A wonderful treat

Last week I was browsing my fav blogs and came across this from Magpies Mumblings....I have been reading Mary Anne's blog for some time.

I responded and think that I said that I would be happy to take the magazines off her hands. Not only did she offer to mail them to me, she figured out that her son lived in the same neighborhood and she would get him to deliver them to me when next he came home. As luck would have it Mary Anne's son then asked her if she would like to come into Toronto and go to the 'One of a Kind' show that Saturday and Mary Anne offered to deliver the package herself ---right to my door!!!

A package? how about a big box with over 60 antique magazines from the early 20s to 30s....

Unfortunately I was at the Brickworks that morning, but R was home.

How wonderful is that.....someone I have never met (though we read each others blogs) going out of her way to bring me a gift I love

R said Mary Anne was 'just up my line' .......you bet.

I am having the best time with these magazines. I have limited myself to just a few for now and am reading every word. I may even knit this sweet sweater (love vintage knitting patterns and read them like novels)

I am going through every one with a fine tooth comb....craft instructions, cooking, social etiquette, household hints and all the ads.

Love the hand written notes, also the few pages with the toddler's scribbling, it makes the books so personal.

The illustrations are great and I am learning so much. I shall share more on these pages from time to time.

THANK YOU, MARY ANNE.

this weeks etsy news,

from Team Discovery ,any etsy member can post up to 3 items every Tuesday on their blog. A generous gesture.

Jacklom3, who has a pretty vintage shop,used my vintage baby chenille spread in her fun treasury Santa Baby.

last Brickworks outdoor farmers market for me...this year.

The last outdoor farmers market at the Brickworks this season, and bloody cold and dreary the weather was! But these edible flowers from Cookstown Greens cheered things up.

You might remember these same quilts from last week...still didn't sell.

Fisherfolk

and Vickies Veggies set up for the day

vintage hunting shirts...

Dawn, at Evelyn's Crackers bought one and donned it right away, a little 50s/60s number from Trois Riviers, Que. Guess what she found in the pocket? 3 bullets.

My first sale was to a charming lady who bought a 40s Persian lamb jacket, needless to say, she kept it on! There was a snow storm halfway through the morning.

Some of the farmers and food producers are moving inside for the winter, but there is limited room for non-food people like myself. The Brickworks is a work in progress, so we shall see how it goes.

Jacqmar scarves

Since I posted an image of my mothers 50s scarf a couple of days ago I have become obsessed with my Jacqmar collection. I took the box down from the top of the cupboard and started to sort. As I generally just stuff a new scarf into the appropriate box ( you know how I love the thrill of the chase) I had not looked at this lot for a while. Many are not very clean!! So I have been washing by hand, individually. I like to use Eucalan, a very mild Canadian product that you do not have to rinse, its biodegradable, phosphate free and has added lanolin that makes it super useful for wool. (Am NOT being paid by Eucalan, though this would be nice, hint hint) each silk scarf only takes a few minutes to dry over the edge of the bath tub.

Doing some research ,I came across this site, quite the best scarf site I've seen. My goodness, I've had and have a lot of the items featured there. Have spent some of the day listing on flickr

an interesting London souvenir.

Several different colorways

and a pretty coral pink paisley. I don't intend to list them all on the blog...just now and then!

Isewcute made a treasury today, festive finds in red and green and included this quilt top of mine, for sale on etsy. Do check out Isewcute's shop, full of fun things....embroidery patterns, resin jewelry and more.

Oh...by the way, I have a new banner on etsy...tell me what you think.

My mothers Jacqmar scarf

This week has got off to a very good start.

Lois (aka 13 threads) one of my favorite etsy shops, gave me a terrific link on her blog today.

Since Lois was blogging about Hermes scarves and I have nearly finished putting up my collection on flickr, I decided it was time to start listing my vintage Jacqmar collection.... I got down the box, think I have about 70.

Haven't got very far yet but I have started with the most personal one...my mothers scarf from the 1950s. (above)

When I look for a blog to put on my reader I first look for something in common...knitting, sewing, textiles, vintage perhaps...then, except for a fine academic site, like The Textile Blog, I look for a sense of time and place. NessaKnits has this, she lives in Australia and gave a lovely link to this blog today. Thank you Nessa!

Check these sites out!

Those etsy expats have been at it again. Two very different treasuries. Above, this pretty fabric was featured in A rose by any other name , put together by JustOneLook, Linda has two great etsy shops and lives in Florida.

and, this shimmery sari was part of Presents for women who celebrate life...well. thats got to be me...curated by uniqueunique, who makes lovely fused glass jewelry (psst...she has free shipping in the US at the moment)

chilly market

A chilly morning at the Brickworks Farmers Market, the number of farmer vendors is waning and we all snuggle up a bit closer. Used a beautiful pew to drape my quilts and blankets over. Alas....none sold. But all was not lost and several vintage sweaters went to new owners

Some of the volunteers were serving roasted veggies, I had a nourishing snack of greens, hot sweet cabbage/apple compote with sausage!

Emily, wearing her new vintage aran cardi, at Cookstown Greens, the stall next to me (the early bird catches the worm)

Joe, wearing another vintage curling jacket he bought a couple of weeks ago.

This week I put together another etsy treasury, this time using items from Tafa members. From the window is quite elegant, although I say it myself.

