Handcrafted Jewelry News from a Maine Jewelry Store

Ok, so I jumped the gun on spring. What can I say? It’s Maine! We all know spring is never assured until May, at least.

Mainers are a hardy bunch. Even those from “away” who have lived here for many years and can’t rightly call themselves true Mainers must be brave souls. A good number of Freeport merchants are in this category, having braved the nasty weather to participate in Freeport’s “Spring” Fashion Show at the Hilton. A few merchants had the opportunity to set up displays around the perimeter of the catwalk, thus having perfect views of the fashions as they paraded the runway. It was very impressive, seeing the variety of clothing and accessories available in this little town. Although the turn-out was not as large as expected, everyone there successfully ignored the raging wind and snow outside for a little promise of spring inside.

Some of the new merchandise has begun to arrive in the store. Another signal of spring! I love this time of year.

One of our surprise finds at the Philly show was Susan Packard, a jewelry artisan from Sugar Hill, New Hampshire. Her work came in last week.

Susan collects stones. But not just ordinary stones. She keeps an eye out for unusual and extraordinary stones. Stones in her collection have wonderfully unique colors. Some look as if they’ve been carefully hand painted rather than dug up out of the ground. Others look like seascapes or landscapes.

Some stones’ unique features may not be apparent from the surface. In fact, most of Susan’s pieces are made of a thin sliver of stone. By slicing, a stone’s interior is revealed in a whole new way. Susan sorts through the slices for just the right size and shape, encircles them with sterling silver, and attaches a bail. Presto! A most unique pendant.

Stone Pendants by Susan Packard

I figured it was high time the store joined the 21st century. We got the website up and running last year. Well, 2007 is the year of the blog. Wonder what technological advancements 08 will bring?!

Sheila (owner of Earrings and Company) and I spent a very long weekend in Philly last month attending the Buyers Market of American Craft. What a show! Thankfully I wore my Danskos - no blisters on these feet! Imagine aisle upon aisle upon aisle of hand woven textiles, wildly colorful glass, beautifully carved wooden furniture, weird artsy things to put on your wall - you name it. But above all, lots and lots of gorgeous jewelry. We were in heaven. Luckily, most of the jewelry was situated in one section so we could concentrate on our mission: to paw through it all and find what’s new and exciting to bring back home to Freeport.

The Buyers Market features work by all sorts of artisans. So the creativity factor is high. No Walmart vendors in this show. No no. Lampworked beads, blown glass beads, hand-formed millefiori beads, wooden beads. Silversmiths. Goldsmiths. Sculptors. Bracelets and watches made of old silver spoons. Pendants and earrings from thin shavings of fantastic-looking rocks and minerals. Patinaed bronze formed into cuffs and necklaces. Birch bark earrings.

Birch bark? Well, you had to see them. . .

Anyway, Sheila and I managed to walk the entire show in two and a half days. We selected almost a dozen new artists and I can’t wait until the new pieces begin to arrive in the store!