February already ! Vintage and artsy writings.

Goodness time has flown yet again. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas-holiday ? It was nice and quiet here.

So I've been busier with my Etsy vintage shop , finally getting a move on and making a serious effort to list at least twice a week. It's very enjoyable going through my parents treasures ( the non-sentimental ones of course ) and then searching online for extra information such as years made, how they were made, value, etc...
Lately I've been listing their Booths Real Old Willow pieces. This is a pattern that, although it is lovely, it has never been a 'wow' pattern to me. I lean more towards Clarice Cliff- art decoish patterns and/or rich chintz with bright flowers and gold, or Japanese lustreware or designs like Blossom Time from Royal Albert. So I have no problem listing the Old Willow pieces and they're usually priced lower than what other sites ask --- just because, I'm like that :)

Here are some upcoming items:

First photo is a large figurine marked 'Unter Weiss Bach' Made in the German Democratic Republic.
My father gave this to mom one Christmas, she fell in love with it ( and I remember making a face when it came out of the box, thankfully my parents didn't see me lol ! ). This is not an item I would ever display, it's too gaudy and dust-collectory for my taste but I know there are many others who would LOVE to have it. So I've been researching and found a few similar pieces. My piece does have lace breakage though, in the front. See those two large flowers on her dress ? They were once earrings. My mom decided to remove the backings and glue them onto the broken lace. They kinda work don't you think ? Alas, a bit more lace broke off, to the left of the earrings. It's still a lovely piece and once I've found the right box, figured the correct shipping, took the right photos & picked a good price, it too will be in the vintage shop.
The second photo is of two vintage candle holders. I've not yet searched online, there are no maker's marks either. Right now I'm not sure about them. It depends on their value & demand and shipping cost too. If it's going to cost $10 to ship but they're only worth about $5, then I rethink the item and sometimes put it in the thrift shop pile. Maybe that's not the 'professional' way to think ? Oh well.
My mom discovered the thrill of thrift shopping when she retired and became a volunteer at one of our popular thrift stores back in the mid-80's, often bringing home 'stuff'...dust collecting trinkets, etc...I developed the thrill when I realised how many things could be transformed into art creations. I also enjoyed watching people when they found something for next to nothing, the joy in their eyes. That is another reason why I've donated some possible Etsy items to the thrift shop instead. I realise too the people who work there might take them home and resell them, if they can then good on them. It's all meant to be fun. Making money is a very nice bonus too and, yes, I do realise that if I was competitive then there'd be more in the bank but that's just the way I am. When I do make a sale, there's always a quiet word of thanks to my parents --I'm sure their spirits pop in every now and again to lend me a helping hand, especially with decision making.

Okay, now to my art shop . Ahhh my art, a permanent desire, a need to always create, a quiet insanity to find my niche ! Urgh !
So after looking around Etsy, again, I realise that what I need to do is find cohesion with my shop. My art is everywhere and I'm not feeling the love. What I am feeling is the strong desire to settle on the things I most enjoy making and to stick with.
I am doing a much better job of listening to the 'ol gut feeling and this gut tells me to stick with making art pendants. They are small enough to not cost a lot in shipping and I can still pretty much do whatever I want with them without having to upheave my entire art room just to find the right pieces for them, unlike the large altered art creations.
Did I just jinx myself ? Oh I bloody well hope not. It seems every time I find something to stick with....a few weeks later I'm dreaming about creating something totally different and, again, get into an art kerfuffle.
My aim is to create art pendants in a small variety of styles so I don't get bored. So far I've been using wood game tiles and Rummy tiles. Recently I purchased a few flat back glass cabochons and some lace edge bezel settings on which I plan to install paper collages. I want to keep the pendants simple without having to resort to buying bails or making fancy necklaces to go with them --as much as I do like those altered art necklaces and could make my own, they would, for me, create anxiety because I would be spending my time on every small detail, making sure it was perfect, etc...and I just don't need that anymore. That didn't sound right. What I mean is, I'm already creating a pendant which I'll be picky with. The thought of adding some fancy necklace to it will mean even more time being picky and that is mentally tiring. When you get mentally tired you usually end up wanting to move away from the thing that is tiring you. I've done that too many times and I'm tired of it ! No artsy fartsy necklaces but maybe some shiny ballchains, 24" long so they can be thrown over the head.
So, although I have great 'urges' to paint, to make aceo cards, to turn makeup compacts into miniature worlds ( and just as I wrote this I felt the urge again ), etc... I will have to push them aside, at least for awhile and concentrate on my pendants. When I fill my shop with necklaces, keep the backgrounds simple, make it look tidy, then maybe people will actually want to buy them instead of just liking them. Now that would be fantastic :) --but it won't happen while I'm here, so off I go.
Here's a pic. of the glass cabs I just got today from Delish Beads. Free shipping worldwide too, woohoo !!

