Graduation Gift Ideas from Punky Jane Jewelry

It's graduation season! Every graduation from preschool to college and beyond is a reason to celebrate. Are there any special soon-to-be graduates in your life?

Here at Punky Jane, we've created a list of Graduation Gift Ideas. It even includes ideas for the guys! Use it as a starting point, but don't forget to check out the rest of the shop for more hand stamped and personalized gift ideas.

Some of our favorites (and most popular) items include...

Our Graduation Tag Necklace with Initial Charm, which will be personalized with the year of graduation, and initial, and a Swarovski crystal of your choice.

Our 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!' Necklace with Compass Charm makes for a special and inspirational gift. It's available as a keychain as well!

Our Spiral Quote Ring can be stamped with a message or little reminder for the graduate. 

For the geeks, we have a Periodic Table Keychain which is personalized by combining elements to spell out names and/or words.

Check out all of our 'Geekery' pieces, here.

Our Mark your Calendar Keychain, is always a popular option! A short message can be stamped on the back.

The guys might enjoy a money clip personalized with their initials and there's even room for a message on the back.

Or our Monogram Cuff Links make a traditional and meaningful gift.

Check out our Graduation Gift Ideas guide as well as the full shop to find the perfect gift for all the graduates in your life.

Look What Punky Found: Spring Gardens

Seems that everyone has a weather story to share. Whether it's the crazy winter, late rains or unseasonable heat, the climate has been a hot topic.

No matter what you're experiencing right now, it's time to get the garden planned and planted! As always, there are plenty of fun, pretty, and useful garden goods on Etsy. Here are some of our favorites...

These simple and classic ceramic garden markers are stamped with your choice of herb or vegetable names. Plus, they are handmade by Lauren from Alluvial in Davis, California, just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Punky Jane studio.

Custom Ceramic Herb Markers by Alluvial

This acorn birdhouse from CattailsWoodwork is hand carved from solid cherry and is sure to attract birds!

Acorn Birdhouse by CattailsWoodwork

This sailboat and 'spoonfish' wind chime from Nevastarr is the perfect combination of upcycling and whimsy! Just look at the cute smiling fish!

Seven Sailing Spoonfish Copper and Driftwood Wind Chime by Nevastarr

Made from copper wire and clear crackled glass orbs, this garden wand by DragonflyDreams1 is the perfect decoration for small spaces and container gardens.

Dragonfly Garden Wand by DragonflyDreams1

What are you planting this year?

Jewelry Care: Tune-up Services from Punky Jane Jewelry

While it's normal for sterling silver jewelry to show gentle wear and oxidize over time, if your Punky Jane piece is dirty and heavily tarnished, we are more than happy to tune-up your piece.

Jewelry tune-up includes:
- Cleaning and removal of tarnish on all sterling silver components [stamped pieces, jump rings, chains]
- Polishing and refinishing
- Re-oxidizing/blackening stamped characters

To show what a tune-up can do for your Punky Jane piece, we found a couple of sample pieces that had just been sitting out in the open in the studio, and unworn, for quite some time. They were heavily tarnished and didn't look very nice, but most pieces won't be this severe (unless you have an allergy). After they went through the tune-up process they were bright, shiny, and ready to wear again!

After your clean and shiny piece is returned, we recommend following our sterling silver jewelry care tips in our FAQ section or this blog post on 'Caring for Your Punky Jane'.

Before and After a Punky Jane Jewelry Tune-up

In most cases, the only cost will be $6 in shipping, which covers USPS First Class shipping and handling of your piece both ways within the United States. After purchase, we will send a pre-paid and addressed return label to you via email for you to send your piece back.

Also, just because your piece isn't as shiny as the day you got it, doesn't mean it needs a tune-up. Pieces with fingerprints and light smudges can easily be cleaned using a Sunshine Polishing Cloth. For lightly tarnished pieces, we recommend starting with our white Polishing Pads and following with a Sunshine Polishing Cloth, both available here.

PLEASE NOTE...we can only tune up and repair Punky Jane Jewelry pieces.

Ready for a tune up?

Hand Stamped Personalized Jewelry: New Gold-Filled Designs from Punky Jane

In the past few weeks we've introduced quite a few new hand stamped and personalized gold-filled designs. Have you seen them?

Our popular Scrabble Tile Necklace now comes in gold-filled:

You can now purchase our classic Domed Round Simple Name Necklace in gold-filled:

Check out our Personalized Top Hang Tag Necklace in gold-filled:

If you like mixed metal, our Itty Bitty Mixed Metal Tags are a great way to create that look!

