The precipice of the new year often leaves me nostalgic for moments passed. I like to reflect on the people, places and things that inspired us to be where we are at this time. We received news earlier in the month that one of our favorite customers passed away. The last time she visited we spoke at length with her and her husband about places to visit in France for their upcoming trip. It was a magical moment with kindred spirits! Beyond our need to make a living, it reminded me of one of the reasons I first wanted to open a store and the place that inspired it.

The first twinge of desire to open my own shop appeared when Laurent and I visited Rocamadour. We were still living in France at the time. I saw this little store and my heart nearly burst with joy! The crooked roof, the tiny door, all tucked into the rocks…sigh…even now, I sometimes imagine The Curious Nest in this tiny building. Sitting at the foot of the largest shrine to the Black Madonna, a place ancient and blessed.

Now I imagine our friend peering up at those same rocks, hand clasped with her beloved, soaking in all the mystery of Rocamadour. The reason I first wanted to open a store was to share with others the things and ideas that made my heart delight. Not just physical items but also the places they came from or the idea that sparked their creation. We’ve noticed more people coming to us asking about where we find things or what inspired a certain piece of artwork (be it jewelry, books or paintings). I think we’re all craving those moments of connection and inspiration in a world that often leaves us bogged down in the quagmire.

So this year, instead of simple shop updates, I will also be writing about places, people and ideas that inspire. For those of you who are too far to visit in person, I’m hoping the pictures and words will transport you to our little nest. For obvious reasons, to keep the nest open we must sell physical items. More importantly, to keep the desire alive in us we must continue to create those little moments of kindred appreciation of all things beautiful, curious and divine. I hope 2014 is a year of discovery and joy for all.

Our little nest is sparkling with all manner of twinkle lights, snowflakes and crystals! We are also fully stocked with small locally made stocking stuffers to one of kind treasures. I even did a rack of necklaces and earrings with vintage findings (earrings $16 necklaces $18), sterling & gemstone earrings $24 and more. We also have lavender sachets, soap ($6 and $2 bars), soy teacup candles ($12-$16), handmade ornaments and other small treats. If you are interested in giving my books for the holidays, we have about a dozen copies of the first book left in stock and about 25 of book 2. They flew out the door last week!

To make it a bit easier to see us this week, we will be open Wed-Sat 11-6 Sun-Mon 12-5, closed Dec 24-25^th to re-open for normal hours the last week in December. We will then close up for the first week in January. We hope to see you all soon!

 Happy Holidays!

The holiday season is in full swing! We will be open this week, Wednesday-Saturday 11-6 and Sunday 12-5 and the following week Wednesday –Saturday 11-6 and Sunday-Monday 12-5 …to make shopping for curious treats and treasures a little easier. The shop looks brilliant with sparkly lights everywhere, handmade ornaments from local artists, a new batch of Debbie’s teacup candles, lavender sachets, soap, antiques, books and of course jewelry! I will be putting out new pieces daily including a  rack of $24 sterling and gold-filled earrings. Matching charm and gemstone necklaces and more.

BUT first, I wanted to make a few fancier pieces to beckon in the light of the year. From Victorian to Art Deco, I used shapes and pieces that inspired me from my favorite decorative time periods. The emerald deco necklace as well as the diamond deco flower set remind me of something worn at a Gatsby party! These two shimmer and shine in the sparkly lights. I hope you enjoy them

and will attach a price list below, all under $1000. I’ll have them in the shop starting tomorrow!

The air is chilly, the twinkly lights are up and the holidays are officially upon us! First, we want to let you all know about our holiday hours, starting next week, we will be open Wednesday-Saturday 11-6 and Sunday 12-5 until Christmas. We will also be open Monday Dec. 23^rd from 12-5 for those last minute shoppers!!! So come by and see what’s new, all the independent shops on our street are filled with cheer!

We also want to announce the arrival of some new French antique arrivals! There are plenty of medals to choose from including gold, silver, enamel and vintage base metal. Antique lockets, sliders, other jewelry. Sterling and base metal cigarette cases and matchboxes. A rare micromoasiac cross, porcelain Madonnas, hair reliquary, jewelry boxes and MORE!

I will also be adding new jewelry daily. We are fully stocked with soap, handmade teacup candles, ornaments and so much more. Both of my books are also available in the shop, in paperback, an excellent gift for young adult readers and up!!!

We hope to see you all soon! Stay warm and come in for some treats…

We wanted to announce a few new things that are happening at The Curious Nest. We just got in fresh soap from Circle Creek Home! This includes large bars of six new scents (Coconut Lime, Sweet Orange Clover, Peppermint Tea Tree, Lemongrass, Rosemary Mint, Lemon Poppy seed) for $6 each AND mini-bars of the same soaps for $2 each! The little ones are great for travel, hostess gifts or stocking stuffers. The sweet orange clove is my favorite! We also have in beautiful new lavender sachets by KG Crafts in both her usual red ticking, and other vintage material, as well as her quilted hearts. And of course I am working on new jewelry daily, getting the shop geared up for the holidays.

Also I will be doing a  FREE Kindle Download  of my first book “The Curious Ways of the Winships” from Nov. 1^st through the end of the day on Nov. 2^nd . This is the new version with photographs and thorough professional edit. Please spread the word if you enjoyed the first book! It has been getting some great attention and we have some really exciting projects in the works to be announced soon. If you have a moment to leave a quick review on Amazon, it is much appreciated! Also the second book A Curious Spring Fever- Kindle Edition  is now available on Kindle as well! And we have both in paperback in stock in the shop!

