New things around the Shop:

This window was fun to put together, wood fired sushi platter from local girl Lara Okeefe with ring and button canapes and Moonspoons~new product coming soon!

New flavor of gauzy hairpins with gold highlights and Japanese seed beads made with real gold.

These colors look so amazing on the dark chain.... mmmmmmm lovely!

what's for lunch take 2!

Boy, what a day! So, I got a new camera (Nikon D60 if anyone is curious) and I was so excited to have it and to have my little japanese miniature foods.. I was snapping away and coming up with terrible pictures... about the time I figured out I had my exposure and flash compensation reversed and sorted that out, one of my lights just lept off the table and broke. It's always something... I went home and stayed up very late waiting for guests to check in who didn't show up, but, I read almost all my manual! Gee, that was a little complain-y but I think I got it all out.

Today is a new day and I am armed with a new light stand bulb and an extra clip light that I have affixed at an alarming angle to my hanging ceiling light. I present you with: Miso soup.

I'm going to have my second cup of coffee now and work on my depth of field a bit more........

what's for lunch?

Well, I actually had fabulous moussaka from Angelina's.... but aren't these little Japanese miniatures amazing? Look at the translucence on that roe in the cone sushi! I luckily stumbled upon someone on etsy selling these cuties, and have now tracked down the company. They come in little boxes and you don't know what meal you are getting 'til you open it up! Too Cool, and they are coming to Vespertine soon!

Two Years at 64 Hillsboro Street!

Here's a little trip down Memory Lane as I celebrate 2 years at my current location! When I started renting my Hillsboro Street space, I had a limited amount of time to haul my stuff from my old space to the new one, which was full of paneling and phone lines, and get Open before I hemorrhaged any more money. I also had the added hurdle of having the current space full of office furniture that the old tenants left when they took their investors' money and moved to South America (I'm totally not joking there), and the AC Unit did not work. And it was August.

I'd like to take this moment to give a very heartfelt shout-out to my dear friends Marc and Cynthia who hauled all the furniture away, painted, raised lights, hung arches, and answered my call of "Heeeeelllllppppp!"
Love you guys.

Marc wanted to hang himself he was so hot. Note the two-tone shirt created by sweat.

Cynthia, also hot and sweaty, watches Marc on a ladder while he probably is giving orders for our next task. Note the furniture everywhere and the hideous spicy mustard colored trim that was everywhere too...

And look at me now: http://www.jessicabenton.com/stories/vespertine/
*lovely "after" photos by Jessica Benton

fun with lobsters

i may have neglected to mention that i got to go on a wonderful trip to Maine this summer with my good buddy Hannah and her son Jasper to visit some of their family. Aunt Jane and Uncle Steve made us special Lobster Dinner. we had a loooot of fun eating it. i took this photo and just this week printed up some copies of it.. i think i will make some friendship/thinking of you cards out of it for the shop! yes!

Featured Artist at the Arts Incubator in Siler City!

This week I was asked to be a Featured Artist down at the Siler city Arts Incubator! Very exciting! I worked so hard getting some silversmithed pieces together.. Between two days of that and tying pirate plug rigs for my father my thumbs were unbelievably sore! Last night was the lovely 3rd Friday Art Walk~ shops and galleries open, live music out in a wonderful courtyard, and a beautiful night on top of everything!

Fabulous Flame Smoothed Upcycled Glasses

I was so thrilled to look out my door last First Sunday and see Leslie Fesperman with a table of these glasses set up across the street! I was even more thrilled when she brought them in yesterday for me to stock my Sellers cabinet with wonderful sets of tumblers from Corona, Boylan, olive green, and lovely brown bottles (among others).

Leslie cuts them and then moves them through her glassworking flame to make the rim of the glasses smooth and wonderful to drink from.

They are truly recycled and earth friendly and I can't wait to go to the recycling center!