Happy VBF Everyone

It's hard to believe, but another Vintage Black Friday is again here. Of course, me being me, I forgot until not long ago. Let's see what I can find in my picture files.

First, a beautiful 1910 Titanic Hat, Black and Cream, Made in Paris












A wonderful Black Lorman clock with a red face    

 

This Vintage Vermouth poster (from Dover ClipArt)

Don't you just love Erte'? Well, I do. So elegant. (Courtesy of Dover also)

I want to create several doll costumes based on Erte'.  All on the drawing board with a MILLION other ideas.

Please check out all the other WONDERFUL blogs participating in Vintage Black Fridays (click over to Gypsy Brocante for a list and link to all participants).  Hopefully this weekend, I can get a camera or at least MAYBE a charger that fits will come in for my current camera, and I can take some COOL pictures of my own, instead of just looking through all my JPGs I've collected over the years that I use for inspiration.

Have a Great Weekend everyone.

Look What I WON!!!!

Okay, I am still pinching myself.  A couple of months ago, I entered a contest from DOLLS magazine. Well, last week, I received an email from Jones Publishing that said that I had won a Delilah Noir doll, but all that they (DOLLS) had for me was a PO Box.  Could I please send them my mailing address. 

Well, after looking up the editor's info online, verifying that this looked to be a legitimate email, & vaguely remembering entering something, I sent them my physical mailing address.

Look what arrived yesterday!!!!!

Yes, my very own, ball-jointed, Delilah Noir doll!!!! Happy Happy Joy Joy!

My SON was so happy for me (I had told him last week I won a doll) that he wanted to open her for me and have her posed before I got home - he's a great kid.  But, I said, nope, I wanted to.  So as soon as I got home, he said Mom, there she is.
 
As you can tell, I haven't taken her out of the box yet.  She did come with a blond wig, extra feet, the schoolgirl clothes, etc.  A ball-jointed doll and she's all mine! 

Would you believe, I didn't even play with dolls much as a child? 
 

Promise, in the next day or so, I will post my Ebay mini finds, including one of my wish list items, a Rosie Duck miniature!

 

Until Next Time - Smiles!

Vintage Black Friday

Well, I've been under the weather, so I'm a little behind with posting - I was shooting for one post a day, and I still have some mini finds on Ebay to share with everyone. 

But in honor of Vintage Black Friday, I'm popping up out of my hole and sharing some vintage black and white photos that I've found on the web.  Now, I collect tintypes & cabinet photos as I feel the need to preserve a little bit of history so wish these were mine.

Can you imagine having to wear something like this in the summer time? I think I would positively melt in the heat of the South.

This looks to have been taken in the winter time, or at least in the North.
     

Look at all the layers!

Don't let these drab black and white photos fool you.  Most of the clothing was very colorful, just color photography had yet to be invented. 

I like to use photos such as these for inspiration.  I really wish I had time to take a few photos of some of the pictures (tin types & cabinet photos) that I have.  I collect cute or quicky ones. 

Oh. here is something of mine.  It's a vintage thermometer - in black of course!Definitely seen better days.

Well, please check out Gypsy Brocante , 52 Flea , & the other sites (linked on Gypsy Brocante) participating in Vintage Black Friday. 

Until later!

Lots of Giveaways Out There

Well, I'm a poor little broke blogger, so I don't have anything to give but advice! 

Check out these cool Halloween/October Giveaways:

Fiona & Twig have an awesome one, Six in One Hand has a great one, Garden Antqs Vintage  does as well.  Not only are their prizes great, their sites rock!

Well, I better get back to RL and get some work done if I want to have a job!

Have fun reading these blogs.  And also enjoy all the great inspiration available.

Until later.

Cleaning the Little Studio

Well, I'm trying to post somethign every day, in an effort to get into the habit of blogging.  I love the format of bouncing ideas off of people and as you can tell from the Etc. part of my blog header, this can be about dolls or anything that side-tracks me. 

Well, this weekend, I spent cleaning up my inside studio.  I went to WalMart, Big Lots, and Dollar Tree looking for things to help me organize a very small 5' x 6' room.  Yep, 30 square feet.  To top it off, we have to be careful putting anything on the walls because the main breaker is located in the room - before we added on to the house, it was the washroom.  Just large enough for a washer and dryer placed side by side.

