Revamped Vintage

I love old costume jewelry. The cheaper and funkier the better! I think this goes back to my childhood. One of my favorite things to do when I stayed with my grandmother was to play dress up with all of her old beaded necklaces, clip on earrings, and gaudy rings. When I started designing jewelry, I discovered that it was a lot of fun to bring old pieces of jewelry back to life. I've created several charm necklaces and bracelets using recycled costume jewelry. It's almost as much find hunting down forgotten treasures as it is creating the new pieces from them. I found this great lot of vintage costume jewelry on Ebay and finally got around to creating some new pieces with it yesterday.

The piece that immediately jumped out at me was a crest brooch that had a knight's head and a falcon holding a ring in it's mouth. This became the centerpiece of my new necklace. Also included in this box of jewelry was an old necklace with lots of leaf charms in all different sizes. I took one of the smaller leafs and added it to my necklace. Finally, to add a little sparkle, I had a beautiful rhinestone bracelet link that has been begging to be used. This added the perfect feminine touch to finish off this one of a kind charm necklace.

I love Tuesdays!!

After I became a stay-at-home mom, I had these big dreams of being a modern day June Cleaver. I was going to have a spotless house, a wonderful homemade meal for my family every evening, and would greet my husband with perfect hair and freshly applied lipstick when he came home from work. The reality is my house usually looks like a tornado ripped through it...there are food crumbs in every crevice of the sofa, dozens of toys thrown about, and a mountain of laundry. Our dinners usually consist of takeout, or a frozen lasagna with a bagged salad if we are lucky. And looking pretty for my husband when he walks in...ha! I usually have an unbrushed ponytail and what little bit of makeup that hasn't been rubbed off my face during the course of the day...no lipstick (because it's been flushed down the toilet by my 19 month old.)

But there is one day a week when I get a clean slate and I feel like I just might be able to morph myself into the perfect wife and mother. TUESDAYS. Oh, how I love Tuesdays. We've had to cut back on some things since I quit working, but the one luxury I still allow myself is a maid once a week. I leave my house at 12:30pm every Tuesday with my son. Sometimes we'll run errands or go shopping, but usually we just go to my parents house and relax. When I go back home in the evening everything is right with the world again. I have a spotless house and a clear mind. I start daydreaming about how this week is going to be different...I'm going to work hard to keep my house looking this tidy and I start planning wonderful menus in my head. It is such a wonderful feeling. Then I'm suddenly jerked out of my fantasy world by the sound of my daughter's soda being dropped on the freshly cleaned floor. While I am frantically mopping up the mess, my son entertains himself by throwing a bowl full of seashells into the toilet. After dipping them all out, I grab the phone and order a pizza and mutter to myself "maybe next week...maybe".

My Newest Addiction

It is official...I am a vintage cabochon addict! I have been buying up these adorable flower cabs in bulk and gluing them on anything that will stay still long enough. I've made earrings, push pins, rings, brooches and necklace pendants so far. Next on my list are some cute refrigerator magnets!

My favorite of all of the cabs I've purchase so far are the turquoise etched glass ones that date back to 1940's Occupied Japan. What a find! I just listed a pair of earrings in my Etsy shop today that feature these beautiful cabochons. I included some cute vintage brass bow ties to make them look like little bouquets of flowers. They are mounted to an old pair of buttons. Wouldn't these be cute for Easter?

An Introduction

Hello there. Nice to meet you. Let me introduce myself. My name is Jerin Scott and I am a somewhat dysfunctional stay-at-home mom. I took the leap into the life of a domestic goddess a little over a year ago. I spent my first 10 years after college busting my butt in the hustle and bustle of Corporate America. I loved what I did and was the most dedicated and loyal employer anyone could ever ask for. Unfortunately, most of the time my job came before the needs of my family…I’m embarrassed to admit the number of times I would dose my sick kids up on a cocktail of Tylenol and cold medicine and hope and pray that it would give me enough time to get to the office and finish one of many deadlines. Then one day I snapped. I won’t go into all of the gruesome details, but let me just say the ignorance of two chauvinistic pigs finally gave me the courage to walk away from it all.

Oh, the sweet freedom!! My incredibly supportive husband gave me an opportunity that I never thought was possible. We decided that I should take some time and just be a mom to our two wonderful children. It has been an absolute blessing. I’ve been at home with my son now since he was 5 months old, and have been able to experience all of his milestones first hand, instead of having them replayed to me by his caretakers. I’ve been able to see my 6 year old daughter’s smiling face everyday when I pick her up from school. I’ve been to field trips and class parties…things that I was never able to do when I worked.

It didn’t take long though before I became bored with the daily routine and I began to lose a sense of myself. It was out of this that my new “baby” was born…Out of the Blue. I have always been a pretty crafty person (inherited from a Craft Diva mother), so after logging many hours of sofa time watching shows like B Original, That’s Clever, and Creative Juice I started dabbling in jewelry design. I was immediately hooked. I opened up my own shop on Etsy in July 2007 and the rest is history.

I am drawn to anything with a funky vintage feel and this usually shows in my jewelry. I love searching antique and thrift shops for discarded treasures that I can bring back to life in a new and unexpected way. Most of the items I create are made with vintage components and are either one-of-a-kind or limited editions.

This blog will be used to highlight some of my favorite pieces, to share with you some of the treasures I find on shopping excursions, and may even include some stories of the ups and downs of motherhood. Thanks for stopping by!