Vintage Miriam Haskell Treasures of my Grandmother's

My Grandmother Suzuki's

Vintage Jewelry that I treasure

I often think about my Grandma Suzuki. My nickname for her was "Grams"as I was very close to her. I remember and will never forget how she would hug me close to her, that smell of her signature perfume, and how she always made sure that her hair was perfectly coifed, her face always pretty, and herself always nicely dressed. She was the best cook and always made sure that we were more than just fed. Her food was her love.

Recently, my mom and I visited my grandparents' grave in Kaneohe. We placed tropical red and pink ginger and ti leaves in their vases. I stood there and gazed at their gorgeous view of Kaneohe Bay and from that spot I saw my mom's house on the hill. We looked at their gravestone and calculated their ages. They both lived a long life passing away in their late 80's.

Miriam Haskell's baroque shaped faux pearl necklace and
mini rhinestones in between the pearls

When my Grams passed away, I still remember sitting on her bed which was filled with her belongings. My aunts were cleaning out her room and passing along her belongings to all of us. On her bed, what was left after my aunts had taken what they wanted were numerous scarves and my Gram's costume jewelry. I gathered up all her scarves, as like my Grams, I have a thing for scarves. I put them to my nose and inhaled her perfume.

I opened up the numerous boxes and looked at her jewelry. A large black expensive looking box was there amongst everything else. My aunts must've left it behind bc it wasn't "real" jewelry. But as I opened up the hinged box and found this absolutely stunning vintage Miriam Haskell necklace, I realized that they had left behind a real gem. You can't find this quality, detail, or romance anymore in the new commercial jewelry.

I believe that this Miriam Haskell necklace was meant to end up in my hands as it has led to my Love, appreciation, and fascination with the beauty of vintage jewelry and other things of the past. Whenever I look at this necklace, I feel Happy as it reminds me of my Grams. I can still hear her voice in my head, see her cooking away in her kitchen and turning to me and smiling.

Happy days from a happy childhood.

Other little treasures that found me
My Grams' "Service" pin
and vintage French perfume Crescendo by Lanvin

With my fascination with Miriam Haskell jewelry, I've acquired Vintage jewelry components which were used by Miriam Haskell to create their wonderful jewelry and I've created jewelry from them. Please check out my Etsy shops Stacy's Designs 88 and Blue Lovebirds for pieces using Miriam Haskell components.

White Wedding Romance Earrings
in my Blue Lovebirds Etsy Shop

True Love Abby Neckace
in my Blue Lovebirds Etsy Shop

Something Old Something New...The Forever Necklace
To be listed in my Blue Lovebirds Etsy shop

One True Love Bracelet
in my Blue Lovebirds Etsy Shop

One True Love Choker Necklace
in my Blue Lovebirds Etsy Shop



For the Whimsical side of you,
my Gypsy Rapture Charm Bracelet
in my Stacy's Designs 88 Shop
using Haskell's vintage chains and bead

New Batch of Lovelies for My Shop

True Love No. 8

White Lotus Bloom

Geisha in Black Kimono

Just wanted to share with you some new lovelies which I just created and put on my Etsy shop shelves. I just love these. They really make me smile. These are perfect for the bride, her bridal party, your BFF, your special someone for her graduation gift, for yourself b/c you deserve it.
If you'd like to see them, please come on over to my shop----stacysdesigns88.etcy.com :)

Bouquet No.7 Ode to Mary Engelbreit

Latest Find---Antique Keys and Cool Crystal DooDads

Last week, my husband Jimmy and I went down the street to check-out a nearby garage sale, or rather house wide sale, on a Friday. weird day for a garage sale. unusual man selling his collections of things that i guess he decided he could live without. he knew the history behind whatever you touched be it old cigarette trading cards with racing cars on them to little postcards with barbara cartland like drawings on them. you could tell he was an avid collector of stuff. trading cards, baseball cards, postcards...you name it he probably had it.

well, we looked thru his "leftovers" the things he didn't mind parting with. they were all still so cool but some of the prices were---to me---not a fanatic collector---too pricey. guess he got the hint that i was willing to spend so much and i really wasn't in any mood to haggle, so after awhile his prices got a tad bit lower or maybe he really didn't give a rats behind that he would be parting with his barbara cartland like postcards for a song. i really wanted them b/c they reminded me of all those cartland books with her overly masculine handsome men who saved the english damsel from some barbarians and such. ohhhh, brings back sweet memories. ok, wiping drool off of my mouth...i digress.

besides the set of 6 postcards, my hubbie got a cool looking glass container with a pretty metal cover, some antique keys found in the guy's dresser drawer. he told us that he got the keys from the different antique pieces of furniture that he collected over the years. told you he had a story for everything. anyway, as i was giving him his money for our finds, it was $1 short of a $20. so, i caved in and got the cool crystal round faceted doo dads which he said he didn't know what they were but thought they were too neat to toss.

here's a photo of the keys and the crystal doo dads. enjoy! planning to turn the keys into cool vintage necklaces which i'll later post in my etsy shop---stacysdesigns.etsy.com. come by and check it out. thanks! ;)

Flowers In My Garden

Again, on my quest to save things vintage, I spotted this cute barrel (which turned out to be plastic---but you can't tell) with "fake" water spout on my neighbor's grass waiting to be taken to the garbage dump. I decided it would make a cute planter with a little TLC.

