Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Details about the Walden Artisan Market

So I have hammered out the details, the fair will be this Saturday 9-4 and Sunday 10-3. (that's March 28th & 29th) I will have a larger than normal sized booth as I will be selling some vintage furniture which I sadly do not have pictures of and possibly a decoupaged desk if I can find room to haul it out there. It will be at the Walden Building at 1900 Eastland Avenue in East Nashville across from Rosepepper Cantina.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Vintage items that will be available at the next Walden Fair

The next Walden Artisan Fair be the last weekend of March at the Walden building at 1900 Eastland Avenue across from Rosepepper Cantina. I am not yet sure of the hours, but it will be Saturday & Sunday and will play host to a great cross section of local talent. At the last fair there were several painters, a couple of AMAZING vintage clothing booths, hand made candles, a leather artist, fabulous knitware, some of the best jewelry makers I have seen in Nashville and of course myself with vintage accessories, clothing & home decor as well as all the wacky art, jewelry & hand made whatnots that you have come to expect from me.

Below is a preview of some of the new vintage items ("new vintage" is much like "jumbo shrimp") that I will have available at this upcoming event.

The following shoes are size 7:


These have a slight scuff on one of them (I can’t remember which one off the top of my head), it may be just smutz and I have not tried to clean it off yet. You can make like Dorothy of Kansas in the book, not the movie and click the heels of your silver shoes all over town! $12

Classic black heels great with jeans, great with a cocktail dress, just plain great. $12


The following shoes are all size 8:

3 words: Designer Italian Leather
1 more word: AWESOME!
$35


Slipper style leopard print heels! **SQUEAL!** These make me want to cut part of my foot off ala the original Cinderella step-sisters to fit in them! Too graphic? Too bad, these shoes are hot! $25



These (and the navy version) are made of a stretchy, slinky, slouchy material which I bet is mad comfy, except I can’t try them on, because I have giant boat feet! $25

(these look black in the photo, but they are actually navy blue) $25

Yes, these are clear heels, you saw that, That just happened! I have another pair that is older (from the 60’s these are from the 80’s) but they need to be resoled, but when they are repaired they will be available for purchase as well. $25


Full length gold evening gloves. $8

This outfit is a must for anyone who wants to rock the “sexy librarian” look. Between the flirty black ruffle at the bottom of the skirt, to the eyelet lace of the top you’ll have tongues lolling on the ground when you walk by in this!
Blouse $15
Skirt $30

If you ever wanted to re-enact Cher’s “Half-Breed” video, here’s your chance. That is all hand beaded and still has the packet of replacement beads pinned to it for repairs! $38

Lovely beaded peacock blouse. This is GORGEOUS! (as well as pretty sheer as I discovered when photographing it!) $50

Oh yes, this IS on of those scale mail rocker tops from the 80’s and you KNOW that you want it! $25

Wide black, studded, leather belt. This one says I like to stay current, but I can also kick your ass! $8

Long beaded cord to be worn as a belt or “scarf”, it’s all sassy & sparklie! $12

Champagne beaded scarf. Watch yourself if you decide to throw it over your shoulder and flounce out of a room, you may put an eye out! $15

Off-white bohemian belt $10

Hotsy-totsy beaded belt nice & wide so as to stay up with the trends. $15

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Great sale this weekend!

There's a great vintage clothing and accessory sale that is going down this weekend downtown at Jani's Antique Mall.
I can't make it because I am officially broke, however I am weeping inside at the thought of missing it. Someone MUST go and buy something(s) fabulous and show me so I can live vicariously through them.
Fly my pretties, but fancy vintage things!
FLY!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Antiques Roadshow here I come!

I am addicted to Antiques Roadshow on PBS, I can't get enough of it. I am not as concerned with monetary values (although that is a fun aspect) and more intrigued by the unusual items that people bring in and their history. (I especially like it when know-it-all people get shut down by the appraiser when they tell them that their "provenance" is pure B.S.!) You always see those people who find something in the trash or buy something at a yard sale for 25¢ and it's worth thousands of dollars, well that yahoo may soon be me! I bought the planter/bowl/random art pottery below for a whopping 5¢ at an estate sale. I just liked the coloring and its "art nouveau-ness", turns out when I got it home there was a mark on the bottom. It was back to back "A"s in a box and a cursive signature that I couldn't make out. After some arduous poking around on the internet I discovered that it was a Van Briggle! (probably made in the 30's judging from the signature)

Here's a bit of the history from the Van Briggle Pottery website:

