a J.J. brand gold tone or plated? octopus brooch
a J.Crew Navette gold tone bangle
9/17/15
New Baubles added to the Thrift Hoard.
Once again only found two items today, but only went to two stores. The hoard is growing more slowly than when I first started collecting jewelry.
9/16/15
Newest Thrift Store Finds!
Only found two items today, but I only went to one store.
Here is what I found:
Here is what I found:
Linda Allard for Allen Tracy black Italian alligator calfskin belt, size M
Pair of vintage hoop earrings for pierced ears with dark blue enamel and gold tone metal.
9/14/15
Today's Thrift Store Finds
Here are today's additions to my fast growing hoard; top to bottom:
Barrera for Avon gold tone clip-on earrings, Monet gold tone painter's palette brooch
Joan Rivers Swarovski multi colored rhinestones flower brooch
9/12/15
New Batch of Shaving Soap and Shave Soap Sticks
While making a new batch of Lemongrass, Dandelion Root & Shea Butter shaving soap today, I decided to try and make a couple of shave sticks.
I simply poured some of the soap into two deodorant tubes I had purchased a while back to make deodorant and sunscreen and lotion sticks. I am curious to see how this works out. I wonder how long it will take to cure, since it is surrounded by plastic and there is no air getting to it. I guess I should push the soap up after it has hardened a bit to make sure it can dry?
I like the fact that the soap is much more portable and less prone to be left in the shower in a puddle of water, so it turns into a yucky blob.
I have never tried to shave with a shave stick, so it will be a new experience for me.
I will keep you posted on how the project turned out.
I simply poured some of the soap into two deodorant tubes I had purchased a while back to make deodorant and sunscreen and lotion sticks. I am curious to see how this works out. I wonder how long it will take to cure, since it is surrounded by plastic and there is no air getting to it. I guess I should push the soap up after it has hardened a bit to make sure it can dry?
I like the fact that the soap is much more portable and less prone to be left in the shower in a puddle of water, so it turns into a yucky blob.
I have never tried to shave with a shave stick, so it will be a new experience for me.
I will keep you posted on how the project turned out.
9/11/15
Grey Goose Martini Glasses
Found these beauties the other day; Grey Goose martini glasses, in an art nouveau style, with flowing lines and natural forms. I may not drink martinis (neither shaken, nor stirred), but these are very pretty.
They are a limited edition and were issued for the Grey Goose anniversary. I am not sure which one, I will have to do some more research.
Online they are listed as having pewter stems, but the way the patina looks on one of them, I am almost convinced that they are silver plated.
They are a limited edition and were issued for the Grey Goose anniversary. I am not sure which one, I will have to do some more research.
Online they are listed as having pewter stems, but the way the patina looks on one of them, I am almost convinced that they are silver plated.
9/8/15
More Thrift Store Finds!
Here is some more jewelry I found recently at thrift stores. Encouraged by the beautiful Milor necklace I found the other day, I have been stopping by the jewelry counters at all my closeby thrift stores.
Here are some pictures of what I have found.
Here are some pictures of what I have found.
Monet brand vintage jewelry.
3 brooches, and 3 pairs of earrings.
left to right:
rabbit brooch Museum of American Folk Art
Avon celtic knot clip-on earrings
Trifari faux pearl cabochon clip-on earrings
Rafaelian white flower brooch
Ciner large quilted look clip-on earrings
Avon present-shapes rhinestone earrings
Napier rhinestone swirl brooch
The photograph does not do the pieces with rhinestones any justice, The stones are much shinier in reality.
left to right:
Sarah Coventry Woodland Flower rhinestone clip-on Earrings
925 Sterling Silver bracelet with dark red and clear stones
Sarah Coventry maple leaf clip-on earrings
925 Sterling Silver hammered collar made in Mexico
925 Sterling Silver Rope Bracelet
925 Sterling Silver butterfly brooch with turquoise stones made in Mexico
Once again, the rhinestones on the earrings are much shinier. I may take some closeups to do them justice.
And so my hoard grows, and much faster than anticipated! My inner "Smaug" is rearing its head, telling me to keep all these beautiful shiny baubles instead of selling them. Well, we shall see if I can find my way back to reason!
Come back for updates and also check My Etsy Store, I may just list some of these items soon.
9/3/15
Most Recent Thrift Store Finds
This week, while thrifting, I concentrated on vintage jewelry. I have dragged home so many vintage china treasures, that is is definitely time to take pictures and start listing items in my Etsy store. According to my husband, we are running out of storage space (a gross exaggeration in my eyes!), but for the sake of peace and tranquility, I am willing to make a compromise and decided to focus on smaller items, which do not take up a lot of space and can be easily stored. So it was a no-brainer for me to look for collectible vintage jewelry. Not only does it take up less space, it is also shipped easily.
Let's hope I won't get carried away, collecting all those beautiful baubles and end up like Smaug in the Hobbit, with an enormous hoard of shiny, glittering treasures, and not willing to share them with anyone!!
left to right:
Givenchy gold tone, large collar style necklace
Milor, Italy, 925 Sterling silver, two toned necklace
non marked clip-on (corn?) earrings with multi-colored rhinestones
Monet gold colored bangle, Napier gold colored bracelet
and last a Kenneth Jay Lane dogwood flower brooch.