We also offer Add-on Gold Channel Set Swarovski Crystals for you to further personalize your piece!

Let us know what you think!

And remember, you've got a little less than a week to get those Mother's Day orders in. Orders placed by Friday, April 18th will ship no later than Monday, May 5th. Please let us know you need your order for Mother's Day and choose your shipping method accordingly.

Look what Punky Found: Handcrafted Leather Goods from Mesa Dreams Leatherworks

Etsy is a great place to browse for inspiration, gifts, and handmade goods! While I always find great new-to-me shops every time I browse, there are just some that stand out. When I stumbled upon Mesa Dreams Leatherwork, I was immediately drawn to the craftsmanship and creativity in their leather goods. Brandy and Djerek are a wife and husband team that creates guitar/camera straps, keychains, luggage tags, bookmarks and even jewelry.

Custom Floral Leather Camera Strap

'I love you to the moon and back!' Leather Luggage Tag or Keychain

Custom Celestial Leather Tag

Dreams Don't Work Unless You Do Leather Wall Hanging

You can read about how Brandy and Djerek got started on the The Etsy Blog. Here's an excerpt from the post that explains their leatherworking process:

"My process begins when I hand cut, bevel and shape leather from large hides. I use steel tools and a mallet to create my designs, hand-draw maps, tool textural reliefs, and stamp custom text one letter at a time. Once the pieces are cut, stamped and tooled, I move to the staining table where I carefully rub natural, water-based color into the leather, allowing for its unique grain and texture to shine through. Once the pieces have dried, I buff them with a soft piece of sheep’s wool, and add a layer of natural matte varnish. Belts, camera straps and the like also get a coat of natural conditioning creme and finishing wax. Next all the pieces move to the finishing table, where I add grommets, snaps, rivets, clips, laces, key rings, and buckles. Finally we wrap each piece in either a cello sleeve or a stamped muslin bag with a special card containing information on how to keep the leather looking good with loving use. Every receipt gets a handwritten personal note no matter how busy we get, and then we pop it into the sunny yellow mailer and off it goes!"

Their shop is full of pieces that can be customized/personalized for you. If not Brandy says, "I am up for making just about anything, even if it's not in the shop! Just contact me and let's see what we can come up with, just for you :)"

Be sure to check out Mesa Dreams Leatherworks on:
Etsy
Facebook
Twitter

National Teacher Appreciation Day: Gift Ideas!

"Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher."
- Japanese proverb 

National Teacher Appreciation Day on Tuesday, May 6th is a great opportunity to honor the teachers in your child's (and your) life. They have one of the toughest jobs and are usually under appreciated. How many of us could teach our own children full-time?

Punky Jane offers quite a few teacher inspired pieces, and as always designs can be personalized to suit your favorite teacher!

How about a 'KEEP CALM AND TEACH ON' necklace with Swarovski crystals in school colors? 

Or a 'Teachers Rule' Ruler Necklace?

A classic Dr. Seuss inspired 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!' Necklace with Compass Charm would definitely be a hit!

We think this binder paper necklace would be perfect for an English teacher...or any teacher!

And for the science teachers, how about an Acetylcholine Molecule Necklace? Our Geekery section is full of other molecule necklaces and

Or Personalized Atomic Element keychain? It can also be stamped with their favorite element).

Have another idea? Contact us and we'll figure it out. Our normal production time is 2-3 weeks plus shipping, so be sure to order soon so that your piece arrives in time to gift on May 6th!

Mother's Day Gift Ideas from Punky Jane Jewelry

Mother's Day is a little over a month away...have you thought about the special moms in your life? Punky Jane offers hand stamped personalized jewelry for any and every mom.

While we've put together a Mother's Day Gift Guide according to style, here are a few of our most popular designs....

Like our Mark Your Calendar Necklace with Fancy Border Name Charm...

Whether you need one calendar or three, our Mark Your Calendar Collection is highly customizable with additional discs and crystals. Be sure to check out the entire collection.

Our Domed Mother's Necklace with Crystals is another great option!

How about our Itty Bitty Mixed Metal Name Tag Necklace?

As always, you can create your own one-of-a-kind piece using our Build Your Own Itty Bitty or Build Your Own Simply Charming sections.

Be sure to order your gifts early! Orders placed by Friday, April 18th will ship no later than Monday, May 5th. Choose your shipping method accordingly.