The Hunt

The hunt for cool vintage findings has started for the jewelry line I hope to create one day.  I scoured several yard/garage sales this past weekend, and man....do I have a lot to learn.  Has it really been that long since I bargained for anything?  I found myself taking at face value the price either written or offered, and honestly did not even think to negotiate a lower price.  That, my friends, is the result of too many years of retail shopping!  I found one very cool item that I really loved.....a very old and very large silver framed charm.  The price was originally $300 (at a yard sale folks....really??) and the seller said I could have it for $100.  Still too rich for my blood.  My husband asked why I didn't offer her $25.  I have no idea why!  Because that was the price she told me it was, I guess. Then for the rest of the day I kicked myself for not at least trying to get a lower price.  And you can see that close to a week later, that piece is still haunting me.  Because the family was selling just about everything in preparation to move to Hawaii, they just might be out there again next weekend.  I think I will try to find them one more time to see if their prices are lower and if I can muster up the courage to offer a lower price. Wish me luck!

I did find a few lovelies though.  It is a start for what I hope will turn out to be a great collection of treasures and then incredible one-of-a-kind, wearable pieces of art.

Here is what I found...

I am not crazy about these porcelain beads, but I love the little
brass caps.  I'll be taking this completely apart so I can
look at it from a new standpoint.

I was thrilled to find these older rhinestone pieces.
Love the disco ball beads!!

While visiting my mother over the holidays and sharing this new venture with her, she was off to her bedroom to gather some old pieces.  Some of this stuff I haven't seen in years.  We had a great time reliving some of the treasures we found in her jewelry box.  I don't think she had even been in it in years.  But from that trip, she and my grandmother shared these items with me.  Yippee!!

What a great collection!  I'm so excited to add these
pieces.  Some will just be pieces of chain, while others
will be for their baubles.

I'll have to take some time to see if this awesome necklace
can be dismantled a bit so I can just use sections at a time.
I'm new at this, so the only way to see if it works is
just to try it....right??

I am so in love with this set!  However, it's days as a "set"
are over, baby!!

I have noticed that religious metals, rosaries, and crucifixes play a major role in many of the jewelry pieces I am loving these days.  I have my own collection of rosaries from growing up Catholic, and have acquired a few metals and such over the years as well.  I am really struggling with the taking apart of rosaries to use in my future pieces.  I know it is being done by others and honestly, I love the look.  I have asked a few people who know what a rosary is supposed to represent and mean, and I am getting a mixed bag of feedback.  Because I am using them in what I hope will be cherished pieces that ladies will hopefully wear in pride, I don't feel that I am being blasphemis.  One friend suggested I never take apart the ten bead section where one prays ten Hail Mary's, but otherwise did not feel it wrong to take apart the rest.  I think I can live with that.  I would love to have your input.  What is your opinion??  Please, please share it with me.  I really love the look these pieces add, but want to feel good in my heart about doing it.  I'm going to need your help though.

Here is my collection of rosaries and metals....



I love the back of this Virgin Mary piece. 
A little dap of "terra" from Jerusulem.
I've never seen that in a rosary before.

 And finally, here are a few of my own personal pieces that I've had on hand for awhile.

This pin is truly one of my favorite vintage pieces that I am hoping to include in a repurposed piece soon.  In fact, I love it so...I think I'll wear it to work tomorrow!!



 This old Paris souvenir bracelet is so very cool.  I picked it up at a local antique store a few years ago, but the clasp sticks so I don't really wear it.  However, it will really be beautiful taken apart and used in several pieces or a few in one Paris-themed piece.  Can't wait!!  Also included here are some of my Brownie and Girl Scout pins.  Not sure if I will use them, but thought their truly vintage look is great.  Did any of you feel what just happened????  I said something from my childhood is now considered "vintage."  Uh....how did that happen?  Also included here are two older cameos....will look lovely combined with some pearls I thinks. (Sorry for the sideways view here.)

As the weekend is fast approaching, I am already thinking of the neighborhoods I want to scour for new finds.  Then it is time to get my workspace organized.  I'll share that process with you also.  I feel I am ready to try a piece or two.  We'll see....

Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the week.....
Carol

P.S.  I forgot to mention....Adorn Me 2012 in Houston, TX at the end of February has been cancelled.  I am more than disappointed, but hope to go wherever it is in November.  Maybe I can find something similar to enjoy before then.

White Wednesday ~ I Want to Play!

It's been 14 days since my last......post....almost said confession....a childhood flashback!  It is Ash Wednesday, after all.  Anywho......it's been just too long ago since I found (made?) the time to visit.  I am settling into my new job pretty well, I think, and have so incredibly much to learn.  I am eager to do it, which helps. 

White Wednesday is one of my favorite linky parties (along with Vintage Inspiration Friday), so I had to rumage through some of my pictures to find some whiteness to share.  In no apparent order.....



An odd entry, I know, but look at these
SWEET slipcovers!  Never would have thought
that one up on my own, but am loving it
(and needing it in my own vehicle).
If I brave this activity, you'll be the
first to know!

