Antique bottles at the Jimtown Store in Healdsburg, CA. They were sitting in a screened window. Not the best photo but I like the blue color (reminds me of those blue antique canning jars I used to find in the farm sinkholes in Kentucky) You can see a reflection of some of the other bottles for sale. I was looking through all of the photos I've been taking over the past year -- and I thought that I should post some of them instead of letting them languish in a file somewhere. Somebody will probably like seeing them.

Glue Pots, Cut Crystal and an Old Key

Glue Pots Scenario, originally uploaded by beautiful my mane.

Some Things I Love in My Studio:

• A cut crystal glue pot with engraved silver handle/camel's hair brush that belonged to my great-grandmother

• An old brass key that belonged to my mother

• A newspaper clipping from the late 1800's of my great-grandmother

• A fat, round vintage glue pot with a black wooden top/horse hair brush that I found in an antique store near my home

• A cloisonne disc showing a woman brushing her hair

• A 3-D reliquary that I made last year

Click on the photo to see the complete image!

Antique-ing I Will Go

It's been a long time since I went to an antiques market...well, it's been exactly a year ago. Last spring I attended the Petaluma Downtown Antique Fair, and decided to return again this year. I love Petaluma -- it's such a quaint, vintage-y type of town -- and the weather was beautiful, starting out cool, but rising to the 70's by 11:30am. Lots of great vendors. I could spend all day rummaging and routing around in the cast-offs of our great society. (Why is that? The comfort of childhood nostalgia? A collage artist's eye for variety?) I only had a few hours in between dance classes, and boy that was not enough time! There were twice as many vendors this year as last. And it was well attended -- lots of buyers in the vendor stalls and "grazers" moving from stall to stall.
Luckily, I scored big very quickly. First was a Samsonite ladies' beauty case -- a soft teal green with beige trim. The latches worked and no scratches -- $18 -- which is quite the deal! I spent 3 times as much on a caramel-colored one I bought on Etsy. This one will be my traveling art box, the other my makeup case! At the same vendor I picked up a lovely wooden box with metal leaves on the top for $3.
My next buy was absolutely a once in a lifetime. I still can't believe it. I happened apon a vendor who had alot of old photos crammed willy-nilly into cardboard boxes. I sat down and started looking through one of the boxes and found an album with old movie star studio shots, including Dietrich, Garbo, Lillian Gish, etc. Some of them were signed even! I was looking for suitable photos for my next round of oriels and I found some absolutely gorgeous photos. I am really looking forward to making pendants with these glamour girls!

London Bound!

Off to London next week. But don't expect me to report back in on any historical meanderings. Other than one day of indulging my husband with that kind of stuff -- I go to London to walk and shop! (I'm not that mean -- he's working at the London Book Fair for the rest of our visit!)

I can't wait to start: hitting the street fairs, browsing through antique stores, ambling through the mews and photographing stone and ironwork, sipping cappuccino's with my journal or laptop propped on the table beside me.

Miss Ida Bloomberg's draftsman box purchased in an antique stall
at Portabello Market four years ago.

I am looking forward to the gardens and parks and all the flowers that will be blooming. I wonder if I could manage a hack in Hyde park? One of my favorite memories last year was waking up early to the sound of horse's hooves clacking down the street by our hotel on their way back from an early morning ride. I can't wait to walk over to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see what outrageous exhibit they have up this year. I can't wait to visit the Hummingbird Cupcake shop to gorge myself on their amazing creations. I may even participate in a Burlesque class again this year. Convent Garden, Islington and Camden, Marlybone, Kensington...so much to do and see. Oh and ride the tube! Ride the tube! Ride the tube!

A butter holder purchased last year from a vendor stall on Camden Lane.
I store my wire rolls in here.