November Update

The cold is setting in and Halloween is over-which always marks the end of the year for me. I know it's not actually the end of the year quite yet, but it always feels that way around mid-November. I suppose because at this rate, holiday craziness sets in and the next two months just fly by. Looking forward to having a wee bit of time to see friends and family this holiday season, it's always much needed.

Work has been keeping me pretty busy these past few months, prepping and painting for multiple new projects for 2015 plus my monthly Vampi cover which is always a treat to paint (issue 8 cover image to the left!). Some really exciting stuff is happening and my paint brush has been moving non stop-looking forward to sharing when I get the green light!

I have a few new prints available in the shop for the holiday season, a small series of pieces I hope to add to in the future (images at the top!)! Love painting little creatures and animals and don't get to do it too often in my everyday work, so figured it would be a fun subject for a new set of prints.

Aside from the everyday work, I've been trying to make jewelry and brooches as time allows...which isn't as often as I'd like lately. I did however, come across some pretty incredible pieces of bakelite and fun finds this late summer/fall! We've really made more of an attempt to frequent local antique markets and fairs. They pop up pretty often around here during the warmer months, some are disappointing, others are total scores...plus it forces me out of the house for a few hours on the weekends.

I *might* be a vintage lamp addict...I have a little problem. Especially lamps with fiberglass shades with fun lacing and colors (the more flamboyant and out there the better!), when we spotted this lamp at one of the last antique fairs of the season, we scooped it up! I assumed it would be out of our price range because of the condition, the shade is in perfect condition, as is the base. It was...practically nothing-in fact, I thought the vendor was joking when I asked the price. We got it home, rewired it and it works like a charm as a little reading lamp next to our sofa.

Some other cool finds in the way of bakelite (below)-some circular brooches (perfect for scarves in the winter months!), dress clips and the oh-so-coveted cherries jubilee necklace! This necklace is just to die for-completely original hardware and all. I am having a wee bit of a dilemma, though...while I love this necklace to death as is, I'm a little afraid to wear it due to the wear on the cherry stems (if one of those cherries were to fall off, I'd throw a fit!). I'm sure it can be restored, but will it decrease the value of the piece?

I'll have to do more research before doing anything to the piece...but gosh it's so pretty as is, and a piece I've always drooled over but could never find (for a steal or practical sum of money, anyway!). Ah, and dress clips...dress clips/fur clips have always been those little pieces I kind of disregarded when I started to search and collect vintage jewelry. They've definitely grown on me, in fact, I seek them out now. Not only can they be worn a million different ways, but they're all so different, it's really rare that I find two of the same outside of a set, and that uniqueness really draws me to them. They can be clipped on a dress as intended, a scarf, shoes, a purse, coats, necklace chains, just about every way you can imagine! One of these days I'll do a post dedicated just to dress clips :)