Have a great day/week/month everyone. I'll do my best to keep you posted -- though, as some of you know, it may be awhile.

Oh, how could I forget: here's another reason why I haven't blogged much....Pinterest ! Oh my is that an addictive site indeed. Really, go check it out and pop on over to my boards too -- Tracy B.
♥♥♥

Blabbing & Treasures from a Radio....,

 Goodness my blog has been ignored ! I've got a bunch of photos too, just been either too busy or too lazy to get here.
 My birthsister Angela came out in January for a wee visit, always nice to see family. Soon after I finished off rearranging my art room and am quite happy at my fresh new setup --I can get to almost everything now just by turning in my chair, woohoo !
 I'm back on my weightloss journey too, so far so good, it's not that difficult watching what I eat, water intake has never been a problem but the brain needs to be retrained into really wanting to exercise --at least I'm doing it !
 My creative process has been slow. I guess if I had to put a reason it would simply be that I tend to go in phases, one moment all gung-ho making 2-3 creations and then some shutdown. Being a very visual person I tend to go into overload & have to back away from the art, allowing my brain to sort out and marinate on the ideas that can be created, instead of those wishful ideas that realistically wouldn't work very well for me. A couple of my wishful thoughts are: learning to weld and create large sculptures ( realistically, too lazy to want to put in all that work --and not willing to create the space for this kind of work ). Making large comfortable to hold coffee mugs & painting them with rich vibrant colours/flowers/comic-style art ( as much as I love colourful mugs & wish there were more made, I can't see our home with a kiln ). Nothing wrong with wishful thinking and if you can make some of those wishes come true then 'good on ya' ! I'll continue to stick with making smaller creations, just need to push myself more :P

Anyhoooo, enough of my blagging, the pics. below show a vintage radio my mom used to listen to when she was the cafeteria chef at a college here in Victoria.
The radio isn't a big collectible so I just had to take it apart lol ! That has always been a constant in my life, wanting to know how things work, wanting to see the guts of items.-- When I was around 10 yrs. old I took apart a lovely old sunburst clock my parents had back in the '70's, one of those large wall clocks with the bent metal arms to make it look like a sun. Well I took it apart with glee, fascinated by the bits and bobs and wires. Could I put it back together ? Of course not ! Had I been more aware of the classes in my high school I would have taken computer & mechanics, but nooooo, silly me was more interested in my boyfriend. Sigh. Do I want to take classes today ? Ummm, well I don't know. If there was a week long class to know some of the simple basics then I'd be interested, but not if it's 6 months or more.
( when I was little my most wanted 'toy' was one of those electronic gadget boards from Sears. Do you remember that item ? You could learn how to light a tiny lightbulb, make a radio and more. It looked like a small circuitboard with knobs, etc... I never did get that toy, my dear mom either thought I'd hurt myself or it wasn't something a lady did :( Oh well, that was then, this is now and I do what I can with what I know today. Thank goodness my dear dad, who did carpentry on the side for fun, allowed me to 'hammer and nail' when he was building an item ).
Wow did I go off there lol ! Back to the radio -- so as you can see I found some great little treasures to use in my art, I'm thinking some Steampunk creations here ! There are a couple of items that can click/move, hoping to get something fun-unique made with them. The last pic. is a closeup of the board & a neat picture for you to use in your art. Print it out & use as a background, alter it, tear it up, whatever your imagination can conjur. Enjoy ! :)

---now off I go to work on my 2 new creations: a nature themed necklace & a sweet diorama I'm calling 'Bored Monkey'. You'll see soon ;)

Christmas in the House

 

A few shots of some of the treasures ( mostly my parents vintage treats ) I put out each year. Actually, I didn't put out everything like I usually do. Left in the box this year is my little village scene, instead I've made a scene with just Christmas trees, flocked reindeer & a few Santas. To the left of it is the tv with two Santa heads I found at Michaels, my one and only really big Partylite treasure is the skating snowman tealight holder with music box, the snowman actually skates when the music is playing.

