Etsy Dallas’ handmade shopping event. This event just gets bigger and better. So for all of you who missed last year’s event, come on down and join the fun while supporting our local artists and crafters. This year they have a new thing called the Bash Pass, which will allow you to come in and shop before the doors open to the general public. For your Bash Pass and more information go here.
It’s Veterans Day, so instead of a shallow topic like upholstery, I’m honoring the men in my family who have enabled me to freely be who I am. Men who have left me an honorable legacy. Fortunately my grandfather Pop, who’s in the above picture, left us a wealth of information about our family history. And then my father in his final years hired a genealogist to bring the family history up to date. It’s now up to me, to continue the research and to then create and print the family history in a hardbound book. After spending the first four months of this year clearing out the old family home and bringing all the important papers and photos here to my house, I reached a saturation point. Eventually I will be editing, scanning, and filing all of the millions of photos, but only after I have had time to recover from the burnout.
FYI: If the copy reads stiff and tedious, it’s because I copied from various word files that the genealogist had created. The time involved pulling this post together was way more than I expected. Trunks and boxes were searched for missing photographs, then there was the scanning, then there was the composing, so if I were to have this up before Veterans Day came to an end, I had to forego perfection. Besides none of this generates any revenue.
We’ll start with my paternal grandfather.
Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. The chair once belonged to a great aunt. Ever since I have been out on my own, this chair has moved with me from apartment to apartment then to my house. It’s one of the few hand-me-down relics that I have retained. In fact all three pieces of family furniture I chose to keep once belonged to this great aunt. And when I can find and purchase a wonderful reading lamp, this chair next to the fireplace will become my reading nook during the cold winter months. I love the smell and crackle of a wood burning fireplace. I usually purchase aged oak to burn, but I will occasionally splurge and purchase Irish Turf and/or peat briquettes. I spent three incredible weeks in Ireland back in 2000, fell in love with the smell of the burning Irish peat, and am always wanting to relive those memories with its scent.
Today my custom fireplace screen was delivered, and I can’t wait to build a fire. But first the average temperature needs to drop.
For the last two years, I had been doing copious online searches for semi-custom screens. I had originally just wanted a mesh insert within a dark bronze frame and somewhere have an attached circular brass monogram, but when I started talking to my architect, Charley McKenney, he suggested designing it from scratch. And it grew from there. It grew from a simple rectangle to an art deco style, from no details to scroll details, and from a circular disk monogram to a single ornate script initial. Many drawings later, Jim Cinquemani, a local metal artist that Charley had worked with on previous jobs, created this work of art that you now see in the above photo. Gorgeous craftsmanship!
Forgot to mention: The two contemporary pieces above the mantel are by Monica Vidal, created in 2001 on printed rice paper. I purchased these two from Dunn and Brown Contemporary (now called Talley Dunn Gallery).
Reading the Love Letter, new work by Rebecca Carter at The Reading Room, opens this Saturday, November 5 from 7 to 9 pm, 3715 Parry Avenue. And if you happen to be an early bird type, drop in around 5:30. The show will continue through November 26.
This film is a 1933 RKO musical noted for the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. For some reason I remembered seeing a lot more cool sets while watching it on Turner Classic Movies, but when I rented the DVD from Netflix, the above photo was the only interesting still showing 1930’s interior design. This set does look staged, but some of the details are interesting. Built-in window seating was big in those days, and this one takes that theme to another level. Then there’s the circular rug with its fluffy edging details and the satin upholstered chaise. I think we all know how popular satin upholstery was in films those days — especially in feminine bedrooms.
Too scary to wear on Halloween. Ever since my eldest niece’s first time to trick or treat nineteen years ago (she’s now 21), this mask has been relegated to permanent storage, never to see the light of day or night ever again. I learned quickly that children seven years and younger are scared out of their wits by this kind of thing. Maybe that’s why I see so many “cute” decorations. I don’t go for cute. Since I can’t decorate the way I want to, I do goodie bags that include odd tricks and treats. That reminds me. It’s 3:10 pm, and I still haven’t pulled those bags together. Until next time, Happy Halloween!
For the greenhouse. It’s a start, but hardly a full house. Not only are these cacti low maintenance, but it just occurred to me that rodents may not care to dine on a prickly diet. That’s been a real problem in the past. Why is it that when a plant such as kale is planted outside, it remains untouched, but when placed inside the greenhouse, all foliage will be consumed in less that 24 hours? Maybe it’s just that they prefer to dine in rather than dine out? Ha ha, I couldn’t resist making that funny. I know. It’s lame. But, hey! Why not?
From Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. While I’m trying to pull my brain bits together after several months of crazy stuff, I wanted to waste some of my time and your’s with this eye candy — a little escape from fixing things. That’s all I seem to be doing these days — fixin’. Fixin’, fixin’, fixin’, and more fixin’. I would like to say “solving problems”, but that’s a way too sophisticated phrase for my string of snags. And what about my goals? Ha! I’d be super happy if I could finish at least one project and have it stay finished. So don’t come around asking me for any favors, because I won’t be in the mood! Rant over. And now for the eye candy…
