Friday's Fabulous Finds ~ The Junquerie

Today's fabulous find is a new jewelry shop on Etsy.  The Junquerie opened a few short weeks ago by none other than Patty of My Life Under The Bus.  If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I refer to Patty and her blog pretty regularly.  We've not only become friends in the blogosphere, we are also Scrabble opponents on Facebook!  Her sense of humor keeps me smiling and her jewelry leaves me drooling.  Here is what Patty has to say.

What do you want people to know about you?
 I am the stay at home mom to four rambuncious boys.   I have been creating for as long as I can remember. I adore romantic sentimental Victorian jewelry, charm bracelets, colored pearls, birds, vintage hearts, padlocks and lockets. 

When did you start making jewelry?
I was an only child growing up and my mother worked so most of my free time was either reading or crafting something. We didn't have a lot of money so I got used to being creative. I think this is where my love of painting everything in sight comes from. Things instantly become new when you paint them ( or at least new to me!) I've been playing with jewelry on and off since I was 16 and discovered you could buy ear wires at the craft store! You'd think it wouldn't take 30 years for me to do something with it!

Who or what inspires you?
I have discovered I am a very visual person - I LOVE all of the Stampington publications - doesn't have to be about jewelry - a color or an image will do it. I have I don't know how many books on all different types of craft some of my favorites are:

Charmed Bracelets - Tracey Zabar
Rejuvenated Jewels - Amy Hanna
Enchanted Adornments - Cynthia Thornton
Pretty Little Things - Sally Jean Alexander
Semiprecious Salvage - Stephanie Lee
Bent, Bound and Stitched - Giuseppina Cirincione
Collage Lost and Found - Giuseppina Cirincione
Custom Cool Jewelry - Melinda Barta
Beyond the Bead - Margot Potter
Delight in the Details - Lisa M. Pace
and anything by Sherri Haab - too many to list here

Amy Hanna was a big inspiration for me. I found her through one of the Stampington magazines ( I think it was Belle Armoire) and discovered the idea of altered art jewelry. It was like a light went on and put together my love of jewelry and my love of vintage. I haven't shared alot of those type of pieces yet - they are still my babies and I'm not ready to let them go. I would like to expand my offerings in the coming year to include some vintage mix pieces. 
There are so many talented and giving jewelry artists I would have a hard time picking just one though. So much encouragement and team spirit amongst everyone on line - blogging has been such a blessing for this! I have also been entering and hosting creative challenges and find myself absolutely addicted to them!

Do you have a favorite piece?
I do have a favorite piece - it's not that fancy but has one of my favorite symbols which is a bird and it's made of mother of pearl and aquamarine and wire wrapping and it just looks like me.

Patty's favorite piece is not available in her shop

What do you like to do when you are not creating?
I love to decorate my house and enjoy renovating when we have funds to do it. My husband is a carpenter so half the time things are ripped apart and we live with them for a few years until it gets put back together!

I love reading - historical fiction, Jane Austen ( I could see the Kiera Knightly version of the movie 800 times and still palpitate over Mr. Darcy walking through that damn field) , Philippa Gregory, Patricia Cornwell ( Love a little science and murder mystery) - oh and a total Harry Potter geek.

I love slice of life movies - A Christmas Story is one of my favorite movies. Radio Days, Biloxi Blues and any of the PBS reenactments of Novels like Little Dorrit will make me pretty happy.

...and whilst I am movie watching, decorating or reading, a good coffee and some dark chocolate wouldn't hurt either!

Where can we find you?

 Etsy shop, The Junquerie

 Blog, My Life Under The Bus

 Facebook fan page

Check out Patty's sites...I promise you won't be disappointed!

What are your plans for the last weekend before Christmas?