Wanderlust & Pixie Dust

Uh-oh. I'm Going to Get Scolded

I won't have time to post more details about her till later but I couldn't wait to share a photo.  

Check back later tonight to see more.  She's exquisite!

Ok I'm back.  

A little while back I was minding my own business and in the middle of listing a few things on Etsy  Etsy.  Several years ago I used to sell on Ebay and got in the habit of using their shipping calculator.  I need to get unused to it because somehow I got sidetracked and found myself looking up boudoir dolls that appear to be smoking instead.  One thing led to another and next thing y'know I had bid on this beauty here.

Opening bid was so darn low I couldn't resist.  There was no way I could win right?  Well I did. I was both elated and mortified.  Mortified because like most of you I should be trying to make money not spending it.  Ah, such is the life of a vintage-antique-history-everything unique- under-the-sun addict.

Even though I brought her home for such an amazing deal of a price, I know that when the husband spots her, I'm going to get scolded.  She's worth it though.

Once I had paid for my dastardly dead, dread kicked in. Why didn't anyone else bid on her? Did they know something that I didn't?  She is unusual in size, about 14 inches long.  Often these ladies are quite large, the better to display across your bed.

The photo in the listing wasn't the clearest.  Maybe that was it.  

I prepared myself for the worst.  She had to have undisclosed damage.  All her clothes had to have been replaced.  I bet everything original had been stripped away long ago. 

Before you knew it she arrived at my front door.  I carefully unleashed her from her packaging. 

 

She was delightful beyond my wildest dreams!   

My gut instinct tells me that she is as original as can be.  Draped across her shoulders is a  shawl that appears to have been hand embroidered.  

A petticoat equally as beautiful and hand stitched.

Lacy black undies and embellished black stockings.

Get a kick out of her red shoes.

Teeny tiny little hand made heels.

She wears a cross about her neck and clutches her hands to her bosom.  

I must profess a weakness for things overly melodramatic and this beautiful Spanish lady just oozes drama.  I've had several friends comment that these boudoir dolls (or bed dolls) freak them out.   

Oops.  Before I forget, here are two earlier posts that  I did sharing two of my other bed dolls,
Click HERE   And HERE.

Even of these unique beautiful dolls do give you the willies, be sure to take a peek. After all, it is Halloween!

A Few Eiffel Towers & A Dancer From the Moulin Rouge.

I have a few Eiffel Towers sitting about.  This one was discovered recently at a local flea market.  It was one of those I'm-here-late-in-the-day-and-it's-still-just-sitting-here-so-it-must-be meant-for-me things.

 

What's really special about this piece besides it's large size (34 1/2 inches high!) is that I'd been eyeballing the very same Eiffel Tower in a neighbors front yard for weeks now.  And lo and behold I have my very own to treasure.

I wrapped Christmas lights around it and each night I set it ablaze.  I light it up even though I know full well that I am not going to be in the room with it, but because I want to be able to see it out of the corner of eye as I pass on by as I go about my business.  I know that this is not environment-friendly but it makes me happy and pleased as punch to see it standing there all pretty and bright.

I hung a picture on that I made using one of my antique frames.  I am passionate and freaky about anything with its original gold patina.  It really gets my goat when I come upon a perfectly beautiful old frame, only to find that it's been spray painted.   I have been known to take sandpaper to such a find and go over it ever so gently to expose some of the original layers of gold.

A cute little vintage Eiffel Tower key chain.

This next Eiffel Tower is some sort of Lancome promotional piece.  One of these days I'll add some pictures to the glass frames.  For now that project is just one more on ever growing list!  Draped on this tower are some of wonderful Wendy Addison glass glitter stars.

This is a page that I made for a round robin swap book.  I love the way that it turned out if I do say so myself.  If you think that sounds a bit big headed, trust me, it's not.  I'm one of those fussy, always in doubt of my abilities, crafters.  I will take a page apart repeatedly until I'm happy with it.  I am getting better though.  I think.  Better at not trying so darn hard and learning to let go.

 

It's hard to see but I hung a tiny tower from the vintage pink netting.

Ok now, this vintage cancan dolly  is one of my many many many favorite things.  At first glance she looks cute enough right?

But take note of some of her itty bitty details.  Her net gloves for instance and her endless layers of ruffles.

Then flip her over and voila!  She has fishnet stockings and bright blue garters!






I hope that those of you with more delicate sensibilities were not alarmed by the exposed knickers.

Bald Headed Bebe

Hee-hee.  I crack up whenever I look at her.

I found this sweet, beat up, flapper era hatstand many moons ago.  Back in the day when I could prowl all over the Rose Bowl in Pasadena with wild abandon.   In the middle of cleaning house, I paused to admire her and remembered how I sucked all her hair off with the vacuum cleaner.  You can see a few wispy bits stuck to the rim of her hat but yep, she's bald.  

She was just sooo dusty.  I know that I should have known better and I was mortified when it happened.  Now I think it's funny.  I'm sure she disagrees although she doesn't look too upset. I vowed at the time to replace her locks.  One of these days.  

