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Show and Tell Charm Bracelets
By fitzcharming on July 25, 2010  |  Comments 0

Show and Tell Charm Bracelets

Just thought I’d show some pictures of bracelets I have in the works. The photos will enlarge if you double click them.

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Brighton Charms And Beads Are A Popular Designer Costume Jewelry Line
By fitzcharming on July 20, 2010  |  Comments 0

Brighton Charms And Beads Are A Popular Designer Costume Jewelry Line

The Brighton Company was formed in 1991 and began their signature line of fashions by creating high quality leather belts. Brighton jewelry was a natural extension of the brand and the silver pendants, bracelets, and rings are some of the most popular items sold in the hundreds of Brighton stores today.

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July Birthstones – Ruby
By fitzcharming on July 15, 2010  |  Comments 0

July Birthstones – Ruby

For those born in July, your birthstone is a ruby, which is one of the world’s most prized gemstones. A ruby is also given to commemorate a 40th anniversary, and the deep red color represents everlasting love. It is one of the hardest stones with a measure of 9 out of 10 on the Moh’s scale.

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Juicy Couture – Happy Comfy and Gorgeous Jewelry
By fitzcharming on July 10, 2010  |  Comments 0

Juicy Couture – Happy Comfy and Gorgeous Jewelry

Juicy Couture offers a trendy contemporary line of jewelry. Juicy jewelry is sparkly, bright, and all about the bling. It conveys a sense of fun and playfulness about the wearer. The brilliant glass stones, pave crusted surfaces, colorful enamel, and quality plated metal complement each other to make their jewelry creations spectacular.

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Sunshine Polishing Cloth
By fitzcharming on July 06, 2010  |  Comments 1

Sunshine Polishing Cloth Is The Best Jewelry Cleaner

I’ve been using Sunshine polishing cloths for a long time and love them. They are gentle enough to clean the most precious charms but strong enough to get off really tough tarnish and grime. They clean all types of metal but I use them primarily for silver jewelry.

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Vintage Wells Enamel State Map Charms

Vintage Wells Enamel State Map Charms

One of my collections that is in progress is a set of United States map charms made by Wells Sterling. They are various enamel colors on the front and have the state slogan on the back. There isn’t a charm to represent Hawaii or Alaska because they were not states at the time these were made.

Lovely Charms and Charming Dinnerware – A Heavenly Match

Lovely Charms and Charming Dinnerware – A Heavenly Match

Fitzcharming’s first guest blog post – Written by Sally K of Diary of a Dishie. “I’ve never worn much jewelry, but charms have become more tempting since I’ve seen so many beautiful things here on CharmChatter. Dishes are my first love, and I never knew there was such a similar variety and beauty to be found in silver, gold and enameled charms.”

Collecting Vintage Silver and Enamel Travel Shield Charms

Collecting Vintage Silver and Enamel Travel Shield Charms

Vintage souvenir travel shield charms are highly collectible today. Most travel shield charms have enameled pictures of landmarks, animals, flowers, or birds, along with the name of the travel destination on the front. They are quite inexpensive and it’s a great way to get introduced to the world of charm collecting.

My Vintage Enamel Charm Springtime Bracelet

My Vintage Enamel Charm Springtime Bracelet

No fun facts or interesting tid bits on the world of charm collecting today.  Just a photo of my spring time sterling silver and enamel charm bracelet.  This one was inspired by my friend Sandy but of course I didn’t copy her directly.  I did buy the yellow enamel daffodil from her Ruby Lane shop [...]

Bracelet by HA! Designs - Artbyheather

Altered Art Charms – A Growing Fashion Trend

A popular trend in jewelry making is to repurpose small vintage objects into one-of-a-kind charms to accent any accessory. These creations have been given the name “Altered Art” or “Repurposed Jewelry” to describe the genre. It just takes a little imagination to fashion unique jewelry charms tailored to the wearer’s interests out of personal items or miniatures.

