Garnet: The January Birthstone

Although garnet is the January birthstone, it is a favorite with many, many people. It was a classic gemstone for Victorian and Edwardian jewelry and is still popular today. Perhaps it's because its colour makes it extremely versatile. What, red? Yes, although garnet is a red gemstone, most garnet is a very dark and deep red, almost a maroon or a bugundy. At night especially, it can look almost black. Because of its deep colour, it looks great with black clothing as well as all the neutrals - khaki, navy, white, cream, camel. Garnet necklaces and bracelets look fantastic when worn with light coloured summer clothing; the contrast between the darkness of the garnets and the pale clothing can be very dramatic.

But garnet is an ancient gemstone, mentioned several times in the Bible, usually by the name of carbuncle. Carbuncle, often used for any cabochon red stone in ancient times, particularly referred however to garnets. Supposedly there were carbuncles in Eden, and God even promises his followers that He will "...make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles...." The garnet also comes in almost every colour imaginable except blue. Grossular garnets come in grey, pink, shades of yellow and green although green is probably the best known. Uvarovite is a dark green; spessartine garnet is usally an orange or reddish-orange; pyrope garnet ranges from a dark red to a pinkish-red.Above are green (grossular) garnet earrings. Garnet bracelets, garnet earrings, and garnet necklaces can all be found on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.

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Two birds with one stone.

Today's post incorporates both of my current projects. Project one: the three R's.







Voila, one man's pants is another gal's purse. This handy little tote was a pair of Dean's vintage corduroys in it's past life, now it's been reconstructed into my new favorite bag. It's the perfect size for all the odds and ends I need to carry and it's wide strap is super-comfy on my shoulder. My favorite aspect is the two perfect pockets for my cell phone and keys and such. I added a lining from some vintage scrap fabric that I believe used to be a blanket, and one of my antique buttons.

Here's said satchel in a daily ensemble, which takes care of project numero dos, my W.E.I.O. post for today:



vintage floral sundress: thrifted
vintage cowboy boots: thrifted
crocheted slouchy beret: Wal-Mart
reconstructed corduroy bag: handmade by moi
vintage wayfarers: Spence's Bazaar

Woot for efficiency. :]

What I'm currently thrilled a-boot.

Praise ye, thrift gods. At long last, I have finally discovered the perfect boots that my heart has been aching for. Last Saturday, Dean and I took advantage of Goodwill's 50% sale for some new fall attire, and while perusing the shoes, there they were. They almost seemed to call to me, "Aari, here we are, please purchase us and enjoy our super soft coziness and delish chocolate milk-y color immediately." Which I, of course, did. (I didn't even wait until I got home, I whipped those babies onto my feet as soon as I got in the car.) Revel in the beauty that is my vintage Etienne Aigner boots:





Glorious.

Tourmaline: The Stone with Mixed Colours

If I get any busier I'm going to have to clone myself! Nevertheless, I decided it was time to update the blog and try to get a few things on the website. Some time ago I bought quite a few tourmaline strands; some of them turned out to be very pretty. Pretty tourmaline can be difficult to find in bead form. How I wish I'd bought strands and strands of it when I was in India! But now I have to try to search and search like everyone else. I saw great tourmaline when I was in India; appropriate, since Sri Lanki gave tourmaline its name and (tur mali in Sinhalese) the Dutch East India Company (headquartered in Madras where I spent most of my time; Sri Lanka is right off the coast) brought tourmalines back to Europe. Nowadays, tourmaline comes from Brazil (deep blue-green paraiba tourmaline is prized), Namibia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Tourmaline is even found in the USA.

What I love about tourmalines is what they are known for - their many colours, even within a single crystal. One old legend has it that in coming up from the earth, the tourmaline somehow passed over an underground rainbow and absorbed its varied colours.
Many people are fond of pink tourmaline, and it has been accepted as an alternate birthstone for the month of October (usual birthstone is the opal). I like to use all the colours of tourmaline together in one piece of jewelry. This works for me because, first, it is rare to get enough perfect tourmaline in one colour for a piece of jewelry, and second, because I like the way the colours blend together. I particularly like clear olive, pink, and yellow tourmaline. And these three shades are wonderful together.The jewelry on this page is representative of the tourmalines I get: the top pair of tourmaline earrings illustrate the different colours of green and pink; the second pair, here in the last picture, show blends of pink although without the green that makes "watermelon" tourmaline - very popular recently. The tourmaline necklace above has colours of tourmalines ranging from black to watermelon to green to pink and all shades in between. Tourmaline jewelry is also very useful in the jewelry wardrobe since it can go with so many different clothes.


