Friday, July 13, 2012

Where Bloggers Create 2012

It's time for
Where Bloggers Create 2012!!

Woohooooo!!

We have decided to keep it real this year and show you The Good, The Bad & The Junky in the beautiful mess we claim as our studio!

Everything in here has been either gifted, thrifted or repurposed and there's still alot we'd like like to do but here it is in all it's glory......and we think it's pretty fabulous...or as my friend Sarah says, it's JUNKTASTIC!!

(Btw.....still working off my iphone and I really should have taken these pics during the daylight so lets just pretend these are beautiful, professional quality photographs like everyone else's...ok?!)


 Beautiful Virgin Mary watches over our little space from atop the "paper cabinet". She rests in a sweet vintage train case and is surrounded by an antique church lamp that belonged to my (jenny) grandmama, shed antlers and yellow roses.......we love roses!


If you were to enter the studio through the sliding glass door in my kitchen, which is usually the way we enter, the first thing you will see is this little armoire and the elyptical.....not so attractive, i know, but essential.

The armoire was originally bought for my youngest son's bedroom when he was born as there was no closet in his room at the time. He of course outgrew it, and since then it's been used to hold a tv, stereo equipment, board games and now serves as our "anything paper" cabinet. The drawers mostly hold fabric scraps and lace.


Just to the left is Lindsey's sweet little desk. The drawers are still out because they need another coat of paint......I told yall we were keepin' it real people!

Check out that chair though! My husband snagged it at a garage sale years ago. Great condition and super cute except for the filthy white seat. My mom recovered it for us in this funky zebra stripe and Lindsey repainted it a few days ago in one of our favorite shades......it's way more turquoise than it shows in the photo.



Now, as you turn into the room you almost hit your head on this stack of old frames that we've hung on the old lantern fixture....this sunroom was originally an open patio and this exterior light is a remnant from those days......when we find the perfect vintage sconce to replace it, it's coming down!



Just past the frames is our "shipping station / photo staging area". This antique sideboard houses all of our shipping and packaging supplies. When we need to take a few quick jewelry photos, eveything gets put away and we have a nice space for photographs. I bought this cabinet years ago as a store was going out of business. The owner told me it had once been used as a theater prop for a local college. It's beautiful but SO dark....I plan to remedy that with a fresh coat of paint ASAP!!

Hanging above is my latest Fabulously Funky Find!!
Gaudy, vintage velvet peacocks......what more could a girl ask for??!!  Although these beautiful  birds are quite the trend at the moment, I've actually been obsessed with them since childhood. My grandparents raised them most of my life and we spent countless hours out in the yard calling, feeding and  just watching these majestic creatures. Needless to say, they are very special to my family. I would have paid a pretty penny for this piece but when the dealer said "gimme $8 and take that gaudy thing" I jumped on it!!



Moving right along......

My favorite coffee drinking and blog browsing spot. "Slipcovered" in a funky old avocado green chenille bedspread. The gypsy ottoman was a gift from my mom.


The workhorse of the studio.....my big old
HUGE desk/work station!
 The photos do not show it's true size.......it is absolutely massive and was a freebie! It sat in an old house on the property where my mom and stepdad's business is located for atleast 20 years. Judging by the papers inside, it once belonged in a hotel in New Orleans.....how it ended up in East Texas though, I have no idea.
I'd love to paint it too but haven't yet decided on a color. Will probably keep the top original though because it's already a little rough and beat up and that suits me just fine.....jewelry and metal working tools can do a real number on a desk.


A closer look shows the assortment of projects we are designing at the moment, pendants and belt buckles mostly.

The organizers along the back were purchased at walmart and are perfect for beads, findings and other small treasures. An old tin ceiling tile stands in as a magnetic memo board.


These sweet little molds are the best thing we've ever found for organizing our many vintage brooches, earrings and other small rhinestone pieces. We use a seperate mold for each color and it works quite nicely.

Just past the desk is my favorite antique dress form and the most amazing stained glass door. This is another photo area and I try alot of my designs out her as well. The large oak tv cabinet houses more tools, picture frames and misc. junk.


