Hello Everyone, 

We are happy to announce we will once again be participating in the Edmonds Art Walk! This Thursday, May 18th from 5-8pm we will be open and presenting original works by Katrina Haffner. A local talent I have admired for several years. We will also have a limited amount of prints. In addition to art walk we have lots of fun new items in the shop including stickers by Jo Estey and new pottery by Tasha McKivrey. I also have a small batch of my annual lilac vampire repellent potion and shea butter cream. Limited availability. I also have 10 bottles of Tea with Angels.

Feral Fauna Show, a few words from Katrina:

An exploration of the complexities and mysteries of mother nature, with a focus on the cycles of life and death, light and dark, plant and bone. A reminder of our origin, fragility and connection to the wild animal spirit.

Born and raised in Seattle WA, I’ve been creating art all my life, something that was strongly encouraged by my mother and grandmother. Flora and fauna has predominately been my favorite subject matter as I spend a lot time exploring the wild. Other influences include, nature photography, natural science illustration, art nouveau and surrealism.

Hello Everyone,

So much to see in the shop! We are excited to share that we have a fresh arrival of goodies from France in the shop this week! We have amazing carved shells, match strikers, jewelry boxes, ex votos, art nouveau objects and so much more! We hope to see you soon and in the meantime, here is a peek at our latest treasures!

Happy New Year everyone! We are deeply grateful to all who helped 2019 such a wonderful year for us in our new location. We are taking a little break to regroup and get ready for a new year filled with new creations, antiques and more! See you all after the confetti has settled!

We have new work from the wonderful Janie Olsen in the shop this week! She brought new originals that include her magical world of animals and more. From wild rabbits to frolicking lambs, her world is captured in stunning detail on each canvas. Janie also brought in a fabulous selection of her giclee prints in two sizes starting at $35 each. Come take a look this week!

Hello Everyone! It has been far too long since I have updated our blog but it was definitely time now that we have moved our Seattle store to Edmonds! Oh what a difference it makes to have room to spread our wings and our curious treasures while experiencing the vibrant art community that is our town. We loved Seattle but the siren song of Edmonds was too strong to resist. We hope you will come visit our new shop and enjoy the plethora of delights we now have to offer. More updates very soon!

We were surprised and delighted today to find we were mentioned in the Seattle Times as one of their favorite places to shop! I blushed with pride after reading the lovely words they wrote about my jewelry creations. How did they know the garden faeries and mermaids are my muses?! Many thanks to the Seattle Times for the wonderful mention! It made for an exciting Sunday at the shop and I hope an even better week to come…my faery fingers are working on new jewels for Mother’s Day.

“Local designer Andrea Savar’s jewelry, sold in this charming Bryant/Ravenna shop, looks like something crafted by fairies in a magical glade, or washed up by the tide from some mythical sea — all made from found objects, vintage treasures and a variety of metals and gemstones.”

http://www.seattletimes.com/life/the-list-four-retail-splurges-for-your-tax-refund/

We just wanted to let you know about our summer hours. We will be closed this Thursday, July 3^rd and Friday, July 4^th for the Independence Day holiday. We will be back open this Saturday, July 5th  11-6 and Sunday, July 6^th 12-5, for regular shop hours. In true French tradition, we close the month of August and re-open after Labor Day so make sure and stop by this July for all kinds of treasures!

I’m working on new summer jewels this week and we will also have a new arrival of antiques in time for Bastille Day. We have also been spending a great deal of time building our online presence with our Ebay (antiques and jewelry) , Etsy (jewelry and art) and The Curious Nest online stores. Have peek for those of you near or far.

We hope to see you soon, July is going to be a wonderfully busy month of new arrivals and celebration!

I’m very excited to announce the arrival of my latest 36 page, illustrated novella “Evolutionarium – Air”. I will be putting out the first editions tomorrow. The books are $7 each. The original drawings will also be available for purchase. I’ve created one-of-a-kind matts and frames for each of the drawings. The originals also have watercolor details. The 5×7 illustrations are $85 each and the 9×10 illustration is $140. Purchases of original art come with a complimentary copy of the book. You can also find the novella on Amazon in both Kindle and Paperback.

