Studio Penny Lane

There is a feel in this store that I’m not quite sure I can describe, but it’s a combination of peaceful and beautiful yet raw? I don’t even think that covers it. The décor is an eclectic mix of rustic industrial with messages of gratitude and mindfulness. It is filled with the most beautiful trinkets that are hand-​crafted using pennies. I absolutely love that you can choose a year that is important to you and have a piece made!

Prior to walking into this store yesterday, I had never heard of Studio Pennylane. Even when I first walked into the store, I still wasn’t sure what I was walking into. Behind the window-​front is a large tree-​stump table, covered with candles and knick-​knacks. As I walked in past that, I felt an eclectic mix of industrial meets rustic, blended with rock-​and-​roll meets hippie. The store itself is a rather large space, but 75% of it is behind the sales counter, and occupied with boxes. The ceiling (above the sales counter and the boxes) has multiple tree branches hanging from it, many wires hanging from each branch, and each wire strings anywhere from 20 – 50 pennies together. The sales counter is only about 15 feet from the store entrance. To the right of the entrance and counter is a wall lined with shelves, each shelf holding a number of jars. All the jars are labeled with years, and each jar contains a bunch of pennies which correlate to the year listed on the jar. Randomly scattered on various things in front of that wall belts and branches with other clothing accessories hanging on them. To the left of the entrance and counter, there are freestanding shelves, all full of leather-​bound books.
Still confused about what I was looking at (yet somehow mesmerized by it all) I approached the counter. As I looked at the things on (and inside) the sales counter, I noticed that everything was some kind of trinket with a penny at the center of it. A friendly girl from the other side of the sales counter (later found to be named Ashley) approached me with her big smile, untamed, long curly hair, and a style which was reflective of the store… kinda like she was a surfer, hippie chick, with a hint of rock and roll. As we talked, she explained that pennies were at the center of all their items, with the 1936 song lyrics «Pennies from Heaven» accompanying the items, as a reminder that pennies are lucky signs from heaven to remind us of things for which we should be grateful. So, basically, the pennies in the jars (along the wall) were there so that if you have a specific year which is important to you (or the person to whom you’re gifting an item), you can customize the item with a penny from that special year. The pennies for bracelets and necklaces are set in bezels… generally pewter bezels. To make a bracelet, the bezeled penny is strung on either an elastic strand with beads, or on a chain, or on leather of various colors. The penny necklaces can be strung on chains or leather of various colors… and with or without a little stone or decorative medalion (like a heart, wings, paw print, etc) to accompany it.
It was a very cool concept. Needless to say, since my son was born in 2014 and that year was a very life-​changing year for me in many ways, I got two 2014 pennies and had her use one to make a necklace for me, and another to make a bracelet for me. I’m including pictures of my purchases plus a couple of others just for examples. The long and the short of my experience at this store is this… the store is quite unique, the staff I’ve met are super friendly, and once you understand the concept, it is very appealing. I plan on going back to buy gifts for friends & family in the future.