Sea Witch on mini adventure

I'm off to Boston to spend the weekend with my honey who is traveling around New England visiting old school friends.  Ahh, the joys of being retired. 

 He is going to take me to the New Bedford Whaling Museum...I cannot wait.

Will take lots of photos and I understand there is marvelous scrimshaw work at this venue.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone and blessings to you and those you love.  Sea Witch

New booth is open!

What a long weekend of work this was, but, I have to shamelessly confess...I LOVED IT.  Have been working on princess dresses for my 5-cheese ravioli.  On one of her phone calls, she requested a Musketeer gown/outfit and then a crystal gown like Eloise at the Plaza.  So off to the fabrics store I go and bring home some faboosh tulle covered in glitter.  Luckily, my honey is traveling up north or he would be covered in pink and holigram glitter like the dog. Poor Kota, the squirrels usually laugh at him, now they want to date him because his nose and fur are covered in glitter.   Once I complete her outfits, I will snap photos and post them for you. They are turning out adorable.

Of course, my big chore this weekend was getting my second booth up and running and then transfering items from the rented case to my own in the first booth.  I managed to get everything priced and staged and then, like a mad woman...emptied out my rental case and set up my personal case in the other booth.  My dogs are killing me and I really should go get a massage after standing on the concrete floors all day, but I love the progress I made and the look of the second booth so I'll just have to put my feet up for the rest of the evening. (yea. like that will happen)  (photos enlarge when you click on them)

 The first glimpse of my Victorian booth when you come down from the main counter. I so prefer the gallery look over my other packed to the max booth.  I hope others will like it too.

The lovely Edwardian afternoon gown.  This is such a showstopper. 

Better photo of the gown.  I wish you could see the silk gauze details and the pretty ikat ribbons. The velvet ribbons are a rich purple.

I picked up this jewel of a chalk, art nouveau angel statue on Saturday.  I got her for practically nothing so I'm passing it on to the customer.  She is priced at only $42.00.

Also picked up this terrific Flapper era china cabinet with deep, linen drawer.  Pretty walnut veneer with ebony trim and gold leaf details.  Only needed a good oil and beeswax conditioning and the walnut patina was glorious.

Behind the china cabinet I hung a museum quality, silk Victorian quilt in as near perfect condition as I have ever come across.  Superb stitching by a very accomplished needlewoman.

Closer shot of the Roman Stripe pieced silk quilt and a marvelous Gone with the Wind oil lamp with "The Pharaoh's Horses" transferware around it.

Eastlake walnut parlor table is under the pretty Moorish influence parlor cloth. 

EAPG goblets from the 1860s and a wonderful mid Victorian etched Gin Decanter.   Lucky jade grapes.

Shot is a little blurry as my battery was running low and I was snapping photos faster then the camera could process.  This is a terrific Edwardian big hat full of curly ostrisch feathers.  Very wearable and in excellent condition.

Sweet little Gothic style walnut shelf displaying Cupid Awake.

Picked up the pair of Victorian hand colored prints in Eastlake frames this weekend. 
The hand colored floral prints are fantastic.  Circa 1870s

This Victorian nursing rocker looks happier in the Victorian booth. 

I'm really pleased with the way the Victorian booth looks.  I kept it minimal so it would look like a parlor rather than a booth filled with items. I have always preferred this way to display. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and wishing you all a pleasant week.  Blessings to you and those you love.  Sea Witch

New header - Anemone

I was feeling the need to change out my header again and I came across this marvelous shot of an anemone that my husband took on our last diving trip in Cancun/Cozumel.  He had just gotten a cheap, little Fuji (my favorite camera manufacturer for color integrity) and an underwater case (less then $120.00 for both).   He usually shoots film but decided to go with digital this time.  He knows how much I love the instant gratification of having a digital camera and thought he would give it a try. My honey took some wonderful shots to include a few lionfish hiding among brilliant yellow coral.  I think he is now sold on his digital.