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97 aprons, Wayward Nancy Anns

This week I got 97 vintage aprons! There are some really pretty ones in the lot too. So it looks like I'll be busy with aprons for awhile! I've already got about 70 of them washed and the first batch of 20 have been ironed and photographed, and today I'm typing them up to be added to the website on Monday (along with some dresses that are already finished)
I like aprons, because they are fun little items and they are easy to work with to get ready to sell and they are easy to pack and ship out too.

5 more Gals showed up this week at the 'Home for Wayward Nancy Ann Dolls'. There's another 3 on the way too! I hope this isn't turning into an obsession. I promised them I would do their hair and make them some pretty clothes. No buying anymore until I get these fixed up. They'll be fun Summer projects on the weekends. These gals came with some spare arms, so I think I can figure out how to string the good arms onto these.



I mentioned in my email update that I had set up a shop on etsy - http://dandelionvintage.etsy.com/- So far I only have 20-some items listed there and it's all stuff that's already available on the website, but I may list some different things in the future.

While browsing on etsy, I spotted this sweet necklace with a beach theme, that I just had to buy from Tickle Me Pink Boutique - it came today and I really love it. Check out her website here too - http://www.ticklemepinkboutique.com/index.htm

Celebrate Fashion & Diversity…

Unity always trumps division and in the true spirit of solidarity CatchTheDesigner.com aims to uplift up-and-coming designers of Black, Asian and Latino descent. Sponsored by music mogul Russell Simmons, Macys and Pepsi, readers can visit the site to get regular updates on their favorite minority labels. Russell himself has a blog which he updates monthly. I think it’s a fantastic idea to have a one-stop venue for emerging talent. The designer profiles, interviews and event photos can’t be found anywhere else and the best part is if you’re a struggling designer/model yourself, there are listings of networking events and educational programs that will interest you. The Asian and Latino sections haven’t been launched yet but you can start your obsession with the site here at the Black designer corner.

The Manolo Week in Review

Manolo says, here is the best of the week from the Manolosphere.

Diablesse...

El amor de mi vida, como príncipe de cuento de hadas, cruzó la pasarela luchando contra otros “guerreros” del staff que le lanzaban infames injurias: “?Sin pisar la pasarela, por favooooorrrrrrrr!”.

Patri...

??En Manolo Moda nos gustan los zapatos!!

Isidore Gallant...

As a proponent of judiciously chosen ornament, Izzy thinks this is happy news.

Plumcake...

Everywhere I turn it seems that women are plucking their eyebrows into tiny squiggles that look like –and I’m sure you’ll pardon my indelicacy– the “boy” part of the boy-meets-girl part of the fertilization story. Not alluring.

Mr. Henry...

Mr. Henry rarely makes a sauce without adding some spirit or other. More often than not, however, he pours not from the bottle but from the chef’s personal glass.

Francesca...

Francesca tries to remember that “Big Girl” can refer not only to the woman of generous tummy or hips, but also to the Girl of Great Height.

Twistie...

Watching too many wedding reality shows can do strange things to your head.

Raincoaster...

Many people are like slinkies - not really good for anything, but you can’t help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.

Never teh Bride...

My then soon-to-be sister-in-law was the first to speak up, saying, “You know that mom once lived in a trailer, right?”

Diable...

Tome usted un actor y director de cine con extraordinario talento y atractivo físico, agruegue el par de Manolos de su preferencia y súmele una costumbre rara por vestirse de mujer. Para finalizar mezcle todo y sírvalo a un periodista de prensa rosa ?Qué obtiene?

Glinda...

When I brought my newborn home, I thought all was perfect and well with the world. And it was. For the first eight hours.

Spirit Fingers...

Evidently this dog must be another one of those moviegoers who were severely bothered by the historical inaccuracies of The Other Boleyn Girl.