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Nostalgic Summer Jewelry {An Etsy Feature} + Giveaway

I’m excited to introduce the next shop in our Etsy feature series, Nostalgic Summer. You’ll love this unique repurposed jewelry!

I’ve always been a bit of a vintage jewelry girl and when I came across this shop, I immediately fell in love with the unique and one-of-a-kind pieces.

Repurposed Vintage Glass Prism Pendant by Nostalgic Summer

Who’s Behind Nostalgic Summer?

Renee

Renee was raised in a family of 8….she’s number 7, born on July 7th (the lucky 7th)! She has always been creative…so her mom tells her. As a teenager she stumbled upon a bag of 1920’s era lampshade beads in her grandmother’s house and began making necklaces for everyone she knew with those beads. It seemed like she could never quite find the right piece of jewelry, so she began taking apart and redesigning vintage jewelry while in high school.

Renee has a degree in art and toyed with the idea of becoming an interior designer. She worked in advertising, as a visual merchandiser in retail, and as a sales rep to artists and gallery owners in the midwest area. She also sold antiques for a while and her antique dealer friends would always bring their “smalls” to her because they knew she loved the tiny shiny trinkets.

The pivotal moment for Renee was when she made a necklace for her son’s friend. The friend loved it so much that she encouraged Renee to sell her jewelry pieces. In March of this year, Renee took the leap of faith and opened her Etsy shop. She started with only a few pieces and her shop eventually grew to what it is now. Renee also writes a blog where she shares her finds, projects and inspirations.

Nostalgic Summer Etsy Shop

The word nostalgic often conjures images in sepia tone, with a warm glow respecting all that the past has to offer. These warm images ignite every time we come across an artifact that taps into our cherished memories. We hold on to memories to honor, learn, and evolve. As the owner and creator of Nostalgic Summer Repurposed Jewelry, Renee’s passion is uncovering those memories, honoring the past, and creating artifacts with new meaning for the future.

Everyday we run into tiny keys, shinny trinkets, jewels, and items of all kinds. The more stories a piece has to tell, worn by time, the more precious it becomes.
Renee’s vision is to take these artifacts, long forgotten, and craft new memories and experiences; giving new life to memories we hold close.

Repurposed Vintage Snowflake Brooch Bracelet by Nostalgic Summer
Mother Mary Vintage Necklace by Nostalgic Summer

Renee loves scouring flea markets, antique shops, and auctions for old jewelry and unusual shiny objects. She found a box of vintage solid brass sinker/swivel pieces (used to hold the hook on fishing line) this summer and they make beautiful pendant holders. She uses new brass and silver chain, as old is very hard to find. However, she keeps the new materials to a minimum.

Each piece is carefully constructed, with all the loose beads being wired by hand rather than simply put on a string. When asked how she comes up with the designs, Renee told me that the pieces usually design themselves (although she does often get an idea at 3 AM and cannot wait to execute it)!

Renee has difficulty choosing just one piece of jewelry as her favorite. It’s either a special one made with the rosary her husband had as a child or the vintage advertising art pendants. They appeal to the graphic designer in her and for sentimental reasons because the art is from her father’s matchbook collection.

Currently her best sellers are the Vintage Brass Number or Letter Necklaces and the Advertising Art Pendants. They both sold very well at her last art show. She has a large collection of matchbook covers and will be adding designs to that collection in the next few weeks.

Antique Vintage Brass Letter Necklace by Nostalgic Summer

What does Renee love most about creating Nostalgic Summer?

“I enjoy working for myself, spending my days creating pieces I love, and am so lucky to have a very supportive husband and son who always encourage me. The most rewarding part of my business is my custom work. I have made a few necklaces for clients incorporating family heirloom pieces. I love how sentimental those necklaces are to them.”

Take a look at Renee’s jewelry studio. I love all of the vintage touches!

