Needlepoint and Vintage Market Haul

On this Vintage View Sunday, I'm sharing my collection of antique needlepoint purses and accessories--one purse and one frame that I found today at the Topanga Vintage Market, along with a game, beautiful old clothespins to use as lace or ribbon holders, and two heavy brass furniture embellishments, called "ormolu"-- that I just couldn't pass up.  So $35.00 later (what a deal), I came home with this:

  Made in Austria, the purse is in perfect condition, and I think would date around 1920 or 30. 

I was happy to find it at a price I could afford, since I had to pass them up in when 

I visited there due to the very high cost. The black needlepoint in the round frame is Victorian. 

I arranged some of my new finds along with my other needlepoint on a marble-topped table in my entry:

 The largest purse is probably from the 50s and has a medium size needlepoint.  

The next two purses snuggled up to it are Victorian, and are stitched with 

very fine petit point.  The opened case in the front has even smaller stitches. 

 I was told that it was "meta point."  I have never again seen 

needlepoint so small.  It looks like dots with the tip of a fine pen.

 Below you can compare the stitch size:

 

 

The meta point case actual size:

One interesting little piece is this match box with a bit of 

petit point in the center. I believe it is Victorian.

All-in-all, a very nice day, although cold and windy. 

 Now I just need to get back to cleaning, cooking, and crafting!

 

I'm linking up with The Tablescaper Seasonal Sundays
A Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life
Tuesday Cuppa Tea at Antiques and Teacups
Knick of Time Tuesday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm
You're Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E
Our Delightful Home Show Me What You Got
Sweet Simple Fridays at Rooted in Time

Hot Knife Tutorial for Mounting Unmounted Stamps

I promised Debra at Common Ground that I would put together a tutorial on how to mount unmounted stamps. When I found the "With Love" stamp sheet in my mailbox this afternoon--my first design project of the year from Oxford Impressions--I decided that now was the time!  This stamp collection really rocks!  The script looks like it was written with a nibbed pen in Jane Austen style.  There's a sentiment for all the occasions you need.  And the large images mean you can make a quick stamped card at the last minute.  The small images are so versatile for envelopes, charms, collaging, ATCs--the ideas are endless.  Okay, ad is over... I'm just sooooo excited about this collection... :-)  On to the tutorial!

Oxford Impressions stamps come on as 8.5" x 11" sheet of thick red rubber.  You get LOADS of images, which gives you so much to work with at a fraction of the cost of already mounted stamps.

"With Love" Stamp Collection

Red rubber sheet of uncut stamps

To use them, you need to cut them out individually and mount on cling foam, which has a sticky side where you put the stamp, and a cling side for attaching and removing from acrylic blocks.  I mount my stamps a bit differently from the videos I've seen on YouTube. I learned the technique from a master stamper at a show.

 

Tools required:

• Scissors that cut rubber (I use Tim Holtz Tonic scissors that I got at Michael's with a coupon.)
• Cling Foam (EZ Mount is the best)
• Soldering iron with hot knife tip
• Wet sponge
• Glass cutting board or thick piece of heat resistant glass

  

  Knife tip on soldering iron and Tim Holtz scissors

  

  EZ Mount Cling Foam

  
  

Step 1: Cut the rubber. 

I like to cut my stamps very close to the image to avoid ink lines that are not part of the stamp getting on my stamped piece.  I've ruined too many cards!  It's a little scary to make your first cut--you might be afraid you are going to cut the image--but it gets more comfortable as you go. For difficult to reach areas, I cut in one direction, turn the stamp and cut in the other. It's easier to cut straight lines. You will soon figure out what works best for you.  

Trimming around a stamp

Trimming closely with straight cuts.

Step 2: Let the hot knife tool heat up while you continue to cut out all the rubber.

Step 3: Place your cut stamps on the sticky side of a cling foam sheet. I try to arrange them very tightly to economize on my use of the cling foam. 

Step 4: Adhere the cling side to your glass cutting board.  (I have put mine away and coudn't find it, so I am using a small piece of thin glass--I don't advise that!)

Foam on glass, cling side down.

Making the first cut. Keeping fingers out of the way.  The knife tip is very hot.

Step 5: To trim the foam, you might want to go into a well-ventilated area. When the knife tool is properly heated, the foam will cut like butter. Be careful not to touch the tip. Wipe any goo that forms on the knife tip on the wet sponge to prevent smoking and minimize the fumes. It is possible to cut without having the foam melt on the tip--just cut more quickly and don't linger in the same area too long.  You will get the hang of it.

Step 6: Once the stamps are all trimmed, mount on a cling-mount storage board.

Oxford Impressions Bon Bon Collection

Step 7:  When the stamps are all cut, you're ready to ink them up and start creating!  I love Stampin' Up's clear acrylic blocks--the very best out there, and I've tried most of what's available. (If you want to order them, drop me a comment and I'll get back with you.)

Complete set of Stampin' Up Blocks

Cling side on block (view from behind)

stamp on block (rubber side)



Inking the stamp

I usually tap the pad onto the stamp, but couldn't manage this for the camera.

I

A stamped image.  So worth the work!

Leave me a comment if you have any questions, and I'll be happy to answer.  :-)

Vintage View Sunday - Antique Sampler

Hi friends, I feel so bad that I haven't posted and even missed my own blog party last week!  

Sometimes life just gets too busy with work and friends and family 

and students and crafting and migraines!

But I hope you will enjoy today's post, my first Vintage View Sunday blog post!

Party-goer, Jann Olsen, from "A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson" will be the featured blog.  

Her post is super sweet and features her absolutely adorable little granddaughter, Saydee,

"working" with vintage household toys, which got me thinking about how hard children 

had to work long ago.  Whether they worked on farms gathering eggs, planting crops, 

helping with the baking, watching siblings, or in factories during the industrial 

revolution, they were integral in the work that was necessary to survival.  