All of them nice finds!
closeup of earrings with multi-colored stones
closeup of the KJL dogwood flower brooch
8/26/15
Yogurt Soap Rebatch
A couple of weeks ago, I made a batch of Yogurt Honey Soap. It was the first time I had tried out the recipe, so I made a small trial batch, which was a good thing, because the soap stayed too soft for my liking, even after 2 weeks of curing. Since the soap itself smelled wonderful, and the ingredients were top quality, I decided to try and amend the soap with ingredients that may help make a harder soap.
In order to do so, I had to rebatch the soap, which is basically just shredding it, adding the least amount of liquid possible, and melting it slowly in either a crockpot, or a double boiler.
In my case, since the soap was still quite soft on the inside, I simply cut it into very small pieces and melted it with a tiny amount of coconut oil in a double boiler.
To try and harden the bar, and to absorb some of the generous amount of honey I had put in the original recipe, I added some organic ground up oats and natural beeswax.
The soap, which smelled great before, now smells good enough to eat, and seems to be firmer than the original soap. Well, here's to hoping it will be a great bar of soap when cured!!
In order to do so, I had to rebatch the soap, which is basically just shredding it, adding the least amount of liquid possible, and melting it slowly in either a crockpot, or a double boiler.
In my case, since the soap was still quite soft on the inside, I simply cut it into very small pieces and melted it with a tiny amount of coconut oil in a double boiler.
To try and harden the bar, and to absorb some of the generous amount of honey I had put in the original recipe, I added some organic ground up oats and natural beeswax.
The soap, which smelled great before, now smells good enough to eat, and seems to be firmer than the original soap. Well, here's to hoping it will be a great bar of soap when cured!!
8/7/15
Yogurt honey soap
Today I tried out a new recipe. I made a small batch of yogurt soap. It seems to be extremely popular at the moment. I have read lot of reviews about how great yogurt soap is for the skin, and how nice it feels, so I decided to make some to see if it lives up to the hype. I guess I will find out in about 3 or 4 weeks.
I used whole milk Greek yogurt, raw honey and Young Living bergamot essential oil as additives to my basic recipe. I also used calendula infused, first cold press virgin sunflower oil, first cold press extra virgin olive oil, pure, raw, unrefined, first cold press organic coconut oil, and organic cold pressed castor oil. All quite expensive ingredients, hence the small batch.
I put it in the freezer to prevent the gel phase.
I used whole milk Greek yogurt, raw honey and Young Living bergamot essential oil as additives to my basic recipe. I also used calendula infused, first cold press virgin sunflower oil, first cold press extra virgin olive oil, pure, raw, unrefined, first cold press organic coconut oil, and organic cold pressed castor oil. All quite expensive ingredients, hence the small batch.
I put it in the freezer to prevent the gel phase.
8/5/15
Web Comic
Check out this web comic. It is done by my daughter Cassandra. Please share the site, as she is trying to get some traffic and possibly some work from this.
7/31/15
Soap Unmolded
The castille soap is out of the mold and it looks great. No air bubbles on the sides and the color is nice too. I prevented the gel phase by putting the soap in the freezer overnight. In the past, especially with larger batches, I have had problems with "soap volcanoes", so I tried not insulating and putting it in the freezer. Of course the fact that this is a small batch and only one kind of oil, without any EOs or sugars and milk, has helped prevent the gel phase too, and I might not have had to put it in the freezer at all. I will try that next time. One thing I have noticed is that the soap is hardening slower than usual, and I will have to wait until tomorrow to cut it.
7/30/15
Castille Soap
Just finished a small batch of castille soap. It is baby mild and made with organic, first cold press, extra virgin olive oil, infused with organic calendula petals. It should be ready for use in about 4 or 5 weeks.
7/26/15
Tinted Lip Balm
Now that I am done with mosaic, I have time to make soaps and other body products, and of course go thrifting again.
Here is some tinted lip balm I made yesterday. The tint is achieved with alkanet root powder, which I infused into olive oil. When I made the trial batch of lip balm, I simply added the powder to the melted oils, which did not quite work out, because it left them grainy with tiny little red particles of alkanet root showing. So I discarded that batch, and infused the oils with the powder. In order to speed up the infusion process, I put the root powder and oil into a glass jar, which I then put on top of a submerged washcloth in a small pot, filled 1/3 with water and let it simmer on low, for about 6 hours. It is important to check the water level and adjust as necessary. I then strained the oil through a coffee filter and used the filtered oil in my lip balm recipe.
While the lip balm color looks very intense, it is actually pretty light, and provides just a hint of tint,
hence the name Hint of Tint.
Of course I neglected to take pictures of every step again, but I am sure there are plenty of instructions to be found elsewhere on the internet.
Today I might try out the beet powder I purchased to see if it creates a different, more intense color.