So, I removed the cabinet doors (four total) allowing me to "open" up the space.  Then, I hauled in a shoe organizer - one of those stackable things - that had been sitting on my front porch for months.  I have two, both free finds from a yard sale.  After I cleaned them up with Clorox Clean-Up, one went on top of the 5' dept of the table, another went under it.

Before the clean-up - See the mess.

See how dark it is?  Only one 40 Watt bulb.  To the right of this picture you can see the shoe shelf.  Junk everywhere.




Boxes stacked here and there.

Here are two of the doors from the overhead cabinets.  They made the room seem even smaller.  Not conducive to creative thinking.  I could barely get in the door!  It's hard to even turn around in on a good day.

Now here are after pictures.  Two days of working, lights installed under the cabinets (Big Lots, 3 flourescent mini lights, ganged together, installed with heavy duty mounting tape - $23.00)

As you can see, I also cleaned the worktop off - which is the old dining room table (yep, tiny house before we added on).  Notice how nice and bright it is now. 

Look!No more boxes!!!!!!

Now, I still have a VERY long way to go, as I have a three drawer unit (see above-this is the top of it) to organize, but between WalMart and Dollar Tree (note:  WalMart has the plastic drawer organizers 3 for $1 and Dollar Tree has the plastic-coated metal ones for $1 each) I think I have enough organizers to get the drawers straightened out where I can find things.  Once this is done, I have to tackle getting my different projects organized, but I've purchased plastic bins that slide under the bed just for this purpose.  Also, copy paper boxes are just about the right size for one roombox project.  Just label the outside!

Before I go, heres a quirky little find.  He'll probably be lounging on my desk at work shortly.  Just got to remember to get him off the top of the refrigerator where he currently resides.




 

And every Southerner SHOULD have this in their refrigerator....wonder how hard it would be to make in miniature: 

Now, this is NOT whiskey, but pepper sauce.  I'm not sure where the corked bottle came from as my taste runs more to Cosmopolitans & Bombay Gin & not whiskey, but it made a WONDERFUL pepper sauce holder.

Well, until later!  I've got some REALLY neat finds from Ebay for my roomboxes that I'll share soon.  Also, my hunt for miniature glass labware at an affordable price continues......I hope to have an update on that later this week.

Remember, some days your the windshield, some days your the bug!

Need Your Opinion

Okay, I need everyone's opinion here.  I have always had trouble finding items such as syringes to use for glue, scapels, and even manzanita wood for my miniatures.  Now, I've got suppliers for all of the above and I'm thinking about offering them for sale on my Etsy store.

I'm not looking to make a mint mind you, as I'm SO tired of paying exhorbant amounts for what should be inexpensive items.  I just want to make enough to cover the cost of the items with a little left over for me so I can support my hobby. 

As I do not have the overhead that most places do (since I'm not a business per se, just a hobbyist with an Etsy store) my costs aren't as high.  I reuse shipping containers and items as long as they are clean and get my packing supplies from work (why have all that styrofoam popcorn go into the landfill when I can use it!), 

What is everyone's general opinion?  Do you think there is a market out there for this?  Do YOU have trouble finding items such as these?  Should I just announce this on my blog instead?  YOU tell ME.

Please leave a comment,  I would like input from not only miniaturists, but artists and crafters in general.  These are items that can be used in almost any artistic arena.

Thank you and have a WONDERFUL Saturday. 

** October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - click daily at the Breast Cancer site to give women in need free mammograms.  It costs you NOTHING.  Breast Cancer hit close to my home - My mother is a breast cancer survivor.  I clicked, will you?

Vintage Black Friday

Okay, so it's my first blog post as a participant in Vintage Black Friday.  Let's see what vintage black goodies I have - oh, these are RL size, sorry....

First, a real pretty black dress with a highly decorated bodice.

Next, a very fancy black hat with gold trim

And my favorite.

Of course, I love these, especially the two hats, for their ability to be miniaturized.  Can't you see your doll in one of these hats?   The dress would be great too, maybe made longer, say ankle length - the picture doesn't do it justice, it's a lot prettier in person!

Have a Happy Black Vintage Friday!