HIGHS AND LOWS OF ANTIQUES

Good quality, reasonable prices advantages of vintage pieces 

(article in the San Diego U-T's Coastal Living magazine July 2014) 

A rendezvous to The Vintage Marketplace!

A few friends and I climbed into an SUV and drove up to Rainbow, about an hour away from Point Loma, to The Vintage Marketplace Show. We had a blast! There's nothing like going to a show with people who love everything vintage! Christie Repasy and Rita Reade have about 45 vendors selling there, all awesome and SO creative. Enjoy the photos!

Rita's space: Mammabellarte

The first people into the show. The aisles are starting to get filled with people.

I bought some beautiful c1880 white ironstone Staffordshire pieces from Mora's booth

This is Robin McKeirnan's booth, Vintage Beach House:

Jill Edwards' Photography was there:

 . . . and designer Melody Elizabeth

This is the photo booth where my friends and I had our photo taken:

This is all a sampling of what's at this fabulous show. The next show is in March, 2014. If you haven't been before, try to make it. It's so much fun. My friends and I all found beautiful things for great prices!

                 

John F. Kennedy 1917-1963

My husband just walked into the house with this limited edition from an oil portrait of President Kennedy that was done in 1965. Bob and I are both big fans of JFK. It's uncanny that Bob was out in the garage, getting a painting I sold on eBay today that he's shipping. He said he was going through a box and happened to come across this, here, on the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's death! It's uncanny! We've had this piece for about 25 years. It's a limited edition by David H. Westerfield, Maine, No 44 out of 300.

Thanksgiving is nearing . . .

I was cleaning out a bureau where I keep paper products and things for my online sales. I found this wonderful Thanksgiving postcard that's postmarked 1910. So I've posted on Etsy.

Enjoy the holidays! Personally, my husband and I are getting ready for our annual family dinner. He's detailing the house by touching up paint here and there, I'm washing slip covers, polishing silver and all that fun stuff! I'm thankful for having so many things to be thankful for, particularly my friends and family! Oh, and my little doggies, Bella and Sunnie!

Here's the Thanksgiving postcard!

Remnants of the Past June 1, 2013

I was so happy to be at Remnants of the Past this past weekend. This is such a great show, unlike any other I've been to, and I've been to plenty of antique shows. The dealers out did themselves in their creative ways they display.

            Judy Watkins, the promoter, and I with the

 crown created in memory of her mother.       

 

The line was about 1200 people 

long right before 9:00 am.

I love this green file box piece!

                      There were lots of architectural and garden pieces

 One of my fav chairs at the show 

Another one. There were so many great European grain and cotton mill sacks used to cover furniture. The convex glass looks great with a stenciled burlap.

Fresh hydrangeas graced the show!

Rust, rust and more rust!

  

 

I love Trish's (Cottage by Design) pillows! She's so creative with her slipcovers and her fabulous linen designs.

Below are a couple of things I purchased:

I love this mail bag tote! Thanks to Darlah Mulloy of Le Muse, who had this wonderful bag in her booth.

I bought this fabulous grain sack covered footstool from Supply and Demand, the first inside booth I came to.

My girlfriends and I had a blast at this show! We're ready for the next one!

  

An unexpected event - the Monterey Pop Festival

Being in Carmel this past New Year's, reminded me of when my twin sister and I attended the Monterey Pop Festival during the "Summer of Love" during the summer 1967. Over 200,000 people descended upon the fairgrounds for the three-day concert. The song San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in your Hair), written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and sung by Scott McKenzie, was initially designed to promote the Monterey Pop Festival.

Our grandmother's friend drove my sister Cathy, me and heir daughter, who was our age, and dropped  us off at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Little did we know, this concert was a ground breaking event, a very calm pre-cursor to Woodstock. There were three dozen singers and bands, some well-known, others new on the scene, like Jimi Hendrix. It was huge who was there: Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, the Who, the Byrds, Hugh Masekela, Joe and the Fish, Canned Heat, Steve Miller and Ravi Shankar. The Animals,  Jefferson Airplane and The Association were also there. The groups I remember being excited to see were Simon and Garfunkel, the Association and the Mamas and Papas.