She poses well though doesn't she?

Bookshelf Snapshot.

I took this picture of some of my books, at random. 

Most of these are vintage copies of the works of Edna St. Vincent. Millay, one Dorothy Parker.  These copies are especially well loved and are treated as the treasures that the truly are.  I have newer versions of these works that I can peruse repeatedly without fear of causing permanent damage.

Just thought I'd share. 

Nosferatu

Download nosferatu_1922_trailer.webarchive

For the first time in what seems like forever, I woke up early and was able to set my coffee pot a'boilin.  In spite of all the awfulness in the world these days I feel so happy I could burst.  Summer in the Inland Empire is simply dreadful for those of us who despise burning hot days and suffocating nights.  Like I've told everyone (including our delightful mailman) within shouting distance, it feels as if a bad spell has broken.  

I've even lit a candle or two, made whole wheat toast to share with my Abby and cleaned up a few dishes in the sink.  I can forget for just a little while longer that I have to pick my car up from the shop today.  Well now I've just reminded myself darn it.  We will be shelling out close to $1000.  Yeah right.  Lord knows that we had that amount and plenty more stuffed under our mattresses. No matter. Crisp wind is flowing through windows that are flung wide open!

Oops.  Distracted as usual.  Okay, in honor of Halloween, back to Nosferatu.  Growing up in LA, it was hard to read the L.A Times this time of the year and not be aware of this movie.  That and Oingo Boingo.  It was pretty much a Holloween tradition to see this band in concert on Halloween night.   Wow. Now that brings back some memories.  Click HERE

to go down memory lane and watch the video for Dead Man's Party.  

Each year my dad and I would ooooh and awe at the reappearance of Nosferatu's picture in the paper.  In our opinion, he is the scariest, freakiest version of a vampire ever conjured up.  Originally released in 1922, this movie is guaranteed to drop the temperature in your living room by 20 degrees whilst viewing.  As Halloween draws near, one can usually find this movie playing at an art house somewhere in L.A, occasionally to live accompaniment and often at midnight. 

I love the way the first scenes in the following clip have been colorized.**** WARNING.   Turn down the sound on your computer before watching.  The music, if you can call it that,  is a bit jarring.**** 

Whatever you do, I would highly suggest that you ignore the section of the video that advises to let him in.

Lumiere Paints

I just love Lumiere paints.  

What I don't love are these little sample size bottles of Lumiere paint.   If you have ever thought about trying these out, you will not be disappointed.  With the colors that is.  The tiny plastic bottles might drive you nuts however. If you are on a tight budget you might consider using one of those 40% off coupons from your favorite craft store, and just treat yourself to one of the regular sized jars every now and then.  

 

Why do I hate those itty bitty sample sized bottles so much?   Because the pigment and sparkly stuff settles to the bottom.  Sooner or later you're going to have to pop off the "tip" like so.

Sorry about the blurry pix.  

Next, you'll discover that it helps to stir things up with the first reasonable thing within grabbing distance.  A headpin works great.   Or the end of a paintbrush.    Lastly, plug the open top with a paint covered finger and shake. 

The bigger jars are soooo much easier to get into and are easily mixed.   If you're like me however, your fingers will still wind up looking like this when you're finished playing:

A few words

I'm sitting here with the hearing regarding Lehman Bro's on my tv in the background.  The more upset I get listening to this cra* about our economy, the stronger the urge grows to take my 50% off coupon to Michael's.  Or to eat something really bad.  Comfort food.

Anyways.  What I really want to say is thanks to everyone who has sent such kind words about my Abby.  It means so much.  

Here she is the other day with the wind blowing through her hair, thinking that she is going bye-bye.  My husband was simply washing the car but she planted herself inside first chance that she got and refused to budge.  He left her inside, continued to wash the car and cranked up the a/c full blast for her instead.  What a great papa she has.

I've held back on posting in recent days because the number one thing I find that I want to ramble about is my Abby.  I don't want to always come across as being sad or depressed about her situation.  When I feel a melancholy post coming on I pick her up and kiss her on her bacteria filled head instead.  

It hasn't killed me yet.  Then I go about my day.  

My husband is always commenting on what a spunky little fighter she is.  Her back legs are starting to give her trouble.  I'm been telling everyone how she now waddles when she walks. Poor baby, she wobbles about the house to and fro like a hairy little penguin.

Recently the cheeky monkey snatched up an eggshell that I attempted to toss into the trash. Naturally the first thing I did was grab my camera.  

See what I mean?  That frenzied look in her eye? She bolted into the living room and I gave chase laughing all the way.  When she has this evil look on her mug she WILL snap at me.  She wasn't about to let that nasty eggshell go.  Eventually I distracted her from her prize by waving a piece of cheese past her nose.  Whole grain bread works just as well in a similar pinch.  

As if.  Like I was really going to just sit there and let her eat an old eggshell. You'd think that after being inter-species soulmates for so long she would know me better. 

These are the times when it is easy to delude myself that she is healthy and well.  And that she is going to be the oldest living pomeranian in history.