The New CJS is Open! Must See Wholesale Vintage Jewelry Supply Warehouse

Wholesale vintage lockets, CJS Sales

On our most recent trip to NYC, I stopped into one of my very favorite supply warehouses for one of a kind jewelry components, CJS Sales. This time last year I was posting about the liquidation sale in preparation for their big move — well, they've just opened the doors to a newly opened location and I couldn't wait to check out the new space. 

Today I'm excited to share pics of the vintage treasures I brought back home, along with a peek into the new suite for anyone thinking about making a visit.

Sept-Etsy: Our Monthly Etsy Edit

September brings with it the return to autumn, perhaps our very favorite season of all. There's a marked shift in the air and promise of cozier days ahead. This month's Etsy Edit gives a welcome nod to hunkering down, extra layers, warmer hues, gift ideas for the home and a special shout out to pie season. Happy fall, y'all!

Jan-Etsy: Our Monthly Etsy Edit

January is a time for peering out through the post-holiday haze, a time for self reflection, pairing down and new possibilities. It's a season for hunkering down, cozying up and enveloping ouselves in all that winter has to offer — this January even we're hoping for a first snow here in Richmond.

By day, you'll find me scouring the depths of the Etsy marketplace discovering new shops and emerging trends. In the spirit of sharing, every so often it's fun to round up some our latest finds — this month is all about helpful organizers, sweet accessories, a sense of renewal and something a little spicy just for a little kick in the new year. This January is looking anything but bleak...

Dec-Etsy: Our Monthly Etsy Edit

December is a time for making spirits bright, cozying up indoors and here in Virginia, a secret wish for the first snowfall as the holidays draw near.

By day, you'll find me scouring the depths of the Etsy marketplace discovering new shops and emerging trends — this time of year is a personal favorite, filled with unique gift ideas, cozy touches and a bit of classic vintage charm. In the spirit of sharing, every so often it's fun to round up a few of the finds that are catching our eyes — here's what we're digging this December!

Start Planning Your Trip: CJS Sales' Liquidation Sale

Right around 3 years ago Tim and I stumbled across what we can only describe as a hidden gem in the world of creatives and treasure hunters alike — CJS Sales, a warehouse of vintage jewelry supplies (and well-kept secret among designers) in the middle of Manhattan. While they have an online presence, you can only purchase onsite in wholesale formats — so it's quickly become one of our favorite regular destinations to stop in on when in the city.

Nov-Etsy: Our Monthly Etsy Edit

I have said it many times before and celebrate the chance to say it again — I am a November's girl. Winter seems inevitably close, we welcome home longtime friends, linger a bit longer with family over the extended weekends, and the Sagittarian traits in my blood prove just a bit stronger this time of year (hello hopeless optimism, wanderlust daydreams, honest to a fault & promising more than I can deliver).

By day, you'll find me in our front office behind the computer screen gladly exploring the depths of the Etsy marketplace and in the spirit of sharing, every so often it's fun to round up a few of our personal favorites — here's what we're digging this November!

Octob-Etsy: Our Monthly Etsy Edit

On this first day of the new month, Anne of Green Gables couldn't have said it better — "I'm so glad we live in a world where there are Octobers." There's a coolness to the air, a deepening in hues and just a slight touch of the unexpected with Halloween just in reach.

By day, I spend the bulk of my time deep in the depths of the Etsy marketplace — and it's these days that I'm re-inspired and continually amazed at the new seasonal collections and emergence of autumn goods from creative entrepreneurs all over the globe. In the spirit of sharing, every so often it's fun to round up a few of our personal favorites — here's what we're digging this October!

Sept-Etsy: Our Monthly Etsy Edit

It's no secret I spend the majority of my days deep in the depths of the Etsy marketplace uncovering emerging shops, hidden gems and new gift ideas to introduce across the site. That paired with our love of vintage and rescued junk drawer oddities oftentimes has us finding ourselves down one rabbit hole or another in admiration of all the creativity there is to be found on our very favorite site.

Every so often, it's fun to round up a few of our personal favorites — here's what we're digging this September!

Lockhart Family Farm Visit

Last Friday I ventured out to Woodford, Virginia to spend a good part of the day at Lockhart Family Farm. Lockhart is a small scale farm specializing in raising heritage breed pork and poultry — they use what they call old world sustainable farming practices. You might remember the recap from our first visit to this farm for the community Food Coop farm dinner.

Beach Eats: Pimento Cheese Wars

Saying that Tim and I are big fans of pimento cheese might be a bit of an understatement. Tim makes a tried and true version we love and you might recall my favorite dish from last year's Broad Appetit being the fried pimento cheese fritters. Related — we were bummed to miss this year's Broad Appetit, but were booking it to the beach for our honeymoon instead.

While honeymooning, we picked up a tub of pimento cheese spread during our first big trip to the market and all I can say is, our snack creations seemed to get crazier and crazier, each outdoing the last. Things started out rather tame with a healthy dollap of pimento cheese on a wide, thin cracker...

Matching Tattoos: Honeymooning

As some of you might know, Mary and I talk on and off about getting some sort of coordinating tattoos. Though it's something we'll probably never do, it's always a fun topic of conversation and inspiration. I've talked about getting a butcher knife along the inside of my forearm or some other variation of hungarian foliage and we like the idea of coming up with something that could play off one another in some way.

Best Bully Sticks: Basil's Two Thumbs (paws?) Up

When Best Bully Sticks, a local dog treat producer specializing in all natural dog treats contacted us about sending some bully sticks especially for Basil to review, we (and Basil) jumped at the chance. The amazing folks behind Best Bully Sticks are also offering up a chance for one lucky reader to win an entire 25 pack of odorless bully sticks, so check back here on the blog tomorrow for the giveaway.

It's Back! RVA Picking Season

We mentioned over the weekend how we got a chance to get out early Saturday morning and hit up a few sales. We love when the weather warms up here in Richmond and we can venture out on a treasure hunt. This weekend we stumbled across a hidden gem of a garage sale, a church sale and a pretty epic estate sale — all right here near the Fan.

Secret New York City Jewelry Supply Warehouse: CJS Sales

 Examples of vintage components I re-purpose into jewelry

I promised a post about one of my go-to wholesale jewelry supply warehouses in NYC and today I'm giving you the full run down!

How To: Make Custom Postage Stamps

Look what came in the mail! Did you know you can order custom postage stamps for about anything you like? We didn't until we googled around a few weeks back (looking for save the date and wedding invitation stamp ideas) and happened upon all the customization options out there — you can literally order anything from your own photos, stock images, and more.

2013: First Snow

RVA's first snow is happening right now. Here's the view from our front window in The Fan as the first flakes begin to fall.

That is all.

Our Trip To The High Line in New York City

Mary and I have been wanting to visit and walk The High Line in New York since it recently opened — the High Line is a newly finished and opened public park that was built on an old rail system that had since become overgrown with natural vegetation and trees and was actually in danger of being torn down. It's now owned by NYC and maintained as an incredibly beautiful public park where visitors can literally walk above the bustling streets on the west side of the city.

Etsy Gift Cards: Coming This Fall

Image from Etsy

This has been a hard secret to keep, but now that the official cat is out of the bag, I couldn't wait to shout it from the top of my lungs:

So, We've Got Figs

We've been mentioning over the past 2 weeks that we've gotten our hands on a practically endless supply of ripe figs to work with and enjoy fresh from the tree — our next door neighbor's tree that is. Today, we wanted to give all the details about this fig tree and why we feel like we've hit the jackpot!

A Few Things...

Image courtesy of Rolling Stone

Just a few thoughts and links as we round out the week and head into the weekend...