Tea time

I am a serious tea fan.  I love drinking it, I love brewing it, I love trying new kinds but I'm fussy about my favorites.  I've also somehow managed to collect quite a few items that are tea inspired; everything from a set of towels and hot pads for the kitchen emblazoned with a tea pot, to multiple tea bag dishes, to the cups I drink my tea out of.  So I decided to snap some pics!

I am having Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride by Celestial Seasonings.

Some of my favorite black teas and my prized Brown Betty teapot.

The teacup on the left says "Nothing is worth more than this day"; the teacup on the right was made in Japan.

I couldn't capture the beautifully colored enamel in the design.

Bavarian china cup with matching saucer.

I just purchased two seasonal teas this weekend: Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride by Celestial Seasonings and Pumpkin Spice by Stash.  I also had the opportunity to try Darjeeling for the first time!  Delicious!  Much more delicate than my usual black teas but not quite as grassy as an Oolong.

The Brown Betty teapot in the second picture was a gift from my good friend Lynn who's family is from the UK.  I received it as a Christmas present soon after I first met.  Being British he appreciates a good cuppa tea as well!  I've heard, and I personally believe, that black teas taste better when brewed in a Brown Betty.  In any case I have two teapots, one for my blacks, another for my herbal and green teas.

The pretty white china with the blue roses was a thrift store find I scored not too long ago.  It had been sitting in a box in the St. Mary's Thrift Store almost for as long as I've lived on the west side of Tucson.  I've eye-balled it before but at $60 it was a bit rich for me, even though it was in flawless condition, bore maker's marks on the bottom and came complete with four cups, four saucers, and four each of two different kinds of dessert plates.  So about a month ago I was talking to the man running the cash register and mentioned that I wouldn't buy it for $60 but I would for $30, which is exactly what he sold it to me for!  The maker is Johann Haviland of Bavaria and the pattern is called Blue Garland and dates to the 1930s.  Replacements for the teacups alone are $18 apiece.  Score!!  The china is nice and thin, so delicate you can see light glowing through them and a joy to use!

How to wear vintage jewelry - Daily snap

I have always wanted to do these but I've felt a little self-conscious about snapping pics of what I'm wearing.  But today's mix came out great and I figured, what the heck?  Vintage jewelry is awesome and mixes so well with modern pieces.

Just got off work so forgive me if I look tired...

Art Nouveau period screw back earrings, easily one of the oldest pairs I own.

My hair in a snood

Earrings: vintage screw back, circa 1910s
Necklace: modern pendant by Courtney Davis
Snood: made by my mum!
Barrette: made by yours truly
Sweater: thrift store find (Say What?)
Lipstick: Maybelline in Very Cherry

Thrift Store Finds!

 So I went out after work yesterday to try and locate some of those great striped tights I was seeing at all the Halloween stores this year.  Unfortunately it was too little, too late: the Spirit store only held a sale the day after Halloween and Savers is so picked over it was sad.  *sigh*  So I guess if I want to rock the Emilie Autumn look (not to mention stay warm in my skirts and dresses this winter!) I'm going to have to find some other source for funky tights.  That's what I get for being cheap and wanting to stick to sales!

On the bright side, I scored some major vintage at Savers!

Vintage score!

Glass bottle, c. ?

Flowers with Butterfly and Bee, teardrop pearl, c. 1950s

Genuine pearl necklace

Gold toned shell earrings with faux pearl, c. 1950s

All told I scored three pairs of vintage earrings, two of which have maker's marks on the backs so I can research them, a real pearl necklace, a heart shaped glass perfume bottle and a real china bowl, again with the maker's mark, pattern name and patent number on the back!  And everything was, of course, cheap.  I just hope Savers never hires anyone who has a knowledge of antique jewelry.

Halloween Party

I am still recovering from the fun of this weekend!  Sixteen hours worth of driving, one incredibly scary haunted house, late nights and partying till the wee hours equals one very sleepy Cass.  I still haven't caught up on my sleep yet.  I'm just thankful I cleaned house before I left so I didn't have a huge mess to come home to!

The Haunted House was incredible!  Richard and Christy created a website with the back story to the haunt which you can find here.  Basically it is the All Saints Lunatic Asylum which was shut down some time in the past due to mysterious experiments and the general sadistic insanity of its employees.  A Ms. Carolyn Collins purchased the Asylum and since she can't afford the upkeep, was gracious enough to allow the public to enter on self-guided tours.  Ms. Collins greeted her vict.., er, guests, in the lobby of the Asylum, and then let us inside...

They have footage of me screaming the entire way through!  I even knew all the "haunters" and I was still wigging out!  It was awesome!!  I heard stories later about people who had to be escorted out the escape entrances because they couldn't handle it.  The haunt was seriously professional quality!  There are some pictures online at their Facebook page which I encourage you to take a look at if you enjoy getting the willies!  (I'd have posted a couple but I don't want to scare people away from my blog; tell me you don't agree after checking them out!)