Renee's Inspiring Workspace for Creating Vintage Jewelry

Giveaway Details

Renee is generously giving away one of her Repurposed Vintage Advertising Art Necklaces. These pendants were created from a collection of 1920’s to 1930’s vintage matchbook covers. Renee digitally scanned the matchbook covers to slightly reduce the size and printed them on high quality card stock. They are sealed in a wonderful patina brass pendant tray with a domed glass cabochon. The chain is antiqued brass with a lobster clasp.

Repurposed Vintage Advertising Art Necklaces

To Enter:

Visit Nostalgic Summer on Etsy and come back and leave a comment below about which advertising art pendant you will choose if you win.

For Additional Entries:

  • Share this post on Twitter with the hashtag #SatoriGiveaway and come back here and leave a second comment that you shared the link there.
  • Share this post on Facebook and come back here and leave a second comment that you shared the link there.

Your information is kept strictly confident and is used for award purposes only. Open to residents of Canada and US. Contest closes Saturday, November 19 at 8 pm MST (void where prohibited). Winner will be announced on Sunday, November 20. See polices here.

Note: This giveaway is now closed. Winner is Sandi.

Special Offer

Renee is also offering a 15% discount with code BLOGSPOT until December 14, 2011. I think her jewelry pieces would make fantastic gifts for those stylish women on your list! For the holidays, Renee is also including a complimentary gift box, ribbon and card.

Brown Jewelry Gift Box with Turquoise Fleur de Lis Ribbon

I truly admire Renee for listening to her heart, taking the leap of faith and following her dream. She’s passionate about what she does and absolutely adores the great feeling she gets when a customer falls in love with one of her pieces- so inspirational!

If you’re interested in becoming a Featured Etsy Shop, please contact us for more information.

One other thing before you head off… If you’re looking for more useful and pretty ideas in your life, make sure you’re on the email list! You can subscribe here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Shauna at Satori Design for Living Blog - Home Decor, DIY, Vintage Finds, Recipes

21 Comments

  1. Shauna, I love this Etsy store!! The chandelier crystals reminded me of my Mom’s treasured lamps and chandelier. I can’t wait to order one. And the matchbook pendants are so cute, immediately I was drawn to the Jack’s Cafe because of my stepdad, and when I looked closer it is from Duluth, Minnesota. That is where Evan went to College and played hockey! Can you tell I am so excited about this designer.
    Thanks for sharing,
    Love Heather

  2. Beautiful!  I love the snowflake brooch.  I remember going through my Mom’s jewelry box and playing dress-up.

  3. I just love this Etsy store! The “light of my life” necklace is stunning and would be a great addition to my jewellery collection.  I will be adding this necklace to my own Christmas wish list.  I like the “Boy meets Girl” matchbook pendant and if I won the contest this is the one I would choose.  Thanks so much for sharing this story I enjoyed it very much!

    Kerri

  4. Shauna, such a great feature store on Renee! I have been following her for sometime and love her creativity. The French Casino or Russian Tea Room are my top favorite picks! Honestly they are all wonderful it’s hard to choose just one, LOL!!!

  5. I love the vintage feel.  All the necklaces are so unique it is hard to pick just one. I have to say though the “boy meets girl” is very cute. 
    Great to see people doing what they are passionate about, very inspiring. 

  6. I love how she gathers vintage pieces from all over to create her jewelry. I really like the Manhattan Beach pendant.

  7. Hi Shauna- great feature for vintage jewelry! I LOVE Nostalgic’s re-purposed rosaries! OH MY Gorgeous! And what she has done with the matchbook covers is amazing…I love seeing old advertising pieces in antique stores but I never know what to do with them! She has made them usable forever in her pieces! I would love to see Renee get a hold of some old typewriter keys and see what she can do…I’ve seen typewriter keys used in some creative ways for short messages and always thought they would make for fun jewelry- but have not seen it used that way as of yet. I lack the jewelry making skills to make it happen unfortunately :(

    Love,
    Lisa

  8. OH! And my favorite pendant is the St. Moritz…mint green is my favorite color! I shared on FB!

  9. my favorite is Repurposed Vintage Glass Prism Pendant Necklace, Crystal Prism, Antique Blue Glass Bead

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