Looking Back

This month has been oddly very slow at Sacred Cake, but I can't complain. It is affording me the luxury of playfulness and time to look back at favorite pieces to be inspired, contacting customers to say hello, fiddling around at my old table and organizing my area.
Browsing through the earlier days in the "sold" section of my shop, (before the Anna Wintour "vintage jeweled necklaces" caught fire and took over!) I noticed some of the stories that I wrote to go with the pieces I sold.
After all, my tagline is that "Every piece tells a story." Though I rarely do that anymore...we can always begin again. I am a big believer in every day being a new beginning. Lord knowits I need that...it keeps me hopeful!
Here is a little story I came across, and the piece that went with it~

"..she ran her hand noisily along the coolness of the chain link fence during her walk home from the shop until she arrived at her favorite spot. There at the edge of the fence, among the shreds of dirty paper and old faded wrappers, were clusters of fragrant wild roses....like tiny scarlet bouquets that grew there just for her."


Feeling the need lately to root myself in what speaks to my heart. I'm creating more assemblage jewellery pieces, bridal pieces, functional art and I might even begin the book that has been floating around in my head for awhile now. I'm also hoping to get back into some favourite magazines next year.
Here are some new assemblage pieces currently in the shop.

Find me also on my favourite sleepless night haunt, Pinterest!
I have boards of Miriam Haskell Jewellery, 1970s fun stuff, needlepoint, pottery, and even one I've begun on Confetti ware...Also, favourite quotes...love that one.
Http://www.pinterest.com/sacredcake

Antique Oriental Designs for Free Friday!

Antique geisha coffee card

antique sewing, thread collectors card

I have always been infatuated with the orient, since the rare visits to my great-grandfather's house as a child. It was filled with extraordinary things that he brought back with him from Japan when he was stationed there after the war. He had the most amazing Geisha dolls encased in huge glass boxes..tall black lacquer screens with mother of pearl inlay scenes played out in intricate detail. And always, he sent me home with some little thing I coveted, mostly some of the favorite porcelain chop stick rests I'd run my fingers over, from his burgeoning collection. He kept them all in a large, square low-walled wooden box on a stand; just kind of jumbled up like a heaping miniature treasure hunt...and I was always amused as I dug through them...nimble little fingers rummaging through them to find the oddest shapes and funniest things like chickens and curved up fish and strange vegetables. My fave was the deep purple eggplant one...I was so proud of my treasures when I got home to Florida to show them to my friends. I've been enamored with Oriental/ Asian themed things ever since. I feel strangely like it is a part of me somehow. I am so irresistibly  drawn to the culture and the beauty of Japan.

This assemblage necklace I made is in my Etsy shop. I created it with a gorgeous medallion made from the impression of a very large (very coveted) antique metal Geisha button from myown collection. The original antique button was later made into a special cuff bracelet for a up and coming project. This particular necklace I've named "Her Ghost".

oriental vintage assemblage Geisha necklace

My pottery artist friend Michelle Stambaugh used the button stamp she made to create a gorgeous pottery stamp, and in turn she made the most beautiful cobalt blue washed medallion...I just could not resist its ethereal beauty.

"Her Ghost" ,a geisha necklace, vintage brass fan, vintage glass bead chain

and this Lovely Geisha cuff bracelet that I made for a very special project...

antique geisha button cuff

Thank you for being here! Hope you can us the vintage Oriental/Asian ephemera for a nifty project.

I Believe in Love...

Every time I receive a lovely photo from one of "my brides", it reassures me...and always, always melts my heart. As I have said before, weddings give me such hope. Weddings hold such promise...and I believe in love.
When I create a piece of jewelry for a bride, or for anyone for that matter, I infuse each piece with my greatest hopes and love for the wearer. My customers often say they can feel it when they wear it...that means everything to me.

Lovely Ashlee's Wedding

Ashlee's vintage assemblage bridal comb

Glass Garden, vintage assemblage necklace

Glass Garden

In Love, shabby bridal earrings

Ave Maria, vintage assemblage earrings

I have a grandson coming tomorrow, so I'm busy "nesting" here at home. He and Em will be with us for awhile until she can get on her feet. I cannot even describe to you the excitement I feel when I think of seeing his little face for the first time. I find myself gently shaking my head in disbelief, as I write here in the early morning hours, that nine months have flown by already. It has been a rough road for Em, but I know this little fella will help direct her path from here on out. Yup, I have a very good feeling about him...and about her too...

Em

The next time we talk, I'll be a grandmother for the very fist time...magic!
Warmly,
Jennifer

New Vintage Assemblage Jewelry and Home Decor, News, and a Little Idea for Candles

I've made some new things for the shop!

"Red Kitchenette" Magnet Board

Keeping Watch Assemblage Necklace

assemblage bridal comb

Keeping Watch vintage assemblage necklace

Willow, assemblage earrings

"secret" assemblage tiny locket earrings

also, my dear friend Laurie Jacobsen made me a "blinky"! What do you think?

I just love it! (Jenny, you make this so very special!)

In other news, my daughter Emily's pregnancy is doing well, I am looking forward to little Benjamin's arrival sometime in early November! Emily and Ben will be living with us, so i will get lots of grandma time in! I can hardly wrap my mind around it folks! Then, more news came as quite a surprize suprise suprize surprise (i can never ever correctly spell surprise! Am I the only one?!)...my other daughter, Rebecca is also expecting! She is due in March...YES. I'm going to be a grandma twice over within 6 months time.....WHEW.  They say they didn't plan it that way....hhhmmmmmm......I wonder.............

