I wanted to make something special in order to help with the aftermath of

cyclone “Sandy”. Then I remembered some of these antique transit tokens that

I had stashed away for a rainy day and thought they would be perfect for

raising a bit of money for the cleanup efforts that are currently underway

on the East Coast. The Curious Nest will donate 100% of the sale of these

limited one-of-a-kind necklaces to the American Red Cross. If you see one

that you like just message me or come by the shop starting Thursday. Our

goal is to sell them all before Thanksgiving so we can get the money to the

charity as quickly as possible! Here are the pictures and the descriptions

below of each token. The 17” necklaces are $30 ea and the 32″ necklaces are

$50. Enjoy…

Picture SandyToken00:

These Transit Token Necklaces are all made with vintage pre-1940s tokens

from across the country with gemstones, key charms, copper, brass and

antiqued nickel chains. They are all 17 inches and $30 each.

(tokens from left to right: San Francisco, St. Paul, Seattle, St. Louis, San

Diego, District of Columbia)

Picture SandyToken01

These transit tokens are made with clusters of gemstones and antique chain

from New York. $30 each

(tokens from left to right: Denver, District of Columbia, Indianapolis,

Tacoma)

Picture SandyToken02

These are larger tokens from the 1950s and I made them extra-long and with

more clusters! They are 32 inches on antique chains. $50 each

(tokens from left to right: Cairo Bus Company token, Virginia Electric

Company token, Philadelphia Bridge token, Honolulu transit token)

We have a huge selection of unusual pieces in the shop right now. It is the perfect time to start nesting for autumn and why not add a few French  touches! Our ephemera selection is over flowing with handpainted prints, engravings, postcards and photographs worthy of framing. We also have in many holy water fonts and other religious art fresh from France. As well as vintage medals, chains, pins and much much more…here are few pictures! Also check out our weekly highlighted items on our Facebook page.

Just a reminder that we are open this week Thursday July 26^th-Sunday July 29^th for regular store hours.

We will then be closing up shop until Sept. 6^th so we can go hunting for new treasures for Fall!!!

So come see us if you have any last minute summer shopping to do. I have made a few new jewelry pieces combining pearls and gems and we have some unusual antiques in as well as new local art pieces by Debbie Savar and Kim Groff-Harrington.

In celebration of summer and the French Independence Day, we are planning on having a 4 day celebration at The Curious Nest!

It will include some new antiques from France (pictures attached), my latest jewelry collection “Souvenir de France” which is all made with antique French found objects, gemstones and charms. Each of the pieces is one of a kind! (pictures attached and feel free to contact for prices)

 And from Thursday July 12^th-Sunday July 15^th we will be having a special give-away where  all purchases over $20 will receive a free Circle Creek soap of your choice (freshly delivered this week) or an antique French postcard of your choice! We will also be holding a drawing for two $50 Gift Certificates. So come on by and put your name in the bowl, have a nibble of something sweet and see our new treasures celebrating France!

 Also check out the other stores in our neighborhood like Happy Planet whose summer custom made hula hoops have been a huge hit with the kids (and grownups). Queen Mary for tea/brunch or my favorite: breakfast. Pair for a bit of French food and drink (their happy hour is fantastic) or Gaudi for some spicy tapas and refreshing Sangria! Summer has finally arrived and our little 55^th street neighborhood is embracing it!

July is shaping up to be a very full month at The Curious Nest! Here are some of the happenings:

 Happy Fourth of July week! From July 5-8^th  we will be celebrating local art with a fresh batch of soap from Circle Creek Home, one of a kind Birdhouses by Debbie Savar (in shop Friday), new up-cycled work by Kim Groff-Harrington including her “floribunda recycleus” which are her tin flower stakes $16, urban bird nests $38 and heart and star ornaments $16. Also there will be new Paris inspired assemblages by me! Here are a few pictures but I will be posting more on Facebook and on our Blog through the week!

 The week of July 12-16th we will be celebrating Bastille Day which is France’s Independence Day! We will be serving some French treats and will be having a drawing to give away two $50 Gift Cards. I will also be unveiling my one of a kind France inspired jewelry collection all made with unusual vintage French souvenir charms. I will send pictures of these next week. We will also be receiving a box of antiques from France and I will be adding fun Paris inspired objects to the shop! More to be announced next week…

 But in the meantime, starting today you can add your name to the drawing for the gift cards! The winner will be drawn on July 16^th at 4pm.

We are excited for our last summer month as we will be closed for the month of August to reopen in September!!!

Here are some pictures of a few of the new goodies…

Hello Everyone,

The holidays are now almost upon us and if you still need a few interesting and unique things to stuff stockings or delight the grownups in the family (including a little something for yourself) here are few ideas!

