Beginning Some New Nest Blog Traditions

Hello, Yes, It's about 3:00 am, and I have not gone to bed yet.  This post was supposed to be my "Friday" post, but, we will just pretend that I got it in before midnight, since it will still be here when you wake up.  Hey, there's about a foot or more of snow outside and it is still snowing!  The huge trees in my backyard are bent over to the ground and I'm just waiting for them to snap and crash into my deck.  They are so beautiful all covered in snow, I just wish that we would get some wind to blow the snow off of the limbs. 

Before we get down to business, I will share two photos with you.  Henry Frank and Bunny are not "outside" cats, so they have never felt snow.  They are almost 2 years old, but this is by far the most snow they have ever seen.  Bunny is afraid of the white stuff, but I let Henry walk a few feet into the snow.  He was so funny - the snow was so deep he could barely walk.  I built a little cat snowman at about 9:00 pm -- 6 hours ago -- which has long since been buried by the new snow, but here is a photo.

This Snow  Kitty Lady is stylin' with her haute couture birds' nest hat and her mousie purse from Robin's Nest Treasures' Kitty Kouture Line (yet to be launched!).  I'm particularly proud of her eyelashes.  I have no idea why I had these in my "stash", but I'm glad that I found a good use for them.

So, on to starting some traditions.  I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I am supposed to do with this blog, and frankly, I do not have the slightest clue.  Its initial purpose is to promote my business, and that is fine, but it should be more than that.  So, week by week, we will strive to make it more than a google ad.

So far, I don't think that anyone except for my closest friends are even reading this blog, but that's okay for now.  Things will change.  If there is one thing that I have learned over the past ten years, it is that you never know what life has in store for you -- don't ever assume that you have it all figured out, or that "it" will never happen to you.  Bloom where you are planted, etc, etc, etc.

Okay, since I have developed this fascination for vintage earrings, I have decided that each Friday, I will pick one pair of my favorite earrings out of my "stash" and  share them with you.  Big deal, you say.  Yes, the only person who may be entertained is me, however, there is more to it.  First, I will strive to learn and share with you each Friday some knowledge about the history of vintage jewelry (earrings), the artists, manufacturers, etc. 

Second, and most importantly, my FREE VINTAGE FLOWER BROOCH GIVEAWAY blog post event begins at 12:01 am on Saturday, February 20, 2010!  Beginning on Friday, February 26, 2010, for a period of 5 weeks, on each Friday I will give away one free vintage jewelry flower brooch in a drawing among individuals who have left posts on my blog the previous week during the period of time from 12:01 am Saturday to Noon on Friday.  The drawing will be conducted, and the winner will be announced between 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm on the applicable Fridays.  Each Saturday at 12:01 am we will start over from scratch for the new week.  Sorry, but you can only win one brooch per person. 

So, please spread the word among your friends/family!  Here are some samples of my vintage jewelry brooches for Valentines Day,  but I am currently making others for spring/summer.  I will post a photo of the brooch that is up for grabs each week on the blog.  As always, I am continually listing these brooches in my etsy shop at http://www.robinsnesttreasures.etsy.com/

 

The Second Nest tradition that I want to talk about starting is having a weekly post entitled "       "  Made Me Smile Today.  So I will fill in the blank and tell the story at the end of the regular post.  It may take three sentences or three pages to tell the story -- whatever it takes to share the goodwill.  I have a story to tell today, but at the moment, I cannot hold my head up any longer - I must go to sleep - I will tell the story later today.

Be Well and Happy--

Robin

Filthy to Fabulous -- The Jewelry Cleaning Adventures of Henry Frank II

Hello, my name is Henry Frank II.  I am the handsome orange tabby cat pictured to the left, and I am the Lord of the Manor of Robin's Nest Treasures.  My sister, Miss Bunny, pictured below, is the Princess of the Manor.  It is Friday night and my Mommy, Robin, just received some vintage jewelry from Ebay.  I am going to help Mommy clean some of this jewelry.  Bunny and I LOVE to play with Mommy's vintage jewelry pieces.  We call them the "shinies".  Mommy keeps them in sealed boxes most of the time so that we cannot get to them, but every once in a while, she brings them out so that we can plot our adventures with them.  Tonight is a jewelry cleaning night, and I must position myself on the bathroom counter so that -- FIRST, I may play in the water, and SECOND, I may get a closer look at the shinies! 

Okay, Henry Frank, this is my Blog, so I will take over the Post now, thank you.  I use a lot of vintage earrings to make my various "treasures" for Robin's Nest Treasures", and I love the old vintage clip earrings!  Today I received an order from a lady on Ebay who apparently has hundreds of vintage earrings (I'm jealous!), and she wants to get rid of them pronto!  So, in addition to my order, she sent me some free vintage flower plastic clip earrings that were very dirty.  She probably thought that they were worthless, but, behold, the power of TOOTHPASTE!

Yes, toothpaste is a vintage jewelry collector's best friend.  Get a soft baby's toothbrush and some toothpaste - wet the brush - and GENTLY rub the earring to remove dirt and grime.  Be very careful with pearl and pearlescent finishes because they peal off easily.  Also be careful with loose stones.

It is truly amazing, however, how glorious your vintage beauties will look after a thorough but gentle cleaning!  Remember -- Never use a conventional jewelry cleaner on vintage jewelry!

  

The photo above shows the "before" cleaning on the flower on the left, and the "after" cleaning on the right.  Unfortunately it is not as dramatic in the photo as it is in real life.

Anyway,  the next photo shows the formerly filthy freebies all cleaned up and ready for action.  I do not have many plastic vintage earrings in my stash, but I am happy to add these pretty little flowers.  They will be good for making summer flower brooches. 

As you can see from the photo below Henry Frank was exhausted by the end of the cleaning session! 

Bunny, on the other hand, was totally disinterested in the whole jewelry cleaning process.

She was indignant when I had the nerve to put a lovely pearl necklace on her.  No faux pearls for her highness!  Perhaps she can borrow Auntie Karen Louise's tiara.

Well folks, that's about all for tonight.  More later from "the nest" this weekend.  Stay well and happy.  Robin