Here is some tinted lip balm I made yesterday. The tint is achieved with alkanet root powder, which I infused into olive oil. When I made the trial batch of lip balm, I simply added the powder to the melted oils, which did not quite work out, because it left them grainy with tiny little red particles of alkanet root showing. So I discarded that batch, and infused the oils with the powder. In order to speed up the infusion process, I put the root powder and oil into a glass jar, which I then put on top of a submerged washcloth in a small pot, filled 1/3 with water and let it simmer on low, for about 6 hours. It is important to check the water level and adjust as necessary. I then strained the oil through a coffee filter and used the filtered oil in my lip balm recipe.
While the lip balm color looks very intense, it is actually pretty light, and provides just a hint of tint,
hence the name Hint of Tint.
Of course I neglected to take pictures of every step again, but I am sure there are plenty of instructions to be found elsewhere on the internet.
Today I might try out the beet powder I purchased to see if it creates a different, more intense color.
Finished Mosaic Piece
I just finished this mosaic for a shower in a local home, that I have been commissioned to create.
The black scroll design mimics the wrought iron of the front door of this house. The material is polished travertine. The piece measures 5ft by 30 in. It took about a month to complete.
As usual, I became attached to the piece and was sad to see it go. It was installed yesterday, and I will post pictures of the piece installed, once it is grouted and cleaned up.
The black scroll design mimics the wrought iron of the front door of this house. The material is polished travertine. The piece measures 5ft by 30 in. It took about a month to complete.
As usual, I became attached to the piece and was sad to see it go. It was installed yesterday, and I will post pictures of the piece installed, once it is grouted and cleaned up.
7/14/15
Help
Well, this post is different from what I usually blog about. Here is the deal:
my oldest daughter lives in Sweden. She finished her masters degree in graphic design from the University of Gothenburg in 2013, and decided to stay in Sweden. She has been trying to find a job with no luck. She has been working online, taking on small jobs to support herself, but now her savings are running out. She has a lot of talent, but not a whole lot of luck. Below is a link to a site called Patreon, where you can help her out, if you would like to. You don't have to donate if you do not want to, just sharing the link on your Facebook, or Twitter, or whatever social media account you use would be a great help.
CASSANDRA'S PATREON
Thanks to all of you, willing to help,
Petra
my oldest daughter lives in Sweden. She finished her masters degree in graphic design from the University of Gothenburg in 2013, and decided to stay in Sweden. She has been trying to find a job with no luck. She has been working online, taking on small jobs to support herself, but now her savings are running out. She has a lot of talent, but not a whole lot of luck. Below is a link to a site called Patreon, where you can help her out, if you would like to. You don't have to donate if you do not want to, just sharing the link on your Facebook, or Twitter, or whatever social media account you use would be a great help.
CASSANDRA'S PATREON
Thanks to all of you, willing to help,
Petra
7/8/15
I am back!
I did not realize it has been that long since I last wrote anything in this blog! It has been over a year and a half!
Well, during that time I took on a public art piece, built in Ikea "Billy" shelves, refinished a side table, dragged home numerous other pieces of furniture that still need to be refinished, found a lot of beautiful items at thrift stores and made a lot of soap.
The public art piece took over a year from conception to completion, and, as it always happens when I take on a big project, took over my entire life. During the time I worked on the mosaic called Partners, my household was completely neglected, and even though I finished at the beginning of this year, I am still trying to deal with the fallout. Oh what a mess!
If you would like to see pictures of the project, here is the link:
PARTNERS MOSAIC
Here are some of the pictures of the numerous other projects I have completed and some of the items I have found while thrifting.
Well, during that time I took on a public art piece, built in Ikea "Billy" shelves, refinished a side table, dragged home numerous other pieces of furniture that still need to be refinished, found a lot of beautiful items at thrift stores and made a lot of soap.
The public art piece took over a year from conception to completion, and, as it always happens when I take on a big project, took over my entire life. During the time I worked on the mosaic called Partners, my household was completely neglected, and even though I finished at the beginning of this year, I am still trying to deal with the fallout. Oh what a mess!
If you would like to see pictures of the project, here is the link:
PARTNERS MOSAIC
Here are some of the pictures of the numerous other projects I have completed and some of the items I have found while thrifting.
Imperial Glass Lace Edged Katy Blue cups circa 1935
Two vintage Noritake lustreware plates in exceptional condition from the 1910s
A Rosenthal bowl with a sterling silver foot, also like new.
8 pristine W.H. Grindley "Sunday Morning" cereal bowls that appear to have never been used
The list of finds goes on and on, so much, that I have dedicated one of the spare bedrooms to store all of my treasures. Hopefully I will find the time to take pictures and list them in MY ETSY STORE soon.
This is a Drexel side table I found at my local Goodwill store for $7. It had lots of stains and rough areas and needed a lot of attention. With some wood filler, oil based primer, a lot of sanding, several cans of spray paint, 4 casters and two handles I had left over from the desk I built in my studio, it turned out pretty well.
BEFORE
AFTER
Some pics of the built in Ikea Billy shelves. Please keep in mind the pictures were taken with an older phone, so the quality is not as good as I would like it.
There are many tutorials on how to build in these bookcases, so I did not deem it necessary to provide step by step instructions.
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