The full picture of the anemone.  I cropped it in for a tight shot for my header.   This anemone is actually a pale white color with yellow tips but I loved the Caribbean blue color the sea water had filtered the shot with that I decided to leave it that way.

The true color of the anemone, white with yellow/green tips.  Pretty little black and white "Butterfly Fish" swimming above it.

Sea anemones are a group of water dwelling, predatory animals that are named after the anemone, a terrestrial flower. The animal is a polyp attached at the bottom to the surface beneath it by an adhesive foot. Radially symmetric, they have a columnar body with a single body opening, the mouth, which is surrounded by tentacles. The tentacles protect the anemone and catch its food; they are studded with microscopic stinging capsules. Most anemones measure an inch to two inches in diameter, but anemones can be found as small as .16 of an inch to over 6 feet.  This particular anemone was about the size of a bowling ball.  They live attached to firm objects in the seas, usually the sea floor, rock, or coral, but they can slide around very slowly.  Sea Anemones come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. 

(screen shot of a few varieties...click to enlarge)

They are carnivores that eat fish, mussels, zooplankton, and worms and catch food using the tentacles, which have poisonous stingers.  A few fish species such as the Clownfish are unaffected by the poisonous tentacles and they work together (called mutualism).  The clownfish benefits from the housing and protection of the sea anemone and the sea anemone in return gets the scraps the clownfish brings and can sting and digest the large fish that the clownfish lures in. 

Blessings to all and those you love. Sea Witch

New Booth Peek

Busy weekend prepping my new booth.  I prefer a gallery setting when selling antiques, but I have found that here in the south, the more you can dig through a booth full of merchandise, the better customers like it.  My larger booth is always stuffed to the gills with merchandise, but I really, really wanted to offer up a gallery look with Victorian antiques and turn of the century items.  I like the look of a "room" with antique items displaying how you would live with them so that is the rationale behind this second booth. 

 

My booth before I did any redecorating.  Dark, pine green wall with white pegboard on one side.  Green faux marble tiles. I forgot to take this without the flash so the green looks lighter than it really is. Sophie (my Victorian dress form) is waiting for a Victorian gown of which I will bring next week.  The next photo shows the dark green pegboard. The booth looks tiny and dark because of it.

Tools of the trade--wallpaper, paint, paint roller/brushes and a tall, icy unsweetened ice tea.  Yea, I know, I am an embarrassment to the fine southern tradition called sweet tea.  More like syrup or hummingbird food, I just can't stand the stuff.  I prefer lots of ice and a robust fresh tea minus any sweeteners.

The paint dudes called this shade of green sage, but I had them drop a dollop of true blue in the mix and it softens the yellow tones often found in green shades.  Gives it a wonderful "Williamsburg" green tone.

Everything got painted this Williamsburg green. All of the pegboard and most of the back wall.  Since wallpaper was going to cover half of it, I did not paint to the top. Can't wait until it finished drying so I can do the wallpaper.

Added the wallpaper and created faux panels on the pegboard.  This was the best wallpaper I had ever hung.  Superior quality, hung like a dream and had tons of paste on the back.  Too much actually and it poured down the freshly painted walls. After cleaning what paste I could, I had to let it dry before I could put the final coat on the bottom wall. Next came creating faux panels on the pegboard.  I taped off long rectangles using painters tape and then using metallic gold spray paint, I sprayed around the edges of the tape.  It dried quickly so upon pulling off the tape, I had nice, neat rectangules on the pegboard.  Roped everything off and hung a few signs and called it a day.  Went home to my honey, cleaned up and off to Outback for a steak and potato dinner.

Sunday afternoon, I'm back at the booth.  Have to put a final coat of paint on lower wall and hang molding from top and along wall paper edge.  I decided to do an antique metallic gold on the molding as a nice compliment to the traditional look of the wall paper.  I really like how this played out.

