Giveaway Friday!

Well it looks like there are lots of fun giveaways out there right now! I just had to share :)

This adorable nest from Barbara over at "Treasures from the Heart" is making me smile on this dreary, rainy day. I have to keep reminding myself... "April Showers Bring May Flowers!" Make sure to enter and say hi! If you havn't been to Barb's blog before you should look around, its lovely!


And over at Chocolate and Steel there is yet another giveaway! If you havn't been to Christine's Etsy shop you have to check it out! She has these awesome Barack Obama charms! Really unique stuff everywhere you look! I had to pick my favorite piece and I actually chose this one, even though normally I don't go for hearts! ...But isn't it perfect?

Have a Great Weekend!

Use the Muse Entries and Winners!

Hello Friends! Sorry I have not been blogging as much as usual. A wonderful friend of mine's father passed away this past week. It was a heartbreaking couple of days. I'm sure all of our prayers are with her during this very difficult time.


On a brighter note, the Use the Muse Contest has been revealed and judged. You can click here to see all the FANTASTIC entries and the winners. My piece did not receive a prize this time around, but its no wonder! These women created some beautiful and stunning pieces. I really enjoyed participating in this contest and would do it again for sure!!!

So this is my piece! I named it Flora and Zephyr :)

When I first received my “Use the Muse” contest kit, I couldn't help but think of romance! In Greek mythology, Zephyr was the God of the winds and Flora was a Goddess of flowers and all things that grow. I wanted the piece to look both windswept and vine-like. The vintage watch face hold a small image of the lovers from an Italian painting by Jacopo Amigoni. The stained glass focal point (which holds the lovely muse) is made of two colors of stained glass and 100% lead free solder which I covered with gold leaf to make it match the muse and the rest of the piece. I must admit that wearing it would make anybody feel swept up in a whirlwind romance!

Have a good one! I'm off to troll though all of your blogs now to see what you've been up to this week! :)

To protect your Achilles Heel!

I have a bunch of new projects in the works, (as always...why finish something when you can start something new? hehe.) One of them is to create a few beautiful Mati anklets for a family member. The Greeks love their Mati ;) I'm really excited because I got new lamp work beads and hand painted beads in and they are stunning in all the different colors.


The Mati bead is a Greek symbol of protection. It is more commonly known as the "evil eye." It is meant to protect you from evil spirits, usually associated with jealousy. So thats why my blog title is to "Protect your Achilles Heel" since its a mati ( for protection) anklet. hehe. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who enjoys my mythology humor. You can read more about the evil eye on my website here.

Here are some of the ideas I came up with for Annie. I know I will be making one for myself too!



Off to Beautiful Hawaii in just one day! Here is a sunset I took last summer at the North Shore.

Aloha Indeed!

I'm counting down the days till I visit my sister in Hawaii. I leave Friday and I haven’t packed yet!!! :) We are hoping to have a small jewelry party there with some of her friends. I think these earrings embody the Aloha spirit! I will definitely post blogs while I'm there. I’m sure I will have a lot to share. We have a trip planned to the big island and I just LOVE Lava beads. The Turquoise earrings are made of chalk turquoise and bone beads, and the other ones are mother of pearl, fresh water peacock pearls, and cute little pink seed beads. The mother of pearl ones will be hard to give away (or sell!) They will look so good with a cute summer sundress!

Here is a picture of beautiful flowers from the last time I visited the ALOHA state!

Seashells and Copper

Here is a new set I made today. Its very earthtone and the leather cord kind of adds to the natural look of the piece. The shell is from Long Beach Island :) ...though I'm not sure what kind of shell it is. The rest of the beads are jasper and copper coils I made and flattened a bit.

The shape of the pendant reminds me of a bull! Could this be a minotaur piece? ;)

Winter, Winter Go Away!

I don't know about you but I am tired, tired of this Winter nonsense! When I heard it was going to snow today it just put me over the edge. I decided to use all my jewelry making powers to evoke the Godesses of Spring. Demeter, Demeter where are you? When will Persephone return? If you have no idea what I am talking about, here is a quick lesson in Greek Mythology.

Demeter was the Goddess of the Harvest and agriculture. She was the patron of farmers, and the goddess of everything green; trees, grass, gardens, and crops alike. She had given man the gift of wheat and showed them how to sow their fields.

Demeter had a daughter named Persephone who was kidnapped by Hades, the God of the underworld. While Demeter roamed the earth searching for her daughter she became so depressed that she let nothing grow for six months and man was introduced to Winter. When her daughter returned Demeter rejoiced and the earth began to grow again. This is why Demeter is also the Goddess of the Seasons.

Anyway, I found these great glass beads at the craft store today and decided I must have them. They reminded me of seaglass, summer, margaritas,...and everything else wonderful that comes with sunshine! So I began digging through my rather extensive seashell collection and started creating.

I have SO MANY SEASHELLS and I love them all...big, small, and broken. Anytime I am at the beach you can find me pouring over the sand looking for little treasures of the sea. Many of these seashells were collected in Long Beach Island, NJ. I spent all my summers as a kid there and still go back every year.


