Sorry for my absence... I've been doing everything, trying to be creative and thus, totally forgot to blog!
One thing I haven’t yet mentioned is that I’m
mad about frames – most preferably old, antique looking frames! I love all
antique looking frames, even they are new... I’m dreaming about my own home and
how I would decorate the walls with paintings, pictures, photos and art.
I found these golden frames from a flea market some time ago and I had to buy
them! They are not that big as they may seem on the picture, but they are just
the right size to put next to each other on the wall.
There were cross-stitch flowers in the frames and
I knew that something must be under them. Removing the back, these photos
appeared:
These pictures are quite nice but I want something
more original, so I decided to draw and paint pictures of my own for the frames.
I first thought of painting the frames themselves silver or black, because gold
has never been my color of choice and I might lean towards silver, because shimmering
colors will look good against a dark wallpaper or color – who am I kidding, they
look good against any color!
I have been pondering where to use this tiny key
for and now I know – on the other of the small frames I will get a striped
fabric and sew this tiny key to it. What I will paint or make up for the other
small frame is still a mystery...
I have already made sketches of what I’m going
to paint to the biggest frame; a raven holding an antique key in its beak. I
love ravens and I love keys, so it just came into my mind that I would like a
picture of them both on my wall... I'm still not sure whether I'm going to
paint the raven with acrylics, aquarelle, watercolor, etc. I love painting oil
colours but I simply can't afford them right now...
It is yet unknown how this little project of mine will progress and how fast.
I’m eager to get these frames on my wall, though!
I’ve got lost in, oh, so wonderful world of Flea
Markets again... Last week I found a mini top hat from a strange flea market I
had never gone before and now I found myself digging in to my local one. Here’s
what I found:
This stamp collection called “Miss Empire” with
stamps of Victorian ladies, a clock and a key – just what I like. From the same
table I found handmade cards, which one in particular, caught my eye:
I love how the maker of the cards had taken all
of the details in considering, for example, when I opened the card from its
plastic wrap, I saw this little piggy with striped background on the back of
the card:
The whole card looked like this:
I don’t think I’m sending this card to anyone
but myself...
And still, from the same table I found this decoration heart with a pretty
Victorian lady and a tiny gear (yay, steampunk-ish!) – I hung it to the other end of my bed,
but I will have to protect it from the cats for Lara already tried to take a
bite of it already! Silly cat...
And then I found this necklace from the other
table for only 1 euro, and from the very first time I tried it on I fell in for
it and have been using it almost every day:
I have made findings outside from flea markets
also - gladly! I went to an interior decoration shop which was closing up their
business and selling everything with 10-70 % discount and found blackish wine
glasses which I guarded until the shop assistant came and took them so she
could wrap them in paper. I also found this card which I should have found for
myself three weeks ago when it was my birthday:
We went shopping to the near shopping center
after my dentist and I found these jewelries from a damn 50 % discount!
A pair of earrings and this beautiful bracelet:
Even all this didn’t become that expensive after
all for they were either from a flea market or discount, but for the further
notice and in conclusion: do not let me get into flea markets of any kind nor shops
with discounted items. I’m so under the influence!
Oh my, how I love all things antique! There’s
this one antique shop near city center where I like to go. Last time I walked
by it, I saw a beautiful wooden ink bottle holder with a glass ink bottle set
in the middle of it and wooden ink pen in front of it. Unfortunately the
antique shop was already closed so I called there on the next day and asked the
owner (a very nice woman who likes to talk) to put it aside. She said she would
hold it to the next day still on display but she would not sell it to anyone else.
When I went there on the next day the owner said I was very smart to call her
because a young man had come to ask for the price of the ink bottle holder and
pen. The pen was sold separately but it was very affordable and seemed unused.
I will always receive a history lesson on whatever I’m buying there – the woman
told the wooden ink bottle holder was made of apple tree and was made in the
turning of 1800’s and 1900’s and that the ink bottle itself was made of
crystal. Unfortunately, I didn’t have more time to chat with her or look around
but if I would have had, I would have been all over the shop digging through
old photographs and medicine bottles.
