A Win and A Score

The Win

Several weeks ago, I responded to a post on Michelle of 3rd Eye Muse's blog. I was so fortunate to win the above wonderful prize of teeny tiny origami cranes and Michelle also included a couple of little bags of tiny shells, and one of her Goddess Spirit dolls. The cranes and shells were packed into the delightful green sectioned box shown above. If you click on the post link above, it will take you to her tutorial on how to make these wonderful little cranes (which were made into charms). I don't know how she does it as they are SOOOOOO tiny! They are also incredibly pretty. Thank you so much Michelle, I love everything you sent!

THE SCORE

I've been to a couple of estate auctions recently. One was a disappointment, however the second one was excellent. Some of my finds included:

*A Small Collection of Vintage/Antique Purses*

Detail of the petitpoint embroidery on the black silk crepe purse

(gorgeous isn't it!)

I want to take some cleaner to the silver chain link purse, I think it will look wonderful when cleaned up

*Some 30s/40s Snoods and Early 1900 Pictures from a Calendar*

The actresses pictured above, from L to R are: Kathryn Williams, Blanche Sweet and Lillian Walker

*Edwardian Wire Wall Basket and Glasses Case*

The wall pocket/basket may be Victorian, however I can't find any examples of anything like it on the internet. If anyone has any information, please let me know as I'm very curious about this piece.

*Edwardian Vanity Tray and Brush*

I love this set! The lace and petitpoint embroidery under the glass of the tray and the brush is so dainty and pretty! I had to have it!

I also got some handmade antique lace, an Edwardian biscuit barrel and a couple of items of antique/vintage clothing - none of which were handy when I was taking pics and I was a too lazy to run up the stairs and get them.

I love auctions, they are so much fun!

Vintage Bits

Edwardian Celluloid Hair Pick


Due to some unforeseen happenings since Thursday, I have sorely ignored my blog, and also, since the last two days, all those that I follow. I hope to get caught up tonight, as I miss reading all the great stuff that everyone posts!

This is just a quickie, getting-back-into-the-swim type post.

I love vintage, particularly vintage fashion, and have collected and sold it for quite a long time. I found this hilarious, short video on YouTube on "Fashions of the Future" (pay particular
attention to the guy at the end - love his "cell phone" )





As mentioned, I have sold vintage over the years and every so often I sell an item that several years later I could kick myself for. The two evening gowns below are examples of this. I was going through some old pic files a short while ago and came across, this mid 50s dress, blush champagne shade, heavily embroidered and beaded bodice and full triple layered skirt. So 'swish' as they say in the above video.

(and no, sadly, that is not the hallway in my house)

The second gown that I could really kick myself over is this 50s gorgeous gold and gold satin damask, with knife pleated inserts on the skirt, which made for one humongous sweep. These pics are old and definitely do not do this beauty justice. I remember I sold this for a ridiculously low price. *sigh*

(click to enlarge)

Hope everyone had a super weekend ....the upcoming week will be grand, right? Right!

I Never Thought

...that I would waver in my hope that Susan Boyle wins on Saturday night's Britain's Got Talent finale. Susan won the first semi-final show on the weekend, singing Memory. It was good, but wobbly at the beginning - but let's face it, this woman is under incredible pressure. All the semi-finalists are, but Susan with the massive global media coverage, has to be feeling it ten-fold.

I have been following the BGT shows on YouTube (I don't watch tv as a general rule, however if BGT was shown in North America, I would be sitting on my sofa for every show). So far four semi final shows have aired. The last semi final show is tomorrow night, with the 10 finalists going on to the final show on Saturday. There are some amazing acts that have so far won in the semi finals. Diversity and Flawless, are two street dancing groups that are fabulous. Shawn Smith is an incredible 17 year old singer. Then there is 12 year old Shaheen Jafargholi, another great little singer, and of course, Susan Boyle.

As of tonight however, my favorites have changed. Julian Smith, who makes his sax sing (he won tonight's show with the most votes) is one of my favorites.

