Sometimes the smallest treasures catch my eye. Whilst scavenging in an antique store today, amongst monstrous sideboards and old church organs, china sets and collosal umbrella stands, a small sparkle caught my eye. The glistening little bag of treasure stood tucked away, inside a large aluminum pot, just waiting to be discovered and taken home. As I drew nearer, I realised that it was indeed a little bag full of beautiful antique crystal buttons.

Now any one who knows me well knows also that I have a great weakness for buttons. Especially old buttons. With sparkles on them. It was decided right then and there that this little bag of buttons was to come home with me and live in my studio until a time when I would design the daintiest, prettiest little frock for them to live on.

I must confess that I have been neglecting my great love for dressmaking over these past weeks, as I have been concentrating on my new shop. There are sewn things in my shop, but alas, they are not dresses. They are pillows. I have decided, that I must remedy this neglect of dressmaking as soon as possible. Spring is on the way, and there must be new frocks! Perhaps a few might even dart into my shop for a brief stay? We shall say.

In the mean time, many new pillows are happy to live in my shop. Henry VIII lives on one of those pillows. Henry VIII! A king! On one of my pillows!

A ship has docked on the other pillow, which is a very small pillow - a pixie-pillow, I think. What fun! I am so excited, I find embroidery terribly addictive and wonderful and therapeutic. With this said, I must continue working! Perhaps a new dress is on the horizon?

In the midst of a wonderfully violent thunderstorm on a cozy Sunday afternoon, I wanted to share the new curiosities that I found today whilst on an afternoon flea market escapade. Mainly, I am over the moon over the candleabra that I found. This is not just any candleabra. It is a wonderfully Victorian othic candleabra. The kind that feels like a heavy brick when you pick it up. The kind that is wonderfully tarnished and rusty looking, and beautiful because of its age. I adore candleabras, but on my meager budget I am not able to pay the $80 - $200 that nice, heavy silver ones typically run for. So when I saw this, I assumed that it must be out of my budget so I shouldn't get too attached. But then I looked at the price tag. "$16.99". !!! Excited cries rang out to my mother who was inspecting a tea cup in the booth next to me. Needless to say, it was decided on the spot that it was to come live with me and bring great elegance and granduer to my dinner table for many years to come. It is deliciously gothic for the dark, stormy day that I am experiencing.





But wait, there is more! I also scored the loveliest blue tiara glass serving bowl for $7. I collect tiara glass and amassed dozens in the past two years since I started collecting it. I decided that rather than purchasing practical dishes for setting up my own home, I much preferred the idea of impractical mix-and-match shabby chic dishes, so I have a slightly eccentric array of homeless china, tiara glass, and bubble glass that I've collected all over both Europe and America. Enough of that, here is my lovely bowl!


With this, I must be off for fear of electrocuting myself in the midst of this storm.

Happy Valentines day! I am so excited about what I have been up to. I've been baking up a storm, creating lovely little delights for my sweetie. I happen to possess a delightful array of vintage cookbooks from Good Housekeeping. They are a series of dessert books that were produced in 1957, and they are a source of not only baking inspiration for me, but artistic inspiration. The illustrations in these books are delicious and whimsical and wonderful. I also took the opportunity to put on the new apron I found at an antique scavenge. It is an old tourist souviner from Salzburg, and features a recipe for some sort of Austrian sweet on the front. I love it!

I spent the day creating and decorating yummy treats such - namely sugar cookies and cupcakes! I love the aesthetic of prettily decorated baked goods - hence they often show up in my artwork. Ever since I was little, I have been enamoured by the pretty pink icing and crunchy white sprinkles that graced Valentines day sugar cookies. There is just something so decadent and sparkling about these pretty little homemade symbols of love.

I especially love the way they look on my favourite pieces of vintage china. They seem to belong there, do they not?

After enjoying looking at them for a while, I packed them away in a pretty heart shaped box that I painted. The illustration of the bee and the ladybug came about one day while we were sitting in a diner and doodling on the paper placemats.

In case you haven't had enough sugar high yet, I must also share my cupcakes...which, I must confess, I sampled one last night (shh...don't tell the boy). And I must say, they were quite delicious. Not too sweet, not too heavy. Just perfect!

I hope you have a love-filled Valentines day!

I am ready to launch my etsy shop (http://kirby.etsy.com/) and simply jumping with excitement. I have been painting up a storm and my head is overflowing with ideas to the point that I am creating faster than the printer can turn over prints for me. It is all well and good - the ladies of historical fashion are indeed alive and raring to go.

Prints will be affordably priced at $15 each for 8 x 10's. Original works will run a wee bit more, and indeed, there will be something for every lady (and gent) of fashion, down to special little pretties to live on your armchair.

I do hope that on Tuesday, 12th February, you will join me for the launch of my new shop and enjoy taking a peek at some of the lovelies to come!