Antiquing with My Sisters

Home party about 110 years ago...

Went antiquing with my sisters a couple of weeks ago. I enjoy it, and I always come home with more than I should, although I always like what I buy.

This time I came home with road maps from the 1930s (a very favorite thing of mine), a Walborg beaded handbag - black, hand-beaded, complete with mirror, a sequined 1950s style hat that sat on the back of the head (think Lucy Ball), and a most awesome pair of cat's eye glasses complete with case and rhinestones - copper colored, too.

I also purchased a very old photo album (about 100 years old) that needs rescuing from acid. I wonder who these people are and think how sad it is that it ended up in an antique mall.

A very assured young woman.

Found this info on the handbag on the web. Hilde Walborg Weinberg founded her business in New York in the late 1940s. She designed the beaded bags herself and had them handmade in Europe initially (Belgium, France and Italy) and then from the late 1950s on in the Far East. Her products were very popular, and in 1954 she opened a showroom on Madison Avenue.

Hope to take a photo of it in the near future.

Never seen a photo with this shape before.

I like funky old stuff - not if it smells funky, though.

Intend to bead a bit today - pondering whether to begin something new or finish a nearly done project... Think I'll finish Kim Stathis' Mounds bracelet (one more mound to make and connect and then finish off the clasp.) Would have been done already, but being the person I am, I ripped the first one apart.

Today's quote comes from Jason Smith: Grocery stores used to be on every corner, now it's antique stores.

Liquid Green

Carpet of blue Siberian Squill

Seguy's birds. Love the colors.

Raining a lot the past couple of days - this time of year in Wisconsin the rain is liquid green. One good rain and some warm weather and things begin to explode.

The birds are really happy. Just stood for a moment or two in my parents backyard listening to all of the birds singing. My father says he hears the robins calling for rain. My mother said that her mother used to say the same thing. I wish I knew what call they were referring to.

Some bunny eating spring grass in my backyard.

Thunderstorms yesterday and today. Sat and listened to the thunder and the sound of the rain pounding on the roof. Nice soothing sounds. I enjoy thunderstorms.

Have been a bit stymied in my creative work lately - obviously nothing really to show. Just don't seem to have the energy to create right now - life is getting in the way.

Today's quote comes from Henry Van Dyke: The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.

Have a most excellent day!

A Wonderful Accomplishment!

Paul Potts on Britian's Got Talent - he blew the judges and the audience and me away.

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent - she really blew me away and made Simon Cowell's eyebrown raise and made him genuinely smile, and made the other judge's mouths drop. You go girl!

Can't post the video here, but I hope you'll go take a look. Well worth it if you like to root for the underdog.

Today's quote comes from Halle Berry: There's a place in me that can really relate to being the underdog. I'm always fighting to overcome the obstacle. I can really understand what that's about.

Bead Shopping

Needed some color today. This is a photo taken by Indah Susanti. Beautiful, isn't it?

Went shopping for some grey silver lined matte seed beads today. Couldn't find any, so had to settle for another grey bead for my next short (I hope) project - my second crocheted rope. Haven't worked on beaded crochet for a while, so this may be a challenge.

Question: why don't bead store owners let you know how many grams of beads you're buying? I find it so frustrating when one bead store sells their beads in skinny tubes, and another sells theirs in plastic boxes or hanks. I end up buying more than I probably need just to make sure. No wonder my dining room is filled with beads!

Quote for today comes from Anne Bradstreet: If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.