CALIFORNIA BLOSSOM

I love buying silverware but I'm sure you've all figured that out by now. A woman that I met from the few times I've vendored at Ogilvy told me she had a few sets that belonged to her mother-in-law and some other relatives. This is the first set that she brought me. It was made by the William Rogers Manufacturing Company and also said Original Rogers on the back and so the search began, I looked through thousands of patterns online for many hours and finally found it. California Blossom was made in 1941. It is such a lovely delicate tiny rose pattern ready to adorn the wrist of your mother, sister, best girlfriend, or you. Come and visit me at one of my shows. I've started my 2013 list. I can't promise that this pattern will still be available but there are many others to choose from. Happy New Year to you all! 

HURRICANE SANDY

             The hurricane on October 29th, 2012 left so many people in the tri-state area without homes that it is heartbreaking. I am so grateful that all of my family and friends are safe. We are still without power but I still do have a house to go home to. I spent the day on Monday before the storm, cutting, grinding, drilling and bending spoon and fork parts, I figured if we lost power I could be putting together bracelets. Well, we did lose power and still do not have it. Unfortunately it is so cold in the house that I can't get my fingers to work properly (we're thinking it might be time to buy a generator). So I am hoping that we get power back soon, then with the proper light I can post some happy pictures of the bracelets after they are together. Hoping you are all safe and sound after this tragic event.

CORONATION

This wonderful pattern is called Coronation and was made in 1936 by the Community Silver plate company which is now Oneida. This pattern was made to commemorate the crowning of Edward VIII of England. This event never happened because of Edward abdicating the throne to move to America and marry Wallis Simpson. Last week one of my antique guys had a set of this pattern. It made my day!!!

QUEEN BESS

This beautiful pattern is called "QueenBess" and it was manufactured in 1946 by Oneida Tudor Community Plate. The interesting thing about this silverware is that the Betty Crocker Company had a promotion going and you could collect coupons from certain General Mills products and end up with a setting for eight or twelve. I of course think that this lovely floral design belongs on your finger or your wrist to be admired by all!

MELODY  

This beautiful pattern was manufactured in 1954 by International
Silver Company. There is one large open rose and two small ones between plumed swirls at the top of the handle which is rounded to showcase the rose. I have so many favorite silverware patterns and this one is in my top 10. It is 58 years old and shines up beautifully and looks as if it was made yesterday. I paired this with a light pink and purple floral pillow lampwork bead which enhances the beauty of the vintage silverware.

"PRECIOUS" Knife Handle Lapel Pin

This pattern is called "Precious and was made in 1941 by Rogers International. This was a knife handle, I think it looks wonderful as a necklace with dangles of Swarovski crystals and vintage pearls. This can be worn dressy with a sterling chain or casual with a silk cord. Wear it with jeans and a tank top or a dress to a party or a suit for work. Visit me a one of the shows listed on this site if you'd like one of these for youself or to give as a gift to you mom, sister or best friend.

"Louisiane"

This is one of the Knife Handle Lapel pins that I made last week. I absolutely love these, there are so many wonderful patterns. This one is called "Louisiane" and was made by Rogers in 1938. When my mom and dad got married this was the pattern they picked out. I have so many wonderful memories of holidays at home with all of my relatives and this is the silverware we used. Aren't memories a wonderful thing? I have just started to list these lapel pins on my Etsy site, you can look below at my Etsy mini to see the few that I've listed so far, more to come...

Silver Plated Cake Server

Today while working day 2 of the Cranbury Fine Arts and Crafts
show, which by the way was a great show, Cindy an incredible glass artist came by my booth to say hi and she was wearing this piece that I had made last year from a cake server. I was so delighted to see it on her. The pattern was so intricate on this server that I had to cut it apart and make a pendant out of it, I haven't yet found another piece with this pattern. I have been stockpiling cake servers and seeing this today made me anxious to get in the studio tomorrow and start prepping for
next weeks show!
 

ROGERS NICKEL SILVER

These are some of the bracelets I made out of the beautiful silverware pattern I found the other day. I always buy silver plate and as I was cutting these I noticed that they said Rogers Nickel Silver on the back, I keep looking on line for the name
of the pattern and every picture I find says the same thing-pattern unknown, its hard to believe that on the world wide web there isn't one site that has the name and the year this was made. I've spent many hours searching, I am not giving up, if anyone out there knows this pattern please let me know.

