My Items For The Week On Etsy -- (Aug 23rd 2009)

Another beauty from my French Religious collection. This brooch has amazing details and the paste stones are a great contrast to the color of the metal. Also the relief on the brooch itself is very beautiful.

What a fabulous treasure this one is from Italy and is really substantial. All from sterling silver and cut glass crystals, the rosary also has two tiny silver enameled medals. The workmanship on this rosary is amazing right from the chain to the crucifix the finish is perfect. This rosary dates back to 1940.

Another French religious destash: This one is a religious destash of one beautiful pearl Ave Maria rosary, brooch from Lourdes, 12 religious medals one of which is sterling(the blue enamel one) and three of which are in pairs so will be great to make earrings, a book charm and some rondells.

Another one of my treasured finds although this brooch seems to have some Czech influence because of the filigree work but this one is so beautiful specially the cameo. The cameo is glass and is in very good antique condition. This brooch is from the 1920s

Hello everyone... what with my busy schedule at work/studio and all that I decided that the best way to feature my lots will be to give you a taster here before I put them on Etsy. This one is going on today (wishful thinking).... hope you enjoy the visual just like I loved photographing it. This has a bit of everything that a designer needs a bit of this and a bit of that .... but it has an amazing retable reliquary and rosary from France and of course French religious medal 2 big and one tiny (none are aluminum) two crosses one opens... the one with little pearl. It also has some paste buttons and pieces.... check this one on Etsy. I will try updating this post throughout the week with new featured items. Have a nice week you guys ... bub eye for now

New Treasures For This Week

Beautiful gems to complete the look of your beautiful jewelry pieces. I use these in my product development for my designs and they have been sourced from the best gem manufacturers in India and are of grade A quality. There are strands of Rubies, Garnets, Lapis, Emeralds, pink and pale blue chalcedony ..... and many more. These are available to buy on my Etsy store. Convo me on my Etsy if you are interested in more than what I am selling .....It will be my pleasure to help you.

Austrian Bezel Cut necklace from the 1930s. These are rare. This one is filled with the bezel cut stones and they are so clear and yet in pristine condition. This one is from my PC (personal collection) and will be available in my Etsy Store soon.

Talking about France how can I not show off my french religious finds: Two things of interest are the retable reliquary and the mother of pearl pendant with the fluer-de-lis. The retable does not have any doors that open but its not very big so can be used as a jewelry focal. Its just too beautiful and the relief is so clear, this one will be available on my etsy store soon. The fluer-de -lis pendant is very special the details on that one are amazing. Its a very substantial size and weighty too.

My French connection ....... everything is so very beautiful, I just love antique french this and that

Czechoslovakian rhinestone cross from the 1930s. The stones are so, so, beautiful that you remain spellbound. I found this one in Netherlands at a local flea market. The cross is not tiny by any means. Substantial this one will make a great jewelry focal. This may just land in my Etsy Store very soon. Stay tuned

Every Saturday out for my favorite walk with a cuppa cappucino .....

Hi everybody, been bit of busy lately what with the Etsy store and all .... including meeting up with friends for a drink ..... working on my collection (handbags, yes will post them when ready) ... dining out with my dahling hubby cause don't have time to cook. Anyways I just wanted to share my favorite Saturday morning walk with my cuppa cappuccino. Portebello known as Vintage heaven its absolutely amazing and trust me on a quiet day you could bump into John Galliano and the likes all scavenging for finds to inspire them to design. I am no different, I revel myself in the 100 stalls that sell bags, clothes, fur and of course then there is Jeff's vintage store "One Of A Kind" where every celebrity worth her name from here and across the pond has gone to shop. Very expensive he sells everything over 300 pounds, I know a bit much but the stuff is legendary - a piece of fashion history. He is always welcoming and if he really likes you he will take you to his very private secret room which is like Alibaba's cave treasures, treasures and more treasures. Come out of his store and you are yet dazzled, but the guys outside are also very reasonable and good. You could practically find all of EU here with people from various countries with their stalls. I love it out here because I sometimes find that just the one bag which helps me design my collection around it. Portebello has some antique, fine jewelry but mostly its bric baks that people collect. For me its a nice way to relax my walk starts at 9am and ends at 4pm, time flies and I normally tend to lose 1kg of my weight which I regain after gorging at Teahouse in the nearby London's answer to Upper East Side: Notting Hill area

Portebello in a nutsell....

