Visiting Penelope and Anastasia Jewelry’s private studio, of Royersford, is like peeking inside a thousand glamorous grandmothers’ jewelry boxes.
As an eye-popping treasure trove for fashion-forward thinkers and bargain shoppers alike, the pastel pink space is peppered with an adorable array of accessories like richly colored mum earrings, cutesy cocktail rings, pendant and pearled necklaces, booming baubles and 14 K Gold Vermeil daisy bracelets.
The handmade creations are the children of local designer Pamela Kucera, a native to the Montgomery County area and a 1992 graduate of Spring-Ford High School.
Kucera, an acclaimed addict of culling yard sales, thrift and secondhand shops to hawk for the most appealing vintage accessories and goods, has a superb knack for repurposing and reinventing pieces from the past—a reason her one-of-a-kind jewelry is simply, very chic.
It was in 2004 when the local fashionista fantasized about birthing her own jewelry company, after crushing on several accessories that had price points far too steep for the average, slim pockets.
“I thought, ‘it doesn’t look that difficult to make,” said Kucera. “I found materials ‘on the cheap,’ and soon, people started to ask me where I bought my jewelry and wanted to buy it, too.”
“I was working at a company then for 13 years,” she continued. “I always wanted to do something else outside of the cubicle. I also wanted to start a family and have a home business.”
Fast-forward to six years later, Kucera’s darling dream of dishing out handpicked and handcrafted jewelry to interested women is a real-life profession, available under her established moniker, Penelope and Anastasia.
“When I started to become official, I wanted to incorporate my mom and my sister because we are all very tight,” she said of conceptualizing her business’ name. “When my sister and I were little, if we were bad, our mom would sit us down and tell us a story about these two imaginary evil twins, named ‘Penelope and Anastasia.'”
“The name has meaning and history behind it, and pays homage to my sister and I’s relationship,” Kucera chuckled. “It also has funny memories behind it.”
Penelope and Anastasia, as an active business member of Etsy — the mecca for all things handcrafted, vintage and alternative— takes advantage of the online community as a venue to show off Kucera’s original jewels.
“Etsy is a great community for sellers,” she said. “It is not expensive to list items and it is easy to open up a shop.”
In addition to her approachable online store, Kucera also consigns her pieces to several local boutiques, including VIX Emporium, of Philadelphia, and Best Friends, of Phoenixville, where she has held trunk shows in the past.
Trotting an inventory of over 200 unique earrings, necklaces, rings and bracelets, Kucera reveals that her jewels are “for women who don’t want to see themselves coming or going.”
“Penelope and Anastasia Jewelry is not mass-produced. I do not do lines, I just make what I want to make,” she said. “I love to create bigger, brighter, more fun pieces.”
Kucera additionally works with wedding parties, conceptualizing customized creations to marvelous match special day ensembles and, encourages people who have unused antique and vintage costume jewelry at home to pay her a visit, and she will revive your closeted accessories.
“I love making things into something new,” she said. “You can always make something fresh, I love revamping pieces that signifies happy memories.”
Obviously inspired by blasts from the past, Kucera’s love for eye-catching nostalgia extends past jewelry in her other shop, a vintage goods’ haven, titled Marcella’s Excess, named after her three-year-old little girl.
With a proclaimed “obsession” for shopping at yard sales and thrift shops, the local designer’s focus for quality, charming finds delves deep into all aspects of her life, and it is certain that this Royersford-bred female is the area’s best vessel for pinpointing local neighborhoods’ most unforgettable vintage.
For more information, visit Penelope and Anastasia Jewelry at PenelopeAndAnastasia.Etsy.com or Marcella’s Excess at MarcellasExcess.Etsy.com.
