swallow and the swift

wow.

2011-09-03T12:29:00.004-04:00

via irregularexpressions

i found these these gorgeous necklaces by turkish designer irregularexpressions upon signing into etsy thismorning. the craftsmanship and attention to detail on these pieces just blows my mind! all the way down to the closure in the back.
wonderful!

2011-08-27T17:05:00.001-04:00

some new pics of pieces for sale on my etsy

sold!

2011-07-14T10:00:00.002-04:00

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Here are a few pics of pieces that I have recently sold. All of my pieces are one of a kind but I'm always happy to do commissioned pieces also. If you see something you like that is no longer for sale, let me know and I can make you something similar.

new pieces!

2011-07-14T09:55:00.004-04:00

here are some new pieces that i will be posting on etsy soon.
until then, you can message me here if you're interested. ;)

2011-06-02T11:04:00.002-04:00

photos via Almonda

LOVE THIS! line of jewelry from Phillippa Holland

2011-05-22T21:28:00.003-04:00

While chatting with Keesean from DeBasenHaut Vintage, I stumbled upon this amazing jewelry designer, Sandee Shin and her line, Armor Jewelry!

via Armor Jewelry

We both love her androgynous style!

Stay tuned for a Summer '11 surprise from Swallow and the Swift and DeBasenHaut!

2011-05-21T12:31:00.007-04:00

a few more images of what to expect in the future.
it is so hard for me to part with these pieces.
i wish i could make a million of them.

Gordon Highlanders badge (from Scotland!)

wooden beehive bead and vintage glass honey drop

i'll still be selling at kanibal home while i prepare for the Not Yo Mama's Craft Fair, but you can also message me for prices and stay tuned to my etsy.

works in progress...

2011-05-19T12:11:00.005-04:00

Just announced!

Swallow and the Swift will be at Not Yo Mama's Craft Fair in Jersey City on June 25!

I already have tons of new pieces and there are many more to come.

. . . stay tuned ;)

repurposed art nouveau brooch

venting

2011-03-02T20:12:00.004-05:00

i'm just about going crazy waiting for spring to come. march teases us with warm rainy days and windy, bitter cold nights. i pretend it's warmer than it actually is and wear skirts to work only to freeze to death on my way home. i'm sick of wearing big ugly sweaters every day, and sick of complaining about it.

a collection of inspiring images:

jewelry designed by alphonse mucha, 1902. he is my favorite artist and biggest source of inspiration. i see something new every time i look at his work.

andy goldsworthy, who's life i emulate. everyone should see this film: working with time

william eggleston, my first favorite photographer, who i always thought i shared an eye with.

that will be it for now.

snow day!

2011-01-26T14:54:00.006-05:00

it's been snowing all day i'm taking advantage of it!

i've always loved weather and how it can bring ordinary daily life to a screeching halt. which, i agree, is not good for business. but it does keep things interesting, especially in the dead of winter.

i've been sitting around in my pajamas, drinking way too much coffee, playing with my dogs, taking pictures around the apartment and even adding some new items to my etsy shop!

i've been making tons of new pieces lately, and i'm excited to add more drapery, unisex pieces, and new graphic design to my work! if only there were more hours in the day...

http://www.etsy.com/people/swallowandtheswif t

Swallow and the Swift at Kanibal Home

2011-01-15T14:10:00.006-05:00

I just brought a bunch of my newest pieces to Kanibal Home in Jersey City. I really love this place, it has so much to offer. All items are hand-picked by owner Kristen Scalia; vintage furniture and home accessories, hand-made items from independent artists, gorgeous jewelry and great clothing in au c0urant styles! Not to mention Kanibal does art and craft classes, lectures, and parties! My favorite things at Kanibal are the creepy, found curiousities; vintage medical books, anatomical modeals, taxidermied animals and bug specimens! Swallow and the Swift really does fit right in!

Stay tuned! Soon to come: headbands, statement pieces and men's jewelry!

juicy couture at bloomingdales

2010-09-07T20:59:00.002-04:00

looks like juicy has caught on to the whole "reconstructed vintage jewelry trend" and they're doing such a fine job of it. i want!!

they're so beautiful!!
bloomingdales.com

sheep and llama

2010-08-29T13:25:00.008-04:00

I feel incomplete if I don't visit these guys on my trips to Boonton.
My mom is the cutest.

i've been trying to stay home a lot more lately.