Here’s the ink bottle holder, crystal ink bottle and ink pen:
The brim on the bottle is tarnished over its
one-hundred-year existence and I love it. First I thought of filling it with
black ink and actually use it but now when I’m thinking of it, I won’t – I will
put it in my vitrine and when I have a big wooden writing desk one day, I will
display it on it.
Underneath the crystal ink bottle, on the wood is carved a handmade Russian
seal. The owner of the antique shop couldn’t read it and neither can I but I
think it’s great!
Speaking of getting lost in antique shops... I
found a new one today. It was filled old bird cages, photos, books, skulls (I
don’t particularly like them because I’m vegetarian and I can not know how they
are ended up in the shelves of a store – through cruelty or by natural death?)...
And today happened what always seems to happen when I step into an antique
store; something got my eye. This time it was old binoculars which was
absolutely gorgeous and the price could still be negotiated. I think they are
kind of steampunk-ish, don’t you think? And the best part? They actually do
work! Shame I didn’t notice to ask how old they were...
And what would this entry be without mini top
hats, I promised in the title?
I found a little top hat on the front, with a
feather (faux I think and hope!) from a flea market we just decided to go and
see what it was like. I added it to my (still) very small “collection” of mini
top hats...
Here’s my other two mini top hats:
And here’s my tiny “collection” so far:
This is it for this time... I will post more of
my flea market findings and other findings on my next post, if you’re
interested. They all just didn’t fit in this post.
I’m having a craving to go to flea markets –
both in person and on the internet.
I got a new bag – it was about time for I had used my old bag which is still perfectly
functional and all in good shape but it was time for a change. I finally got it
from my mom who found it from a flea market and bought it right in front of my
nose...
Later, my mom were to the same flea market on
her own and found this cameo necklace for me – I know it’s so fake cameo but I
like it. It had too long chain that didn’t suit to the cameo at all. So I
bought a new, much shorter silver chain to it so I can now use it. I love cameo
things from necklaces to ear rings and bookmarks – even if the cameo is real or
fake. I still don’t buy the most cheaper looking ones which are screaming they
are coming from a mass production and they sure look like it!
I also love all things antique and things that look like antique; keys, frames,
vitrines, chairs, tables, and for some reason I really like old antique glass
medicine bottles. This one day we were just dropping by at our near flea market
and I found an old medicine bottle for only 5 euros – my mom told me that on
the internet they can cost dozens of euros. It didn’t have a lit but I bought
it right away. Then I really got excited and searched old antique medicine
bottles from the internet flea markets. I found a gorgeous one which was a
little bigger than what I had just bought and it had a lid. There was still two
weeks to bid on it, so I calmed myself and waited until the very end and I was
the first bidder and no one bid against me. But like my mom had said, the old
medicine bottles were more expensive on the internet. But the medicine bottle I
had just bought was worth 30 euros. My mom has spotted old medicine bottles in
the window of one antique shop. I then went inside and bought the tiniest
bottle with a glass top and then I spotted even more medicine bottle and bought
a bigger one with a cork.
Two medicine bottles without labels on the back are
from the antique shop. On the front, the one on the left I got from the
internet and the one on the right I got from near flea market – they have fancy
labels. The other one “Cinchophen” I read was introduced in 1910 and frequently
used to treat gout. This drug is still used by veterinarians to treat arthritis
in animals but use of this drug in humans ceased in the 1930s due to the
discovery that “Cinchophen” can cause serious liver damage. Pretty
fascinating... I can’t imagine I have over 100-year-old medicine bottle. The
other medicine bottle labeled “Hydrochloret. Chinic.” I have no idea what it
has been for or how old it is. But it’s still very cool...
I also found this beautiful candelabrum with red
stones hanging from it. I immediately fell for it and it cost only 4 euros so
it came home with me. For the first time I saw it, I imagined it with red
candles and perfect for Christmas time – I have already used it.
Lately I went to the same flea market for I had
a feeling I might find something awesome again and I did. I found this
beautiful, white, tiny tea pot which I immediately bought and it was half a
price. It makes just one cup of tea. In comparison, I put a teacup next to the
pot, so you can see how tiny it is:
To be honest, I’m surfing on the internet flea
markets at the moment looking for more beautiful stuff. Is there a cure for
flea market fever?