                SILVERWARE SHOPPING

Every other Wednesday I take a ride to see my
silverware guy. He is a retired antique dealer
and still sells all sorts of things. Today I spent two hours rooting through twenty boxes of vintage silverware and came home with 158 pieces, 14 of them were of this pattern. Of course I couldn't find the pattern in my sixty-five page bible, there are quite a few that are very similar but not exact. Tomorrow I will
begin to clean them up and transform them
into something beautiful. Pictures to follow!                              twitter.com/jmillerdesigns

           WILLIE WONKA'S GARDEN
This is a picture of the entrance of Willie Wonka's Garden at the NJ Flower and Garden Show which is going on right now at the Convention Center in Edison, hosted by Mac Events. All of the gardens are so beautiful and there are vendors throughout with really unique items. So stop in tomorrow from 10 to 8 or Sunday from 11 to 6, you'll love it!

                           IT'S TIME!

Time, that is, for the 10th Annual New Jersey Flower and Garden Show, February 16 through 19, 2012 at the Convention Center in Edison, hosted by Mac Events. So to make sure I'm on time tomorrow to go over and start my setup I figured I'd pair watch faces with vintage spoons.
They are battery powered Geneva Quartz watches and really are fabulous with the bands made from old silverware. Stop in to the Flower show for a fresh breath of spring!

                              RADIANCE

This is one of my very favorite silverware patterns and up until yesterday I never knew it's name. It is called Radiance and was made in 1939 by the Crown Silver Plate Company. The detail intrigues me, all the beautiful little flowers. When I sell a piece at a show the client always asks what the pattern is and most of
the time I don't know. I've gotten info on some  pieces from the Restoration site but not enough and have never been able to find a book. Yesterday I continued my search online and typed in yet a different search term and -YAY-found a site that had 65 pages with pictures of every piece I've ever seen and hundreds of others that I've never seen but will be on a quest to find.
                     twitter.com/jmillerdesigns
                               

                        JACKPOT!!!

When I come home after shopping for vintage silverware I have a system,  I go through all of the brown paper bags that hold 20 each and lay them out in 2's, each of these pairs will be cut for a bracelet, when I'm finished sorting, all the other piles, for necklaces, rings and earrings go in a half box, the kind that you would get six packs in and they are stored in my downstairs studio (my half of the garage). So as I'm prepping for this 4 day Flower and Garden show and realizing that I'm out of pairs for bracelets and have no time to shop for them I figure Oh well, it is what it is. Last night while straightening up my upstairs studio (the converted extra bedroom) I come upon a large plastic shopping bag that I had shoved on a shelf, well low and behold there were 143 pieces of silverware in there! I love it when I do something out of context and it turns out to be beneficial!      twitter.com/jmillerdesigns

CRANBERRY SAUCE SPOONS     I just love these serving spoons! My antique guy Alex told me that this spoon was used to cut and serve cranberry sauce, the premise being that the juice would drip through the cutouts and not get your other food wet. After doing some research on William Rogers Manufacturers I found out that these spoons are actually Tomato servers or Casserole spoons depending on the pattern. Interesting! I have been turning these into beautiful pendants that are certainly a conversation piece and just look stunning on anyone. They are not easy to come by but I keep Alex on the hunt for me and I'm always delighted when he finds me one with a different look.

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The concept of the Tree of Life, a many branched tree that dwells in three worlds. with its branches reaching into the sky, and roots deep in the earth, it links heaven, earth and the underworld, uniting above and below. The tree has many different meanings in many different religions. A new batch of these pendants just came out of the kiln and look wonderful with your favorite sweater or a tee shirt in the summer!

I'm cutting every vintage knife I can find to make as many lapel pins as I can for the New Jersey Flower and Garden Show in February. These pins will have greens and baby orchids or roses in them and will look wonderful on a blazer or you can pick one up to give to you mother, sister or best friend.
The show will be a breath of spring in the middle
of winter. With all of the plants and flowers for
sale and beautiful statues and fountains to put in
your yard or garden it will most certainly make us
all long for spring.