teenage icons

June 29th, 2009

So yeah, I was in high school in the late 80s, and obsesssedddddd with 10,000 Maniacs. (At least up until “Our Time in Eden.”) Michael’s comment on my last post reminded me of Natalie Merchant & how adorable she was.

301939184_1181619583_d83a57cfb1bc9e4f0706317d9233aba449818db7

Picture this: my high school graduation, I’m in a lilac floral grunge dress, lilac dr martens, & with my giant red curly hair, singing “these are days.” I should try to dig up photos while I’m in Vermont. Ridiculous! Oh dear! That’s how bad the obsession was! Singing songs at graduation!

10000maniacsnatalie

greta’s cedar hope chest
is full of pamphlets
glass shelves of romantic vignettes
a journal laced with sedimentary prose

norma gathers and collects vintage photoplays
hair combs valentines

lillian allows the animals to scratch
and the leather crack
the mail collect in the box as coatings peel

agnes veiled cathedral dweller
smiles with benevolent pain
it’s katrina’s fair tuesday morning
as she with caution unlatches the flat door
she alone cascades to the basement
careful not to spoil her
calico printed pinafore
composite traits mannerists
all others dissipate

margauritte vigilant dwells upon frigid casements

sarah’s thoughts in the velocity
accusations always pierce and pass

clara abandons her passions for distastes
miss lenora p. sinclair
early for coffee in the pool
“i’m resituating all your words”
capital
space
colon
paragraph

sylvia keeps beasts in jars labeled
kingdom phylum class order family genus species

nataliemerchant1

Share/Save

7 Comments

treasure chest

June 28th, 2009

A stash of goodies added to the Etsy shop!! Take a peek — all sales while in Vermont will go toward working on my tiny cabin retreat (a post with new photos will come soon - I’m about to run out the door to build!) so shop away with love! Below is a tiny selection, check out the link!

shop1


Share/Save

7 Comments

magpie palette no.1

June 23rd, 2009

I’ve mentioned this before, when I go thrifting I notice that unconsciously I come out with color schemes and combinations - one day I’ll pick up all green and gold objects, the next all lilac and grey. Inspired by the 100 Layer Cake blog moodboards, I’ve decided to start a series of treasure boards whenever I notice this happening, for color references later!

Here’s this weeks so far (click to view full size):

moodboardtemplate21

Clockwise from top right: tiny Elizabethan ruff doll, blue painted tray; Agfa camera, dominoes that were my grandfather’s, antique yellow frosted glass bottle with silver top, small leather belt bag; antique carved frame; vintage yellow enamel cups made in Poland; yellow linen sundress, Victorian unfinished bodice with boning, tiny black velvet spangled cap.

The remaining 3 photos are: found vintage, a shot of Wendy Addison’s Theatre of Dreams shop, and an interior from (I think) Skona Hem.

Share/Save

5 Comments

pearl grey skies & fireflies

June 21st, 2009

Old barn doors. Cream eyelet and Swiss champagne satin batiste. Mason jars of roses & forget-me-nots. Streamers of bright ribbon clutched by children. Tiny violinists under apple trees. Punched tin can lanterns. Sweet ancient songs sung by schoolchildren. Dancing wildly to a bluegrass band. Sweet sugary white cakes. A tiny wedding night cottage. Tealights floating in the pond where children try to catch frogs. Arbors woven with roses.

beforedress

barnwall

bridalbouquet

Yesterday was Myra’s  wedding (my sister in law’s sister), at their family farm. As a wedding present, I designed, patterned, and sewed her dress, did her hair and makeup, the bridal bouquet, and the flowers for the bridal table. Who knew I had a secret one-stop-wedding-shop inside me just waiting to come out?? (And stood in as amateur backup wedding photographer!)

My mother sewed the bridesmaids dresses, as well as the ties & vests for the boys. A very DIY wedding - flowers from the garden gathered into maple sap buckets by the bridesmaids, a potluck meal, a cake made by an aunt, handwritten vows, handbuilt pews (and outhouses!) & a lot of love.

myradoor

waitingboutquet

masonjars

waitingbouquet

singing

rose_caketable

flowers2

thekiss

cake

rosebucket

teapot

kate_veil

tinyhouse

tinlantern

dash

& many more photos here

Share/Save

19 Comments

lonely stones

June 19th, 2009

withthee

is it well with thee? is it well with the child? and she answered, it is well.

Today was spent in part wandering this very old (for America, of course) graveyard, with graves going back to the 1700s. I was thrifting in a town near where the wedding I’m helping with is happening, so I stopped in the graveyard while waiting to meet up with my brother and his wife at the wedding site. It was so peaceful and quiet, a fine drizzling mist - and then some kids nearby started playing terrible music. So I put on my headphones with Akron/Family and had a totally psychedelic graveyard experience, with many fine conversations with the inhabitants.

That first photo is of the grave of a mother who died in childbirth with her baby. It is heart-stopping.

ourannie

While I’ve spent my entire life wandering graveyards, the pointing up finger never stood out to me until I got the reproduction the other day. There were so many in this graveyard. Our Annie! So sweet.

penta

Urns and pentagrams.

did1

I laughed outloud at this one, and then apologized to poor Jeremiah. It’s not his fault he di^ed.

mother

I can feel the soil falling over my head…

(++++)

Share/Save

2 Comments