Photo booth Beauties Revisited

One of my all-time favourite themes for my designs is vintage photo booth photography. These tiny little photos let you have a glimpse of the past and the mood of the person posing for the picture, but in a way that is so much more interesting that today's selfies...don't you think? I have collected quite a few and every time I look at them I wonder about the person on the photo...some looking confident and fierce,some hopelessly shy or just giggly having fun with friends or a loved one. Now and then I seem to recognize a look or a smile that reminds me of a person I know today and I wonder what people will think of our photo's in 60 or 100 years from now and if they in turn will recognise themselves in a cheeky smile or a distracted glance. I have been using these old photos as a theme my for vintage restyled handbags and with success, as they have become a very popular item at Things British shop in London. 

I wondered if there was a way to take the theme to the next level and perhaps create a jewellery collection that could connect with the handbag collection. I wanted something light and fragile, something that could bring back that feel of the little piece of photo paper that captured that instant moment of happiness, sadness or shyness so many decades ago.
I think I might have found it.

I used vintage puzzle pieces and transformed them into vintage photo booth picture frames. I embellished them with embossing powders and then I tied them up in very fine metal wire decorated with beads, rhinestones and other small findings. The result is a unique piece, elegant and shimmering (a lot more than you see in the pictures) and almost ephemeral...so light it might vanish into thin air in front of your eyes. I am so pleased with the results and will include pendants, earrings and bracelets in this new collection. It will be possible to request custom made pieces with vintage pictures of your loves ones. To find when this collection will be available, please favourite my etsy shop.

New Display at Things British, Carnaby Street London

New Display at Things British, Carnaby Street London

I went to London yesterday to change my display at Things British and I am so happy with the result! I decided to go with the Jules Verne/ Travel theme of my Around the World in 80 Stamps Collection and used three vintage suitcases as a raised platform. I think it looks a lot more appealing than having the bags on the plain shelf. I wish I had thought of this idea before! 

Vintage Illustration of the Day Saturday 16-01

A few years ago I bought the complete edition of a local Belgian women's magazine, published only for a few years in the 40s and 50s. I paid quite a lot of money, but the investment was worth it. It was a traditional magazine, full of inspirational tips for housework and decoration, romantic stories, recipes and fashion. I love browsing through them, it's like being teleported to a different world where etiquette was the new black and the readers would seek advice on how to tell their fiance politely to cultivate some table manners without sounding offensive. I wish I had the patience to translate these letters and articles! I will be posting scans from this magazine from time to time. The illustration of today comes from a 1956 publication and part of the story "And Lea chose a Mule" ( as I said, it's from a different world...).

"And even though Dad and Luc would get enraged by the glamorous hustle and bustle, Tessy simply wouldn't care about it!"

Greetings from Firenze, 1939

Car boot sale season is back! The local car boot sale is only a few minutes away, a nice walk down the high street. Before the end of last season I was hunting for useful things for the flat as it still wasn't complete : a set of boring pine wood bar stools ( which we transformed into sleek french style black laquered kitchen stools), rattan chairs for the balcony and vintage ivory silk lamp shades. Now that my home is fully furnished ( I still have my eye on a beautiful four poster bed, but that will be for later) I don't really need any useful items and I can concentrate on the fun part of car boot sale hunting...weird nick-nacks and other "decorative junk". I always loved to have a wall full of pictures frames, a collection of photos and art from different era's and styles but my wall is still quite bare. Slowly slowly it is coming together, but I need a lot more! Last Sunday I found an interesting photo of a young couple. Both in their best outfit, nice hats, beautiful smiles.

The frame in green leather, looking as old as the picture itself. For just a pound, it was hard to pass it up. At home, being curious as ever, I took it out of the frame and saw a glimpse of a different live, different time...since then this photo is fascinating me. The picture was taken in Florence in 1939. Someone wrote " Betty and Enzo. To dad, with affection."