Steps To Make Easy Altered Art Charm Bracelets

Steps To Make Easy Altered Art Charm Bracelets

There are as many ways to make altered art charms as there are people who make them. There is no right or wrong in creativity. It’s a process of taking items that are thought to be worthless or worn out and giving them new life as a token on a charm bracelet.

Charms by HA! Designs - Artbyheather

Creative Altered Art Jewelry Techniques

Artistic jewelry has gained a lot of popularity in the past few years. There are some amazing examples for sale on a variety of online marketplaces and individual websites. One of the best places that I’ve found to buy altered art charm bracelets is Etsy, which is a venue created for folks that sell handmade items.

Jewelry Quote of the Month – July 2010

Jewelry Quote of the Month – July 2010

If wisdom and diamonds grew on the same tree we could soon tell how much men loved wisdom. ~ Lemuel K. Washburn, Is The Bible Worth Reading And Other Essays, 1911

Celebrating Jeanette Cates 30 Day Blog Challenge Finale

Celebrating Jeanette Cates 30 Day Blog Challenge Finale

Today is the last day of the blog challenge I participated in for the month of June. I’m proud to say that I kept up and was able to write a blog post each day. Even though the posts only had to be 150 words or more, it was still quite a task for me to come up with a topic each day and research enough to write a concise article.

The Carl Art Jewelry Company of Providence RI

The Carl Art Jewelry Company of Providence RI

The Carl Art company, owned by Carl Schraysshuen, a German immigrant, and American businessman Arthur Loercher, was founded in 1936 in Providence, Rhode Island. Carl had previously been employed by the Speidel Company and is reported to be responsible for creating the twist-o-flex watch band.

Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical P’s

Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical P’s

Parure – This is a matching set of jewelry, usually a brooch, necklace, earrings and a bracelet, but can be even larger. Part of a parure is called a demi or semi parure. Paste – A brilliant cut glass stone which has been made to resemble a genuine gemstone. Patina – this term refers to [...]

What I’m Missing in My Vintage Charm Collection

Yesterday I went through some of my charms and made a list of what I’m in the process of collecting and what I need to complete each theme. And I also decided that I’m going to start collecting Nuvo charms that move. Here’s what I’m missing in my already started collections and these will cost a LOT :-(

Fitzcharming Collects Starbucks Coffee Mugs

Fitzcharming Collects Starbucks Coffee Mugs

Here’s another of a continuing series of articles about my collections (other than vintage charms). I became interested in Starbucks coffee mugs several years ago when I bought a large 18 ounce Christmas mug at an estate sale. It was a blue snowflake mug and I loved it because it was nice and big and had the cutest little snowflake on the inside rim. I knew if there was one, then there were most certainly more so I searched eBay and found 1) a mate so I would have a pair of the same design, and 2) many, many more collectible Starbucks mugs for sale.

Vintage Trifari Coral Blue and Yellow Cabochon Jewelry

Vintage Trifari Coral Blue and Yellow Cabochon Jewelry

Vintage Trifari JewelryI have a small collection of vintage costume jewelry in addition to my charm bracelets. My favorites are plastic jewelry from the mid twentieth century. Featured is one of my Trifari sets. I’m not sure of the name of the collection but these were made in aqua, coral and yellow colors, all coordinated with opalescent white.

Vintage State Heritage Promotional Charm Bracelets

Vintage State Heritage Promotional Charm Bracelets

I’ve written before about promotional vintage Heritage Charm bracelets and at the time I just had a couple of them. Since then I’ve acquired more so I thought I would feature them once again. I’ve included photographs of the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Illinois bracelets that I’ve added to my collection.

Cultured Pearl Treatments

Cultured Pearl Treatments

All cultured pearls are cleaned and polished to enhance the luster before being sold to jewelers. There are additional treatments that are applied to lower quality pearls in order to develop a marketable product. It’s always important to at least ask, and then obtain a guarantee when purchasing pearls, in order to be sure of the investment.