Artus Van Briggle, an American artist of Dutch descent, was established as a world class painter in Europe. Having been trained at the finest academies there, and with paintings accepted by the Paris Salon, he received the highest honors for a painter in his day. Yet his artistic passions would ultimate lead him away from his brush, canvas, and easel toward another artistic pursuit that would ultimately define his genius. Though Artus was a brilliant painter, his artistic passions were most eloquently expressed in the forms and colors of one of history’s oldest arts – pottery. From his years as a celebrated artist at the famed Rookwood Pottery in Ohio he knew first-hand the extraordinary range of expression an artist could achieve with the potter’s materials. His pursuit was the creation of exquisite satin matte glazes, like those he’d seen on ancient Chinese masterworks, in a palette of glorious colors, never achieved by any artist in modern times. The materials this brilliant artist would use for his greatest artistic pursuit would be minerals from the earth - clays, feldspars, oxides, - and the glowing orange flames of a fiery kiln. When transformed by the creative mind and the skilled hand these materials become the essence of both humanity and nature blended in unity. Clay and glaze are indeed extravagant media, offering the artist a lifetime of challenges and rewards. Artus, however, didn’t have a lifetime – tragically, he had contracted tuberculosis and, though a relatively young man, his future was uncertain. Artus had achieved some success in discovering a formula for these beautiful matte glazes prior to his arrival in Colorado but he continued his work there, seeking a standard of perfection not yet achieved. Pottery is a melding of art and science, and during the time when he conducted his experiments Artus knew success could not come without the patience of a scientist and the passion found in all great artists. He pursued his vision with tireless effort, though the effects of failing health often interrupted his progress. No specific date is recorded, but one day in the spring of 1901 he reached into the kiln, with the anticipation known well by countless potters throughout the ages, and finally held in his hands the perfect, rich, matte-glazed pottery he had sought for so long - the first pieces created in centuries, the first ever on this side of the world. Against the odds of failing health and a pursuit which no western artist had ever achieved, he succeeded; his passion was realized - a lost art was now reborn. The world would once again see and touch of the soft marble-like glazes first known by ancient Chinese masters half a world and so many generations away.

Read the rest on the Van Briggle Pottery history page.

I have yet to pinpoint the value of my particular piece, I have found the color and pattern (which I believe is called "spade leaf", the color is Ming Turquoise, priced in the $2000-$2500 range) and some pieces with another pattern of the same size & shape (for about $150-$250) but nothing that matches mine exactly. Right now I am unable to pinpoint if it is the glaze/pattern that is desirable or the kinds of pieces that I have seen it on that make up the bulk of the value. Either way a pretty good return on a nickel!

Behold my stellar find!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

swanky swag lamps

So I have this illness where I buy any vintage tin I can get my hands on. I don't need them, sure a few have been put to good use storing pasta, grits & beans, but there is an entire shelf of them in my house just mocking me. After years of admiring them and adding more to their ranks, it finally came to me, I can make lamps out of them! Little tiny 40 watt lamps, more for ambient light than anything, but super cute nonetheless. The original plan was to make table lamps where the lid would become the base of the lamp and the body of the tin would work as a shade. The mouth of the tin would face up so as to shine the light upward. I've also drilled a pattern of holes in the bottom for more light to show...
So those are still in progress, because they are more work than I had anticipated. As I often do when a project isn't a cinch I get annoyed and discouraged, especially when I think I have gotten exactly what I need and it turns out I can't use it. I bought a pre-assembled light kit thinking that one could remove & reattach the actual socket so as to thread the thing. Nope! No can do, it is fused in every way imaginable so my only option would be to smash it apart and that hardly does me any good now does it? So here I am stuck with extra stuff I don't need and another trip to Lowe's ahead of me...
Then I had a flash of brilliance! (that may be overstating it, but it felt good) I had several very attractive tins that would never work for the table lamp project because either they handles on the lids that I could not easily remove or they had lids so small that they would not make a stable base. Two words: SWAG LAMPS! This is what the cords I bought were originally intended for anyway, so it was perfect. It also happens that on my trip to Lowe's for the correct items to wire my table lamps I found a rack of decorative prisms on MEGA-sale. Score! So apparently the craft goddess approved of my new direction and was sprinkling sparklies to light my path to brilliance. (there's that word again, man am I full of myself or what?) I have only wired one, the copper with the amber drops, (the big drops are from Lowe's, the little ones were a vintage find), but the other 3 will be a cinch to complete, but of course Lowe's is now sold out of that kind of cord, so ironically I will be using the seperate lamp pieces that I bought for the table lamps to make swag cords just like the pre-assembled ones that started this whole mess. Do you think I should make some of those scrunchy cord cozies? Let me know what you think. (about the lamps AND the cord cozies)