Betty looks English, and Enzo is unmistakably Italian. My parents met in Florence in the seventies, so I can imagine their story being similar to my parents'. They walked the same streets, different cultures, different languages. 1939...right before WWII. I wonder what happened to them. Did they get married? Was it just a summer love? Did the war destroy their friendship or love story...I guess I'll never know, but Betty and Enzo are more than welcome on my photo and art wall in my inspiration room aka craftroom slash dining room.

byhand.me spotlight by moi byhand.me allows you to create spotlights featuring your own or other artists' creations. Here's a vintage glamour themed spotlight I made today:

Hello from the U.K.

What are two months in a human's life? I just looked back at my blog and noticed two month have gone by in absolute silence. The funny things about this is that in these two months two of the biggest changes in my life sofar, have take place. I have finally moved to my new flat in the U.K. with all my belongings and left my family behind in Belgium. Only a week after i moved here i already had to go back home because my dear 88 year old grandma passed away. Happy versus Sad... it's an unfair battle. I know my grandma was not the kind of person to sit around and sob about things going wrong or life being sad. Even at that high age she was super active and an example to many. I felt that i needed to keep myself busy if i didn't want to sink into home sickness and melancholy and what is better than a brand new flat as an empty canvas to get your emotions under control again? Luckily my fiance' is as interested in home decor as I am but at one point it became quite extreme and i couldn't even pick a toaster and kettle for our flat without making sure it would match our flat. Ok, things have calmed down now, but i'm still trying to convince him that the spare room will be a craft room slash dining room and not the other way round! Here is our first makeover for the corridor : a handpainted diamond pattern with a vintage florentine cabinet and a vintage inspired mirror. I'll give away one secret: the frame is from Ikea, but I painted it to match the cabinet...can you tell?

Buttons

Another thriftstore find

Here i am again with another great thriftstore find. I know i haven't been posting much else than my vintage finds lately but it's all i have time for right now. This is the sewing kit i found on my last trip to the thriftstore and i love it! I was lucky to get it in mint condition with all the original items still inside, because usually all boxes, cupboards and photo albums in these thriftstores are emptied before sale. Inside i found vintage buttons, ribbons, needles, thread and a vintage and slightly rusted pillbox with "aiguilles" (needles) written on it in a beautiful oldfashioned handwriting. Some of the black foil wrappings for the needles haven't even been opened and the most of the button cards were still complete. I 'm not good at sewing even though my grandma has tried to explain the basics many times and even gave me her sewing machine and loads of vogue patterns from the fifties and sixties. Maybe this box is a sign that i should atleast give it a try and take sewing classes next year.

Through the Viewfinder
I have a new addiction. It's called TtV. TtV stands for "Through the Viewfinder" and is a photographic technique that gives your photos a very old, vintage style look. I always thought i was an effect created with photoshop or with those really antique cameras, but i recently discovered how to do it. You take a digital camera and take a picture through the viewfinder of a vintage or antique camera, in my case a Kodak Cresta III. My original plan was to take pictures with the Cresta, but it's too complicated for an amateur like me (don't know where to get the right film, can't develop the photo's myself etc). And if i would take real pictures with that camera they probably won't have that nice TtV effect anyway, and that's what i was interested in, in the first place. Here are my first TtV's, but have a look a the the Flickr Group for the best TtV's from other photographers.

Be fashionable in each and every circumstance

Yes ladies, even when you are driving your convertible!
Scanned from :Fémina, 1906

Photo Booth Beauties : my newest bag

I miss making bags! I did so much jewellery lately and i'm getting bored of it now, so it was time to bring the bags out and do something new. If i say i have alot of bags...then i really do have a lot of bags. I think i'm close to 50 vintage bags waiting for a makeover and i have 30 or so new, custom made ones ( granny style) coming over in a few weeks! And last saturday i bought six beautiful vintage bags at a Retro Day , i should really stop buying now...i think. Here's my latest creation: a white vintage bag, painted pale teal and pale bronze with vintage photo booth pictures. I really like the lock button, it's automatic...that must have been really modern in those days! I love the distressed and faded look and i think it goes well with the theme and style of the bag.

Custom order for my mum. I used her godmother's vintage crochet piece. The trim is made of antique lace, a family heirloom.