Autena, Vintage Trinkets and Treasures, on Etsy

Charming Bracelets

As I was re-listing some 1967 newspapers, called The Ocean Press, I decided to re-take some photos. One of them showed an article on charm bracelets, that I found so delightful to read (I love charms bracelets, and most especially charms of all sorts). 

I took some close-ups of it to post here for you to enjoy.

Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a charm bracelet that lights up!

Winter Antiques in the South of France

Some of you may have noticed that I have been missing in action of late (gee, I hope so, but perhaps not...). Well, I was lucky enough to be able to take a jaunt to the French Riviera for a week-- hubby and I gave ourselves a gift in honor of Christmas, my birthday, and our anniversary. 

We visited the Nice flower market just three blocks from our hotel. 

 

On Mondays, it becomes an antique market. Hooray! We had other plans for that day, so we got up early and popped over to check it out. 

 At 8 AM, it is still dark there and also chilly on an early January morning.

But I took pictures anyway and with the help of some editing to bring some light to them, I want to share them with you.

The dealers appeared to be hard core, old-timers (even the younger ones). My French is spotty at best and I also did not know the proper haggling etiquette, so I was too intimated to even try to buy anything. Not to mention that it all seemed to be rather expensive.

Not only that, but several of the price signs were in francs. France has had euros for 10 years. It's tricky enough to calculate euros into dollars, but francs? Forget it! Even though I did see some small things I really liked, it was too mentally confusing for me.

 Can you see the Mediterranean sea through the arch?

It was fun to be there as daybreak came and the sky lightened.

I wanted to share my favorite piece. I asked the dealer if I could take a picture ( in a kind of sign language with my camera!) and, in the usual French way, he shrugged and turned away from me (I'm part French, so no disrepect intended). I took that as a yes and snapped away, with a flash.

This most amazing necklace was full of beads, coins, and who knows what. Isn't it wonderful? I can't imagine how much it weighs, but it is truly a statement necklace!

We thought the market was only in the morning, as is the flower one. But it went all day and later on, after we finished with our other plans, we returned for another quick look around.

This was taken from the top of some stairs we found. The weather was rather dreary that day.

It was a lot of fun just to look, but I wish I'd been a more intrepid soul. Well, maybe on the next adventure...

Old Toys and Dolls Are the Best

I had lunch a few days ago at the Taft Museum in Cincinnati, a beautiful art museum with a rich, interesting  history.  The food, I must say, was so-so, but afterwards we went upstairs to see the Antique Christmas exhibit, which includes antique ornaments. toys, and cards. 

As a lover of old dolls, toys, and miniatures, I was in my element browsing throughout the richly decorated rooms to see the various displays.

I found a lovely blog, written by a man who donated many toys to be displayed. 

It is called A Home for Dolly and it shows other photos of what was there. 

What a sweetheart!

This gives you an idea of how richly decorated the rooms are at the museum.

A tree decorated with paper fruit!

 

These dolls had the most wonderful, lifelike expressions on their faces.

A patriotic Christmas.

Another cutie...

A huge thank you to FOX19.com for posting these photos on their website. 

SOLD ! (or not)

The Vintage Village is a Ning social network I belong to. It is for antique, vintage, and collectible enthusiasts and there are many sellers of these categories on there, but also, I imagine, others who are just interested  and do not have a shop. It is a fun place with lots of information as well as items for sale. 

Last week they put out a notice that they were going to do a group participation on Tophatter, a live virtual auction site and anyone who wanted to place items up for auction could do so. Well, that was hard to resist, so I eventually listed two items. I chose two that had been for sale for a while and that I could do without. There was no charge to me--don't know if there was one for the group as a whole.

I ended up in the standby category, rather than the main area. but if someone places a bid on an item in standby, then it goes into the auction when everything else in the main area has been auctioned off. You place a minimum bid on your stuff--anywhere from $1.00 on up. There is no reserve, so if you, for instance, place a dollar as the minimum, and there is only one bid, it sells for a dollar. SO, be careful about that!

Here is what sold for $4.00, my minimum. It is probably worth more, but it was free to me and I was not that attached to it.

This is what did not sell...a lovely Monet leaf brooch. So back to the shop it goes.

I did not attend the auction. It began at 8 P.M. and went for 2 1/2 hours, with many attendees. That is the other thing-you can just watch the proceedings without actually attending the auction, or you can enter and chat with all who are there. It is fast paced, especially for popular items.

                                                             ReneeVintage

Most of the stuff being auctioned, at this time, are things like jewelry, craft supplies, fashion, and handmade. Some are closed to sellers (though you can attend and bid on any of them) and others are open, meaning you can sell items appropriate to the type of auctions it is.

I haven't yet bought anything, nor have I placed any more things for sale. but it is a fun place and you can get great deals too.

Hunting the Antique Mall

Took a highly anticipated 20 mile trip the other day to my favorite (huge) antique mall to look for material to use in my jewelry creations (old jewelry to repurpose, buttons, charms--little found objects) and also, if truth be told, to scout out some inexpensive goodies to sell in my vintage shops.

We spent many hours there and it was getting to be late afternoon. I had found jewelry items, but not too much resale stuff, other than a couple of old children's books. We got to the locked glass cases, which tend to hold small things (good for resale) and expensive things (not too good for either of my quests). But suddenly something caught my eye and I rang the button to have someone come and unlock the case, so I could take a closer look.

     This faux leather case full of cuff links, tie bars, and tie pins enthralled me because it's always good business to mix in a few things for sale for the guys.

I looked it over as carefully as one can when a salesperson is standing nearby waiting to see if you want it or not.

I turned several pieces over  and though some were unmarked, many others were signed (Swank and Hickok are both well-known companies).

The price was, well, let's just say, it was a bargain.

  Counting each set as one piece, it averaged out to be around a dollar each.       Yikes! I HAD to get it! Fourteen tie bars, eleven sets of cufflinks, three shirt studs (one oddball), several tie tacks, and an ugly old case 

are mine now.
Hope they sell!

Now I picked a few to show in close-up. Most are in good condition, though all will need cleaning prior to listing.

 A maple leaf and a traffic light --how cute are these tie tacks?

I think this is a set of golf clubs, pun intended.

Great set here if your name is Nick or Nathan.

Of course, there is always a dud in the bunch, and this group was no exception. Check these out... (even the tie tac decoration was glued back on, rather messily.

Oh well, that's okay. They can always go into the odd and ends stuff --someone somewhere will want them, I'm sure!

Victoria Day

The birthday of Queen Victoria is a federal holiday in Canada. Originally falling on May 24, which is her actual birthday, it is now celebrated every year on or before May 24. 

In honor of this holiday, I decided to pretend I was in Portobello Road, the famous antique market in London, and do some window shopping.on Etsy.

 BeJoyfulVintage

For those who know not of Queen Victoria, here is the nutshell version of her history...

welmish

Monarch of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901 (over 63+ years), inheriting the throne at the age of 18

 LABELSTONE 

Was fifth in line for the succession and, due to unusual circumstances, became the Queen.

 auntlettuce

Married her first cousin, Prince Albert and had nine children

 cpmcdill

Great, great grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II

debbiesfunstuff

 Great great great grandmother of Princes William and Harry

sianuskavintage


Here is a link to the amazing PORTOBELLO ROAD