2010-04-25T13:14:00.006-04:00

on my off days i try to find things around the apartment that need attention instead of going to the salvation army or finding any old reason to leave the house. it's working out pretty well but it's kind of like breaking an addiction, it's only 1:30 on sunday afternoon and i've already denied myself multiple impulse ventures; goodwill, starbucks, aimless car rides... but my apartment has been a lot cleaner and more organized, and i've made time to work on a few of my ten thousand on going projects including my fire escape garden, jewelry making, sewing, knitting, etc.

i do always manage to go visit my family in boonton on many of my days off. which is where we had this nice little photo shoot a few weekends ago.

the pictures are a little blurry because we didn't try too hard. but i think it makes for a nice effect. they look kind of old and effortless. my mom's house is really gorgeous. she should really be an interior designer. i've always wanted to do a photo project just walking around and photographing her collections. some day i will. i think this was a good start.

chanel temporary tattoos!

2010-03-17T13:07:00.003-04:00

chanel's new line of temporary tattoos is amazing!

sneak peek

2009-11-10T20:55:00.003-05:00

A few things for my upcoming show at Kiva Cafe in Tribeca. Opening December 15. So nervous!

.

2009-08-30T10:52:00.004-04:00

I've had a pretty eventful past few weeks. I got a new car, started going out a little more, went to the beach, a wedding, ringwood park, etc. I decided to take a break from jewelry making, since I've got a lot on my mind and my schedule, and in the mean time I've been commissioned to make a pair of earrings for someone! I'm really excited about this project because we'll be working with real gold and silver and not costume metal.

My sister had an art show on Saturday at The Loop Lounge in Passaic, NJ.
Here are a few pictures from that:

Her pieces are so beautiful and intricate, it boggles my mind. She's going to be the featured artist at Another Man's Treasure for the month of September (back, for the third time, by popular demand). For more information, contact me.

I'm eager to start making jewelry again. I've been avoiding flea markets and garage sales. The move has made me realize how much stuff I have and I'm really trying to control myself and keep/ acquire only what I need. It's been tough.

And with that, I'm taking Izzie downtown to go shopping! Haha.

new camera and an amazing long weekend!

2009-08-17T16:56:00.016-04:00

i've been wanting/needing a camera for a few months now (since my last digital elph got stolen from right under my nose at a house sale a few months ago) so i have been saving and looking around for one when luke shows up at my work on friday with a brand new 12 mega pixel digital elph! needless to say i'm thrilled and keeping it safe on my person at all times as if it were a baby. i've been so anxious to take pictures of the apartment but things are still in organized piles and we still need some shelves, curtains, and painting supplies.
here are a few highlights of the kitchen:

on saturday my family had a bar-b-que for our uncle and cousin who are visiting the east coast from seattle. it was really great to see them again. on sunday luke and i went to asbury park with a few of our friends. it was amazing. i am totally in love with that town. we went swimming in the ocean, (even though asbury is probably the worst beach of the entire jersey shore to swim at, believe me, i know the jersey shore like the back of my hand) it was still a blast and luke laughed like a little girl the entire time. we ate italian food at crust & crumble, which was amazing. i had vegan sausage and peppers! and then walked around the town. luke and i's favorite store shelter home had closed right before we got there. i want our entire apartment to look like this store. it's getting there.

today i have the day off and decided to stay around to "run some errands" (hate that expression) and clean up. instead i gave myself a haircut and i love it! (shut up hairstylist friends, i did a good job!) it's perfect for pin curls, teasing, twisting, etc.

god is really kicking me in the ass right now.

2009-07-31T09:43:00.004-04:00

i always said i loved summer and didn't mind the heat. humidity is another thing. although it does wonders for my baby-fine, kind of wavy hair, i don't enjoy feeling clammy. at least brownstones don't get very hot and we have lots of windows. and being in our undies all the time is fun. if there's a peeping tom around here, he's having a ball.

not enough hours in the day

2009-07-29T10:29:00.002-04:00

i just pulled a muscle while scolding my dog for barking at footsteps in the building, serves me right. since the move my mind has been racing with color pallets and project ideas. i wish i could take a week off just to focus on the apartment. a few hours before and after work is not suffice to get much of anything done. tomorrow i'm going to my mom's to pick up a car load of stuff, or maybe two, after i check out a pair of really cute shoes at hello again vintage. which is only a few blocks away from where i live now! i love the heights. then life drawing with mr. afternoon at lex leonard gallery! (i hope i can make it there in time) and once we pay our first month's rent i'm buying myself a new camera. which is probably a bad idea since i should be saving as much as i can right now, but i feel like a good camera is essential to my creativity and quality of life. haha. and alas, my blog will have lots of pictures. for now, i better shower and get my ass to work.

