Mother's Day is Sunday, May 9th

God took the fragrance of a flower...

The majesty of a tree...

The gentleness of morning dew...

The calm of a quiet sea...

The beauty of the twilight hour...

The soul of a starry night...

The laughter of a rippling brook...

The grace of a bird in flight...

Then God fashioned from these things

A creation like no other,

And when his masterpiece was through

He called it simply - Mother.

God's Masterpiece Is Mother
by Herbert Farnham

While we surely send our love to our mothers throughout the year, this special day is a celebration in a grander style of Mom -- all she is to us, all she means to us, and all she will be for us.

We can help you with lots of special gifts and thoughts for Mom.  We have excellent vintage and hand crafted jewelry, as well as a number of styles of jewelry holders for Mom to organize and store her treasures.

Inspirational signs, cards and slogans celebrating Mothers and home come in a several of styles and sizes.

Plus we have a few whimsical sweet nothings for Mom, as well as just things Mothers will love.

Happy Mother's Day

Hand Made Olive Rose Dolls and V. Originals Plaques and Signs

We have added some wonderful hand made products from a number of talented American artists.  This month we want to feature the hand crafted fabric dolls from Olive Rose and hand painted artistic plaques and signs from V. Originals.

Olive Rose tells her story ... Art has always been a part of my life. My father was an amateur cartoonist and illustrator, so I spent many nights at his drafting table, coloring along. My grandmother helped me create my first hand-stitched doll dress, and the muse was unleashed. Variations of that design appear in my work today. Noticing my interest, my parents presented me with a sewing machine for my 13th birthday. I immediately set about creating my own wardrobe, and that of my Barbie doll's as well... this eventually led to design school.

My life has taken many paths - freelance designer, tailor, collage and mixed media artist. I still do what I love, and continue to explore creative paths. My collage and mixed media work has appeared in many magazine publications and books.  My life is still blessed...

We have several of Olive Rose's creations at Vintages.   Maybelle is an angel ... literally.  She has nifty wings decorated with old paper, sheet music and stamps.  Her sheer polka dot dress is fluffed up with tulle petticoats and lace bloomers.  She holds a heart in her hands.  Sweet!

Lovey is an angel too.  She flies with sparkling wings and holds a heart with a love banner.  Her primitive dress is white-washed and has lace trim.  She is a real sweetheart.

These Halloween Puppets are festive and fun.  Truly reminiscent of days gone by, kind of like the old jester wands.  And Skelly, the little skeleton doll, is quite the character!

This Big Red Santa wears a red suit and hat with hand-stitched trim and dark pants.  His vintage quilt bag is stuffed with greenery, a Christmas card and a cookie cutter.

V. Originals is the combined effort of some self described Hot Chicks from Atlanta painting pretty pictures and doing what they love, while loving what they do.  Each piece is hand-worked, hand-painted and individually detailed…with love. We are well stocked with love bird wooden signs,  painted wood blocks with snippets of sage advice and plaques with whimsical dogs and cats.

Many of these items are on our online shopping site.  Please visit our online shop, or come on in to our shop in Los Gatos.

Shop Online with Vintages

We are happy to announce that we now have a new online shopping venue!  For a few years we have offered antiques and some contemporary items online at our site on Trocadero.com.  We now have a second Vintages shopping site where we will list crafting items, handmade jewelry, artisan created products and such.  It will take some time to build up the inventory, but it is up and running now.  Check it out ... let us know what you think.

Introducing the Lela Belle Jewelry Collection

We discovered this fabulous line of interchangeable beaded jewelry and just had to have it in our shop.  Vintages has the exclusive retail rights to the Lela Belle Jewelry Collection in the Bay Area.  The colorful and inspirational beads are interchangeable on a variety of silver chains so that the beads may be worn in clusters on a necklace or strung apart on either a necklace or bracelet.

We sell all the component parts individually, so you can create your own style using the colors and shapes and materials of your choice.  What's more, we have incorporated Susan's handmade solder pendants into the assortment and sell the clasps and connectors that can allow you to add your own pendants or charms into the design.

Renn Farmer of Monroe, NC is the founder and vision behind Lela Belle, Inc., which is named after her grandmother Lela Belle Little.  Fascinated by the beauty and uniqueness of lampwork beads, Renn was inspired to create jewelry that would allow you to interchange these beautiful beads.  Each bead has its own distinctive charm and when placed together, creates a bracelet or necklace that shows the individual style of the person wearing it.

Using a process which is more than 3000 years old, each bead is exclusively made for Lela Belle Inc.  The beads are all handcrafted in small village studios around the world using only the highest quality of Murano glass from Italy and .925 sterling silver components.  Lela Belle beads are like people, they come in many different sizes, shapes and colors … no two beads will ever be the same.  The variations in bead colors and designs are part of the uniqueness of this line and are a result of the handmade process.   Sterling silver findings are added to accentuate the beautiful colors in each bead.

Come on in and create your personal design.  We can help ... or you can just go wild!

Decorative Desktop and Table Top Frames

At Vintages, we have a nice variety of small and miniature picture frames.  Some are new and some are antique.  This month we want to highlight some of our collection.

The contemporary collection includes some wonderful all-glass floating frames - Made in New York - as well as frames inlaid with Lucite gems, horn and shell tiles.

We also have some lovely gilded frames in vintage Florentine and Louis XVI styles.

We recently purchased a sizable collection of antique, one of a kind, small and miniature frames in brass and sterling silver.  Most of these, and a few others, are available online.

This beautiful gilded brass frame holds a hand-done miniature portrait painted on ivory.  This is from the early 1900s.

Several in this collection are Arts and Crafts frames from the turn of the century.  The distinctive design and workmanship make these truly special.

Also included are Victorian, Eastlake and Art Nouveau designs in a variety of small and miniature sizes.

These beveled glass frames with brass ribbon decoration are gorgeous.

Simple, yet elegant!  That's the case with these early 20th century miniature American sterling frames.

To go along with these frames, we have a significant collection of photographs, prints, maps and other ephemera from the early 1900s and back into the 19th century.

Holiday Hours at Vintages

Vintages will be open DAILY during the remainder of the Christmas Holiday season.  Here is our Holiday schedule:

Through Christmas Eve we are open DAILY:

• Monday through Saturday 10am to 6pm (or later if needed) and Sundays 11am to 5pm (or later if needed).
• Christmas Eve 10am until late afternoon (4pm or 5pm or so).
• Closed on Christmas Day.
• We will resume normal hours after Christmas.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday.