Here's the first, from Vanessa at Big City Bumpkin. I've long enjoyed Vanessa's blog posts on food, baseball and life in Chicago. Last year she began creating photo and map jewelry pieces that are unique, well priced,beautifully packaged and utterly charming. I love them so much I've bought three! Below, Vanessa shares how this project came about and what it means to her. (Details on the Gift-Away follow.)
I started on the maps when I was going through a bit of homesickness, and a lot of boredom, and felt this overwhelming need to make something. I found a cool map of Chicago in our apartment building's laundry room, and thought it would be fun to make maps for the different Chicago neighborhoods, and it might also start to give me a sense of really belonging to this city, and being connected to it in the way I needed to be. Gradually I started making them for other major cities, as well as custom pieces for smaller towns. The Heart & Arrow collection came about because I wanted something bold and fun to feature for Valentine's Day without being too lovey-dovey.
My favorite thing ever is to get a request from someone for a very small town that not many people have heard of (because I grew up in exactly that kind of small town), and to know that somewhere someone is wearing that necklace with a lot of pride for the place they were raised in, a place that has a lot of meaning for them and a special spot in their heart. I like the idea of the map being something you look to when you are lost. If I'm wearing a necklace that has Nelson Co. Virginia on it, I feel like I'm never really too far away, and looking at it reminds me of who I am, even as I'm wandering and discovering the city streets of Chicago. -- Vanessa / Big City Bumpkin
SPECIAL OFFER & GIFT-AWAY
All readers can enjoy a 20% discount through the end of February on anything in Big City Bumpkin's Etsy shop, including custom orders. Use discount code: STYLEMANIAC20. One lucky reader will receive the gift of the piece of her choice, up to $25.
TO ENTER:- Visit Big City Bumpkin on Etsy
- Choose your favorite piece from Hearts & Arrows, State Charms and Map Pendants, up to $25, including a custom Map Pendant of your hometown.
- Share your selection in the comments section below
- Plus tell us what any of the following mean to you: LOVE ...HOMETOWNS ... VALENTINE'S DAY. (Sweet, sappy, cynical, funny -- any thoughts welcome.)
REALLY want to win? Show your enthusiasm by adding EXTRA comments for each of the following:
- Like Big City Bumpkin on Etsy
- Like Big City Bumpkin on Facebook
- Subscribe to Style Maniac
- Like Style Maniac on Facebook
- Tell a friend (or 10!) about Big City Bumpkin and Style Maniac.
ENTER through midnight EST on Tuesday, February 19, 2013. WINNER will be chosen based on response to question and enthusiasm for Style Maniac and Big City Bumpkin and will be announced the end of February. Have fun! All images courtesy Vanessa / Big City Bumpkin.
I am a cupid's bow and arrow girl, have been since I can remember!!! Really adorable pieces! Have a beautiful day, Doreen! Thank you for introducing all of us to Vanessa/Big City Bumpkin!
ReplyDelete♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥ These little goodies are so clever - love love love them!!
ReplyDeleteDarling gift and giveaway ideas Doreen! Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!
ReplyDeletexxL
Valentine's Day for me is a day to take a moment and remember/share all the love you have in your life! I am truly blessed to have so many people who I love and who love me. This year valentine's day was a bit harder as my boyfriend and I currently live in different towns, I still had a wonderful night getting sushi with my girl friends and going to a movie, and I think that is why these charms speak to me. No matter the distance you are still loved, you still belong, and a piece of you will always be where your heart is. I love so many of the pieces on the big city bumpkin etsy account but here are just a couple of my favorites :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.etsy.com/listing/117844980/skeleton-key-necklace-custom-handmade-in?
http://www.etsy.com/listing/118661494/philadelphia-pennsylvania-map-necklace?
What a cool idea. Well I love this, but it'd hafta be San Antone (and it's over $25) http://www.etsy.com/listing/117261823/dallas-texas-necklace-combo-map-pendant?
ReplyDeletehowever I will still share with you (since the symbol of Texas reminded me) of Hometowns.
Now, my hometown doesn't remind me of late night baseball games (though as a child I witnessed some), or Friday night football (though I've been to many games)... My hometown of San Antonio, Texas, is more than any of that. It's more than a memory of tractors in the fields, or long lines of cowboys and cowgirls riding horses by the highway during the trail ride times... of driving home from school and going down the dip in the road, looking left always to a rolling plain with a small pond at the bottom... My home town has Fiesta, where we close off the oldest part of our town - La Villita - to have a huge party, where we set up a huge amusement park and bands play. My home town has a gorgeous riverwalk, along which you can dine at amazing spots, people watch, and feel more content than any other place I know...
That riverwalk is, on either side of the river, filled with exotic plants growing in exuberance for life, for being alive! As my sister said when we'd returned from our lonely trek across Europe, as she spread her arms out wide toward that foliage, that life, those waterfalls, "This! This is what we've been looking for halfway around the world!" and in a way, she was right.
Driving from LA to San Antonio, you go through so many miles of deserts, only to reach the green rolling hills of Texas's hill country and enter San Antonio. It always seemed a miracle to me - how Texas was settled not West to East, but East to West. Those rolling hills were gorgeous after so much dessert. My home town is beauty in wilderness. My home town is amazing comfort food. My hometown is friends and family who always welcome any of my friends like they've known them forever.
It may also be Friday night football and baseball games, but it is so much more than even words. My hometown is pure love, pure beauty, and pure friendship. As the road signs say and the state name means - It is friendship.
Style Maniac collaborates with such creative and thoughtful people. But since I've already won one of your giveaways I won't enter, although the Philly pendant is great!
ReplyDeleteHey there! My favorite piece of jewelry from the Etsy shop is the St. Paul charm necklace. Super cute idea, and it's where I live :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I know I'm a couple of days late, but the meaning of Valentine's Day is evolving year after year. It's not so much about the romantic love, but about all the people in life that you love. It's so important to share that because life is short!
I love those map necklaces! They are so personal and fun.
ReplyDeletewhat a great idea! just saw some and very nice quality! i am going to order some for friends living in remote areas. i think the maps will help them get home!
ReplyDeleteAdore the map charms...so fun and unique. They would be great gifts for friends of all ages. I live in Chicago (specifically Lincoln Park) so that's my favorite. Hope the pieces pop up in local store soon!
ReplyDeleteI love the Philly pendant! Although I'm not a Philly native, this city has welcomed me with open arms and I couldn't pick a better place to spend my 20's. They say home is where the heart is, and right now my heart belongs to the City of Brotherly Love.
ReplyDeleteThank you Cara, Beth, Floyd, Kim, Haley, LeAnne, Val, Cassidy, Leslie, Lee, Shelly for sharing your story and showing your support. And thank you, Vanessa, for the generous gift of one of your handcrafted pieces.
ReplyDeleteComments are now closed.
Check back later this month to see who will receive a charming goodie.