From this shop to the internet

This is a photo of the interior of Palmer Bros Jewelry in Baker City, Oregon, the shop where the crystal drop earrings I just listed were originally sold. I wonder if one of these fellows (or maybe the woman in the back) made the sale? The original box is nearly as desirable as the earrings inside. I found these earrings almost three years ago when I first posted about them. What a special pair!

Shop photo via

Swinging

Hello! This past week we've been hosting family, hence the crickets around here. We've had lots of fun outings, lots of nice dinners, lots of ice cream on the porch and other great things - like Mother & Son swinging! Can you believe Severen is 17 months old?!

Hands as subject

These hand and arm studies by the famous British portraitist E.O. Hoppé are stunning. They remind me a bit of the photos that Stieglitz did of Georgia O'Keefe's hands during the same period in the United States, like this one. They seem disconnected from the body in these photos, like living things of their own. The pose in the second photo is supposed to resemble swans, with the rings as their eyes.

via LIFE photo archives

Spring 2013, on Instagram

   

  

  

It is fun for me to see the progression from winter to full-on summer in these photos. It shows in our clothes, our food (bye bye, roasted cauliflower - hello lime paletas!) and of course the scenery. I suppose the next installment ("Summer 2013") will start with fun in the sun and end with the turning of the leaves. I love living in a place with seasons.

Citizen London

The braided cotton goods over at Citizen London are so appealing. These trays would be very nice as wall hangings, don't you think?

Now that the babe is sleeping . . .

. . . I can stock the shop!

INTAGLIO filigree and molded glass cameo ring

SILVER DAGGER retro bow necklace

TROP PETITE Victorian pendant

MESA carnelian and snake chain bracelet

Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle ▴ Jewelry picks for the Gatsby women

sautoir ▴ bracelet ▴ compact ▴ earrings

hat pin ▴ bangle ▴ ring ▴ sautoir

hair ornament ▴ necklace ▴ earrings ▴ dress clip

Tonight is the big night! I know many of you will be off to see the new The Great Gatsby - how exciting! I just re-watched the 1970s version this week, which will probably remain my favorite because of the tawny quality of the filming, the sweatiness (yes, I love that) and the actors, including my girl crush Lois Chiles as Jordan.

I took the liberty of picking out a few things for the leading ladies of that film version. What do you think?

Daisy: ultra feminine, soft, classic, expensive, safe, vain

Materials: Diamonds, pearls, platinum

Jordan: young, athletic, self-assured, unmarried, stylish, sexy

Materials: cut steel, onyx, bakelite, amethyst

Myrtle: garish, colorful, desirable, desperate, doomed

Materials: Glass, celluloid, ribbon, enamel, paint

Coming soon . . .

I've got a date tonight with a mojito, my computer and about 300 freshly-shot photos of this collection of 1920s/1930s jewelry. Of course I was thinking of Robert Redford-as-Jay Gatsby while shooting these. I think he would approve of the eerie greens among these pieces, especially the ring.

These will all be available in the shop by Friday night. See something you love? Get in touch!

Gatsby-era earrings

Actress Mary Nolan

Some 1920s earrings in my personal collection

NEW IN THE SHOP ▴ Faux pearl flapper drops ▴ Czech glass 1920s drops

Short hair and long earrings go together. We see this for the first time in the 1920s when bobbed-haired flappers wore earrings dripping with rhinestones and pearls, sometimes reaching almost to their shoulders. Just as with sautoir necklaces and the heavily beaded chiffon dresses of the era, the more the earrings could *jump* and move while worn - and especially while dancing - the better.

I've just stocked two new pairs of flapper-era earrings in the shop, both of which could be very pretty on a bride!

P.S. I almost dropped my best pair of 1920s earrings down the bathroom sink once. You can see the play-by-play of that incident right here.

Feather your nest

This is my current favorite available in the Erie Basin online shop, a turn of the century 14K gold and coral feather. What an elegant design!

✿ May Day Sale ✿ 30% OFF ✿

At last, May is here. It feels like someone just turned up the volume on some really awesome music that we could all juuuuust barely hear in April and now it is finally playing loud and IT IS SOUNDING SO GOOD!

I'm celebrating today with the biggest sale ever in the shop - 30% off! 

 I hope you can take advantage and treat yourself to something special to celebrate Spring. 

The sale ends at 11 PM EST tonight.

Oprah's interview with Camille Cosby

I am not an Oprah person. I've never watched her show, I don't buy her magazine, etc. But I just read her Spring 2000 interview with Camille Cosby start to finish and it was one of the best interviews I've ever read. I finished it and then I started again. And I know I will read it again. There were many passages that moved me, not least of all her discussion about her marriage to Bill early on and how they made a choice (after about 10 years together) to really be together and work on their relationship. She also talks about how she navigated the pain and grief in the year following the murder of her son, Ennis. And then there is this wonderful passage on aging, which makes me want to be 40 right now!

Oprah: I was in your kitchen once, whining to you and Bill about handling fame. I had the disease to please, and you said to me, "Honey, just wait until you're 40. All of this will change. You will let it all go. It will not be a threat to you anymore." How did you know that?

Camille: At 40 you become more self-assured. You realize that men don't look at you as a toy any longer; they don't flirt in the same way. And if they flirt, it is because you are really looking good. It's the real deal. Everything becomes real after 40. I'm now in my fifties, and my tolerance level for nonsense is zero. I know I'm going to be something else when I'm 60.

Oprah: So your tolerance for nonsense disappears?

Camille: Zero.

Oprah: And the need to please others?

Camille: Out the window. You realize it is a waste of your time, because the older we become, the busier we become. We become busier with things we really love to do rather than being busy with other people's stuff.

Read the full interview here: http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Oprah-Interviews-Camille-Cosby/3#ixzz2RxxOD33q

Photos credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Snap, zip, button, latch

Imagine a drawer with all of these pouches/wallets/bags inside. I'm having a tough time not making that vision a reality! Each of these pieces has something that grabbed me - a shiny clasp, some pretty stitching, a pleasant shape. Such lovely little things! Which one is your favorite?

 ▴ All images LINKED and courtesy of (top to bottom) Fabric Paper Glue, Squid Whale Designs, Made by Hank, French Queen's Ransom, Forestbound, Coriumi, Scout & Catalogue, Jenna Rose Handmade, Infusion Handcrafted Bags, BESS'NETTA and Ms.Tips Vintage ▴