With A Twist Of Vintage

Adventures in Dyeing Lace

I've been working on dyeing cotton lace these days as opposed to rayon.  With the rayon lace I have little bottles of dye which I mix with water, very, very simple.  Cotton is much more complicated.  I have fiber reactive dyes that I have to wear a mask when mixing with water.  The water is mixed with urea, and then the things to be dyed have to soak in sodium carbonate or soda ash.  I've used this kind of dye to dye lace solid colors before, but this time I'm trying to "paint" them using more than one color, trying to get the same water color effect I get from the rayon dyes.

The first thing I dyed was unbelievably ugly and I didn't know any better than to use something too nice for my first attempt and pretty much ruined a good deal of it.  The recipe for the dye solution I used was for colors that were way too dark and they also didn't run into one another, which was one of the things I wanted to do.

So I tinkered with the formula and came up with amounts of dye that work better for my purposes, the original dyes I mixed up I'll use as concentrates and dilute with however much water I want, depending on the exact color I'm trying for.  I've been working on this for a couple of weeks with mixed results, some things better than others.

Can you tell I'm fascinated by the gradations of color?  Well, if you can't yet, you will before I'm through.  I remind myself of the woman in the Alan Alda movie, The Four Seasons.  She was played by Sandy Dennis and her big thing was taking giant photographs of vegetables. Slowly.  All her friends secretly thought this was inane, but never admitted it to her.

 

 

 

See what I mean?  I'm having fun, though.  I'll either sell them in my barely started store Twist of Vintage II, or I'll use them for a project or two or three....

Unfortunately, my rubber gloves broke this morning and I look like a Pict, the original blue man (or woman) with blue dye all over my hands. 

I added two new items to the store tonight also, one a very elaborate, embellished belt, the other a skirt I upcycled and added hand-dyed lace etc to. 

I have a bunch of other things to add, but can't do it all at once.  I'm getting to the point where I have too many different projects going at the same time, surprise, surprise.  I like variety.  As another person wrote in their Etsy profile, I don't have a niche.  I like to experiment with different things for the fun of it.  But I am surprising myself with my experiments with color, I didn't really know I had an interest in color for it's own sake till now.  My yarn dyeing experiments weren't too successful, but now I realize I expected instantaneous results and didn't practice as much as I should have to get a decent result.  Now I know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mystery Jewelry

I suppose everyone finds pieces that they don't quite know what to make of, and I'm no exception.  Here are two I've had problems with.  Research as I might, I haven't turned up much on these two.  Now, you might think these two pieces are so ugly, who cares what they are, but unfortunately I don't see it that way.  The urge to know is not something I can let go easily. 

The first one is a piece I've had for some years, and looks like it has some age on it.  It's composed of brass filigree balls that have a lovely patina.  Nothing mysterious there.  They happen, however, to be wire-linked to some blue beads that, to me, are mysterious.  I have no idea what they are made of, or what their origins are:

 

The designs that are carved or incised into them look vaguely Asian to me. Some are lighter or darker in color.  But what are they made of?  Glass?  They don't look like glass.  Not all glass has to have a smooth surface though, right?  Some Venetian millefiori have a matte surface.  These beads have a rough, non-shiny surface. 

They're obviously not plastic, I at least know that. 

What about ceramic or porcelain?  I guess that's possible. I've even wondered if they're made of faience, the material the ancient Egyptians used to make a lot of their jewelry and beads.  But I just don't know. I've never seen any beads like these before.

The second piece is more mysterious still.  It is a larger than life piece that seems to have an Egyptian theme.  It's composed of three grayish-white strands of beads, on which are attached large silver metal button like things.  One of these metal objects is a scarab, that's why it seems to have an Egyptian theme.  Another is fan-shaped, perhaps representing feathers, the other two including the centerpiece are round button shapes:

 

The question is, again, what are those beads made of and what are the origins of this piece?  You can see, I think, from the pictures that the beads are porous.  They also have a matte, non shiny surface.  My best guess is pumice.  But who would make beads of pumice, and how do pumice and an Egyptian theme go together?

These are my entries for the Stump the Jeweler Show.  Do you know what these beads are made of and/or the origins of these pieces?

Serendipity or One Way to Successful Flea Market Shopping

Some pictures of the loot from Kobe's on Sunday....    
 
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone has any guesses as to what the second and third item to the last is, I'd be happy to hear it.  It will be transformed into something or other eventually. 