The three of us had no idea how truly awesome the concert was and how significant it would become. It was definitely fun -  nothing out of the ordinary happened there, just great music in beautiful surroundings.

Luminarias to Glow on Christmas Eve in Point Loma

Elaboraborately decorated houses and grand Christmas trees are definitely staples of the holiday season, but there's something to be said for the understated simplicity of the luminaria.

A luminaria, or farolito "“ the Spanish word for "little lantern" "“ is a brown paper bag weighed down with sand and illuminated from within by a lit candle during the holiday season. Luminarias originated in New Mexico and were traditionally displayed on Christmas eve to guide the spirit of baby Christ to one's home and heart.

In the Point Loma neighborhood of Loma Portal, particularly Plumosa Park, this tradition has been going on for years and is known as the Plumosa Park Festival of Lights. It's been going on for over 50 years. If a resident is out of town then their neighbors will make sure the luminarias get placed in front of their house.

I, for one, am attempting to do my part in carrying out the tradition a little further into Loma Portal.

This is last year's photo of our house with the luminaries out front. We live on a corner so we have quite a bit more luminaries to put out, but that's okay. I'm looking forward to this tradition.

Honoring and Remembering

 Honoring and remembering . . .

My father in law, Bennie Mendoza (far right), who was drafted into the Navy, leaving Bob's mom at home with his two sisters and him, who were very young children at the time. 

We're thankful to him and to all those who have served and are currently serving for our country. 

Cordelia

Corner Cupboard Painted and Redecorated!

I finally have been able to finish my cupboard project. As posted earlier on my blog, I was going to sell my collection of flow blue, which I've just about completely sold on eBay. There are still a couple of pieces on eBay, but most of it has sold.The corner cupboard is a creamy white, which I like but I was so over the bright yellow interior. It was painted yellow when I got it. It looked great with my Flow Blue collection, but it was time for a change. I gathered up some of my white ironstone and Staffordshire pieces and put some of them in this cupboard.

Last weekend, I cleaned the interior of the cabinet and started painting over the yellow. The color is a very pale mocha or an oatmeal color. I don't know the name of the color, but I like it!

I painted the mullions on around the window panes on the door, and started on the interior. My husband offered to finish the job for me, while I gathered my white Staffordshire to put into the cabinet.

I love the new look - it turned out great. Very simple, subtle and soft. I love white on white or shades of cream and natural colors.

My Flow Blue Collection

Over the years I've collected many things. I'm also one for changing things. I have had a flow blue collection for quite a while. Since I'm gradually changing the look of our living room, I've decided to sell my flow blue collection. This is not a particularly large collection, but is a nice mix of the beautiful blue and white English flow blue. It has looked lovely for years in this 1920s corner cabinet. There's nothing quite like flow blue, very appealing, but I'm decors and going in another direction. 

This cupboard came out of a Victorian home in Redlands, CA. It was in the kitchen. I have it in the corner of our living room. I didn't change the paint, it's as we found it, but I'm going to paint the inside of it, I just haven't decided on what color. I'll be posting photos as I make the changes. I thought you'd like to see the cupboard before it's transformed into another look. I'll be painting and decorating it throughout this month. 

Stay tuned for updated photos!

Happy New Year to you all,

Cordelia

Our Simple Christmas Tree

I went very simple this year on decorating our tree. Whatever ornaments I had that are silver, gold, white or clear. I love the way it came out. I still have a few more touches to put on, including a mock-up tree skirt - I'm using burlap I have and wrapping it around the base of the tree.  I didn't get any new ornaments this year, don't want to buy anything that isn't made in the U.S. and, honestly, I don't want to spend money on ornaments. I'd rather our decorations be simple and elegant this year .. ¸¸.•*¨*• 

Happy Holidays, everyone!

~ Cordelia