Femme Petal

When I came across Erin Keys' the Etsy shop, Femme Petal, I felt like I'd found a creative soul mate. Along with being a pink papaya consultant, a mom, and a wife, Erin is an amazingly talented jewelry designer. Her work absolutely entrances me with its mix of the old and the new. It is feminine, classy, and so beautiful. I think you'll agree.

Here is a small preview of what Erin has in her current inventory (click on any image or title to see more):

The Carrie Necklace in Lilac
Hand-dyed silk ribbon in lilac connected to antique brass hammered circles and lavender glass pearls.

Summer Rose Necklace in Pink
Featuring a hand carved light pink acrylic rose
hanging in the center of glass pearls in different shades of pinks.

Embrace Spring
I'm in love with the pink and chocolate brown combo on this one!

A Fairy Cameo
Features a beautiful soft pink cameo and 3 small light pink pearls on an antique brass chain.

Click here to visit Erin Keys' shop, Femme Petal

What's new at Dusting in Pearls

There's some new stuff happening at Dusting in Pearls. I thought it would be nice to share.

I'm really excited about the new categories at the Dusting in Pearls online store! You can click on any of the buttons below to go to the new category.

Then there are the newly designed gift certificates that are now available at the Dusting in Pearls online store. Gift certificates are available in $5, $10, $15, $20, $25, $50 and $100 amounts.


Unlike a digital gift certificate that gets emailed to someone, these gift certificates are printed on thick glossy paper and placed in a beautiful pink envelope. Because the certificate isn't printed until you order it, you can choose to have the certificate printed with the recipient's name and the giver's name OR you can leave them blank to fill out yourself. The certificate and pink envelope are packaged in a rigid mailer and either sent to you OR you can choose to have it sent directly to the recipient with the new fill-in feature on the listing. Click here to see more...

And one other fun addition is the "Behind the Scenes" page at the Dusting in Pearls online store. It tells the story behind what inspired me to begin with.

Click here to go to "Behind the Scenes"

Flora Bond

There are times when I'll be "digging around" on the internet hunting for treasures, and I'll come across the most beautiful and delightful creations that I can't get them out of my mind. That's exactly what happened when I discovered Flora Bond. Nicole at Flora Bond has designed such beautiful neoclassical Victorian pieces that I cannot get them out of my head. She, herself states, that she infuses her "designs with a flare of romance and humor" and that has to be why I'm hooked.

Nicole uses almost all vintage fabrics that have been repurposed into something wonderfully elegant. She even does custom designs!

Here are just a few of her gorgeous creations. Click on any of the images to read more about it...

Feminine Confection brooch
vintage fabric and rhinestones with a touch of pink

Your Dream Wedding necklace

Silk and Gold brooch
Peach and pink vintage fabrics and pearls


Flying Flowers necklace
Faceted pearls, solid brass, Amazonite


Picnic of Pretty brooch
Vintage fabrics, beads, and rhinestones

Click here to visit the Flora Bond online store

Eating Al Fresco

In my red and white retro kitchen, I have a vintage metal picnic "basket" I use to hold reusable grocery bags. It is covered with wonderful retro illustrations celebrating eating in the great outdoors. I love them so much, I decided to recreate them by painting them by hand on canvas. And because there were only 7 designs on the basket, I created 2 more designs to make a perfect set of 9.

I painted these in acrylics on 4"x4" gallery-wrapped canvases. Each of these cute paintings is so chunky that they can stand up on a shelf or be hung on a wall in an arrangement.

In the future, I may sell reproductions of these paintings. But I will not be painting these canvases again by hand. I am hoping that they find a good home soon with someone that will appreciate owning the only original paintings.

Click here to find out more...

Brigette B.

I am completely smitten by a recent discovery... the artwork of Brigette Barrager. Brigette is a graduate of CalArts with a BFA in Character Animation. That fact alone could have easily won my heart, because way-back-when I dreamed of going to CalArts and becoming an Imagineer artist for Disney. Ah well... anyway...

Brigette's work is enchanting. She updates her blog, The Brigette Brigade, regularly with sketches and finished work (including a link to a wonderful animated ad for Swarovski crystal). Click on the title of her blog above to go over and snoop around.

Brigette has a leaning toward Audrey Hepburn and the Hollywood of yesteryear (which you know I love), as well as a wonderful way of rendering that makes characters come to life. I am so be smitten with this print, Librarian Bookended, that I'm seeing it in my head as I fall asleep at night.

Click the image to see it larger

Here are some more of my favorites among her cadre of characters. It was so hard to pick just a few to feature. Click on any of the images to see them larger.

Foxy Music

Shangri-la's

Click here to visit Brigette B.'s Etsy shop
Click here to visit The Brigette Brigade
Click here to visit Brigette's flickr portfolio