In the meantime, we hope to see you all soon! Lots of art, jewelry, antiques and more in the coming weeks…

This is going to be an exciting week at The Curious Nest! My second book in the Winship series “A Curious Spring Fever” is in the shop as of Thursday! We will be celebrating with hot apple cider, treats and book signing all this week Thursday October 24^th – Sunday October 27^th during regular shop hours. And for those of you who are coming on Saturday, fear not, the Huskies game starts at 8pm so there will be plenty of parking during the day to come see us! Also we will be doing a price reduction if you get one of the new editions of book 1 ($16) + book 2 ($18) it will be $30 for both. I’m so excited! I loved my first book (because it’s the first in what will be a seven book series) but the second book is my masterpiece so far! There are antique engravings with each chapter and of course a story that is perfect for thrills and chills. If you are an out of state client, you can order it here on Amazon ! I will send another email when it is up on Kindle.

In addition to the release of the second book, I also just finished my “Halloween” jewelry collection…this year the theme is French Forest. I just finished the draft of the third book in the series which is set in France…so visions of dark alpine forests, werewolves and castles were swirling in my head as I created jewels by day and wrote stories by night. I will be putting these all in the shop starting on Thursday! These are going to be hard to part with because they are all pieces I would wear all year round.

We hope you can come by for some hot apple cider and see all the new treasures in the shop!!! We also have new art, lavender sachets by KG Crafts and I am hoping to make a few “Winship House Protection” kits for this weekend only…a treat bag filled with things to keep the ghouls and goblins away…and more…

Autumn is here and the pumpkins are out! We just finished our Halloween display window with plenty of time to spare before the ghouls and goblins come out to play. Here is a little peek into the shop…we have spooky treats and treasures on display and lots of exciting things to come in the month of October!

Save the date for October 24th, it will be the first day of the book signing (will go through the weekend Oct.24th-27th) of my second book in the Winship series “A Curious Spring Fever”! Just in time for my favorite holiday!

Lots of exciting things are happening this October at The Curious Nest!

First, I am excited to announce that my first book “The Curious Ways of the Winships” just received a make-over by a professional editor and now has the addition of black and white photographs with each chapter! We just got the new version into the shop this week, so come grab a copy if you feel so inclined (it is also on Amazon and if you bought it on Kindle you most likely received a free download announcement of the new version via email.)

My second book in the Winship Series, “A Curious Spring Fever,” will be released this month on Amazon! We will do a release party (date will be shared soon) at The Curious Nest with all kinds of Halloween revelry (treats, apple cider, spookiness) as well as copies of the second book available for purchase!!! I can hardly wait!!!

Also, if you can, take a minute to check out my friends’ Laura Carriker and Bella Carriker’s outstanding Indiegogo project! It is a documentary film that explores the Carriker Bird Sanctuary in Columbia. This one touches my heart on many levels…my talented friends are creating it! The funds go not only to funding a documentary film …BUT to saving Columbian rainforest and its feathered inhabitants! And one of the perks are a pair of my earrings created specifically for this project! I’ll attach a picture of the earrings. Take a look and please pass it along! Columbia Indiegogo

We hope to see you all soon! More jewels, antiques and art are also in the works!

I am truly thrilled to unveil my latest collection inspired by French Polynesia. We ventured there during our time off from the store this summer on business. At first we were unsure of what to expect as it was a place we had always dreamed of going but had no idea what we would find there. Upon our arrival, we were both instantly enchanted. Our very first day we were adopted by several local artisans. Their warmth and generosity bonded us into an immediate kinship. (In fact we will soon be carrying some of their handcrafted shell treasures ,the box is en route from Tahiti, at the shop!) From Tahiti we ventured to Bora Bora and found ourselves in one of the most beautiful places on earth. The pearl farms were magical, the white sands littered with coral, the water an astounding blue, and again, the people were simply spellbinding.

As we plotted the fourth book in the Winship series while we shopped for shells and treasures…the designs for this collection were spinning so quickly through my mind I could hardly sketch fast enough! I tried to capture everything that we loved about this far off paradise…I hope someday to return…maybe for longer than just a visit. But for now, here are the creations that came of this voyage. I close my eyes and still see imaginary Victorian shipwrecks, mermaids lounging on white sands, manta rays gliding on angel wings through the waters, yellow lemon fish puckering  their lips at the coconut shreds we fed them from the pier and thick jungles of palm trees blowing in the windy evenings. The air there smells like smoke and peppery flowers…I hope these jewels capture a tiny hint of what it felt like to be there! I will post photographs of the places and things that inspired each of these creations on my artist page https://www.facebook.com/AndreaSavarCreations or better yet, pop by the shop and see them in person! Everything will be out this Thursday…

We are back from our summer break and looking forward to opening up our shop tomorrow (Thursday Sept. 5th!) And we have treasures…many many new treasures to share with you. Here is a peek at some of our new items including antique 19^th century French miniatures (Marie-Antoinette, Madame de Pompadour, Laetitia Bonaparte, etc), art nouveau sterling medals, dance cards, antique French (and European) coins including small ones from the 1640s decorated with fleur de lys $12-$18 each, several exceptional jewelry boxes and more!

I am also adding a lot of new jewelry starting tomorrow! There is a big collection inspired by French Polynesia that I will add in a few weeks but in the meantime I went crazy on mixed-metal found object jewelry. I am also adding them to my re-designed Etsy store for all of you who are out of the Seattle area (or in our area but can’t make it to the shop.) I will add to it through the year! https://www.etsy.com/shop/andreasavar Check it out and let me know what you think! Just the beginning…although we hope you will pop in and peruse in person too!!!

And lots of other exciting things to come this autumn! New paintings, new books and more…