Shiny & Bright

My favourite part of Christmas decorating is the pure cheer of retro Shiny Brite Christmas ornaments!

Scheme

Tiddlyboken and I are up to some décor scheming these days! Christmas decorating, surface pattern design sketching, and that other big decorating project coming soon...no peeking! 

Surface pattern design: Retro Chalet

Looker

I was recently talking with a dance friend, swooning about how another dance friend just gave her a dress, and then the following weekend I had the same blissfully benevolent fashion experience. Check out this new-to-me Stop Staring dress. It fits perfectly, is a very flattering cut, the fabric has a nice stretch to it, and its circle skirt is light and twirly. It could pass for 1940s or '50s. I am so excited to wear it!

Now is the Time

"The item you see today and will dream about tonight will be bought by someone today who saw it yesterday and dreamed about it last night."
That is what the chalkboard said outside of Prince Edward County's Frugal & Company as I rushed in for a whirlwind 5 minute browse last summer. Darting my eyes around, I didn't have much time to think, and I am not one for an impulse buy--oh look a spectacular sunburst Syroco clock frame, $18, no clock, good condition otherwise, gold with brown tips, would prefer all gold, but how neat, time to go...oh no why did I leave it there?! When I got home I ruefully went on an Etsy and Ebay rampage to learn more about the funky mid-century Canadian made-item I passed up. I resigned myself to keep my eyes peeled and knew it would come back in to my life some day, some time, eventually. Well, surprise surprise, exactly a year later, it made its return. It was patiently waiting for me in my local antique mall. I wasn't looking. It is in pristine original condition. It actually has a clock. The clock works. The time came for it to come in to my life, and better than I had originally hoped. Oh how circular life is. It makes me laugh with thankfulness how God works like that--even in a whim of a thrift hunt! 

Thriftmaster

Ok people...I have found my dream truck model while strolling through a recent vintage car show. How perfect would it be for me to drive a '40s/'50s "Thriftmaster" around to haul chairs on antiquing jaunts?! The name is too good. I love their iconic chunky shape. Plus, mine, of course, would be some sort of cheery aqua hue. 

Minxy Vintage

I found this book (or it found me), rather appropriately, at the local thrift store along with some clothes to repurpose. I highly recommend! It was exciting for me because there were so many moments of "Wow, this lady crawled inside my brain!" in terms of fashion philosophy and winging it to produce some sartorial statements. Here's a particularly well-expressed tidbit of fashion philosophy I have to share: "I can attest to the importance of finding clothes you can integrate into your existing style. I'm not about stridently holding up the ideals of other eras--the modern world is grand. It's precisely the mix of old and new that I love...And who wants to be, or slavishly replicate, a woman in the pre-feminist 1940s? Certainly not me...Long live our love for cherry-picking the best bits from the past, and making them new again: reinvention, rather than nostalgia. Whatever you do, just make sure you own it. Individuality is a quality to be admired."--Kelly Doust, intriguing point.

Botanical Beauty

I ordered this canvas print for the store for its strikingly unique retro and floral imagery. When it arrived I couldn't stop staring at it...so it ended up coming home with me! I had to resign myself to the amusement of actually finding art from a manufacturer that I couldn't resist buying. Since I normally create or thrift all my art it seemed superfluous to straight up buy it new, but on pondering the idea of painting or collaging this concept myself I knew if I did I would look at it and just keep dreaming of the perfection of this piece. It is sublime. I applaud you, anonymous contemporary artist, for bringing beautiful art into the mass produced market! Well done, you are using your talents wisely, and I am thrilled to buy your work.

Spring Forward

Check out these fab repro retro clock timers! Oh how I love beautifully done repro items. I ordered the three colours for the store, but the mint green one may have followed me home...

My, how good it looks with Olive Cart!

Sewing Patterns

Guess what? I don't know how to sew using a pattern. At least, I've yet to sew a project using one from start to finish without assistance...and quite frankly, I have no desire to! For whatever reason, instructions on how to be creative just don't fly in my brain. It's much easier for me to look at the final garment, and then start chopping up existing garments or fabric chunks and sewing them together, and seeing what happens. The results are usually pretty cool. So I have a nice collection of vintage sewing patterns, but admittedly it's more for inspiration and ephemera appreciation than for actual use! Though I do like to keep a variety around as a last resort sewing weapon in my back pocket, should my usual drape-and-stitch method flop, or demand precision.