I love the hints of green in this lovely
white bedroom....and that ceiling - LOVE IT!
So peaceful...

These two pictures are of The White Garden at
Sissinhurst Castle in England.
I have gardening fever these days, so I took
a lovely stroll through this one today.

White clouds, white shirts....it qualifies!
My neice, Hannah, with Tim Tebow, taken
last week at the Honda Classic here in Palm Beach Gardens.
She is beaming!!!

Does black and white count??
That's me in the striped top and chubby cheeks
being held by my mom.  My dad and older
brother here too.  I'm guessing this is around
1966 or 67. It's one of my favorites
and I just had to share!

Hope to be back before another two weeks pass. I got the go-ahead to start a new garden in my backyard....can't wait to start planning and taking pictures!  I'm in the search of the PERFECT garden gate! Enjoy your Wednesday...

P.S.  Top two pictures from House Beautiful.

Newly Sharpened Pencils

Yesterday was the first day of school in the county in which I live.  School busses are back on the streets.  It took me 10 extra minutes to get to work this morning due to the extra traffic.  However, the phrase "a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils" has been playing over and over in my head for a couple of days.  Do you recall it?

   "Don't you love New York in the fall?  It makes me wanna buy school supplies.  I would send you
   a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.  On the other hand, this
   not knowing has its charms."  Joe Fox, a.k.a. Tom Hanks from You've Got Mail.

Okay, I admit it.  I'm a sucker for the romantic comedy.  My mother and I would both say that even though we've seen this movie a thousand times, we have to watch it whenever we run across it on tv.  And what better movie to pop in the dvd player on a rainy afternoon...after the millionth viewing of Pride and Prejudice, that is.

But....I digress.  Back to the pencil bouquet...

Memories of my first days of school arise.  My mother, with her camera (always!), taking our picture in our new clothes to mark yet another school year.  I did the same with my son, although, shamefully, I did not catalogue them.  I find myself longing for just one more school year....mine or his.  I checked in with my granddaughter, Reagan, who started her first day of third grade with her pretty new dark blue glasses.  I started wearing glasses in the third grade also.  I can't wait to see her picture that I know her mom took.

More school memories....high school football games when I was a Lancerette (drill team).  We are all lined up behind the bleachers at "attention."  Our sponsor, Mrs. Davis, and our captain, inspects us all for the proper hairstyle, makeup, panty hose, no spots on our white boots or white gloves.  Me standing there, pre-contact years, without my glasses as I could not dance with them on, so everything was blurry. 

Maybe I'm just longing for fall and the hint of cooler weather.  That could be.  Regardless, I've enjoyed my "school days" reminiscing these last few days.  I hope all who have little ones in their lives enjoy a happy first day of school, whenever that day may come, as we all dream of cooler fall days ahead.

Lilac Memories

(Reprinted from my wordpress.com blog dated April 28, 2010.)

I was born in Niagara Falls, New York. We moved to Florida when I was 8. When I used to tell kids at my new school where I was born, they would always ask if my mom was going over the falls when I was born. Stubbornly, I would say, “Yes.” It’s funny that even now when I tell people where I was born, that next sentence still comes instantly to mind and I think to myself, No I was not going over the falls.


As my mother would attest, I sort of lived in my own little dream world growing up (some would say this is still the case). I used to flit around singing and dancing and such. We lived in the sort of little neighborhood where it was safe to wander a few blocks here and there, and do our own little bit of exploring. I believe two blocks behind us is where I found “The Flower Lady.” It was the first time I had ever seen someone plant flowers in their entire front yard. There was a little white picket fence surrounding it all and no grass to be seen. I really wanted some of those flowers. My exact memory of how I got the first bouquet is a little fuzzy. I know the lady of the house did come out to talk to me. Whether she found me standing and staring from outside the fence (which would have been the appropriate thing to do) or whether she found me strolling amongst her flowers (the more likely scenario) is not clear. She did get to me before I picked the first flower, I do remember that. I told her I wanted to bring some flowers home to my mother. She made me a beautiful bouquet and I went dancing home, so proud to present them. My mother was not so happy to see my offering though. Mortified that I had picked all the flowers from someone’s yard, she made me take my father back to the house where I had gotten them. They did not believe my little story that someone had just given them to me. So back to The Flower Lady’s home we went. She announced to my father that I had indeed asked for the flowers and did not take them on my own. Whew! Saved….that time. From then on, I visited The Flower Lady (as I had dubbed her) quite often.

At the end of our street, lived an elderly couple: Mr. and Mrs. Buttons. They had several lilac trees in their yard that were too beautiful for me to resist. Knowing I could not get in trouble if I asked first, I boldly knocked on their front door and asked if I could have some blooms please. Who could resist a little five-year-old with white hair bouncing about who thinks nothing of introducing herself and telling her entire life story (to my mother’s continued mortification)? From then on, The Buttons’ yard became a new play place. My pals and I would hang out underneath the trees, orchestrating our little plays and singing songs at the tops of our lungs. Many times, I would have them walk all the way down to our front yard to watch one of our productions (that I was, of course, the director of). I would put chairs out for my parents, The Buttons’, and my best friend, Judy Zimmerman’s Nanna and Bumpa (I believe they were Hungarian) to come watch us perform. Wearing my mom’s old crinolines, I’m sure we were a sight.