There's our coffee table display with my fav. chubby snowman & funny greeting card from a dear friend ( Janis, you gave me this card over 10 yrs. ago ! ).

The fireplace is waiting for an electric insert ( previous owners haven't used it for over 25 yrs. and we don't relish using wood ) so it shows off more treasures --a couple of Christmas sock bears I made over 15 yrs. ago ( using my dear dads old socks ), a tree our son made when he was in kindergarten, thrift shop found jewel tree picture, moms kitschy animated Santa and a few other items from when I was little.

The next image shows a mixed media painting I made 'just because'. A porcelain bird sits on top & gold sprayed plastic branches hold tiny decoupaged images of angels & Santas. Copper tubing is home to 'Joy' and 2 sweet stockings.

The big bear was a prize my husband & I won at the Vic. General Hospital back in the early 90's. Very huggable !

Above the fireplace display hangs one of the trio of musical bells next to my bungy Santa --and the egg dude I brought from Ottawa happily rests inside the vintage wreath that still gets packed in its original box.

The musical angel is one of two ( also in original boxes ) standing in front of an old German advent calendar.

Two of my fav. garage sale finds are these lovely pictures. Everytime I look at them I feel instant peace.

Even the kitchen got a touch of Christmas this year. My newest items are the two small red trees purchased from a fab. shop called Cameron Rose in Sidney B.C. ( they're known for selling Christmas Krinkle treasures ! )

So there you go for now. As said, I didn't put everything out this year, wanted to keep the decor less cluttered. What's missing are a couple of small nativity scenes, trio of musical bells, a few small & large houses. I did take out my most. fav. music box of my parents, it's on the dining table, will post a pic. later when we have the tree up. We're getting a real one sometime next week !

Now off to make some cherry cake balls ! ( I wanted to make the red velvet cake kind but there was no RV cake mix to be found. So I went with cherry chip mix & added red coloring for a lovely pink mix, yum ! Baking photos to come too woohoo ! )

Free Images & feeling the Christmas spirit....

I like Halloween but I LOVE Christmas ! Though I'm not yet ready to haul out the Christmas decorations, I am feeling in the mood to create some goodies for my shop.

So I'm going to make a few 'cute' Christmas brooches, using cardstock & various bits & bobs found around my art room --things like vintage Christmas cards, broken jewelry bits, flowers and more. Of course you mustn't forget the glitter !

My first brooch is almost done, but below the cardinal is the beginnings of it (vintage card bits,stars cut from a vintage candle tin wraparound). It now has flowers,glitter, a heart earring and a shiny coating of gloss ( fake resin ). I may add a small piece of ribbon to transform the brooches into ornaments for the tree.

The cardinal and flower will be part of another brooch. Fun !!

These next 6 images are scanned 1950's-early 60's Christmas card covers. They were purchased super cheap from my parents next door neighbor, who was a packrat ! She loved her thrift shops,garage sales and even bought a ton of stuff from the old shopping channel. She was so much of a packrat that about 20 yrs. ago her house suffered a fire, because of items piled up near the furnace :( Thankfully there was more smoke damage than fire but a LOT of her stuff had to be discarded in a large dumpster outside her garage. So my mom walked over one day and took a peek in the dumpster ! She brought home a couple of items, a porcelain bowl, some ugly brass planter with lions and doves carved into the brass, etc...

As much as it might have been fun for my mom to go dumpster diving ( and believe me I felt the temptation too, she had a lot of wonderful treasures ), I couldn't do it. It was after all, still the neighbors stuff ! If I had found an item and was able to clean it up, I would have given it back to her. But that's the way I work.

ANYWAY. About 5 years ago she got to the point where she had to have constant help, so it was time to find a care home. One of her sons had a huge garage sale. There were so many wonderful treasures, from Mr.Bean bears ( she usually would get more than one if she could ) to full bottles of unopened makeup to old bottles and more. I still kick myself for some of the things I passed on ( like more vintage cards and a Mr.Bean bear ), but am very happy with what I did find. One of these days I'll post images of 6 unique wine bottles from France. Each of them is dressed up in clothes and the bottle stops are handcarved wood faces. The best thing about them ? Each face has one large winking eye ! I've perused the internet trying to find anything about them, so far no luck.