Just past the tv cabinet is our growing collection of vintage oil paintings. These are mostly from the 60s and 70s  and we think they're just funky cool. Some day we will probably think of something fun to do with them but for now they make a fun "gallery".


Rounding the corner, you'll notice one more antique dress form. This lady lost her cotton cover some time ago and her foam is a little "revealing" so she now rocks a black lace corsett.....still a little revealing but cute and fun......we <3 FUN!!!


And now our other favorite part of the room.....we fight over nap time rights to our gypsyfied daybed!!
It all began when I found this Super Fab tufted velvet headboard at a resale shop in our town. It didn't fit our bed and of course my boys didn't want it but I just KNEW there was something I could do with it I couldn't pass it by. Well, one ugly extra loveseat, three white sheets, a bedskirt from GW and a load of throw pillows later, we have the cutest, most comfortable day bed around!!


Just look at that perfect tufting.......it was love at first sight :)


Our little sewing corner. My great grandmother's sewing machine, in it's original cabinet sits in the garage awaiting a cleaning and makeover. When we get around to that, it will replace this folding table which we currently use. The orange velvet chair is from the 70s and is so stinkin' comfortable.


Well, that's it for now!
I hope you enjoyed this little tour of where we spend most of our days at Faith & Pearl. Once again, I apologize for the low quality of the photos. Will keep yall updated as we make changes and complete a few projects we still want to do.

Thanx SO much for stopping by!!
Wishing you all a blessed and safe weekend

xoxo

lindsey & jenny
aka
faith & pearl

also sharing at

Monday, July 9, 2012

Welcome Lindsey!!

I'm SO stinkin excited to share this with yall!

You may have noticed a few changes to the blog, online store, facebook page etc already but I wanted to make an official announcement......
The newest member of Faith & Pearl......Lindsey!

She has recently come on board and will be handling most of the online sales and web design. Doing a little F&P modeling and bringing fresh ideas to the table.


I love this girl!! We've been as close as sisters for years and we're both so happy to be working and taking this journey together.

Thanx so much for stopping by today!
Hope to see ya down the road!!

xoxo
lindsey and jenny
aka
Faith & Pearl

 

Thursday, July 5, 2012

A Sweet Custom Design

Good Morning friends
Today I'm sharing a necklace that I designed for my dear friend and fellow Girls Gone Junkin buddy, Brenda. In the middle of a normal conversation at Canton last month she casually said "i have an old religious piece that I want you to look at. Maybe you can make a necklace out of it for me"......ok

So the next day she brings in this sweet little burlap bag and I'm expecting to find a small religious medal, maybe a cross.....no, what lay inside was this beautiful, delicate,  hand embroidered antique masterpiece. It's a rather large piece with a felt backing and a ribbon loop to hang it. Brenda had already hand sewn the loop down to the backing to make a smaller loop and strung it on leather cording. 


Her only instructions were, "I want it to lay about right here (pointing to her chest) and just do your thing. You know my style and I trust you."


This is Brenda. She is a true hippie chick gypsyfied cowgirl. One of the sweetest souls you'll ever meet, clothing designer extroidinaire and absolutely precious. I love her and her style.

She takes risks and wears what she likes, and doesn't worry what other people think. I SO admire that!!



This is what I put together for her. She was so happy with the way it turned out and it looked absolutely stunning on her.

Working on this piece also reminded me how much I enjoy wire wrapping, which I haven't done as much of lately, and natural semiprecious stones.
I've already designed and completed a few new pieces that also incorporate antique hardware and I can't wait to share them with yall!

(I would have more photos to share with you but Blogger is not cooperating. Is anybody else having trouble loading photos?? Ugh)

I hope you all had a Happy and Blessed 4th of July yesterday. I did a little clean up and painting in my studio to get ready for the Where Bloggers Create linky party next weekend and then we went swimming and cooked out at my moms......I'm still full from dinner!! :)

xoxo
jenny