Air is the first book in the Evolutionarium series of illustrated novellas.  Set in the not-so-distant future, the Great Change has left the world’s inhabitants struggling for elemental balance. Caged in an overpopulated apartment building, Jasper is a boy on the fringe of the flock. He spends his days obsessed with a microcosm of magpie treasures until one evening a winged shadow on the roof catches his eye. As a string of eerie events unfold, Jasper discovers his kindly neighbor Mrs. Harlow may be at the heart of an evolving mystery.

Little Things…

Recently my friend brought me two boxes of little things from her studio. Lisa Mei Ling Fong is a renowned assemblage artist, a lover of curious trinkets, a transformer of the mundane into the beautiful. It was overflow from her stock and she knew that I too have a love of odd little bits and pieces that speak of worlds waiting to be created. Butterfly cocoons in Tupperware, hinges from furniture run amuck, a fishing reel whose catch was long abandoned. I spent hours sorting through the possibilities each tiny object possessed, a little glow of joy growing in my heart with each discovery. What final metamorphoses would a broken butterfly wing endure? You will soon find out!

About a week later we brought a new artist’s work into the store. Nancy Nelson came to us with her latest creations, glass vials filled with little things found in nature. Each glass container is carefully aligned to create a collection of elemental artifacts. Vibrant plumage ignites visions of exotic birds in flight, tiny shark teeth transports one to deep waters; each combination a reminder of the beauty in the world. As we spoke about her inspiration, I could feel an instant kinship with both her and her art. Her eyes sparkled with delight as she explained the lovely contents of her creations. She too is a lover of little things. As I priced and hung her work, I couldn’t help but smile with contagious glee as another local artist, Marge Manwaring, came to mind.

A poetess is in her art bound by little things; words condensed in elegance to convey the most expansive subjects the universe holds true. In her collection of poems “What to Make of a Diminished Thing”, Marge crafts a microcosm of emotion on the page. Each word perfectly placed to stir feelings immeasurably. I am honored to have her books in the store as well this month; each comes with a handmade bookmark lovingly adorned with a little gumball machine charm.

As all these little things made their way into the shop, it seemed that February was destined to be an ode to the diminutive! The more I thought on it, the more perfect it all seemed for the smallest month. Also how lovely to give the gift of the world in a bottle or a beautifully bound book of poems to a Valentine! A little thing can speak volumes to the heart. It also speaks to the creator of those seemingly small relics. It tells them that the love they instill in each piece is a worthy endeavor. These little treasures are more than mere adornment; they are a love letter to the world and all things creative.

So if you are in search of the perfect little thing, do consider some of our new treasures. Wish bottles for a friend, a vial of elements for a lover, or a book of poems for the vibrant souls in your life are all waiting for you inside our tiny nest. Or a pair of earrings made with antique St. Therese medals, the patron saint of little things. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that have the most impact; a word of encouragement sends a ripple of hope into the world. A butterfly wing stirs a storm of imagination! We hope to see you soon and in the meantime, I wish you all little things filled with wonder and joy.

 An Orchestra of Wishes…

While contemplating what 2014 may hold for us, I found myself in the realm of wishes. Dreams, hopes, wishes are wonderfully intagible wisps that flutter into our hearts burning to be seized! They can be overwhelming in their intensity at times. In other moments, we search for them frantically, fearing they may be lost.

So I decided to create a physical vessel to hold wishes. Long a collector of antique bottles, the idea of a message sent out to sea appeared in the forefront of my mind. A collage of collected ornaments formed on each bottle, a starfish here…a key over there. Each one a keepsake to hold an orchestra of wishes.

When you feel the nagging sensation of a dream appear, tear a scrap of paper from the nearest reel. Scratch your hopes onto it with unabashed glee. Into the bottle it goes, either rolled into a perfect little paperolle or straight, so hints of words can be seen as reminders. I like to hang them in the window and watch the light shine through the wish bottle, reflecting lively shadows on sunny days.

At the end of the year, a bottle full of wishes awaits. You can give them as a gift! What is more precious that a whole year of your hopes and dreams? Or keep them as a reminder that your soul is very much alive with joy. Afterall, the granting of all your wishes is not what’s important; it’s the collecting of dreams that keeps the heart beating.

And while I’ll have these bottles for sale in the shop this week, you may also make your own! Granted, I would be honored if you chose one of mine but welcome the proliferation of wish keepers in all their variations. Mine range in price from $14-$32 dollars depending on the rarity of the bottle and its adornaments.

Wishing you all a year of abundant joy and dreams requited!