Every spring, when pictures of lilacs abound, my mind floats back to Duluth Street, Niagara Falls, New York….to The Flower Lady…..to Mr. and Mrs. Buttons…..to the 12 noon fire hall bell call…..to the biggest wild roses that grew outside the little neighborhood store (I did help myself to those many times). I guess it is good that I cannot actually grow lilacs here. Maybe they would lose their special place in my memory if I saw them so often that I took them for granted. So I will happily gaze upon their pictures instead and let my mind wander back to my own little dream world.

In childhood, we press our nose to the pane, looking out. In memories of childhood, we press our nose to the pane, looking in. ~Robert Brault

The Glenda Project

(Reprinted from my wordpress.com blog dated May 3, 2010.)

When I was in first grade, living in Niagara Falls, I was a Brownie. We did the typical Brownie things. We made a “sit upon” which basically was a recycled shower curtain folded over newspaper that we loop stitched around the edges to hold it in place. It was used to literally sit upon rather than sit on the floor, or grass, or whatever. I had that thing for years it seems.

One of the more interesting activities was being told we would be participating with a troop in Australia and become pen pals with a Brownie there. Australia sounded very exotic to my six-year-old imagination and I thought the girl’s name I would get would be equally exotic. I was handed a slip of paper about the size of a fortune from a cookie that read, “Glenda Dunstan.” That did not sound very exotic to me and I remember asking if I could try again. I was told no. I guess she already had my name too. Okay….Glenda it is. Our assignment was to write an introductory letter to this person and let chance take it from there. This all occurred somewhere around 1969. Mail to and from Australia took about two weeks, each way. My mom proofread my letter making sure it was in my best handwriting and there were no errors. I do remember having to redo it a time or two. It was quite exciting to receive that first letter. Everyone in the family had to read it, look at the stamps, note Glenda’s interesting handwriting and way of speaking (“Mum” for Mom, “holiday” for vacation, etc.).

And a friendship was formed….

Fast forward 41 years (OMG!) and we are STILL friends! There have been segments of years where our writing waxed and waned. We have spoken on the telephone three times during the years. Yes, she has an adorable accent. Interestingly enough, she thinks I have an accent. When the brush fires were ravaging Southern Australia last year, I had to call to make sure she and her family were okay. She lives in Melbourne and luckily were still south of where most of the fires were. She was very touched to know I was worried for her and even more surprised that America was following along with what was going on Down Under.

During the years we each married (she is now Glenda Morris), had children, lost loved ones, survived illnesses (Glenda is a ten-plus-year breast cancer survivor). We now take advantage of the internet and read each other’s responses within hours of writing. Australia is fourteen hours ahead of us, so if she is up late and I am up early, we can almost “instant message.”

In less than one month, I will meet my Australian Brownie pen pal for the very first time. She is traveling to North America (Canada and the US) and will stay with me and my family for seven days!!! This is a miracle to me. It seems almost surreal….that on one hand, I feel I have known her since childhood, but on the other hand, have never really met her at all. What will she think of our American ways? What are American ways, anyways? And how do they differ from Australian ways?

This has spurred a flurry of activity at the Bass household. I live in a modest 50’s style cottage. It is tiny and adorable. There has always been a list of “wouldn’t it be nice to do this to that area” that has, up to about three months ago remained an item on the list. The list now has a name: The Glenda Project. The back porch is now an almost completely enclosed sunroom. The laundry room has been rearranged with a new hot water heater added. A new 12 x 12 shed has been added to the backyard across from the chicken coop. The kitchen pantry has been removed and a very cool antique armoire stands in its place. (Only some…okay one… of the home’s occupants thinks it is very cool.) It is not perfect, but that is part of its charm. If I wanted perfect, I would have bought a new piece. (The French door to the right is now gone as that is where the sunroom is.)

(I forgot to mention that I was told this HAS to be the LAST old piece of furniture I EVER bring into our house. Now how am I supposed to accomplish that? Maybe he was kidding….)

My brief mention of the projects above do nothing to describe the amount of blood, sweat, and tears that have accompanied them. The sunroom was half engulfed in old termite eaten boards and had to be completely removed and replaced before the back half of the house fell off. Why that actually never happened is beyond me. My husband tried very hard to cut his thumb off with the table saw. An ER visit and seven stitches later, he was back at it. Exterior CBS walls had to be drilled and chipped to accommodate the new placement of the dryer vent. And still the work continues….

Maybe one of the Australian ways is not to worry so much over what kind of panty food is kept in or if all the walls are freshly painted or if the almost 50-year- old wood floor has just the right sheen to it. It certainly seems to be an American way, though–or at least this American’s way. As the time of Glenda’s arrival quickly approaches, the list still seems insurmountable. My attitude toward that list has relaxed somewhat. At some point, the focus will shift to what we will do to make my exotic Aussie pal feel welcomed. In the meantime, I still have some painting to do!