 Artwork: We have wonderful new artwork in the shop by Debbie Savar, she brought in small paintings that range in price from ($45-150) as well as her bookmarks ($4.50), candles ($14), journals ($4-$20), paperweights ($28), cards and other goodies! We also have in some of Lark’s miniature pots which are so charming and range in price from ($48-$56) each as well as more of her larger pieces including her pottery baskets covered with vines and flowers! We also have ornaments and nests by Kim Groff-Harington, gorgeous handmade Paris journals by Karyn Porter ($24)  and I have many new jewelry items that I will be putting out this week including new additions to my $15 sterling and gemstone earring rack and my own handmade ornaments!

 Antiques: We have some amazing antiques in right now including vintage jewelry, French holy water fonts, tins, enamelware, antique jewelry boxes, holy cards, medals and all kinds of delights from France.  

We also have all of Circle Creek’s soap in stock ($5) as well as all kinds of other goodies that are made locally and will fit into everyone’s budget!

We hope to see you soon and also would like to remind everyone that we are closed Christmas Day and will also be closed from Jan 1-11^th for inventory.

Have a very Happy Holiday!

Firstly we would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and let you all know how thankful we are to have such a great group of clients and friends!

 We are excited to start the holiday season off tomorrow with lots and lots of new artwork in the shop!!! I have attached three new paintings although our wall are filled with new work by Debbie Savar, new candles $14 ea, recycled coaster sets $20-$30 ea, book marks $4.50 ea, greeting cards $4 ea, new paperweights $28 and all kinds of other goodies that she has been working so hard on. The three paintings pictured are some of her larger pieces although there will be a range of work in the shop from $65-$2400 of her new work.

 I have also been creating with paper which is my other passion along with jewelry. Here are some pieces that I made with unusual paper (some of which is vintage) and papier mache bases including the little journals $12 ea, the note card boxes $16ea (they are filled with 50 pages of blank note cards) and my handmade paper roses in Italian crepe paper $12ea and also with antique French paper $14ea (long stem roses can be ordered for $16ea).

 We hope to see you this week and we are very excited to get our holiday decorations up and get ready for a wonderful season!!

Hello Everyone,

It is our one year anniversary!!! How time flies!!!

To celebrate our first year open we will have a plethora of new treasures in the shop starting tomorrow…in fact there are so many new things that I hardly know where to start!  

And while all the new items will be out starting tomorrow, we plan on having sparkling cider and pastries on Saturday and Sunday as well as a give-away for 2 gift cards of $50 each (you can put your name in the jar starting tomorrow but the winners will be randomly picked Sunday around 4-ish) . 

 As for the new treasures…I am going to start off with the antiques. We have over 200 new natural history prints from the 1830s by Buffon that are hand water-colored and the subject of birds & mammals. They will range from $10-$40 per page which makes for an amazing and unique gift for the holidays! I will include an unfortunately blurry picture of a few but do come in and peruse our selection. We also have some really unique French enamel pins, pendants and a bracelet from the early 1900s and all in perfect condition (there are 2 Joan of Arc pins) as well as a huge selection of vintage sterling charms from England that will range in price from $12-$28 (some have moveable parts). We also have a few new Victorian mourning pieces that are really exceptional and last (but certainly not least) is a holy relic of St. Therese de Lisieux (a piece of bone).

Here is also my latest collection of jewels! I have a weakness for art nouveau whimsy and this collection is all made with antique French centerpieces (with the exception of the two fairy blossom necklaces) that are either flowers or art nouveau women that I have renamed as being fairies. I also wanted to use some of the truly exceptional gemstones that I have been saving for quite some time.

In addition to creating jewelry I love creating these little vignettes filled with intriguing objects from times past and nature. It is like being able to peer into a tiny little world of mysteries and make up stories around each object and simply let one’s imagination run wild. These are all one of a kind and I will have them all hanging in the shop starting tomorrow.

And we also got in several additions of Lark’s pottery! There are small vases and large urns and other treasures as well. Enjoy the pictures and we hope that you can come see us for our 1 Year Anniversary!

 We hope to see you this week for our one year celebration!

Our segment aired tonight on Evening Magazine!

Take a peak…

http://www.king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine/Memory-making-with-hair-art-132733663.html

There are lots of things happening this week at the Curious Nest!

First we have combined our online stores (jewelry and antiques) into one and it is up and running now at www.thecuriousnest.com/catalog and we will slowly be adding to it .

Also we received several unusual antiques this week just in time for All Saint’s and All Souls Day, one of which is a Joan of Arc statue from 1913, a gorgeous mourning frame made with hair and 2 embroidered sacred hearts under domed glass.

And I apologize for all the photos…I got a little carried away with my creations! In addition to the new jewelry I also made ornaments with found objects and old French medals that range in price from $10-$18 each. I also created greeting cards using vintage French holy cards set onto stationary using photo corners (so the card can be removed), these are $6 each and I have about 30 cards to put out this week.

And last but not least I went wild making all kinds of new additions to my All Saint’s jewelry collection!

Also our segment on Evening Magazine will air this Thursday at 7pm on King 5 and will also be on their website http://www.king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine on Friday.

Enjoy and we hope to see you this weekend but in the meantime here are some pictures of the new goodies…