All posts filed under: Admire

Pretty things to lift the mood

Last Friday I had the perfect day planned out, and nothing went according to plan and I didn’t get anything accomplished and I was getting very grumpy. Then I went to the op-shop. And my day got lots better. So much fun vintage prettiness! Op-shop prettiness makes everything better: it doesn’t blow your budget, and you can’t plan what you buy, so it has the delightful surprise discovery factor. Perfect mood fixer. This is what I got: Vintage cotton threads in a delicious range of colours. 50cents each! I love the colour names, they are so evocative, though some of them are very much a product of their time, and are not at all acceptable now. Two ridiculously pink and frilly 1960s negligee On a more tasteful, or at least better made, note, I found this hand-tatted wool blouse. The yarn is incredibly fine, and the handwork is amazing. I can’t imagine how long it must have taken to make the blouse. Moving away from textiles, I found a sweet little trinket dish. I’m using …

Friday Rave: Things Unseen Jewellery

Published by The Dreamstress

Mr Dreamy got me the best Valentines Day present ever this year. It is a custom floral necklace by my favourite jeweller, Nini of Things Unseen. Nini is based in Wellington, and her line sells in a couple of posh shops in town, such as Rex Royale, and on etsy, but if you want to be able to buy any of her really good stuff you have to get up very early: anytime she shows up at a jewellery or craft fair she sells out, and there is a little mini-riot in front of her stall as everyone tries to get their hands on a fabulous piece of jewellery. Of course, you can circumvent all of that by contacting her in person and getting a custom piece, which is what Mr D did. Lucky me! Nini’s jewellery is steampunk, with an elegant, feminine, and very witty twist. She uses cogs and gears and bees and dragonflies and all sorts of other fabulous stuff. She uses other motifs too. I particularly like her hare line. (hehe …

Christmas and New Years prettiness

Published by The Dreamstress

I was given some lovely costume related prettiness for Christmas, and I picked up a bit more on my road trip. First, my wonderful in-laws asked me for a wish list, and off of it, they got me…(drumroll here)… And…. I’ll be reviewing all three of these as I use them. Space was limited on the road trip, so all I picked up was these three bits of deliciousness: The mirror has the cutest little wreath motif on the back. It also has some damage, and the tortoiseshell has shrunk, so I’m going to be researching how to conserve it, and blogging about that. Finally, just before Christmas I found these gorgeous embroidered napkins: The handwork is exquisite, and the motifs are all different: I suspect that there was a 6th napkin at some point. I’ll just have to have 5 person tea parties with this set!