It's a new year! Let it begin! Renew. Everything here is handmade and reuses materials at the end of their lifecycle, that would have ended up in the trash somewhere (for many years to come.) So, instead I have given new life to obsolute objects like optometrist lenses, typewriter keys, empty aluminum and tin cans and now exonumia, or transit tokens such as Garden Sate Parkway tokens which stopped being worth anything in 2009. My shop has a selection of pendants which are made from optometrist lenses, earrings made from typewriter keys and a sampling of aluminum can earrings and tincan clocks. (I also make New York City landmark and Connecticut pendants, too.) If you are looking for something which you see on my other website and don't see here, or want something special just call 732.219.0709 or email me.
PROUD TO BE A JERSEY GIRL! OPTOMETRIST LENSES, TYPEWRITERS, and TOKENS are some of the vintage materials which I use in my JERSEYANA! My optpometrist lenses show the world what we all know—that there are many things in New Jersey to be proud of—our factories manufactured the first diners, the first canned beer, the first canned soup, made the first movie, was home to the first drive-in movie, THE first baseball game, and the first collegiate football game (Rutgers vs Princeton) AND we were the first to sign the bill of rights! Les Paul, a Jersey boy, was responsible for the first solid state electric guitar, Atlantic City was home to the first boardwalk, and Jersey is also home to the longest operating nuclear plant. Pendants are made from OPTOMETRIST LENSES to which I add images, tamise (flakes of gold and silver leaf), sterling charms and wrapped pearls. Each pendant comes with 2 sterling silver charms, a map of New Jersey and also a charm about the subject of the pendant. The charms may vary from what you see in the pictures due to availability—they're all nice but if you have a strong preference let me know and I will do my best to give you that one. ...AND these little pieces of history come in a beautiful aluminum tin, perfect for gift giving! I also make typewriter "JERSEY GIRL" earrings and soon GSP pendants!
And, I also do a NY series (where I was born and lived the first 2 years of life) and some Connecticut pendants too. Now, I am also making a NYC LANDMARKS series—Statue of Liberty, 42 Street Library, Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, the Brookly Bridge, the arch in Washington Square Park and some famous upper west side gargoyles. Did you know that Montauk has the oldest cattle ranch (Deep Hollow)? NY had the first women's rights convention (Seneca Falls,1848) was the home to the birthplace of fly fishing (1874 in Roscoe)? AND had the first commercial toilet paper (Joseph Gaiety, 1857.) I will be put up some pictures of these soon though if you catch me at a show you can actually touch them!
TAMISE? Tamise is gold and silver leaf which is applied in pieces like giant glitter (see above). Some of my pendants have it—others don't. The picture above shows you what tamise looks like,(the two on the left). On the top and bottom right you see two penadants of men standing in the water on a blue card. The top one is opaque, because it is painted with a white layer and then covered with tamise (bottom left pendant shows what the tamise looks like on the back) and the bottom pendant of men in water is transparent so you can see the card right through it. The pendant on the left has tamise on the back which is showing through as if it were a golden sky. Hope this helped. There is no substitue for seeing the real thing, so I hope you come and visit me at a show sometime to see for yourself.
TYPEWRITER KEYS! They're a little bit different from most that you might have seen because I OPEN the keys and change what they say. It's actually an old tradition because typewriter repairmen used to open up one key and insert their name so next time you needed a repair you would call them. ...AND if you look closely you will see a sampling of my aluminum can earrings and clocks. Always love to hear from you. Just email me..
14. NJ FIRST DINER: CIRCUS DRIVE-IN
$ 55.00
Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company of Elizabeth is credited to having built the first diner and produced more than 2000 between 1917 and 1952. Only approximately 20 are still in existence. The Hazlet Diner is a good example of a classic diner.
Pendant includes 2 sterling silver charms—a map of NJ and a waiter; optometrist lens (1.5" diameter,) pearls, sterling silver, and a 30" black cord
Pendant includes 2 sterling silver charms—a map of NJ and a waiter; optometrist lens (1.5" diameter,) pearls, sterling silver, and a 30" black cord
