More Vintage and Antique Purses....beaded

a little french bag

One of my overwhelming passions as a collector of stuff and things is purses.  I have been collecting purses, new and vintage/antique since high school.  I don't really remember an exact reason or moment when I thought, "I'm going to collect old, tatty purses..." I just think that I have always been drawn to vintage and old stuff.  Of course, the lucite handbags are a huge part of my collection, but along the way I picked up some very pretty beaded bags too.  The thing that never fails to amaze me is that the oldest of the bags were all hand beaded, using silk thread.  I don't know about you, but I don't think I would have ever had the patience.  Also, leisure time in the late 19th/ early 20th century wasn't what it is now.  Couple that with the fact that lighting was also poor and I don't know how women found the time to make these beautiful bags.  Some are marked from France, some from Hong Kong, some from Czechoslovakia...some are unmarked.  I just think of them as eye candy.  And yes, I do use some of them occasionally. Collected at thrift shops, flea markets, antique stores, and on ebay, here are some of my beaded purses:

notice the initials carved into the front of this bag

the camera does not do this bag justice
it has bright green beads - handbeaded
on beautiful yellow silk thread

the camera kind of distorted the color
the first purse is beaded with metal beads on silk thread
the second 2 bags are jet black bead

again, color is a little off, but still pretty
the front bag is black with blue stripes
the back bag is a very pretty bronze/brown

this bag is made of velvet and silk
it has gold thread throughout
with little golden beads

how I store and display
my bags
in a glass fronted case

beautiful little bag with red beading

Spring Gardening

half baskets with burlap sacking to keep the soil in...
I like the rustic look of it

Well, just like my house, I am a cluttered gardener.  I mostly squinch things up in containers because I really do hate to weed and deal with gophers.  Also, one just has so much more control with containers and I have had good luck with container gardening.  Now, I'm going to warn you up front that I am not a Better Homes and Gardens kind of gal, so you can go click on something serene and perfect before investing the time here if that's your thing.  Not that I don't love to peruse pictures of those kinds of gardens...it's just that I work full time, like to cook, knit, embroider, sew, have a social life, am a rabid reader and need to get some sleep somewhere in there.  You can't really expect me to have a perfectly tidy garden now can you?  Instead, I have a slightly messy, barely controlled chaos of a tiny garden that invites a multitude of creatures to visit daily.

Some embroidery that takes garden time
but is still garden inspired
original Vogart embroidery pattern from the 1940's

I must say that I am really looking forward to the strawberries I see on my plants...the blackberries are ripening nicely...and the tomatoes are already flowering.  The cucumbers have popped up as have the wax beans...and the sweet peppers are looking nice.  The carrots have little tiny whispy tops and I'm trying a watermelon that is supposed to grow well around here (colder temps)...we'll see.

And not to forget the flowers, my lavender poppies have sprouted and my scarlet morning glory is coming along....the marigolds have sprouted, the lavender looks beautiful...the salvia is blooming again and the roses are huge and fragrant...and that wonderfully old fashioned flower, the nasturtium has exploded into bright                 beauty....I'll have to get more pictures...

Blackberries...I hope the birds don't get them first!

I love Morning Glories and am growing some
this year that are supposed
to have scarlet  flowers 

Cucumber flower

I JUST LOVE SPRING!