Another favorite is Stavros Flatly, one of the most entertaining and fun acts I've seen (this charming father and son duo won on Show #3) Unfortunately, embedding has been disabled for their audition dance and also their semi final dance, but here is their first dance, and their second one. Are they good dancers? Heck no, but they have such a great bond and are so much fun, that they make me smile.

The third act that I really love is 2 Grand. A 76 yr old grandfather and his 12 year old granddaughter who sing together. The granddaughter and her mom entered Grandpa and her in BGT, partly to help Grandpa deal with the grief he was

experiencing after the death of his wife. This act also went through to the finals tonight. Sweet and heartwarming.

Do I still like Susan Boyle? Yes definitely, but I no longer think that she has a clear run at the win. There is still one more semi final show, with a couple of acts that looked terrific in the audition shows, so Saturday night looks to be a very interesting show.

Now, this is not what I planned on posting, but as I don't have pics taken of what I wanted to throw up here, this will work for now! I hope you enjoy these acts!

I Finally Breached The Mess

I held my breath, cranked up my courage and opened the door to my little studio last night. April and May have been particularly busy with a lot of birthdays and anniversarys, and thus a lot of pieces being created as gifts. I have not posted pics as I know some of the recipients follow this blog (you know who you are *grin*).

Anyway, when I work, I must start with everything organized and then within 10 minutes, chaos has returned to my 8 x 10 room. I don't generally put things away as I work (bad habit). Did a fast tidy-up last night and started 3 Kindreds. At this point, I know I want to do a darker, gothy one.



I also started and almost finished the sculpting for my ADO Challenge piece. For the last challenge, I didn't get finished until the last day....I would really like to be earlier this time. The challenge is to do a piece (or 4) based on the elements, Earth, Wind, Water and Fire. I'm a Taurus, so of course, I am going to do Earth.

I had to use my old camera for these pics while my new one was charging - sorry for the graininess.

I'm hoping to go to an estate auction tomorrow, so probably won't get much done on any of these pieces, but will try to post pics
as I continue on them.

Hope everyone had a creative day!

I Am Honoured

Creative Artistry Blog Award

This very special award was recently developed by Dessa Rae of Dessa Rae Art Dolls. I love what it stands for and when I first read Dessa's blog about the creation of this award, I thought - this is brilliant and really does exemplify everything that is good about blogging. As the first recipient of the award, Dessa presented it to Joanna Thomas of Joanna Thomas Art Dolls. What a perfect person to receive this I thought!

To my surprise and delight, Joanna has passed the award on to me. I am honoured and thrilled.

When I started blogging just before Christmas 2008, I was very wary. I was sure I would not have anything to say, and felt that it may be yet another project that I start, and lose interest in very quickly. I started visiting other blogs, first of people I knew (or knew of), and then explored some of the people that would post on those blogs. Getting up nerve, I started leaving responses of my own, and following some of the blogs. Within a couple of days, my interest was firmly peaked, I had made some new friends, and I was completely enchanted by the world of blogging. I never imagined the brand new world that blogging has opened up for me. Each day, I find inspiration, information, humour, friendship...something to brighten my day, just through blogging. Joanna, thank you so much for this award, it is so special to me and I am truly honoured.

When Dessa created this award the one stipulation was for the recipient to pass the award onto another blogger who was felt to be deserving of it.

This is tough, there are so many people in blogland that I know that deserve this award - how to pick just one? Just off the top of my head are seven people that I immediately thought of, however the one person that creeps to the very top of my head is

Marilyn Radzat of As Seen Through My Eyes.

Marilyn is one of the most talented artists I know of, and one of the most beautiful people that I have the pleasure of "knowing". (one of these days, I hope to meet Marilyn in 'real life'). I've known Marilyn for approx. 10 years now, and consider her not only a friend, but a mentor. (When I started creating dolls, I wanted to be just like Marilyn LOL) This extremely talented and creative woman is also one of the most selfless and giving artists that I know of. She is always a source of inspiration and her blog constantly reflects this. It is a pure joy to visit and as with her incredible pieces of art, one is transported to a magical place.

So Marilyn....this one is for you!