Vintage Gorgeousness in Wood: Almond Hartzog

 It's not very often that I wish that I still had money. Swarovski encrusted masks aside, I'm not much of a "stuff" person. OK, that is not entirely true... I have a lot of stuff. But it is a lifetime acquisition type of stuff... not a rotating roster. I actually am more apt to collect other people's glorious junk from garage sales and thrift stores than anything else... and it is usually with the intent on using it in a photo shoot or similar type experience. That's it. I have theoretical experience based junk. And lots of it. Buuuuut.... there might just be room in my home for one or more of these things from Almond Hartzog's Gallery. (This would be the continuation of my unfortunately resurrected obsession with 1st Dibs. Ugh.)

The issue that I have is that I have always been mentally preparing for my forever home. As a renter, I am stuck with the irony that while I need to have "whatever works in this space right now" pieces, I also really want to be collecting what I really actually want for my future home. If only I could really really decide on just ONE style that I truly resonated with... I am getting closer all the time... LOL... sorta.

Some Stuff

Where have I been? I know... I could plead summer... and that is partly to blame. In reality though, I have not been in the mood to write anything. I keep finding nifty stuff to post about and I have a kazillion things in my "Draft" folder that I started to tell you all about, but since I lose interest these days a few lines in, I thought maybe I would just put some things out there over the next few days that have caught my interest. Totally random perhaps, but still worth note.


One of the things that is making me happy right now is that I found the sweetest blog called Dottie Angel. This woman lives the life I want to lead. And she photographs it and writes about her endeavors for me so that I can take a bit of time out of my day to look at her pretty life and wonder what mine would be like if...



It also inspired me to create the little bird mobile that she has hanging outside her dining room/patio door.


I saw it and thought I should have one, but I have so much stuff around here, I thought it better to make it for my friend's daughter's birthday. So when heading over to her beach party, stick in hand, my sons explained to the people on the little ferry that the stick was this little girl's birthday gift (I had the pretty birds in my bag). We got some wonderfully aghast looks when I followed up with "hey, it is a really nice stick."

I think it was Flickr that I found Tif's (Dottie's) fabulous photos on and followed her through to her blog. I ended up following posts back for eternity and looking lovingly through her house and studio. This woman is just inspiration incarnate. She lives in a photo shoot from Domino magazine, writes with a witty and uplifting and adorable style that is very refreshing, spends her hours revamping vintage whatnots and repurposing her lovely thrifted acquisitions. What's more, she has spent the last year challenging herself to purchase only handcrafted or secondhand goods for her home and wardrobe and successfully encouraging others to do the same. A rather lengthy list of fellow bloggers joined her in her quest which is rounding up in September. I think that in itself is quite an accomplishment, and one that supports all the things I find now daily in this apparent "movement" towards finding beauty and inspiration in a whole new box that is so much more rewarding that the new shiny one. She did a post awhile ago that made me smile when I came upon it... summing up entirely what I truly hope is the newest chapter of this book we call life while wallpapering the innards of an estate find cabinet:

"and then i pondered,

no, this sweetie was not going to end up in the thrift store later in life,

being mocked by passing strangers.

someone, somewhere will come across her,

gasp the gasp, i have gasped many times myself.

and then with a little bit of luck,

that someone will exclaim for all to know

"why this is the most fabulous example of the granny chic movement,

a movement that occurred in the early part of the 21st century.

it was not uncommon for discarded forsaken souls to be picked up

and adorned with paint, paper and fabric.

if i am not mistaken this looks to be a 'dottie angel' example...

yes, yes it is! look just inside the cupboard there,

the signature of the woman behind this granny chic redo.

one Tif Fussell aka dottie angel,

a lover of granny chic goodness...

oh this is indeed the most peachiest of finds"

I am happy to finally see somebody recognize and articulate what is happening now to be as important to design as perhaps the modern movement was, or any other "forward thinking" step we have taken in the evolution of both design and lifestyle choices in general. Going around and collecting old things or a particular style/designer is nothing new, but this new way of taking what is old and making it our own somehow, while ultimately changing our habit of seeing worth in terms of new or designer goods, is indeed a movement. Granny chic, vintage glam, upcycling... all are terms that even the shelter mags are throwing around right now to describe what devoted thrifters have known for awhile. One person's trash is indeed another's treasure.

*all images from Dottie Angel's blog except top photo which is from Spool

Piece by Piece...

