Wedding Season – Matching Jewelry for California Almond Orchard Engagement Photo Shoot

Happy March! Wedding season is upon us, and this year I get to make the jewelry

for my own wedding! I’ve already designed the necklace I will wear, and next items on my list are the jewelry for my sister (maid of honor) and her daughters (flower girls.)

Last weekend we took a drive out into the California valley, and had a mini engagement shoot in an almond orchard. We were a little late in the blooming season – most of the blossoms are at their peak around mid February, but we were able to find one area that still had some pretty white petals.

Of course, I made myself a bracelet and earrings set to match my dress! The bracelet is multi-strand and features beautiful vintage glass, olive and plum freshwater pearls, and large link brass chain, all finishing with an ivory satin tie-up ribbon. I made some petite vintage glass drop earrings to go with it.

The bracelet and earring set..

A close-up with the bracelet, and a different image where you can see it in action!

 

I absolutely had to take a photograph of my beautiful engagement ring (an Edwardian antique) over one of the almond blossoms in the orchard!

Most of the blooms here had already fallen, giving way to the little green leaves, but you can see there were still a few hanging on. The ground was filled with flower petals.. they were dropping right before our eyes!

There were LOTS of honeybees buzzing about. I’m daydreaming about almond blossom honey..Mmm.

This is my favorite time of year – spring is well underway in California!

Map Cuff Bracelet Clearance Sale

They’ve had a good run, but I’m discontinuing my map cuff bracelet line. (This was the first map jewelry item I offered, back in 2009!) I’m holding a clearance sale on this style..the remaining in-stock map cuff bracelets are being offered for just $19, and there’s still some good cities left! (Austin, San Francisco, Richmond, Orlando, etc.) Once they’re gone, that’s it! I might add a new map bracelet line later, but definitely not before the upcoming holidays. Get ’em here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/VictoriaCampDesigns?section_id=5585826

November Raffle

First of all, Happy (almost) Thanksgiving! As much as I love cooking, baking, and ..well, eating!.. I think we’re going to take it easy this holiday. I’ve been working non-stop almost every day of the week and I think we’re going to have something in the form of a crock pot dinner. You don’t really have to twist my arm here – I love pretty much anything that comes out of a crock pot!

‘Tis the season for crazy (er – determined?) Black Friday retail shoppers. Are any of you waiting in line all night to get a deal? I sure am not. I don’t think you could even pay me to go stand outside in the cold all night and then brave the mad rush of shoppers that follows. I much prefer online shopping – you can browse all you want without being pressured to purchase, you can comparison shop and price check from various retailers, and you can do it all in your pajamas! – what’s not to love?

I will, however, be gearing up for Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend in my own store. This involves prepping some designs to get more items ready for shipping on short notice, making sure my shipping area is organized, and getting some extra wrapping materials ready to go, and general running around my work space like a madwoman until everything is 100% completed and ready to make my life easier. (Which it never really is, is it?)

This holiday weekend – November 24th-28th, I’ll be offering free shipping on all orders in my Etsy shop. Additionally, for this last full week of November, all orders placed through either my Etsy shop OR regular website (http://www.victoriacamp.com) will receive a raffle ticket with their package. The winning raffle ticket will receive a FREE custom map key chain (with any city/town of their choosing!) The winning number will be announced on my Facebook page on 12/4/11.

Shipping your purchase directly to your recipient? I can include a gift message with the item, just let me know in the Message to Seller in the checkout screen. Your message will be sent in a small map or dictionary envelope, depending on the item ordered.

Have a great rest of November!

Dictionary Lockets for Fall

I’ve been having a lot of fun lately searching through my dictionary cut-outs for seasonal images. Summer themes included all things nautical (lighthouses, mermaids, jellyfish, etc.) and it’s only right that I started finding images for Fall!

Here’s what I have so far:

Belfry Dictionary Locket Necklace

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78677470/belfry-web-dictionary-locket-necklace

Raven Dictionary Locket Necklace

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78627029/raven-dictionary-illustration-vintage

Spider Web Dictionary Locket Necklace

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78674995/spider-web-dictionary-locket-necklace

Vampire Bat Dictionary Locket Necklace

 http://www.etsy.com/listing/78622315/vampire-bat-dictionary-illustration

 

I still have another belfry and bat on hand (although the images are different) but the subject matter for these is typically one of a kind.

One of the best parts about these (in my opinion) is the size of the locket! They’re vintage “new old” stock, which means they were manufactured over 20 years ago and not previously used for anything else before I obtained them. Sometimes manufacturers over-produce, or go out of business. Their leftover materials/merchandise ends up sitting around in boxes in a warehouse somewhere until they are discovered and brought to life! The signs of wear/aging are an affect from the environment they were previously stored in. I do polish the lockets a little bit to remove some of the grime, but like to leave some of the tarnish.

The downside? There’s a limited supply of vintage lockets in this size, and once they’re gone.. well, they’re gone!