Treasure Box Friday: Things Coming Up Roseville

 You know, I love books on collecting and for the things I do amass I find I peruse those collectors' books like I'm pre-shopping. "Oh, if I found that one some day, it would be nice." And interestingly, I have been able to get some of the pieces I scoped out, and at thrifty prices.

This past weekend, I found one I never, ever imagined finding-- a Roseville Foxglove bowl from the Salvation Army Thrift Store.

I had seen this in my Roseville book with no hope of ever owning it myself due to Roseville's steep prices. But on Saturday, the thrift store came through for me, with a piece that is now a real star in my collection of Ohio pottery pieces.

Nice, too, the soft mint green and pink happen to perfectly match my diningroom. :)

So, that was the real treasure for me this week. Now that the humidity and high temps have swept in, my mind is just on staying cool. Alice below has been as affectionate and lazy as if she were a character in a Tennessee Williams play. :)

(And yes, you COULD scratch the fluffy belly pictured there. She doesn't mind at all. She's shameless.)

Well, hope you all are able to keep cool and find some fun this coming weekend. TGIF to you!

Pretty as a Picture

I haven't had a ton of time to post this week, but I did want to share with you all my fave find of an excursion into the hills and fields of Western Pennsylvania, where I popped by an antique mall in Apollo, PA. 

I had seen this before at the mall called We Miss Back When. But thought it was a print. It turns out it's a painting, and it was not only a good price, but it was 15% off. Which made it about $29.00 plus tax.

The artist's name is M. Giordano, and a little online research turned up a few other paintings-- one a tree-lined road, another an Italian marketplace scene. But a little research shows that M. Giordano didn't come up with the original idea for this painting-- this is a close copy of an existing painting from the Victorian era called "La Madonnina" (Little Mother) by an artist named Roberto Ferruzzi. It's also called "Madonna of the Streets." 

Interestingly, though the original painting is popularly considered to be of Jesus and Mary, it was in fact painting of a young Italian girl who was caring for her baby brother. She was only eleven when the portrait was done. (You can read more about that here on Wikipedia.)

I love the colors and the sweetness of both subjects' faces. There's a real Pre-Raphaelite wistfulness about it all and the artist did a bang-up job on capturing the original.

The painting now hangs in my entryway, along with a couple of other Victorian-styled paintings.

Well, hope the weekend ahead of you all is picture-perfect! I will talk to you next week.

--Jenn

Treasure Box Wednesday: A Million Happy Finds on Route 30

Okay, maybe a million happy finds is a SLIGHT exaggeration. But a trip down Route 30, with my thrifting buddy Scoobie and her awesome brother Jose, well, between the three of us, there was one overflowing trunk of treasure by the end of our travels!

It all started at the Goodwill Outlet Store in North Versailles and on to the Good Samaritan thrift store across the highway. Between the two places I came away with these fun finds...

The bag at left is for the 50th anniversary of Maurice Sendak/Where the Wild Things Are. He died quite recently, so it was surprising to find this useful tote celebrating his work.

Also at the Goodwill,  I got this adorable Disney Alice in Wonderland photo frame. Regular readers know my fondness for the book, and that I have a quietly Alice-themed kitchen. So I was quite excited about this find...

At the Good Samaritan, I couldn't resist this large old photo of a boy and girl by the seaside. Very dramatic and delightfully sappy... It's in an old frame already-- though not it's original one-- so I think instead of the weird matting that doesn't fit well around it, I'll just mount it on a decorative acid-free paper backing in the frame it came in. (Apologies the photo is blurry. My regular camera has died and I'm using my phone camera.)

At the Goodwill in Irwin, I was reunited with an old friend. I knew this fellow as "Zippy Monkey," and he's a toy like one my aunt had. I think he's from the '60s-- I still need to look him up. I have fond memories, though, of cuddling up this monkey when visiting at my grandmother's house as a wee lass. And at a price of $5, I couldn't part with the cheerful chimp. 

At that same Goodwill, I got the tiny purple teacup shown center below, and I figure I'll also show you the porcelain lady figurine (she's actually a box) that I'd found at the Monroeville Goodwill a couple of weeks ago. I thought she was a nice addition to my curio cabinet.

At Graham's Antique Mall, I happened upon this Swift Peanut Butter glass of the Cowardly Lion. You might recall I've found a few different ones of this series recently, but didn't have the Lion.

And then would you believe on the way back, the very, very last stop on our journey, a Salvation Army thrift store we almost didn't stop at because we were all so tired, I uncovered the remaining treasures of the post. 

My favorite being this beautiful Hull vase in pastels for just $9.99-- with no cracks, chips or anything!

I snagged this pretty lusterware bowl with violets transfered on it...

This purple luster teacup (I love stuff in this style...)

And lastly, two transferware plates dating from the early 1900s (these will hang on my wall)...

So it was a huge, huge day in the world of thrifty finds last Saturday. I admit, I needed Sunday to recover from the thrill of it all!

Sending you all good vibes for fun finds this week, if that's what you're into. And I will talk to you next week, depending on what excitement the next few days hold. Take care!

--Jenn

____________________

PS- I just learned the monkey's real name is "Mr. Bim." "Zippy" was apparently a very similar monkey in red overalls, based on a live monkey who had his own TV show. I'm now not sure whether my aunt had a real Zippy, or a Mr. Bim who everyone just called Zippy. 

This monkey business has gotten complex! :) You can see both on the page of this vintage toy shop: http://www.timewarptoys.com/toptoys.htm

The Lady of Shallot in Gummy Candy Stained "Glass"?!

I ran across this last week in e-talking to the artist-- Kimberly Chapman-- who developed the book above, and I thought you all would find it fascinating, too.

Kimberly creates stained-glass look art out of...

Wait for it...


Gummy candy.

I KNOW, astounding, right? Look at this close-up of her Lady of Shallot...

Blew me away. I'd be delighted to see a stained glass window like this, let alone to learn it's a clever confection.

Anyway, Kimberly has a book explaining how to go about these sorts of projects, so I thought I would pass the information on to you clever, crafty readers. Her website is here: http://www.eat-the-evidence.com/gummy/

She's got some other interesting things on her site, too, like art, and actual stained glass projects. There are some droolworthy Tiffany-type lamps she's done. (And you all know my addiction to lamps!)

Hope everyone has a sweet weekend ahead of them!
--Jenn