The only sad thing about the garage sale....her son had no idea the value of some of her things, so it all went soooo cheaply. He didn't really care anyway and I wondered if his mom ever found out. Lots of very happy buyers that's for sure !

So these cards are on very thin paper and I think some of them may have had removable inserts. I saved the images at 300 dpi ( dots per inch ), which I've read is supposedly the best size to print out. You can also access them on my Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bytracy/4078270380/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bytracy/4078270620/

If you do end up using these in art, etc...I would love to know and see a pic. or two :)

Enjoy ♥

What my little studio has been enjoying lately....

My art desk has been getting a good workout lately. I've found yet another form of art that i plan to stick with for awhile ( unlike my felt creations ! ).
 I've dubbed this art 'Vintage Reinvented' and it is simply taking my big stash of mostly vintage broken jewelry parts and recreating them into fresh new jewelry.

For the longest time I would use only small pieces of my stash, hesitant to go all out because most of the bits I had only one of and would probably never find another of it's kind again. I also have some pieces that look too pretty to give away, but they're just sitting in one of my drawers. So if I don't make something for myself then why am I keeping such pretty things hidden away ? So what I've been doing is taking out one or two pretty pieces, putting them somewhere visible, leaving them for a day or two to enjoy & decide if I'm going to use them for myself or share. Well I already have quite a few pretty pieces my family & friends have given me and I really don't need anymore in my personal jewelry boxes, so I usually end up choosing to share the other bits. And it's a good feeling transforming these pieces into wonderful, perhaps even magical, wearable 'works of art' with the hopes someone out there will also find them just as magical. I also love to run my hands over the piece before reconstructing it, wondering quietly who the person was that wore it, are they still around, was it a special gift from a friend, a lover, a family member or simply a fun purchase for themselves ? Sometimes my heart will ache from not knowing exactly where it came from --but maybe it's a good idea I don't know, otherwise I'd never use the bits & bobs, they'd become even more vintage without ever seeing light again !

So here is a picture I took tonight ( Nov.3) of what my desk now looks like. I was doing so well putting everything away each night...when I was working on my felt pendants. But now ? Ha, forget it ! Just too many little things to constantly put away. And I find I tend to work better when surrounded by these tiny delights, they help to keep my mind churning out ideas for future goodies. Fortunately the rest of my wee studio is fairly organised, if it wasn't then I'd be feeling stress instead of joy.
You can just make out some of the 'stuff' I've been using for my 'vintage reinvented' jewelry....rhinestones, faux pearls, attachments, etc...

The piece below is what I am working on right now. It's a real music box, but miniature ! It had a keychain attachment but I felt it should be seen instead of getting banged up by a bunch of keys ! So now it's on it's way to becoming a necklace. The tune it plays is 'Beautiful Dreamer', and as you can see I've tried to create a 'beautiful dreamer' scene. Two of the 'pretty pieces' I was hesitant to use were the aurora borealis chain and the ivory coloured flower with rhinestone. I've since seen other vintage ab chain for sale on Etsy so am not too concerned about never finding more again ( I used some on my Candied Sugar necklace already listed in my Etsy shop ). But the ivory flower piece was one of about 10 others I took from a broken brooch. Even tho it was broken, it took me awhile to decide if I wanted to cut off the flower. Well as you can see, I did it and survived lol ! :) Really liking how this piece is turning out so far.

The next piece is called A Drop or Two and consists of vintage chandelier crystals (drops), vint. ab glass beads ( from earrings), 7 vint. diamond-like rhinestones ( from a rhinestone encrusted collar ), a vint. red flatback rhinestone and a vint. bright red celluloid flower ( from damaged brooch which has 2 other flowers ). The filigree backing and chain are part of a 1970's necklace. It's a rather romantic modish looking piece with a bit of a flapper influence ( I can see this worn with one of those flapper dresses from the 1920's ). Already listed if you want to see more pictures HERE

I have to say, the pieces I've made lately have been a bit difficult to list. I want to keep them ! Sure I could do that but then what would I do for my Etsy shop ? This is my lifestyle right now, being creative comes naturally and it's in my blood, and it's great having a place like Etsy to show off and sell my wares.