The brass item with the dragon on it is a button--at least I think it's a button, it seems to have two shanks.... And the last item is an Asian stamp.  Here's a picture of the bottom of the stamp.  Excuse my ignorance but I don't know if these are Chinese characters or something else.  Maybe someone could let me know? 

If my haul on Sunday looks like bits and pieces instead of saleable pieces of vintage jewelry, that's about the size of it.  That's the way it is sometimes.  You just don't always find the right pieces at the right price.  You have to be open to what's actually in front of you and not what's in your imagination.  And if I hadn't been open to what was in front of me I might have missed those exquisite Art Nouveau green enamel and brass buttons-- or the metal whatchamacallit, for that matter.  Not to mention the diamonte rhinestone bracelet--which is another story I will save for later.

  

Czech Necklaces I Have Known or The Hunt

If you're into vintage jewelry, you know the hunt is half the fun.  There is no thrill like going to a flea market or a garage sale and finding a hidden treasure for a song.  That's why the Antiques Road Show on PBS is so popular--people love the hunt, finding something spectacular for very little money.

I remember the first Czech necklace I found at a flea Market in Hollywood.  It was very unusual and in several pieces.  That didn't deter me. Holding my breath I oh-so-casually asked the seller how much for the pieces, and when she said $5.00 I couldn't get my money out fast enough, though my face was a study in dead pan.

I was absolutely thrilled and in a labor of love I put the necklace back together again and eventually sold it on Ebay for rather more than $5.00.  Luckily, one of the pieces that wasn't missing was the flattened jump ring where many of the Czech pieces were signed "Czech-Slovakia", as was this necklace.  I didn't sell it right away, though.  I kept it around for a while just to admire it as it sat on my bedside table. 

The profit I made on it wasn't spectacular--most Czech pieces don't sell for as much as a piece of costume jewelry by a famous designer like Haskell, for instance.  It was the hunt and the finding and restoration of something so special, that was so much fun, so magical.  One of the pieces of glass from that necklace was cracked right through, so I couldn't use it in the reconstruction.  It used to sit in my jewelry box as a reminder of that find.  For some reason I can't locate it now (you should see my jewelry box) but I managed to dig up a picture of the restored necklace and include it here.

 

Egyptomania

I must have ancient Egypt on the brain these days, I've just finished putting together the second Egyptian inspired necklace I've made in the space of two months.  I'll blame it on the seller who sold me the brooch that's the centerpiece for the necklace.  She said it looked Egyptian in the copy she wrote, and I must have agreed with her, because I bought  it with the intention of creating an Egyptian inspired piece, and that's exactly what I've done.

I think.  I certainly haven't used any of the iconography of ancient Egypt most Egyptian Revival pieces use.  No Eye of Horus, no scarabs, no Winged Sun.  Well, then my idea of Egyptian Revival is a lot broader than that--maybe so broad as to not be Egyptian Revival at all.  The brooch somehow reminds me of water lilies, or lily pads, and I associate those flowers with Egypt and the Nile.  You can see what you think in my photo. 

I notice when it comes to selling jewelry, people tend to call any necklace that looks like a bib or a collar Egyptian Revival--think of Liz Taylor in Cleopatra.  I usually do not appreciate this.  It's as bad as calling every piece of tired, uninspired jewelry "stunning", which I have vowed I will never do.  I may be guilty of the former, though.

Just in case you're not familiar with the term Egyptian Revival, it refers to the several periods  in modern history when, spurred on by archaeological discoveries in Egypt, people have adopted the symbols of Egypt, liberally applyng them to all sorts of popular culture items: jewelry, furniture, tombs etc.

Anyone who has seen even only  photos of ancient Egyptian artifacts can see why this happens in an instant: ancient Egyptian art was, and is,  beautiful.

Missy's That Was

Quite a few years ago, about the same time I discovered Piecemakers, I discovered a shop called Missy's which sold needlepoint supplies and needlepoint canvases painted by Missy, the owner.  Missy also had a huge collection of vintage ribbons, appliques, beads etc that had been bequeathed to her by the owner of a store that had been on Balboa Island or Newport Beach, that as far as I can remember was sort of an old Five & Dime with a rather extended Notions department.  For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the shop.

Anyway, I spent hours in Missy's, I was going through my ribbon obsession at the time, and I had to see it all, and I bought what I could, which wasn't much.  I still have most of it, and every now and then I make something and use some of it.

That's what I've been up to this week, among other things.  I'm making a necklace with a wonderful vintage embroidered applique as it's centerpiece.  This applique is so superior in design and quality than what they make today it's a joke--I only wish I'd bought more.  I have one other that is as remarkable as the one I'm using in the necklace, and a few little floral ones that aren't that different from what they make today.