anxious anticipation

2009-07-22T10:28:00.002-04:00

so many things are happening this summer! new apartment, new car, having my artwork featured in a few stores. usually my summers consist of garage sales, road trips, parties, lots of shopping, and exploring. this summer i've barely done any of that so far. it's been spent planning (planning?!?) and working and saving money. i've dodged a bunch of parties and day trips for apartment searching, lease signing and what not. i'm convinced that all my friends hate me. the good thing is that i feel like my life is going somewhere and i'm really working hard toward something. no dead end job, no more waiting for school to start. i can't wait to start painting walls and hunting for vintage furniture (we already got a pair of 1950's vintage tweed couches!) i'm so excited for this apartment: renovated kitchen and bathroom, lots of big windows, extra rooms, exposed brick, big kitchen, lots of parks in the neighborhood (including a dog park!), and pretty much everything we could possibly need in walking distance.

but i'm also pretty nervous about the future and can't stop wondering if we chose the right place. i swear to god i have split personalities.

pictures coming soon!

new pieces at another man's treasure!!

2009-07-07T23:04:00.007-04:00

on monday i set up my display at another man's treasure as the featured artist for the month of july. i have a bunch of brand new pieces for sale as well as some oldies (but goodies!) and i have already sold a few. i will be making more throughout the month as well as some more pieces for kanibal for which kristen gave me a bunch of vintage keys! i'm so excited.

here are some pictures:

split rock reservoir

2009-07-02T00:23:00.005-04:00

swimming at split rock reservoir with the pups,
here are some of my favorite pics...

yes, it really is 6:27 on sunday morning.

2009-06-28T05:50:00.001-04:00

and i can't sleep. i decided to check out san fransisco's craigslist out of curiosity and it is amazing what you can get for under $1200 a month out there. it really makes me wonder if this is really where i want to be or if i'm just settling for the most expensive area in the world out of proximity to my family and friends. most likely the latter.

in more positive news, restoration of the jersey city powe r house starts this summer! i'm very excited about that. this is the ferry building in san fransisco, a similar project.

i'm pretty sure that amazing piece of architecture has been sitting there, stagnant, for a few decades now. i'm glad they're not just tearing it down to put up high rises like the rest of the pavonia-newport-ish area.

also, i just recently found out about the jersey city bike tours and rental, which totally supports my theory that this is becoming a vacation town. which i love.

kristen from kanibal home gave me some vintage skeleton keys for a commision project, which i am very excited about. now i need to order tons of chain from ebay! more news/ pics soon. kim also brought a bunch of vintage accessories to kanibal to sell on consignment and i'm totally in love with a leather coach-esque bag. as soon as i have some extra cash it's mine.

i've been working on a ton of new jewelry pieces for another man's treaure (i will be the featured artist for the month of july!) and they're coming along wonderfully. here is a really terrible picture of a pair of earrings i will be selling.

blah blah blah. i'm finally getting tired now.

blog-love triangle/square kind of thing

2009-06-19T12:52:00.000-04:00

i just dropped off a few more pieces of jewelry at kanibal home yesterday. i also dropped off a vase full of magnolia branches to display them on. i absolutely love kristen at kanibal. what a doll!

my friend and fellow vintage shop girl kim picked up one of my designs from kanibal last week and blogged about it! kim also just started etsy shop where she sells beautiful vintage jewelry and accessories. check it out! kanibal also mentioned me and kim in their blog. what a magnificent blog-love triangle!

another man's treasure just started blogging also (the amazing vintage store where i work, incase any of the 3 people reading this didn't know). the world of vintage can be very cult-like and consuming. since i started working at amt, my philosophy on life has completely changed and i've become much more comfortable with myself and my eccentricities. i've realized that selling vintage is in escence recycling and helping to preserve and cultivate respect for history. i can go on and on about all the positive aspects of it.

i picked up an amazing vintage wooden jewelry box at a flea market last weekend ($14) it was stained dark brown, so i painted it high-lustre red-orange and i'm in love with it. pictures soon. ;)

and with that i'm off to boonton to do laundry and watch my little brother graduate high school!

eeeeeeeeeeee!