Goofy I know but I love this image!!!!

The Teapot arcade as I call it has amazing finds but one needs loadsa cash to buy any. Hmmmmm.

My favorite .... HANDBAGS!!!!

Shops

Oooo La La... the music, what can I say it makes shopping a amazing experience. This is why I say my Portebello walk is the best excercise of the week.

Don't feel like walking drive right into the market, Only in Portebello can that happen.

Oh he was Knackered that day so that why the grumpy look normally he is pleasant as can be trust moi !!!!

Yes its pretty crowded. The Market is this one long winding street which starts from antiques and ends up at the vegetable market. I just walk up and down the antique part but the food stalls (another part) is also worth venturing into. You get delicious savory and sweet crepes and all the road side yummies that I just cannot resist. Then there are umpteen cafes to .....

Fabulous Finds From France

This one is adorable!!!! its a prayer book for a little girl. The name is also written on the first page. I really don't know much about where this came from either England or France but its beyond beautiful. I just had to share this with you before logging of for the night Bon Nuit.

Another one from France, however this one is made from venetian glass beads. Words cannot describe this one I wore it the day I brought it and everybody stopped me to ask me where I got my statement piece. It is the color the simplicity of the cross and medal. What else can I say!!!!!

This Rosary is so special the details on the cross the color combination of silver and gold and the medals (there are 6) and the best part of this Rosary is that it is in Coral. This one is so delicate and beautiful that I am falling short of words to describe it .... but picture speaks a thousand words they say so here you go ...

This one is a beauty, I have rarely ever seen a book pendant so regal and beautiful. The enamel on this is in perfect condition and the pages inside are mounted. The book itself depicts the history of the cross and the back of the book has a bouquet of roses. très beau

Saint Theresa Photo Pendant antique and massive. This one is sheer overwhelming measuring at almost 6cm in Length also listed on my Etsy store

My Featured Finds For The Week

Tre Beau, this is so beautiful. I loved this button on sight. Again found on my flea market expedition in Paris. This button is French paste with a portrait. Its hard to come by these paste portrait buttons but they sure will make an amazing focul on any jewlery.

Another Bird ... I love them. This one I got from a Paris flea market and looks to be much later than the Victorian/Edwardian period but its nevertheless gorgeous.


Another paste beauty from the Victorian period ....... I think these paste pieces in this condition are so rare and difficult to find.

Oh my god this one is a true beauty and again in mint condition. Love the look of the soaring bird again from the Victorian/Edwardian period. I love this paste piece. This one is so substantial, the sheer size and shine just dazzles you.

This cross is really amazing. Found it in Florence near the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The color of the mosaic are so vivid and the design so different than the ones seen from that time. This cross shows Pope Pius XI and is from the 1910 - 1920s. I was told that these crosses are very rare. It was the beauty of this one that got to me ..... love it.

This is a very rare victorian paste buckle in impeccable condition almost mint for an antique almost hundred years old. Will be a great focal point on some jewelry. Wow a true beauty!!!!

French paste pendent/brooch fabulous and rare!!!! Mother of pearl center and the size of this piece is very substantial. One look at this one and I fell in love with this beauty.

My First Post!!!!!!

Hello to all my dear friends and a special hello to dear Nancy without whom my blog would not be possible. My love for the old and the beautiful has been nurtured under your loving care and without Gilding the Lily Vintage and you I would seriously be lost. I have been meaning to blog now for sometime ever since I have set up my own little etsy store, but kept putting it off because blogging seemed so overwhelming. But now here I am all ready to share with all you creative souls out there my treasures and finds some from my own personal collection and some from my London and Paris flea market excursions. I for some reasons am always at a loss for words when I need to sit down and write so I think I will do most of my talking to you through pictures. For those of you who dont know me I am from the Fullerton area of California, and have studied engineering and fashion(I know dynamic combination ain't it) and now design fashion accessories in my little studio in London. I have always looked towards history for my love of design and over the years collected trunks full of stuff unimaginable and beautiful. This "stuff" that I have collected got so out of hand that I had to share it with others through my Etsy store. England and France are treasure troves for such beautiful antiques and I regularly visit the markets here to get inspirations for my future collection and for my Etsy store. I would love to share with you my finds of the week on this blog - not many words mind you just pictures!!