Vintage Thingie Thursday!

Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday Everyone! Please go over to Coloradoladys Blog to see more fabulous finds by Vintage Thingie Lovers from everywhere in Blogland! :) You'll make new friends - I promise!

Yikes! A whole week has gone by! That is pretty incredible!!! I'm running around like a madwoman trying to get all packed up for the weekend... I'm heading to Baltimore for my college reunion. I must say... I really need a break. So in honor of my girls weekend coming up ... this week's VTT will be some girly stuff!

Everyone needs at least a couple ( I have like a dozen ) super girly, beaded vintage evening bags...which I never use. But I must have them. I have more at home...but here are a few I have for sale in the store. The blue one is really adorable...come to think of it... do I have a blue one? :)


And what, I ask you, is more girly than a vanity? This pieces was a mess when I got it in, and now of course is the most talked about piece in the store! I'm really excited about how its looking. I will need to do an update shot for next week.


For now, just try to visualize this vanity mirror floating above the vanity...and of course ignore the paint cans and drop cloth. Gotta love the creative process!

Have a wonderful Thursday! Filled with Vintage Love!

Cherry Blossoms! Is Spring here?

So I am going to ignore the fact that I'm pretty sure we had a slushy-freezing-rain-type shower this morning and blog about something much more wonderful - CHERRY BLOSSOMS!


Branch Brook Park in delightful Newark, NJ is famous for its Cherry Blossoms...and they are in full bloom! Jordan and I were able to stop by on Sunday before going to my Aunt's House for Easter.
I just love trees with branches like these. They remind me of some of the shots I took in Hawaii!

Enjoy!

Easter Greetings #1

Hello Friends and Happy Easter!

I write "Easter Greetings #1" because I am lucky enough to celebrate Easter twice. My mother raised her children Roman Catholic, but my father and his side of the family are Greek Orthodox. We will be celebrating Greek Orthodox Easter next Sunday :)





These are not Easter lilies. They are beautiful Irises from my sweet boyfriend Jordan. I thought they were appropriate images for Easter Sunday. I also loved this poem I found, "The Easter Flower," by Claude McKay.



The Easter Flower

by Claude McKay

Far from this foreign Easter damp and chilly

My soul steals to a pear-shaped plot of ground,

Where gleamed the lilac-tinted Easter lily

Soft-scented in the air for yards around;

Alone, without a hint of guardian leaf!

Just like a fragile bell of silver rime,

It burst the tomb for freedom sweet and brief

In the young pregnant year at Eastertime;

And many thought it was a sacred sign,

And some called it the resurrection flower;

And I, a pagan, worshiped at its shrine,

Yielding my heart unto its perfumed power.

I think I like this poem so much beacuse reveals the beauty of Easter to people of all religions, through a simple, lovely flower. I do not consider myself a practicing Catholic anymore, but like the "pagan" author of the poem, I too appreciate the sacred, perfumed wonder of the Easter Lily. It is also easy to recognize the comparisons to Christ in the usage of the words; tomb, worship, and ressurection.

Happy Easter! Especially to my sister in Hawaii - Alexis we will miss you today!

Boticelli Art Bead Finished

So I soldered the art bead together and I must admit...I really love it! This piece is really special so far. The floating flowers are a perfect match :)

Now 100% lead free solder has posed a problem for me in the past. It doesnt take on copper patina well! And I LOVE the look of the copper patina. So its time to turn lemons into lemonade!!! Since I am such a lover of antiquity I give the soldered seams a look of aged copper!

I use three acylic paints to achieve the effect. A dark green/teal, a light green/teal, and a copper color. The finished product gives the look of aged metal and I like it better this way! I seal the seams with clear nail polish so there is no clothing color transfer :)

Interested in entering a piece? Do it!!!! Click here to visit the Art Bead Scene :)

Vintage Thingie Thursday!

Yay! Its Vintage Thingie Thursday over at ColoradoLady's Blog. Make sure you skip over there for awhile to check out all the fun neat stuff everyone is posting :)

This week I am showing you my vintage hat pin collection. I can't say I collected too many of these. They were a gift from my Godmother Demetria. They were originally her Mother in laws.

Arn't they all so perfect?

These are my favorite! I love the Greek/Roman coin one (of course!) and the small locket one.

Inside the locket is what looks like a tiny Virgin Mary. So Cute!

I even adore the sweet little pin cushion they are displayed on!

Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday Everyone!

New Goddess Intro! Hygeia for Autism

Thats right, Hygeia is my new Goddess Collection! Hygeia is a lesser known Goddess, but once you see the pieces I have in her collection, you will see why I chose her.

Hygeia is the Goddess of Health and Healing. She was the daughter of Asclepius who was the God of Medicine and Healing. Her mother was Epione, the Goddess of soothing of pain. The painting above you can easily recognize as the work of Gustav Klimt. In both the statue and the painting Hygeia is pictured with a snake. She is often holding a medicine bowl (patera) as well from which the snake is feeding. Serpents are often used as symbols of healing and medicine as with Mercury's double serpent caduceus, which was adopted by the Medical Department of the United States Army and other medical related organizations.

A prescription from Hygeia would be homeopathic in nature. She would most likely prescribe a healthy diet, rest, and cleanliness. She brought about the concept of bathing patients. She believed in being disease free life through preventative measures, rather than waiting for symptoms to show. Her significance placed on the cleansing of the body is where we get the word hygiene from.

I have used Hygeia’s collection as a space for my Autism Awareness Necklace and Earrings. In the future I hope to create more pieces that can benefit causes of this nature, through both charity and awareness.

Autism is a condition that I'm sure has touched everyone's life, or that of someone you know and love. I am fortunate to know so many people who help... and they have inspired me to do the same. Special thanks to Alaina and Samantha who work with Autistic and special needs children on a daily basis and truly make a difference. Love you guys!


25% of the money from any pieces I sell will go directly to Autism Research. Also... did you know that April is Autism Awareness Month? Spread the word! The new category has been added to my website, but if you prefer...you can buy through my Etsy site.

Art Bead Scene - Monthly Challenge

Well I've decided to add to the suspense of the new Goddess and not "release" her until tomorrow...hehe.

In the meantime the Art Bead Scene's Monthly challenge for April is Botticelli Birth of Venus. I absolutely adore this painting for two reasons. First off - - Its a mythology painting! Venus was said to have been born sprung from the foam of the ocean. Other myths say she was born from a seashell. Either way, Botticelli has done a fine job of representing Venus (Aphrodite to the Greeks). This image is probably one of the most recognized paintings in the history of Art. The other reason I love this painting, is because when I was an art history major in college I was able to see this piece when I was studying in Florence. It is a very large painting (over five feet tall) and you can see all the beautiful detail Botticelli includes in his rendering of fabrics and foliage. This painting truly combines my love of art and mythology. Though I must admit, his Primavera is what really gets me weak in the knees.


Since it brought back so many wonderful memories, I got right on it. I decided to sketch the shell till I came up with a form that I liked. I then set about to make a stained glass pendant. Here are the glass pieces after they were cut and grinded. As you can see two "panels" of the shell are clear glass so that I could collage something inside the glass.


After fooling around with some dried flowers and lavender (too big, too messy) I decided to paint my own pattern. I took some simple collage paper and very lightly and loosely drew pretty little pink flowers, much like the ones that float magically in the painting.


Well that's as far as I got today. I will have to solder tomorrow... I also have some plans for Zephyr (God of the Wind), Aura (Goddess of Breezes), and Horae (Goddess of the Seasons) who are also in the painting. They will play lesser roles in the necklace but are not forgotten :)

Hope its not raining where you are! :(