Fibre Monday

These new designs in my shop are available as fabric, wallpaper, gift wrap, and homewares! 

Here's Chunky Knit

Nordic

Brass

Hot Daisy

Union Patch

Fab Eyes

Olive Cart

...P.S. here are some handy Christmas shipping deadlines! Happy ordering!

Polka

With chillier weather I withdraw to my sewing machine, so lately I've been tending to my pile of clothing items to alter. At the top of the pile I have been tweaking and embellishing this dress. In the original condition it looked awkwardly short on me, so I am adding the black eyelet sleeves and coordinating trim on the hem to balance it out. I also removed the red sash from the back and added on the collar rickrack. Dances await!

Olive Cart

My Olive Cart design is up for voting in Spoonflower's Retro Bar Cart Tea Towel challenge!

Hot Daisy

My Hot Daisy design is up for voting in Spoonflower's 1960s design challenge!

Fab Eyes

My Fab Eyes design is up for voting in Spoonflower's 1950s design challenge!

What I Wore: Pink and Black

Here's the wedding outfit of the summer, featuring this bright pink moire dress and various black and gold accents. The best part is that the retro glam number was only $0.30 from a recent thrift haul plus a half hour of easy peasy tucking and sewing on the bodice! Amusing note on moire: that fabric thoroughly repulsed me until this dress came into my life. It is strangely, satisfyingly crisp and water-repellent, and rather makes me feel like I am wearing an umbrella. The main new positive association is that now moire has been mentally transformed from dated drapery to sashaying like Barbie. Much classier! Oh how I love whipping an outfit together!

Frankenstein Cat Eye

I have been looking for gold cat eye frames for a looong time. While trying on my other new pair of glasses at the local glasses shop I was lamenting that fact, and the ingenius optician proceeded to dig out three boxes of vintage glasses parts. Creative people unite! We rummaged through the boxes and found two arms, the body, and the tips to create my dream pair of pearly and golden tones. I affectionately call them my Frankensteins. 

While putting the tips on the frame there was an accidental hole punched, so we filled it with a rhinestone. Nothing like covering up a mistake with a little sparkle!

Pssst! You may have noticed that the arms cross in a funny way. That's because they are actually two of the same side of arm! A little bending fixed that problem, and now the glasses have some (inconspicuous) quirk.

I'm so thankful for this fellow outside-the-box thinker! Ta-da!

Hot Fudge Cat Eye

Alas, my thrilling thrifty find, my $3 cat eye glasses have cracked. Their acetate frame was weakened by the cold winter so it was only a matter of time. Sad as that is, they have been replaced by these retro beauties!

They are vintage, made of tortoiseshell, and look like hot fudge.

They even have striped layered edges, a pearly pink undertone, and tiny Deco fan details on the tips.

Swoon!

Grandma's Strawberries

As I mentioned, my grandma, a painter, was a big fan of strawberries. These are some of her personal projects. The strawberry pendant has a twin--it used to be a pair of earrings she wore often. The strawberry pin is actually from my great grandma, so really we're spanning 5 generations of strawberry adoration!

Strawberry Stuff

This is a pile of 3 generations' worth of strawberry themed goodness. My grandma's signature icon was a strawberry (she was a painter and had a strawberry on her business card), my mom has followed suit in collecting strawberry themed items, and I am also in love with the cheery summer fruit! 

This is one of those fluke enduring cheer paintings...I painted it on a whim in an afternoon in 2009 and it still makes me smile. It shall be the new heirloom. Keep your eyes peeled for more strawberry stories...

Peach Deco

Swoon with me at the Art Deco glory of this peach canister set! They are ceramic with a glossy glaze, complete with swag details, salt and pepper shakers, and a napkin holder. It's hard to tell how old they actually are, likely mid-century items, but I love their 1920s styling and perfect condition.