinket. I love that city more than I can say...
  
• Get the Swell Vintage website up and running (hopefully by end of January/early February)
  
• Invest in a sewing machine
  
• Start saving(!!!)
  
  

I think that'll do for now...

So as mentioned above, I made some new jewellery last night. Following the lovely feedback I had on my menagerie, I hunted out more vintage animals:




La petite grenouille! This bracelet is made from a small vintage broach, linked on vintage faux pearl and brass chain. I don't want to toot my own horn (oh ok - toot toot!), but I really like this one. I'm tempted not to put it up for sale, even!





This necklace is made from a vintage broach, hung on vintage silver plated and faux pearl chain. It's bold, but quite charming (well, I think so anyway!).




This one is not for the faint hearted! This necklace is made from a very large vintage broach, hung on vintage brass chain. I've measured it so that it'll hang within the cleavage - sexy stuff! Could you handle it?

So I didn't just make animal themed jewellery last night. Here are some more!



This necklace is made from an antique drawer pull, hung on vintage faux pearl and brass chain. It's very light to wear, and is most unusual!



Fit for a pearly queen! This necklace is made from a vintage broach which has been adorned with a vintage faux pearl and hung on vintage brass and faux pearl chain. It is very shiny and suitable for your inner magpie!

This necklace is made from a vintage pocket watch (which no longer works, unfortunately), hung on vintage brass and faux pearl chain. It really is a beauty.

Well, I think that's enough for one day! What do you think? I'm going to be putting all of these on sale tomorrow, so feedback would be greatly appreciated!

I wish you all a wonderful and prosperous 2009!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell corsages

The second blog post in two days?! You can tell I have some extra time on my hands!

Happy Boxing day, everyone! I hope you're all enjoying some well deserved time off. I myself decided to be a bit more active than I was yesterday following my turkey-induced coma, and had a go at branching out into something a bit different. Well, for me and Swell Vintage at least!

I cut the sleeves off a dress I bought recently (it looked better this way), and ever since I'd been wanting to do something with them.


So today I sat down with my sewing box, and had a go at turning them into corsages. I used a vintage rhinestone broach on one, and on the other a vintage do-dad I'd picked up somewhere along the way. Et voila! (Sorry, I've been watching a LOT of Poirot these past couple of days...):



Now I haven't actually put a back on either of these, but I'm thinking of putting a simple broach clip on the back of each - but what are your thoughts? Do you have any ideas what I could do with these? Most of the lovely people who read my blog are a lot more talented and creative than I am, so any suggestions are welcome!

Also, to show off, my sister got me a really handy stand for my jewellery for Christmas:


Looks much better than the way I was keeping them before - lying on my printer!

What lovely gifts have you received this year?

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell Christmas

Merry Christmas, lovely loves!

I hope you've all had a SWELL day (see what I did there?), filled with food, presents and other such delights.

I've had a brilliantly relaxing one this year, and have been spoiled with amazing presents! My Mum and sister, who are very supportive of my jewellery stuff, got me a new digital camera so that I can finally take some decent photos of my pieces - hooray! I've taken new photos of my silver flower necklace that I couldn't get right with my old camera, so here you go!:



I'm really looking forward to 2009 - if everything goes according to plan, I think it's going to be a gooden. Fingers crossed anyway!

What lovely gifts have you received this year??

I'll hopefully be making some new pieces over the next few days, so keep your eyes lovely and peeled.

Much festive love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell menagerie

Hello hello hello!

So it's the Sunday before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
...except for the animal-themed necklaces I made this weekend!

Wow, that was really bad, wasn't it?

Anyway, I made two necklaces this weekend: one was for a commission, and the other will be on sale at my etsy shop in the new year. Wanna see? Ok!

My dear friend Ruth asked me to make a necklace for her Mum. Ruth has been extremely supportive of all my jewellery-related work, and the only real instruction she gave me for this was, "Make it big enough so she can get it over her head without having to faff around with clasps!" Creatively she's trusted me to do whatever I like, but I did check that she wouldn't mind a spider....so here it is:




It's made from a vintage spider broach, linked on vintage brass chain with pearl. I'm really nervous and hope she likes it! What do you think of it? Honest opinions will be welcomed, please!

This necklace is made from a vintage bird broach that I got in Edinburgh (oh, how I miss that city), linked on vintage silver plated chain. Oh, and what's he got there? A vintage faux pearl in his claw!




I'm quite please with how this one has turned out, but I'd love to hear what you think. Should I make more animal-themed jewellery?

I can't believe it's nearly Christmas already! I can't wait to eat lots of amazing food, watch lots of ridiculous television and have many, many lie-ins. All I want for Christmas is the Poirot DVD box set (yes, I am massively geeky). What have you asked Santa for this year?

Merry Christmas, lovely lovelies!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell plans

So I've finally decided to set a date for when I'll be selling my jewellery online through the Swell Vintage etsy shop: Saturday 3rd January 2009!

I figured there wasn't any point doing it before Christmas, and this way I have time to build up my stock levels. But don't forget, I'm still selling some lovely vintage items there at the moment, so why not have a browse? http://swellvintage.etsy.com!

Speaking of building up stock levels, I made a few items today. Please see the pictures below. I'd love to know what you think!




This necklace is made from a brilliant vintage broach I found whilst in Edinburgh, linked onto two different vintage chains and pearl. It's pretty bold, and I quite like that.




This bracelet is made with a vintage broach, decorated with faux turquoise, and a really nice thick link vintage chain. I added a chunky faux pearl because...I really like pearl!





I really liked this vintage 'shell', and thought I'd add a pearl (for a change) to keep in with the theme. It is hung on a vintage chain, and I think it's even quite pretty from the back!

So there we go! As I've said time and time again, I'd really like to hear what you think of these. I love getting comments, and every message/piece of feedback/idea is read and deeply absorbed!

In other news, I'm so looking forward to Christmas. Time off my day job = more time to do what I love! Hooray! Do you have any nice Christmas plans? Any nice Christmas jewellery/outfits?

Thanks for reading!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x