2009-06-05T12:02:00.002-04:00

i dropped some of my hand-made jewelry off at kanibal home yesterday, to be sold on consignment. so exciting! all of it is new and more delicate than my previously posted pieces. i'm pretty sure it will be on display as soon as this weekend (maybe even today!) i'm going to drop off some business cards right now.

kanibal home is an amazing new home store in jersey city, they sell tons of handmade pieces (clothing, jewelry, etc) as well as reupholstered vintage furniture and vintage glassware, wall art, lamps, and more! not to mention, their prices are amazing! i suggest everyone that reads this (3 people?) go check it out immediately.

michele from red delicious things put a bunch of revamped vintage accessories in another man's treasure last night as the featured artist for the month of june. (i'm next for july!) her stuff is totally amazing and her opening party is tonight as well as a ton of other artsy events happening around jersey city for JC fridays.

i went on a bit of a shopping spree last weekend and picked up tons of new vintage goodies, that i really probably shouldn't have spent money on (clothes, sunglasses, dishes, purses, even some more bikes!) my lack of thriftshopping lately just made me relapse totally. i still hold by the mantra that i make more money off of vintage than i spend on it. so it's okay. haha. someday my obsession will become a career. soon my etsy store will fill up with some overflow from my extensive collection of trinkets and oddities. especially because my mom is making me come home and clean my room today :)

turquoise boots

2009-05-22T17:38:00.000-04:00

i just listed the turquoise boots from my last post in my new etsy shop!

i had to make a new shop for "swallow and the swift" since shop name changing is not allowed on etsy. so if you favoritized the "myrationale" shop, you can also favoritize "swallowandtheswift" ;) it kind of sucks that i have to change all of my favorites over and that i have no feedback now, but i can live with it. new banner coming soon as well as lots of handmade jewely, much of which was featured in my first post.

in other news, me and izzie are sick. i have some kind of stomach thing and she has a sinus cold. i could have gotten so much more done today but i was just pacing around/trying to take a nap all day. yuck. i also haven't had coffee in 2 days which is really odd, i'm afraid it might make my head/stomach hurt more.

i also got these sweet gladiator sandals yesterday, from steve madden

(bike pictures coming soon also, i promise, kim!)

Check it!

2009-05-21T08:58:00.000-04:00

http://amtvintageblog.blogspot.com/
(the new another man's treasure blog!)

just posted on my new etsy account: clip-ons!
the green and white ones are definitely the star of the show.

and soon to be posted: turquoise cowgirl boots

vintage bikes for sale!

2009-05-07T10:23:00.000-04:00

last week i acquired 3 vintage bicycles (courtesy of adrienne), 2 of which luke and i are keeping and 1 i'm selling along with a bike i've had for a while. that's right, i'm selling 2 vintage bikes! they are both bright blue girls cruisers, one speed. one is a rollfast and the other is a ross. i'm guestimating they are from the 70s. they're both really cute and in pretty good condition, sans a little rust and a few busted tires, which i am fixing before i sell. i'll post pictures as soon as i go back to boonton this weekend, but in the mean time let me know if anyone is interested. i promise to have more bikes once i sell these ones ;)

in other news, i might be doing a stoop sale on coles this saturday, that is if it doesn't rain. i have so much to do this weekend regardless, and all the boys will be in pennsylvania for dude's weekend (shooting guns, woods, nakedness, etc.) and my etsy store is soon to be full, i promise. nice weather really takes a toll on my creativity. for better or worse, i dunno.

Art Attack Craift Fair!!

2009-04-17T10:50:00.000-04:00

come one, come all!

i'll have a table, so will my lovely girl michele with red delicious and luca from lollibomb beauty.
<3

vintage granny boots

2009-04-11T09:11:00.000-04:00

i just put a pair of vintage granny boots up on etsy.
size 8 1/2.
they are really soft and perfectly worn in.
and extra long laces make for extra floppy bunny ears!

::UPDATE!::

5/9/09 -

I just listed these boots on ebay!!
click here: bid if you're interested ;)

reconstructed jewlery

2009-04-10T17:49:00.000-04:00

After years of juggling scores of projects at once, I have caved and decided to document all of my creative endeavors in one place.

Enter the blog.

These are some pieces of jewelry I've made lately. Each piece is constructed from vintage and found pieces (as well as some new chain and clasps) I sold some pieces at the "Not Your Mama's Craft Fair" at LITM in Jersey City a few weeks ago. Luckily I was able to get some pictures before they were gone from my hands forever. It was hard to part with some pieces, but seeing how happy they made some other people made it a lot easier. I'm working on getting some kind of personalized charms in order to put my name on each piece. I am also working on updating my etsy store, but I honestly love the intimacy of craft fairs in comparison. I'm doing another craft fair on the 26th, at Club H in Jersey City, which is also the kick-off of the JC Craft Mafia!

Enjoy!

The majority of the ones pictured were sold, but let me know if anyone is interested in any of them. Some I still have, and I could always make something similar.

<3,

Laura