The party after was a lot of fun!  I had the chance to hang out with friends and family I don't get to see all year, which was awesome to say the least.  Here are a few pics of the festivities:

Will as Inspector Clouseau

Rhiannon's Raven.

Dr. S. Freud

Yours truly as Marilyn

Unfortunately my camera's flash was acting up so I couldn't take as many pictures as I would like to and somehow I was the only one taking pictures!  So there aren't that many from this year.

Marilyn costume:

• dress from Rethreads, Downtown Tucson
• earrings, vintage cluster clips, 1950s
• all other jewelry purchased at the Downtown Mercado, Tucson
• wig, Savers
• purse (and matching heels, not shown), Rethreads, Downtown Tucson
• lipstick, Mac Red (I think)

Halloween - Before the madness...

 The annual Halloween party given by my family in California kicks off at 8:30 this evening so everyone is puttering about the house cleaning, assembling, visiting and watching really bad horror movies.  I have busted out my camera and taken some preliminary shots of the festivities.  I can't wait for tonight; my costume is retro-rific!

The Halloween Cake, during the final stages of assembly

Detail of the cake.

Detail of the cake.

Terry, proud creator!

The cake is awesome!  Terry always does an incredible job creating a new Halloween-themed cake every year and this one is so detailed.  I had to share some shots of her mad creativity!

In the retro vein, I had to take a couple shots of my friend Richard's incredible Art Deco era bar!  I just about fell over in envy when I saw it.

Shot of the entire bar. The side wings and table top swing out all at once.

A portable bar on the top along with other antique and Halloween goodies.

Closeup of the swing out wings and table.

Stay posted for more incredible pics!

Fashion Quest: the Perfect Plaid Skirt

I am on a quest for a plaid skirt.  Not the skanky, adult-fantasy-catholic-schoolgirl look.  For one thing my thighs do not take too kindly to exposure and for another you need the physique of a string bean with the silly desire to be reduced to a breathing blow up doll to pull that one off.  Nope, I want a full on retro plaid circle skirt that illustrates my retro aesthetic.  Something like this:

Created by Frigid Couture

Or this!

Created by Bristolin Bloom

I particularly like the cowboy boots with this one!  My biggest hurtle to overcome in my Quest is the strange, perverted, stubborn insistence I have that I will somehow manage to stumble across my perfect tartan skirt in a thrift store.  For cheap at that.  So I've been aimlessly wandering through some of my favorite thrift stores in the last few weeks hoping beyond hope that I will find "the one".  In the meantime I have picked up some pretty glassware and a bunch of Highlander romance novels (yum, yum!) but no skirt.  I came pretty darn close last night with a heavily pleated version in grey, turquoise and royal blue which was unfortunately a good two sizes too small for me.  On second thought it was probably fortunate that it didn't fit me because both the color and cut aren't exactly flattering on me.  *Sigh!*

I could of course shell out fifty or sixty dollars and buy one of the delicious skirts I've found online.  Or this beautiful plaid dress I can't stop staring at:

Created byJoJos Retro and Vintage

If I hadn't recently decided to cut back on the spending I would be buying this beautiful dress instead of blogging about it.

*Sigh*

But I have hope.  Push comes to shove I will just have to keep my fingers crossed and keep scouring the thrift stores, which is a reward unto itself come to think of it.

Retro earrings - root beer cabochon clip on earrings

I was just posting this pair to my store on etsy (TrojanArte if anyone is interested!) and it occurred to me that they have a couple distinctly retro features that would benefit from being pointed out.  The obviously retro feature are the clip on backings.  Women until the 1960s typically didn't pierce their ears since it was looked down upon socially, much like the stigma that lingers around women with tattoos and piercings.  As a consequence, "good girls" who were raised before that time chose earrings that stayed on due to clasps or screw backs.

Less obvious is the root beer colored cabochon (the half dome crystal in the center) that is the central feature of the earrings.  Browns, ambers, creams and the like were a very popular color during the 1940s.  This type of root beer color dates the earrings from the 1940s to the early 50s and is very collectible.  I once met a woman with an entire necklace made of large, carved, root beer colored beads; absolutely stunning!  After the end of WWII tastes changed and colors became brighter, more candy colored and people began to customize the colors of their cars, kitchen appliances and more.

The two crystals flanking it are also significant.  They have a finish known as aurora borealis, a special type of rhinestone finish that was first created in the 1950s.  Their presence on the earrings pin points the earrings to the early 50s.  I personally am a sucker for aurora borealis rhinestones and own several pieces featuring these crystals.