So I took over to my yard where it sat for a bit. When I had the energy to tackle this project, I took out my trusty spray paints---white and black---and sprayed the areas to cover up the old paint which was a green yucky color. My husband drilled some holes on the bottom, placed some rocks on the bottom, and filled it with the big big bag of soil he bought from Home Depot. I planted some pansies (which I love), thyme, mint, and tried some Manoa Lettuce and mixed lettuce. Here's some photos of my pansies and the cute planter barrel. The lettuce isn't doing so well, kinda wilting---think it's too hot and it needs a lot of water.

In our garden, we aren't able to grow the beautiful bulbs like you gals on the continent. Here's some photos of the orchids that are blooming and the cute clover flowers in a pot. Our garden is so cute and green...I love it. Here are some photos of the other plants growing in our garden.

New Look For Front Porch

Yesterday, my hubbie and I went to the Buddhist temple to pay respects to his mother who is deceased. As we turned out of the temple's driveway, I asked him to drive in the opposite direction than we normally take b/c I wanted to check out the cute homes in the area. As we were puttering down the street, low and behold, I spotted several totally cute chairs that someone had put out near the sidewalk for bulk pick-up.

Immediately, I asked him to turn the car around b/c I wanted to take a look at the chairs. They were so cute and vintage. My hubbie's trusty old Suzuki Aereo car was able to fit all 3 chairs in the back. It's like Santa's red sack---it can hold a ton of stuff.

Anyway, took them home and found the perfect spot for the adorable light cream chair right on my front porch. I put some pillows that I had picked up from Walmart awhile ago and voila! I spent the day sitting out on my porch reading a book and sipping my bubbly water. I'm in heaven.

My vintage craze comes in handy. I can smell something cute and vintage a mile away.

The other pic shows a cute metal bird atrium thingy that I had spray painted Robin's Birds Blue and put a potted pink spotted plant I got from Home Depot. The other shot shows the other 2 cute low to the ground chairs with lots of paint peeling. LOvE them! ;)

My New Vintage Charm Necklaces

I just posted my new vintage charm necklaces in my shop. Recently, I received in the mail my newest acquisition---vintage rhinestones! I'm a closet "Cottage Style" wanna be. I don't think they'll let me join :( b/c I don't think I have 75% vintage pieces---which is one qualification for being allowed to join their group. That's why I love my Create A Day group b/c there are no rules!...except trying to create something everyday. Ok, I'm digressing. I love these new charm necklaces b/c that vintage rhinestone adds that touch of bling that I adore. There's also some cute charms on each--a little angel on one and an engagement or wedding ring on the other.

New member of "createaday.blogspot.com"

I just joined an awesome blog site called "Create-A-Day" which is comprised of other fellow Etsy artisans of various crafts. They're all awesome. Go and check it out for yourself at createaday.blogspot.com. You can see all the terrific pieces that they've completed that day. The goal is to try to create something everyday. What a great concept! It's the creation of enigmachck of enigmachck.etsy.com.

Well, here's a brand spanking new Vintage necklace that I created yesterday. It took me awhile because I had to play with the lengths of each of the 4 different chains and then wirewrap (and re-wirewrap) pretty pale pink quartz, lovely fresh water pearls in white, rose pink, and chartreuse, and vintage blue and pink beads to the chains. But, it was a labor of love. I'm proud of this baby. I've already posted it on my Etsy shop. Just couldn't wait. Please check it out at stacysdesigns88.etsy.com

By the way, the necklace that I posted on February 28, 2008 (below) just sold this week! Yayyy!

Rescue 911-My New Vintage Dresser---Love it!

I just rescued this beautiful vintage dresser with mirror, it's matching night stand and chest of drawers. My neighbors' mother (97 years old--almost 100!) just passed away and they were cleaning out her house. I saw the back of this dresser on the porch and my interest was piqued. I was hoping to see my neighbors to ask about the furniture. My husband and I kept an eye out for them, but no luck.

The next day, I saw a sign on it for pick-up by a not-to-be-named non-profit. My heart dropped. I rushed through their gates realizing it's "now or never". I found my neighbor in his mom's house and asked about whether I could have the furniture. He said that he had another bedroom set in one of the rooms and I could choose between the two. Apparently, he wanted to give the non-profit one since they had been called already to bring their truck. Ok, I really wanted both sets but I got the message.

So, I looked at both sets and chose this one. I really love the shabby chic ivory paint and robin's nest blue handles. The mirror is just lovely. My neighbor said that these pieces were about 70 years old. Gorgeous.

My husband helped me clean them up and he did some minor repairs to make them more sturdy. This set is going to replace our dresser which is falling apart.

I say "rescue" because no one could love this gorgeous grand old lady as much as me.

I'm in heaven. Sigh!

Hope you had a terrific weekend-----Stacy