These pendants came out great...I actually found these shells on Sanibel Island Florida...over 10 years ago! (Just to give you an idea of what kind of packrat I am) But here they are...I knew all along they had a greater purpose in life. Im thinking about just hanging these on sterling silver chains since they showcase the shells so perfectly. I want them to be the star of the show!


I'm visiting my sister in Hawaii in just nine days! I'm planning on bringing lots of jewelry with me so we can have a little cocktail jewelry party. I can just picture Alexis in these while sipping Mai Tais at Duke's Canoe Club!

These were fun to make. The sand dollars were very delicate but by gluing two of them back to back they are pretty substantial. The green glass beads remind me of seaglass too.

Here are a few more pendants I made today. Again, can you tell I'm over Winter? These came out great and I cant wait to play around with the rest of the necklace. These pieces have a little bit of everything. The one with the dried starfish has even been dipped in a little LBI sand!

Think warm thoughts!

The Kiss

Inspired by my new Stained Glass Jewelry beads I decided to take part in my first Art Bead Scene's monthly challenge. This month's challenge is meant to be inspired by Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. I was an Art History major in college so a challenge like this sounds fantastic!

I have two giant, beautiful Klimt painting prints hanging in my home. They are bright beautiful images of garden flowers. So I have a perfect place to sit and get inspired. I will be posting my ideas soon! Wish me luck!

If you would like to enter yourself, go to the Art Bead Scene Blog here.

Stained Glass Jewelry

I've been playing around with making stained glass jewelry lately... and I must admit that I love it. When I saw this glass I bought it for the purpose of making jewelry...no stained glass window in mind :) I made several pendant shapes and some simple triangles for earrings... nothing too heavy of course.

After soldering the pieces I used a copper patina on them. I think the copper looks great with the colors in the glass. I also soldered on some copper coils to the earrings.

Then I added some red swarovski crystals and some gold filled findings.

Here is a picture of the necklace pendant I did as well. Again with the swarovski crystals... I do admit they a great punch of sparkle and thats why I'm loving them so much right now.

And the set! The necklace back has been finished off with leather to protect clothing/skin from any wire ends and solder bumps. I use 100% lead free solder. . . but still it doesnt feel great next to the skin ;) I will get better pictures and up and get these on my website later tonight. :)

A touch of old, A touch of new

I picked up these vintage pins several months ago...and I finally feel the urge to create something with them. Maybe something for Valentine's Day? I know its tomorrow and I have made several pieces for it already... but there's always room for more! Plus some lucky guy who waits till the last minute can pick this up on Saturday! ;)

I especially the love the red rose ones...I'm starting with those. I decided that the dark red looked amazing with peacock freshwater pearls... add just a touch of red Swarovski crystals...

As you can see I left the pin off center, almost like a brooch, (which it was).

So there you have it the perfect necklace for you or a sweet special friend on Valentine's Day... or any day of the year! If you're looking for it on my website you can find it here. Its under my Aphrodite Collection - the Goddess of Love of course! I've also included the popular myth of Aphrodite and Adonis. Do you know why Roses are Red on Valentine's Day? If not you better find out before tomorrow :) Note: In person those crystals really sparkle!

Have a great Friday everyone!

Welcome to How Perfectly Imperfect!

Well hello! I've been putting off writing my first blog post for a few days now. But it is time to introduce myself! My name is Stephanie and I am a small shop owner in Hoboken NJ. Some of you know me and know my store. :) The name of the store is Michelangela. I sell my own hand made jewelry, as well as hand refinished Vintage and Antique furniture. We also sell all sorts of other items; french soaps, candles, bath items, frames, vintage handbags, tins, baskets, baby clothing and accessories, dried flowers, home decor items...a little bit of everything!

I wanted to start a blog that emphasized the things I love. I am a very creative person...and I'm always doing something with my hands. :) Plus you get a behind-the-scenes look at how I make my creations!

I started making jewelry, ...well I've always been making jewelry...but I guess I started regularly making it and selling it almost three years ago. I am a lover of Greek and Roman Mythology and Art and my jewelry is inspired by Greek Myths. You can take a look at my website here : www.ambrosianectarjewelry.com. Ambrosia and Nectar were the food of the Gods. I thought it would be a beautiful name for a jewelry company! Satisfy your hunger for divine jewelry though Ambrosia and Nectar! I still love the name. You can read more about Ambrosia and Nectar here. You will see a lot of my jewelry making on this blog...I love to create new pieces!

My newest hobby is stained glass. It is a very beautiful ancient art that requires precision and patience...I love things like that. I first became interested in stained glass while studying all the beautiful windows in the Gothic Cathedrals I learned about in my art history classes in college. My first major piece was an angel I made for my uncle for Christmas...she was truly beautiful. I'm sure I have a picture of her somewhere!

I have included many pictures of my store in this first post, so you can get an idea of who I am and what I do. I hope you will be back to visit me often! Have a Perfectly Imperfect kind of day!

Vanity in the store with all our lotions on it!

New Chair we just got in and a beautifully carved vintage Lane Chest!

Some of our candles and other items :)

Valentine's Day Gift Baskets filled with lots of goodies!

Vintage Wardrobe... I love this piece. I added the new porcelain knobs.

Ambrosia and Nectar Jewelry!

The most beautiful piano ever. From the 1920s, with a gorgeous beveled glass mirror. We sold it, but I really miss it!