Walking through a winter woodland, curated by fibrous, who makes adorable needle-felted items and is a buddy from etsyexpats, featured this pretty 40s50s silk scarf from my shop

Color in the Garden

Not a hell of a lot going on in the garden now, but I enjoy these super colors and shapes almost as much as the glaring dahlias. A couple of different hydrangeas,

Almost the last bouquet, a few lonely roses and some cosmos....can't believe its mid November. The old fashioned chrysanthemums will keep going a little while longer.

Josephine Russell of Russell Jewelry Design has an amazing blog, Crafted by Hands Gallery, where anyone can post their hand made items that fit her daily (I think) theme....Anyone ! . Doesn't matter where your selling site is. How very generous of her....not like old curmudgeon me. I found it on the expats forum (Jo lives in Mexico) It is well worth looking at.

I'm fed up with my Friday Hermes day.....you can always see them here and am moving on to my Jacqmar collection. I must have about 50, collected over the years. To me, they are the most English of scarves.

vintage embroidery

Here are two pieces of embroidery from my personal collection....A charming small mat that I bought in Nelson, New Zealand...I believe at Broadgreen House. I love the smoke coming out of the chimney...so wistful, its as if the maker longs for the homeland. (not that there is anything wrong with Nelson, I'd move there in a heartbeat, lovely,lovely) Beautifully worked with the tiniest of stitches.

Edwardian tea cozy that I use every day, worked on black bombazine, I always enjoy the motif. I think that I bought it in Kent about 30 years ago.

Must say, I was rather pleased with myself this week as I created my first etsy treasury....and then another one ....all comments welcome, it is a learning curve.

I should like to be able to curate treasuries that tell a story, or are based on a classic of some sort, something to think about when one wakes in the middle of the night.

what to wear to the theater

The geraniums have been taken inside, winter is upon us. These white flowers have been with us for several years, we splurged and bought several plants a long time ago for my daughters wedding and they are still going strong.

This week I am going to the theater to see Eonnagata, directed by Robert Lepage, well known for pushing the envelope.

But, what to wear?

I like to dress up a little bit , I think it shows respect for the performers, but not OTT evening wear.

I would like to wear this,

a beautiful wool and lace skirt from radusport.......I would wear it with a black silk T or a small cashmere sweater.

As we generally go downtown on the subway a cozy coat is in order, from Vigilante Labs would suit me.

and some comfy hand made shoes from Lunashoesuk

Most likely I shall wear my good old black suit with some interesting jewelry and one of my shawls ...as usual.

This autumn I have seen some exceptional theater here in Toronto.

The ever popular and so talented Ronnie Burkett bought his latest show Billy Twinkle to town. Ronnie is well known on the festival circuit and some of you in Scotland and Australia may have seen him.

As I am a Robert Lepage fan I made a point of seeing The Anderson Project, starring Yves Jacques....fantastic!

A lovely evening of piano, lecture and tour at The Royal Ontario Museum, tied in with their Chopin exhibition. Janina Fialkowska played. I normally am rather down on the ROM (much, much too expensive, ordinary families cannot afford to go) but this event was delightful, 7pm till about 9pm, just what I like.

A Sunday afternoon at Hughs Room to hear Jenny Whitley, a charming folk and blue grass singer.

Linda got the week is off to a good start with my pretty vintage sari being featured in a charming treasury From Hippie to Fashionista, Linda lives in Florida and has two lovely etsy shops.

Tumbling leaves

The leaves have really started to fall here, this pile is outside our house.

Today, a quick update on my etsy action.

Again I was wondering about an increase in views on a couple of items. A peruse of social mention turned up this blog, 'apartment therapy'. For their thanksgiving table post they featured my vintage linen runner.....

and a pile of vintage pillowcases. These pillowcases proved very popular this week (funny how this works) and were also shown in two treasuries.

Last thoughts, put together by realfaery. Betti has a funky felt shop with lots of original items, do look.

No place like home was curated by a newcomer to the etsyexpats team FrenchFabrics (how can I resist that name). A chance for everyone to check out her OOAK items.

Oh...those expats. Sam had a horrible day, so she turned to the team for support and curated this treasury as a thank you. With a little help from my friends...an animated treasury that included this 1930s fabric (one of my favorite pieces). Sam has a lively shop and blog.

White Christmas was put together by Karen, a weaver who now lives in Argentina. She is very talented, with a gorgeous, tasteful shop. Karen featured this vintage 'bread' doily that is also the header for my profile on the other etsy team I belong to TAFA....textile and fiber arts.

finally, this vibrant 'fans' scarf made it to this original list Recession Buster made by Decorating Yourself, a shop I have just discovered that sells super vintage jewelry.

New finds, an Hermes day

Last week we picked the last of the dahlias, the mornings are too cold for them now. But we still have a huge clump of these tiny, but straggly, old fashioned copper chrysanthemums. They are just about my favorite flower...the last flowers left in the garden and they do very well after a frost. They came with the house and I believe the plant to be well over 50 years old. You know how I feel about old plants....

out at the thrift shops, picked up this 30s grandmothers garden, here airing in the drive. It is not pristine, but OK. The binding is a rather lumpy lilac sateen that I don't like very much, but, I think it is original, so the binding will stay.

a great scarf day, a Jacqmar and a Liberty that I have not got (you know I have almost 700). It seems I stumbled on this combination not long ago.

AND an Hermes scarf for my collection, olive green animal alphabet, a small stain, I don't care. Actually, I think its kind of an ugly scarf....I just like the thrill of the chase.