The necklace is almost finished, when it is and I put it in the shop I'll post a picture here.

Missy's is gone now, but Nancy Jamar of Gilding the Lily in Fullerton bought all or most of her vintage stock....

I've also been painting lace this weekend.  I don't really have a project in mind, I'm just painting it for fun.  I like concocting my own colors and seeing the results.  I am thinking of perhaps starting a supply store on Etsy, too, but maybe not right away.  I have so much stuff that could go in it!

        

 

The Flea

My sister and I did the flea market yesterday, we went to Kobe's here in San Diego.  When I lived in Orange county we did more of the LA markets, like Long Beach, Irvine and the Rose Bowl.  We still do Irvine now and then, but the others not so much.  The Rose Bowl is rather pricey, and Long Beach is huge, we never have enough stamina (believe it or not) to see everything....

I did pretty well, I was looking mainly for bits and pieces of jewelry I could use in my own work and found quite a few.  A man was selling things thrown out on the trunk, roof and hood of his car.  My best find was on his roof, a pretty little Belgian evening purse made of tiny, tiny seed beads and pearls and it  was in phenomenal condition, outside and inside.  I don't think it was ever used. The price was right and when I bought it several other people asked if I was buying it because they wanted it. Score one for me!

Then he had other bits and pieces of jewelry thrown out on the cars hood, most of it with problems, but some not, and he gave me a very good price for those, too.

Then I got a few other things from various sellers, a typical example is the shoe buckles I show in the picture, they have lots of nice dead rhinestones and I'm sure I'll be able to use them.

I'll be updating the shop in the next couple days with a few things, notably several pairs of earrings I made after using liver of sulfur to oxidize the sterling silver they're made with.  Oh-- and I'll be putting the wonderful Belgian evening purse in the store, too.  

Shop Update

Added some new earrings I put together to the site today and also a couple of very different vintage rings--different from each other I mean.  One pair was made with these wonderful lavender Peking glass  beads--I love the color and think they turned out really elegant.

I also put together my first Treasury at Etsy, and if you'd like to check them out the URL is:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d2f72971aa78eeffaca301b/yellow-sun-turquoise-sky-san-diego-style

Hopefully the link will work, if not just copy and paste it into your browser.  I thought it would be easier for my first time if I had a simple theme like colors, so that's what I did.  I'll save the subtlety for later.

I'm working on some new things for the shop and am hoping to hit some flea markets this weekend with my sister.  Wish me Happy Hunting!

What's New

I finished two more necklaces, and have two more I finished a bit ago to add to my Etsy store.  The one based on an old brooch as a centerpiece is being called in my head Egyptian Fantasy as the brooch has an Egyptian theme.  It's a metal brooch in this wonderful chocolate colored metal (brass that has darkened with age into this gorgeous patina) that has a scarab in the center, but the scarab has outstretched wings.  And that makes me want to give it the title Mothra, but I'm trying to restrain myself and not call it that on the site....

It's made out of really interesting materials: the chocolate colored metal, an antique mother of pearl rosary, an old copper necklace, half  of a very deco mother of pearl buckle....  When I was first thinking about the piece,  I really liked the contrast of the chocolate metal and the silvery white mother of pearl, I thought it would be very striking.  Then with the addition of the copper, I think it turned out a gorgeous and interesting piece, if I do say so myself.

I just realized that on my first entry I forgot to add my shop's URL.  It is www.Withatwistofvintage.etsy.com.  Come by any time.  The service is great and if you just want to browse, no one will hassle you!  I'll be adding new things every day, including plenty of vintage costume jewelry as well as my own pieces.

Opening & Happy New Year!

Without fanfare, I have quietly opened my etsy shop, WithATwistofVintage.  Yaaaayyyy!  It took me long enough! But I'm not complaining, I'm there now and will be adding items bit by bit.  

I'll be selling the jewelry I design repurposed from disabled vintage pieces, and also selling some vintage jewelry as well.  Along with that will be embellished textile accessories that I create from vintage pieces.

So far, I only have a few vintage jewelry items listed, and none of my own designs, but that will change soon.

Happy New Year to everyone!  I myself will not be sorry to say goodbye to 2010 if I'm being honest.  Not exactly a banner year.  Only this November I lost my Molly-dog who I adopted 13 years ago from Beagles & Buddies, and I'm still grieving.  Add to that various other dog illnesses and my own out of work status and you have a year to be remembered with mixed feelings...

Next year will be better, I'm sure of it!