OH! I also wanted to tell you about a little trick I do. Sometimes I find decorative candles that I really really like. So, to extend the life of them, I let them burn down about a couple of inches. THEN from then on, I put  a small tea light down in the hole and light that instead. I like to use the scented tea lights or just plain ones. I buy a huge bag of them at Michael's and they last a long time! Pretty nifty idea eh?

Thank you for being here today!
Blessings and Light,
Jennifer

Mountains of Inspiration

Jennifer Valentine circa 1983

     When I was young I'd often visit my grandmother in New Jersey and I'd go to youth camp for a week in the mountains of Vermont...we would gather together around a fire and sing in the evenings...laughter and song bursting into the darkness around us...it was a place where I felt a belonging. I know we all felt it...
and we'd sing my favorite silly song "His Banner Over Me is Love". To make a long story a bit shorter, the song required a lot of silliness with hand gestures and body contortions that had everyone laughing hysterically and feeling present in God's love all around us. This necklace is homage to those summers...we, the branches on the vine of deep and compassionate, unconditional love.
The photo above is of me, my first summer there in Vermont, hiking on Mount Killington. I was 13 and wearing my first pair of Levi's; a bouquet of wildflowers in my back pocket...a Florida girl, touching a mountain stream for the very first time. This picture, I cherish, because it captured me at my essence...a girl immersed in nature, noticing the intricacies of life and flowers and the pebbles in a stream...an innocent heart filled with the joy of creation. Even then I knew that the beauty of this world is no accident.

He is the Vine, religious assemblage necklace

He is the Vine, religious assemblage necklace

He is the Vine, religious assemblage necklace

This religious assemblage necklace I created has amazing luminous antique opal beads,  flourishes of Art Nouveau elements, bits of vintage chain and an antique, well worn cross. I really love to incorporate leaves and the organically shaped elements of nature into my work.

Silent Prayer made Visible, Vintage Assemblage Religious Jewelry

Some of you have been wondering where I've been...I've been making the best that I can of my days, which have been consumed with being a mom to four children and dealing with significant pain issues, nausea, exhaustion and tremendous difficulty getting moving in the morning. Not good for me, who was always quite the morning person...I have suffered with  neuropathic pain for several years now and was diagnosed with Fabry's disease in January of 2010. It's very very rare, but it put a name on the neuropathic pain issues I was dealing with. My condition has deteriorated quite a bit in the last few months, and as of late, I have had  trouble breathing, and a lot of weakness which landed me in the ER last weekend.
And finally another diagnosis: Fibromyalgia. Through my struggle, I have continued to work when I can, determined to continue doing what I love in quiet prayer. No matter how foolish it may sound, I am a strong believer that whatever happens to us has a reason...a divine reason that we cannot comprehend.
I don't consider myself an organized religion type of person, but I believe in Christ and in the existence of God. I experience miracles every day...connections in life that just cannot be happenstance...
I believe in a divine plan...that the people and circumstances in our lives are there to teach, to reveal, to help us learn to love as God loves us.
There is a bible passage that I keep over my work table that reads:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways, acknowledge him
and he shall direct thy paths.
                 Proverbs 3 5-6

Here are my quiet prayers made real:

"Like Water into Wine"

"Like Water into Wine"

"Dreams of the Sacred Mother"

"the Dogwood Tree"

"Dreams of the Sacred Mother"

"the Dogwood Tree"

These necklaces will be available on etsy soon, along with the stories that inspired them.
I am finding such joy in the little things...finding immense joy in my children and my friends and my dear husband..and I am staying strong through my faith, which has become so much stronger through this illness. I am sending healing thoughts and light to those of you reading this post. You are never far from my thoughts.
I'll be back tomorrow to tell you about someone very special to me,  my dear friend Cindi of Cindi0 on Etsy.
An extraordinary woman dealing with her own illness, who makes beautiful quilts for children with cancer...stay tuned.
Love and Light,
Jennifer Valentine

Religious Assemblage Jewelry, and Being Faithful to the Faithful

St. Joseph Everlasting

Mary

Mother of God

What I most like about creating assemblage jewelry with antique religious medallions that most of them (the ones I most like) are so worn by being handled by the faithful for decades of life....for me, there is a lot of power and mystery surrounding such things. I am drawn to the mystery of faith, to the lives of Saints and the lives of those who loved them. My grandfather always wore the medal of St. Christopher around his neck for as long as I can remember, and I think that is where my inspiration and curiosity began. I am forever drawn to the aged silver; the faces rubbed plain from years of prayer and lifetimes of faith. There is no way to replicate that with a new medal. One can rub and age and smooth and darken them (believe me, I've tried), but th antique and vintage medals have a whisper of their own...one that you cannot give to it in a moment or an hour.That is why when I stumble upon antique religious medals in a shop, I feel like I am witnessing a tiny miracle of sorts...that something so small can survive for so many decades of adoration and wear. Religious medals are my most prized jewelry making item for so many reasons.

And so I am faithful to the faithful. I create something else from these medals that can be re-worn, re-cherished, and re-lived in a different way. Hopefully in a way that would give the previous owner some joy that their prayer, their faith and the mystery of Saints is given new light.

And Lo