I hear rumour that quilters are organized. That they IRON before AND after they sew pieces of fabric together!!! Well, let's not call me a quilter then. I am a fabric piecer togetherer. I have a favourite quilt that has fallen apart so completely that the other day my seven year old offered to take me shopping for a new one. Hmmm. So I figure what with me having more fabric than I have room for, making a quilt should be easy. The part where I DON'T HAVE ROOM for this fabric is really the key here though, as it would most likely have sewn itself into glorious fancy things ages ago had I had the right amount of space to do it justice... for right now though, the "studio" is over run with lovely little bits of thrifted vintage linens and such that I am puzzling together one piece at a time. There is most likely a term for this in the day of yoga and meditative everything.... I shall call this "intuitive quilting". Organic Intuitive Quilting, as in, I don't iron or measure, I just sew, sew, sew to get it done in two days. I will save the measuring and ironing for the pieces I do for others...

Habit Forming Wedding Addiction...

Apparently I am now a wedding blog. It's not my fault, it is just because there are so many gorgeous things to fit under the wedding category now. Back in the day I had to go to my fair (well, unfair if you were to ask me) share of wedding shows. The big annoying kind with flourescent lighting and bad music where the only plus was that you got to sample a petit four or two. Oh, well there was that one time where during the fashion show the tux guys made a bet amongst themselves that at the end when they wore the kilts they would all go commando and surprise the audience with a "show" to remember. That was brilliant. Anyhow, as I was saying, these days we have a little something called c.r.e.a.t.i.v.i.t.y. to really spice things up with the bridal scene. Thank the gods!



I was just over trying to nominate a friend on the etsy voter page and got sent to the wrong set of photos. Which of course happened to be the wedding set. And such lovely things there were there... am I allowed to infringe on etsy territory like this? It's definitely a promo... you might consider any of these pretties even if you are not getting married, but having been made to take part on far too many of these things, I can vouch that using ANY of these as inspiration for a theme would completely up the bar for your event. Imagine your table lined with rows of these...


Just randomly placed amongst twisted branches and gorgeous greenery... with these at the place settings, gorgeous!


Then you could re-use them over and over in your home or give them as favours. Love dual purpose. And the boys should be looking all dapper in these...


and these...


If you are going to do the invitations up fancy, they don't get much much more fabulous than this lovely ladie's creations. I have ogled her work before, but this set made me salivate. I now need uber gorgeous invites to my birthday party. I know, they seem extravagant, but really, if you knew...


These are pretty brilliant...


...but to be totally honest, the entire reason I put this post together is because of this dress... or should I say "exquisite work of art"... SO pretty, SO unique, SO perfect. I am in adoration. (I refuse to say j'adore, you can't make me.) Somebody really amazing should be getting married in this gown. Or just maybe get a bit older in it. Just sayin'...


This dress isn't actually in the Voter series, for some insane reason she listed another very pretty but less interesting dress. The best part of this gown is that it is created from eco sensitive fabrics. The hand appliqued landscape panel is handcrafted using hemp/silk and wild silk with over forty blossoms among the intertwined tree limbs. Stunning. People, if you are going to buy something fabulous, look for it on etsy first. I am telling you, there is no way you are going to find a gown in a store with this attention to detail for less than three grand. Especially in gorgeous fabrics like these. I can fully attest to the beautiful hand and drape of natural fabrics, remember that the entire reason they started making polyester was to emulate fabrics like these on the cheap. If the panel is a little much for you and you prefer something on the simpler side, go and take a gander at her shop, she has a number of lovely pieces in very soft and simple styles.

Old vs New

There is a lovely interview posted over at Bloesem Kids right now with Emma Cassi. Emma is a french stylist and jewelry designer and her house is so feminine and serene looking without the minimalism. You can see exactly who it is that lives there. As a single mom of two boys, it fascinates me how professional stylist moms' children's rooms are always filled with such beautiful things. Are they simply done up this way for the photo shoot? I posted this question after the interview, but will post it here as well as I would love to know what stylin' people think about how we 'school' our children in design and 'taste'.

I personally love vintage and I did when I was a child as well. I know that I was completely enamored with the things that my grandmother handed down to me and still love finding treasures in junk shops and antique markets FAR better than jumping out to a store to buy it the easy way. So my question is, how do you all feel about how your children feel? I was doing pretty OK until Rowan went to daycare, and now I am inundated with pleases for Star Wars, Diego and the Ninja Turtles. Whatever the kids at daycare have. I loathe plastic and we don't have a TV on purpose, if I had my way, my son's room would be a glorious mixture of found objects and vintage toys and books. He sees my idea of a treasure mostly as old. Is it only the vintage stuff that goes on display for these photographs? Do the mainstream toys just not find their way into the house? Is it fair to dictate what our children are allowed to play with to that extent? I am fighting his dad, aunts and uncles on this one. 

My major issue is how there is no sense of value anymore. When my mother was young, the few toys she had were absolute treasures and she knew it. My sister and I were a bit less protective as children, but the disposable toy industry of today drives me nuts and I want to instill a better sense of worth into my children. A way to see beauty in things for what they are. 

Photo credit:  Emma Cassi (Anton's Toy Cabinet) via Bloesem Kids