Friday, July 29, 2011

Paris Couture Antiques

"It makes no difference abroad,
The seasons fit the same,
The mornings blossom into noons,
And split their pods of flame."
                ~Emily Dickinson

   Another busy week of work punctuated with summer fun! I can't believe that in a few days it will be August! Where did July go? --I believe I asked that same question at the end of June. Oh well. Life is good regardless of how quickly time passes. Today I wanted to show you an etsy store that has been one of my favorites for quite some time. Alys owns Paris Couture Antiques where she sells some of the most beautiful European antiques that I have ever seen! Her finds are always unique and stunning with that dash of faded grandeur that never fails to catch the eye! Pictured below are a few of my favorite items from her store - visit yourself to see many, MANY more! (I have also included a little drawing of mine with the photos.) Have a wonderful weekend!




















                                                            Drawing by Jennelise

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Dressing Table

"It was a dressing room, as I supposed from the furniture,
though much of it was of forms and uses quite unknown to
me. But prominent in it was a draped table with a gilded
looking glass, and I made that out at first sight to be a fine
lady's dressing table."
                       ~Charles Dickens, 'Great Expectations'

    I have been working on this post for quite awhile - taking photographs and choosing the ones I liked best. I love dressing tables - they make me think of old-world fashion and femininity. Ladies in powdered wigs or bustled gowns preparing for evening festivities. Every detail perfected before they step from their rooms to the arm of their escort. Crystal jars filled with delicate creams and powders, silver handled brushes, and satin-lined boxes carrying precious stones to be draped and fastened around perfumed necks and wrists. In the early morning, young girls in silk or linen shifts splashing water from porcelain pitchers and basins and then sitting before a mirror while deft hands arrange their curls. ...
Or perhaps more close to home - my sister, her makeup strewn across the surface of a painted vanity, applying pink to her cheeks with a long brush. Vintage strands of pearls bought on a holiday trip dangling from my Mother's dressing table mirror, and a birthday card I gave her a year ago standing to one side. I remember the day I walked up to the store front of my favorite shop and gasped at the little cream vanity standing in the window. It was perfect for my room. Or the ornate antique dressing table my Mum and I rounded a corner of an antique mall and found ourselves glued to the spot in surprise and delight at the sight of it's ladylike curves. I love them all! They are a discovery I shared with my family and will share myself in the future, because when I sit at a dressing table I can't help but feel more graceful, more womanly, more in touch with that elusive poise that was so second nature to women of the past. ...






















                                                              Drawing by Jennelise

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Emma's Cabinet

"Beauty in things exist in the mind which contemplates them."
                                   ~David Hume

    I was wandering around the other day with my camera in hand and happened to stroll into my sister's room. I've told you a little bit about it before - she loves color and bright flowers, books, books, and more books, and everything that has a rich or dark patina. Her china cabinet holds all of the bits and pieces of brightly colored china and glass that she loves. I took a couple pictures and then found myself taking more and more as the colors against the darkness of the wood turned out so lovely! She of course was there to supervise me and has been asking ever since when I would post the pictures - so here they are! I hope you like this little glimpse into Emma's cabinet...



















Drawing by Jennelise
(A really OLD drawing but it is one of Emma's favorites)