Life was serious business, without much time for the kinds of activities today's children enjoy.  

And death was an all-too present specter, which made their thoughts of sin and heaven

ever present, as illustrated by my oldest antique, the sampler below, 

stitched in 1792 by Mary Smith, "aged 11 years."

This must have been the epitome of young Mary's skill as the variety of stitches and colors attest.

The seriousness of life is captured in her verse (notice

 the letter S looks like an uncrossed letter f, common in the 1700s).

"Lord thou hast searched and seen me through,

"Thine eye commands with piercing view,

"My rising and my resting hours,

"My heart and flesh with all their powers.

"O may these thoughts possess my breast,

Where'er I rove, where'er I rest,

Nor let my weaker passions dare,

"Consent to sin for God is there."

Her name and date appear at the bottom in light blue, pretty difficult to read:

While we shouldn't forget our nature to sin, and we should keep our eyes on heaven, 

I'm so glad that life today isn't as difficult for any of us as it was then--something 

I try not to take for granted and try to be thankful for every day, 

even when I am overwhelmed with housework after a long day at the office, 

or the water heater floods the garage, or the car begins to leak oil--you know the kind of things. 

Our work still is so much easier and can actually be delightful, as little Saydee shows us with her household chores on her Grandma's blog, A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson:

Using a variety of vintage toys, Saydee shows us how serious her household "work" can be:

Hop on over to Jann's blog and read this sweet post full of vintage toys and 

the cleverest writing.  You will smile with delight, I promise!

Please join the next Vintage View Sunday Party! 
 I'd love to see your vintage treasures!

'Vintage View Sunday' Blog Party

I've had so much fun visiting your blogs and joining blog parties, 

that I thought I would start one of my own.  

This party is all about vintage and antique treasures.  

Share one of your beautiful pieces of jewelry, linen, furniture, silver, china--

anything 50 years old or older (and no, hubbies don't count)!

Tell us something about the history of your item--a little education please.

And if you have a special story about it, share that too (or make one up)!  :-)
  
Please post my blog party title and link on you Web site.
 
My plan is to showcase a few treasures on Sundays--think I'll start out with 
two parties each month. The first Vintage View Sunday will be on

Sunday, February 2.  So let's get this party started!

From Dancing to Love

"To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love."

                                                               - Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

 As I was cleaning and organizing today, I found one of my prized possessions, 

this wonderful 1834 sheet music for a quadrille dance from

 "Rossini's admired Opera, La Gazza Ladra."  Isn't the writing lovely?  
The whole piece is so well-preserved, probably because of the high rag 
content of the paper.  It feels quite fabric-like.

Inked in the corner in a very lovely style is the owner's name,
Mary W. Alsop, April 15, 1834.
Was she a lovely young woman, accomplished but unattached?
Or a spinster who lost her beau before they could be married and never loved another?
I wonder...

"La Gazza Ladra" is Italian for "The Thieving Magpie,"
 a very famous opera according to my composer husband.  
This piece was arranged for the piano forte:

 
which was smaller than a piano and had fewer keys.  The sound was softer and "bouncier" as there was no way to sustain the sound of the notes with pedals as on a modern piano. Can't you just see sweet Mary sitting at the piano forte in her rose satin gown plunking happily?

Wikipedia describes the quadrille as a very intricate dance, a precursor to 
the square dance, with specific forms for each of its five parts.


Part 1: Le Pantelon, or "The trousers" (always in 2/4 or 6/8):
 

 

Part 2: Ete or "Summer" (always in 2/4):

Part 3: Poule or "Hen" (always in 6/8):

Part 4: La Pastourelle or "The Shepherd Girl" (always in 2/4):

Part 5: Finale (always in 2/4):

Of course named in French, the language of the upper class.

The instructions for dancing 
the quadrille are written at the bottom of each page:

 Can't you just imagine the beautiful clothes, polished faces,
 and the rustling of petticoats and tapping of boots as dancers turn and move in and about,
longing eyes gazing in a crowded room. 
Are you in the mood for dancing yet?

(Dancer stamp from the Jane Austen collection of Oxford Impressions.)

This week I'm linking up with

Victorian Scrap Valentines

This weekend, I lost my creativity to a messy house.  :-( 

So I've spent the better part of the last two days cleaning and bringing order. 

 It's beginning to feel so much better in here.  :-)  

I think I'll now be able to get my craft on!

Inspired by my collection of Victorian calling cards 

and Valentines cards:

I came up with these two cards:

The ticket stamps are from Purple Onion Designs.

That's all for now.  I'm putting a roast in the oven, starting another load of laundry, 

and heading back in to the craft room.

I'm linking up with My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday
and Common Ground's Be Inspired Friday. 

Free Adobe Software and Vegas

I've been away for a while, visiting my sister-in-law and her family who were in Vegas 

for a conference.  Hubby and I had a relaxing drive there and back, enjoyed our family so much, 

and were absolutely amazed at what we saw! While there are plenty of objectionable

 things about Vegas, I chose to focus on the creativity and beauty that really is everywhere. 

It truly is a testimony to creativity.  

And thinking about hitting the jackpot (I actually didn't gamble at all), 

 I discovered an amazing free software download opportunity from Adobe. 

You can now download an old version of their creative suite (CS2), including PhotoShop,

 Illustrator, In-Design, Acrobat and other programs for free from their Web site. 

This is professional software that costs close to 1000.00 for the new versions.

 I can't wait to download and play. I'm sure I will be looking for free tutorials online. 

Leave me a comment if you know of a good one!

           Get the software.

A few pictures of the Forum Shopping area that connects Bally's, Paris, and Caesar's

--so beautiful!