Off the Shelf Review – French Inspired Jewelry by Kaari Meng

The story of how I
came to purchase French-Inspired
Jewelry by Kaari Meng ( 2007 Lark Books, $19.95, 143 pp., ISBN
13:978-1-60059-096-2) is not a very exciting one, but it can serve as a
disclaimer for this and any other book review you’ll ever read by anyone.
Forget what the reviewers say; phone a friend.

I first saw the
lovely cover in a beading magazine, I believe. The cover art and jewelry alone
motivated me to search out the book. Since I belong to three book clubs,
naturally I looked there first to purchase. My Crafters’ Choice club offers
reader reviews, so I checked those out.

What I found for
both this and Meng’s other book, The
French-Inspired Home (to be reviewed soon, because I ended up buying
that, too!) was discouraging to say the least. Readers thought the pictures
were stingy as well as directions and that the projects were not realistic.

Funny thing as I
was about to put my plastic money away, one of my on-line jewelry friends
blogged about this very book and said she couldn’t wait to read it. Now, mind
you, this indicated she HAD NOT read it yet, but this is someone whose jewelry
I covet (and purchase), whose style I admire and hence, whose opinion I trust.
So I bought the book.

Am I glad I did!
Nearly every spread has a full-page color photo on one side, so see what I mean
about naysayers? Ask someone whose style and taste you emulate or admire. By
the way, let me give a shout out to ‘that’ person for me Lorelei  . So
what does all this chumminess have to do with vintage?

The book is chock
full of new ideas for vintage finds,
such as beads, buttons, lace, old photos, millinery, old labels,
advertisements, playing cards, game pieces, fabric, maps, coins and more.
That’s a lot of ideas for a $19.95 book-very reasonable, I think. It also
addresses vintage colors, vintage findings, collecting and stringing.

And even better,
the jewelry is not your run-of-the-mill charm bracelet and dangle earrings.
There are tons of unusual pieces: hair combs, rosary, sash, cuff, headband and
more.

The presentation
alone gives many creative ideas for photographing, selling and displaying one’s
wares, all in such a tres chic, tres Francais way. I even found the
introduction charming and compelling.

The chapters are
organized by theme such as La mer, Le Marche,
Le Cirque and more. Just the eye candy in La Mer alone was enough to put me
over the edge. I just cannot stop looking at this book! I don’t know what
better endorsement I could give than that.

But remember,
trust a friend not a reviewer. So, if Vintage Indie is your friend, you know
what to do! And you don’t even have to thank us!

– Guest Author, Gina Smith

{All contributed content Gina Smith © Lilly*s of London*ish}