Closeup shot of the wallpaper and gilt molding.  I had more compliments on this wall paper by passing customers and the Queen of Hearts staff, so I thought I would share where I got it from.  I purchased it online from Wall Paper and More.  Lovely patterns and their clearance section is to die for.  This pattern is from their clearance section so I got a great price on it.  As mentioned above, this was the easiest and nicest quality wallpaper that I have ever used and I have wallpapered for decades.  So if you are looking for quality wallpaper that is a dream to work with, I highly recommend Wall Paper and More.

All finished.  Paint on lower back wall is still drying and I moved in a few items to give it a "teaser" look before the opening next week.  Space looks so much larger then when I originally looked at it. I LOVE IT.

Now the faux marble tiles look softer as they match the paint color.

My lovely, pecan wood Civil War Era settee looks spectacular against this background.

My little welcome sign.  So, I came home covered in paint ( I alway dive into my tools and tend to wear what I create) but loving the finished look. I will be pricing items to put in but this will be a minimalist look as I do not want to pack it with merchandise.  I truly want it to look like a room that you would visit on a Victorian home tour.  So, it's off to put my tired dogs up, pop a movie in and watch something with my honey.  Have a lovely evening.  Sea Witch

Hot and Steamy

Yes, I am speaking about the weather here in Hotlanta, but these photographs of the "Sparrow"  really fit the title bill more accurately. 

Yea, we can walk the plank.

I'm looking forward to the fourth installment in this rip roaring, fun loving pirate romp.  Enjoy the weekend everyone.  The Sea Witch is off to wallpaper and paint a second booth at Queen of Hearts.  Yup, the witch is expanding to a second booth.  Will have photos later in the week to give you a peek into what I am up to. In the meantime, enjoy this ole pirate.  Sea Witch

My Sisters Antiques

As mentioned in my previous post, I had a lovely weekend visiting a friends home and then it was on to a visit to My Sister's Antiques where I would take photos of their shop as I am working on a website design for them.  Located on the historic Main Street in Loganville, this is one of my favorite shops to visit.  Wonderful antiques, both large and small, every genre you could hope for and the "sisters" are just as delightful as the lovely items found inside their shop.

The back entrance to My Sisters Antiques.  I love the repurposed use of a turn of the century oak dresser mirror that now serves as their sign.  How creative.

Set a spell if you like and say hello to the kitty when it shows up.

These ladies know how to display and it is always a visual treat to walk through their store.

I adore this pretty little cabinet.  I really should break down and jut purchase it.

I love chippy, shabby cottage things.  They have such a comfort value to them. 

Pretty Hull pottery, nice rectangular planter not often seen.

A lamp perfect for a Sea Witch.  Love the soft orange glow this conch lamp gives off.

Pretty lustre ware from another favorite dealer now found at My Sister's Antiques. 

Always elegant displays.

Let's peak behind this window to see what can be found.  Treasure, I say, treasure!

I am crazy about this baby photo. Such a sweet face.

Pretty branches with bird nest at top.  Nature and vintage pieces is a lovely marriage.

Such a lovely face on this hand fan.  I may go back and get this...I really love these types of prints.

My Sister's Antiques has some of the most unique Coca Cola items and they are AUTHENTIC.

Nice Arts and Crafts desk lamp. Screams Frank Lloyd Wright.

You can never, ever have too many crystal chandeliers.  This one is gorgeous.  Just think of all of the rainbows you can have in your favorite room when the sun shines through the crystals.

Pretty little marble top and oak washstand.  Love the beaded details.

Genuine, vintage fireman helmets are hard to come by.    This will not stay long in the shop as it is priced to take home now.

Now these are my kind of cupcakes.  Such a clever display idea using cupcake liners to enhance pretty rhinestone pieces.

Lovely oak piece.  I want it.

Marvelous rose print in massive gilt frame.  Lovely.

You can see why I love to visit this shop.  So many wonderful treasures to take home with you.  If you haven't stopped by their blog yet, please do so.  The sisters will keep you up to date with goings on at the shop.  Blessings to you and all you love. Sea Witch