Cultured Pearls and Modern Pearl Farms

Cultured Pearls and Modern Pearl Farms

Almost all of the pearls sold today are cultured pearls grown on pearl farms. The techniques developed and refined over the last century have allowed modern pearl farmers to produce pearls that conform to specific standards. Natural pearls are less than one percent of those available on the market nowadays.

Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical O’s

Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical O’s

Obsidian – Volcanic glass that is usually black.  Obsidian is formed when cools rapidly. Most obsidian is 70 percent silica. Obsidian has a hardness of 5 on the Mohs scale. Onyx – A variety of chalcedony quartz.  Black onyx may be opaque or translucenet and although it does occur naturally in black, it is usually [...]

Cultured Pearls – Birth of the Industry

Cultured Pearls – Birth of the Industry

Pearls have long been a favorite as an embellishment for jewelry and nowadays almost all pearls coming into the market are cultured pearls. Cultured pearls are formed by intentionally inserting a foreign object into a mollusk, typically an oyster, and waiting for the natural process of nacre to build up.

“Antique Sweetheart Jewelry” – A Book Review

“Antique Sweetheart Jewelry” – A Book Review

This book is the second one written by Nicholas D. Snider on the subject of sweetheart jewelry from WW I and WW II. It is a full sized soft cover book published by Schiffer and it includes a price guide in effect as of 1997. With over 200 color photographs of jewelry, compacts, fabric and paper collectibles, the book shows the human side of war via patriotic mementos exchanged by men and women separated by historic events.

Fitzcharming Collects Salt Glaze Pottery

Fitzcharming Collects Salt Glaze Pottery

I fell in love with salt glaze pottery years ago when I lived in North Carolina. There was a store that carried a lot of it, I can’t remember what line, but the beautiful cobalt blue designs on pottery backgrounds caught my fancy right away. I didn’t purchase it at the time because I had four little children and was on a tight budget.

Stanhope Jewelry And How To Care For It

Stanhope Jewelry And How To Care For It

Stanhope ChurchJewelry was a popular theme for Stanhope manufacturers in the 19th and 20th century. Tiny peep photos that one could wear on a neck chain or bracelet entertained people of the era. There were cross pendants and rosaries that held a pinhead sized picture of The Lords Prayer, or Ten Commandments. Churches were also a popular charm Stanhope piece.

Stanhope Lenses – What Are They?

Stanhope Lenses – What Are They?

I frequently get this question from readers and customers. The short answer is that a Stanhope is a tiny peep hole, called a lens, containing a micro photograph and inserted into a novelty souvenir. The photo inside these trinkets is the size of a pinhead and has to be held up to a light and close to one’s eye to view the image.

Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical N’s

Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical N’s

Nacre – The usually whitish crystalline substance which the mollusk secretes around a foreign “intruder” and which forms what we know as the pearl. Layers build up over time. Navette – An oval stone which is pointed at both ends. Near-Colorless – Diamonds with little or no color visible to the naked eye.  Near-colorless diamonds [...]

Summer Travel Sale on CharmCraze-y’s eBay Site

Summer Travel Sale on CharmCraze-y’s eBay Site

Through the end of June I’m offering a 20% discount on all travel related souvenir charms in my eBay store. Summer is here and people are planning their vacations so it seems appropriate to give a discount on charms that commemorate summer trips. Actually I’m trying to clear out some inventory from my eBay store as I’m moving a portion of it over to my Ruby Plaza shop, CharmCrazey Too.

My Vintage Bates and Klinke Charm Collection

My Vintage Bates and Klinke Charm Collection

I’ve been collecting B&K charms for a while now and have finally finished my first bracelet. It’s a very full and busy bracelet because I put a charm on every link. The four main shapes, scallop, round, art deco, and ships wheel, are all mixed together and there’s no real theme or pattern other than they are all Bates & Klinke souvenir travel charms from all over the Unites States.