The Circle...

A few weeks ago I posted on my facebook page that I was looking for brown transferware dishes...both for me and my friend Kim. You see, last year I bought a set of eight plates at a garage sale that had fabulous ships on them. Then, Kim was planning her Thanksgiving table but didn't have appropriate plates...so I offered to loan her mine, and another set I have of brown transferware with turkeys on them. She quickly took me up on the offer. But, poor Kim, she's wanted some brown transferware to call her very own.


Kim's Thanksgiving table, 2011

So, back to the post. My friend Jeannie from The Gilded JunqueYard responded to the post saying she used to do mosaics, but no longer did. She said her basement was full of china and dishes, and would we like to come pick through them? What was that you said Jeannie? Come pick through shelves of dishes? Wait, let me think about that for a minute...ok, sure!

So, yesterday morning Kim and I met at Jeannie's house. Upon greeting me at the door, she said she was cooking up some eggs and would we like some? Sure. Hazelnut coffee? Sure. We had a lovely breakfast with our friend, chatting and finding out more about what brought her to the point she is today...which is a fabulous designer of rockin' jewelry made from vintage finds. That morning her husband inquired about who was coming over. After trying to explain who we were, Jeannie explained that we were "you know, in the 'circle'". The "circle" is the friends who meet through the love of what we do...they are the vintage loving, junk inspired, antiquing, furniture painting, jewelry making, rusty stuff girls. You know, them. Can I just tell you how much I love being in the "circle".

Back to the visit...

"Well, let's go downstairs to the studio", says Jeannie. Now I have to say Kim and I were super excited just to be able to rummage through any dishes...but when we hit the bottom of the stairs in her basement studio, we were like two giddy teenagers...I'm here to tell you, this place rocked!



Jeannie and Kim in the "jewelry" station.

 Jeannie is an artist in every sense of the word. She has done everything from owned a hair salon to being a mosaic artist to faux painting to running a business to her now fabulous jewelry designs. The photo above is the jewelry making station in her studio...yes, I said "station". There was also one for painting, and one for mosaics. I've never seen so many vintage jewelry pieces, brooches, rhinestones and charms in one place at one time! It was a fabulous site. Each work station was a myriad of vintage cupboards with multiple drawers and each drawer filled to capacity with gorgeous trinkets, jewels and glittery fun. Of course there was a chandelier hanging in each station too.

Jewelry station.

After we stopped drooling at the jewelry, we turned around and stumbled into the china shelves and mosaic station...


Broken mosaic pieces--just roses and flowers.



More roses for doing mosaics.



Need a cup handle?

Plate edges.

Fruit and rose pieces.

Mosaic station.



Every jar is filled with broken pieces of gorgeous china!!! And of course it was all organized by color.

More fabulous jewerly beads, pearls, pieces and chains.

Can you stand it?

Yummy!

After much laughing, oohhing and ahhhing, Kim and I narrowed down our piles (yes, piles)...and I came home with these lovely ladies...

I know...they're not brown transferware, they're green. But I couldn't leave them behind.

Thank you to Jeannie for her gracious hospitality...and for having a "circle" and letting us in!