Well that's it for tonight. I'll be back again soon xo ♥

Free images woohoo !

I've been going through a bunch of my mom and dads stuff and decided to share a few of the vintage paper things I found :)

These can be used however you wish. If you use them in your art then I would love it if you could send me a link so I can see your finished creation, oh pretty please :D

I've also posted these on Flickr.
---------------------------------

Found this many years ago in one of my dads military lockers ( rectangular metal chest ). I think it belonged to one of his friends who had moved to Calgary Alberta Canada

A wonderful humorous anniversary card from my dad to mom. My heart feels a bit heavy when I see these type of vintage cards because my dear mom threw away an entire garbage bag of them several years ago ( a couple years after dads passing ). I managed to salvage some but I'm sure there were plenty more of these rare beauties gone to rot. They sure don't make them like they used too !

Get well card from one of mom and dads friends

Wonderful RENO postcard ! Stamped 1953 on the back !!

The back. And remember...only YOU can prevent forest fires !

Right click on the image and then click 'Save image as'. Or, I think you can click to enlarge. Please let me know if the click to enlarge does not work for you, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, grrrr.

More of my favorite things....

Somerset Studio, Victorian Papers and Victoria are 3 of my favorite magazines. Victoria magazine stopped publishing a couple of years ago but then they brought it back, yay ! But I have yet to buy any new copies yet, perhaps after our move.

Victoria Magazine

Victorian Papers came from the Victorian Trading Co. that sells all things Victorian. Lovely romantic bits, bobs, trinkets, papers and clothing...ooh la la. Here's the link to check out their treasures and you can order a free magazine too ! ( and yes, I do use some of the images in my art ):

Victoria Trading Co.

And of course there's Somerset Studio. I splurged and also got their Somerset Life, such delights to delight everyone's eyes. Lots of wonderful altered art treasures and they even include free art papers for you to try in your own creations.

Somerset Studio

I couldn't resist showing off my collection of crystal perfume bottles my dear husband brought back from his navy excursion to the Gulf a few years ago. He went to many ports so I can't remember exactly where he got them from (!) --I'll ask him when he gets home from work. I'm going to guess that they came from Dubai where he visited several 'Souks' ( arabic markets ). One souk sold only gold, gold everywhere ! Shops and their windows lined with gold jewelry, from rings right up to exotic jewelry for elephants. He said the shine from the gold was very brilliant. Then he visited a silver souk and a spice souk ( brought home bags of wonderful rich spices --cinnamon, clove, tea masala (what would be used in chai tea, my fav.) ).
The shop where he got the perfume bottles was a place to buy scented oils, and then they would supply you with the bottles if you wanted them. Not seen in the photo are 6 other much smaller and plainer bottles with simple golden caps, each with a faux colored jewel embedded in the lid.
My most favored bottles are the pink ones and the blue one. The silver bottle had a minaret on top with a little crescent moon, but alas it broke off :( I still consider it another favorite bottle.
The oils inside each bottle are really lovely, from fruity to famous scents ( one smells like Chanel No.5 ). There's also one with a soft vanilla scent.

I love these treasures from afar. For now the bottles are kept in a dark place so the oil won't spoil. Once empty I plan to line them up in a sunny window.

The big bottle behind belonged to my mom. I believe she had it before I was born, don't you love that vintage label ? And yes the soaps are original but their scents have long gone. I could empty it and replace with something prettier...not ready to do that just yet.

Upcoming 'rosy' creations....

Good day all ! Did my walk again, a brisk 70 minutes --which means I've walked off all my calories consumed at breakfast and more.

I'm just going around updating online sites and wanted to show off what I've been working on lately. In a previous post here I was going on about creating with resin, but then I found some worn out rose bouquets and next thing I'm creating these necklaces ! Hope you like what you see as I'll be making about 5 or 7 of these. My Etsy shop, so far, has just one-of-a-kind items and now I'll be adding these necklaces so potential buyers could buy more than one if they choose. I really love how they're turning out and will make one for my moms birthday on Christmas day ( she's turning 89 ! )

Okay, back to beading...Have a beautiful day everyone :)