A selection of pendant lockets, mostly Victorian, ranging in price from $55 to $95, except for the pearl and gold locket on the bottom left which is priced at $395.  Of all the types of jewelry, lockets are by far the most versatile and personal form. Lockets go back in history a long way. In the earliest of times they served as containers for important items, like medicines, and deadly potions, like poison! In Georgian days, lockets were often part of the cadre of accoutrements known as mourning jewelry. These were often black (vulcanite or jet) or black enamel on gold. The motifs were very mystical and dark. This onyx and carnelian Victorian locket contains a memorial relic, probably ashes ($195) Religious uses were common, such as reliquaries, prayer books and saintly images. The Spanish had a tradition of petitioning the saints for miracles using milagros , or trinkets of significance about their particular need. The milagros locket was used in the most special of reques...

We are just back from Atlanta where we attended the second of the three January markets. After the Holidays, it's great to reload the creative energies and find new ideas for projects and products. And we found some wonderful new items for you ... and fresh, exciting inspiration for the new year. Here's a bit of what we found. Most of it will not ship for a few months, but the antique-vintage items are in the shop now. We will get them online soon. Enjoy ... We have the Queen sign in stock • The wallpaper made from old book pages is great! There are several vendors that we visit who just have that gift of style. They inspire us not only to place orders for their products, but also to think of how we can incorporate these ideas into our displays in Vintages and to give ideas to our customers as well. This display of Santos figures is wonderful. Come see the selection we have at Vintages. Millinery feathers, old paper, twigs ... create! Just loved these old bicycle whe...

The next Artful Journey retreat, presented by Cindy O'Leary, will take place February 17-21, at the Presentation Center in the redwoods above Los Gatos. You can spend 3 days with the instructor of your choice: Nina Bagley, Jesse Reno, Albie Smith, Orly Avineri or Stephanie Lee. Check out the retreat and registration information on the Artful Journey site. And when you are in town, be sure to stop in an tell us about your experience during the Journey.

WOW! We found this marvelous collection of hand made, folk art figures. Talk about creativity! We do not know if these were all made by the same artist or if it was a collection accumulated over time. Many of the figures have similar construction, but not all. Crepe paper Doggie is $39 These are mostly "stick figure" dolls. By that I mean that the core of most of them is either a pipe cleaner or wrapped metal wire, although one is built around a cardboard cone and the little dog has an old metal "clicker" as his body!  Most have crepe paper  wrapped bodies or dresses, some use cellophane, old tulle, ribbons and millinery flowers. The use of these novel materials and household items in creating these little masterpieces is an indication that whoever made these was a true folk artist. The little girl in the yellow dress is $29; the Indian Princess is $39 The faces on these dolls are hand painted and have real character. How can anyone resist these cute little e...

We just unearthed these beautiful Victorian era place card holders. They are absolutely wonderful and I just had to share them with you right away. We have a set of six Victorian ladies and gentlemen, plus another three ladies. These are listed on our antique shopping site, so click here to see more images and get more detail.