holiday vintage from 5gardenias

coming up for air--wishing there were at least 48 hours in a day--or that i could clone myself. is this a universal wish? well in any case while i'd love to have one of those wonderful blogs that brings new talent and inspired work to drool over to my home page each day-- i find that i have all i can do to get an occasional post in now and again--especially this time of year as the holidays call for upping inventory in my etsy shops and making jewelry work for shows that i'm participating in. i managed to put together a collage of some of 5gardenias holiday vintage finds that are recently listed in the shop.







stop by and have a poke around if you're a vintage lover.. i will be adding more holiday themed treats during the course of the week.

1. twin vintage ornaments 
2. petite point peeptoes
3. little parrot child's cup
4. 1950s cardboard putz village house
5. 1950s mercury glass & mirror village set
6. deep peacock blue victorian beaded bag
7. little duke porcelain and cloissonne brooch
8. engraved silver plate serving platter

ghost of vintage platter past...

i've been nose to the literal grindstone this week gearing up in the studio trying to make new jewelry for a few holiday shows i'm participating in-- i can never seem to make enough-- and keeping up with the daily routines (laundry, house cleaning, blechh) gets harder and harder at this time of year. i adore the holidays--but they don't come without a price. i vow every year to keep gift giving and decorating simple-- or to make every gift--but somehow i wind up running like a mad woman and scrambling to find just the right things..

i've been also trying to photograph and stock all of the wonderful vintage items i've collected for the holidays-- i will have some putz houses coming soon, wonderful antique tinsel and mercury glass victorian ornaments, another fantastic art pottery gnome planter, some czech faceted glass deco necklaces... just a matter of getting it all listed!!

in the meantime-- as i was doing a shoot the other day-- i decided to play a little and came up with some somewhat ghostly images of a wonderful silver plate platter that will be listed in 5gardenias this weekend. still thinking of miss havisham and her dusty, cobwebby lace and silver filled table ... now i just need that tinsel...

iris-- l'actrice, renaissance woman and chanteuse

i am a huge fan of our beloved iris of brownbunnybyiris on etsy. iris is not only a fantastic designer, but she's an accomplished painter, actress and as it turns out - fabulous vocalist as well.  -- when i hear her sing i hear the city in all of the expressive and softly sultry nuances of iris's lovely vocals...  

here is "hello berlin" iris's recording with her husband karl, along with a video of iris' neighborhood in berlin -- iris is playing base --i will be the first in line when the c.d. comes out!!

...  O.K. iris... what else have you got in that bag of tricks of yours??!!

thank you iris and karl for giving me permission to post this wonderful video and recording! XOXO

be sure to click on the video to hear iris and karl's recording-- it's now located at the bottom of the blog page--scroll down to the end to find it--!

hand made jewelry and vintage sampler

i decided to combine items from both my jewelry shop kathiroussel.etsy.com and my vintage shop 5gardenias.etsy.com with a preview of pieces handmade and collected right on time for holiday gift giving!

from my jewelry shop you will find:  hand made necklaces, rings and a bracelet or two ( coming soon) --all made with sterling silver, fine silver, & copper-- and all are treated with patinas and finishes such as keum boo ( fused gold leaf), enamel, oxidation and depletion gilding-- details such as stitched coral seed beads and fresh water pearls are often added.  many are one of a kind but there are also items that can be made to order--but hurry --made to orders need to be ordered by no later than december 10th to be ready for shipping and available for gift giving. the last date for shipping out will be december 19

my vintage shop is being stocked on an ongoing basis with lots of great holiday finds:  antique ornaments, silverplate, crochet lace, kitsch, glasses, mugs-- plates, platters, bowls, stocking stuffers -- and two favorites --a cowboy survival holiday kit ( great stocking stuffer) and a tea party in a basket holiday kit..  please go and poke around

look what the mailman brought...

if i could buy everything i love on etsy-- i would have to buy a barn to store it all in. so i try very hard to restrain myself. now and again though, i find myself compelled to secure something that just calls out to me. this brings me to "ramone" and lori koop, who has an etsy shop, LoriKoop.etsy.com where she sells her one of a kind "wabi sabi" ceramics on etsy. i met lori by way of the treasuries on etsy and included a few of her pieces in my collections. having been a potter at one time, i appreciate the art of ceramics and the fact that lori's pieces are entirely built by hand ( the old zen master's way). the sweet tactile nuances -- uneven rims, bumpy surfaces and organic personality shine through and give each piece its unique personality, and reveal so much about their lovely and vibrant maker.  another thing that's really endearing about lori and her work is that she names her pots. i fell in love with "ramone" and decided it was time to adopt another family member. i almost fell for diane--but it seems she has made her way somewhere else in the world.

 ramone arrived nestled in his comfortable bubble and peanuts. he came with a sweet offering of dried seed pods. it was love at first sight. ramone is charming, handsome and down to earth -- a great conversationalist, but on the quiet side. ramone is deceptively complex-- like most of us-- he is full of contrasts. he has a wonderfully grainy light dove grey exterior-- -- you can feel the earthy grog when you handle the bowl. ( beard stubble?)--- inside is a beautiful smooth glossy pale blue green celadon glaze- the deep clear waters of ramone's soul. he has incised dots and dashes on his rim both inside and out accented with rich iron oxide rubbed in for contrast.-- the secret code to ramone's heart?

i'm happy to have ramone come and live with us, he fits in beautifully with my other treasured family of pots. i am smitten. ramone is home.

here are a few samples of some of lori's pieces from her shop... i'm really loving the bird house--named lucy---ohhhhhh!