Handcrafted Jewelry News from a Maine Jewelry Store

Ok. I promise to stop whining about the weather. It is what it is. Eventually it will be safe to go outside.

We received a huge order this week. Thirty seven pounds to be exact. Fun and funky costume jewelry in all the new colors for spring. Lots of beads and crystals and glass. Pearls and shells and lots of dangly earrings. I especially like the hinged cuff watches in so many colors. They’re so affordable you can have one for every occasion.

Then there’s the silver. Loads of sterling silver earrings and necklaces. Anklets and bracelets too. It takes time to put price tags on all this jewelry! But it should all be out by the weekend.

We’d be happy up here in the north if all April brought were rain showers. A full foot of heavy snow last week cramped everyone’s style and put a damper on spring festivities. Some homes are still without power today. Oh, the price we pay for beauty and quiet.

Meanwhile, the store has begun to receive the first of many orders of new jewelry. Handmade creations of every stripe and color. New sterling silver pieces by Portland’s favorite, Julie Howison. Colorful glass bead necklaces and earrings by Penrose look like strings of candy. Handwrought sterling silver linked chains in great lengths for layering by Thomas Kuhner. New stretchy headbands by Violet Love that hold your hair in style without slipping or giving you that “headband headache”. Lots of fun!

Maybe I’ll just stay indoors for the time being. It seems more like spring in here than out there . . .

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