A Tribute to Pooh Bear, RIP

My wonderful kitty, Pooh Bear, died of cancer many moons ago.  A very generous artist and new friend, Maitha, has offered to do some drawings of him to help me in my art journaling process of letting him go.  This is the first of the drawings, and I think it turned out just amazing.  Thank you so much, Maitha.  You have such a good heart.  I will post a link to your blog when I can find one.  Could you send me one again, actually?  Thanks.

I have a blog!

Now that I have a blog, I'm feeling a little tongue-tied.  What do people want to read?

I am getting more and more into vintage stuff lately.  I've always loved vintage jewelry, and I had the occasional vintage clothing item in college (I miss you, cutaway tailcoat, wherever you are!) but now I am consumed by the quest for cool vintage stuff--in person, on-line, wherever.  Savers is my new favorite store, and yard sales the new recreation, and I can surf the internet for hours looking at everything and nothing--Artfire and etsy can be like a yard sale without the heat or the bugs.....I'm hooked.  Let me know if you have a hoarde of great vintage sites.  It's not just a hobby any more; it's an obsession.

I'm even liking some of the faux vintage stuff that's out there.  At first, I hated that vintage was becoming the new "it" thing, since those of us who've always loved vintage have so much more competition for bargains now, and it makes my heart hurt to think of some of the beauties I've lost out on in a bidding war that may end up thrown away or otherwise abandoned once the bloom is off the "vintage" rose, and the trend shifts to whatever comes next.  But then I realized that I might as well embrace the good that comes with this trend, which is some really cool faux-vintage stuff out there.  I used to be a snob about only honoring "real" vintage treasures, but I'm over it now, because it's all just supposed to be fun.  I wear my vintage treasures I've been collecting for 35 years alongside some pretty neat new stuff, faux vintage and otherwise, and some hybrid stuff--a blending of old and new elements, such as the Steampunk trend.  I love me some Steampunk!

Making Memories, which is well known for scrapbooking, has a very cool faux-vintage line of charms, pendants, chains and strands called Vintage Groove by Jill Schwartz.  There is some very cool stuff there, and I got to see some of it 3-D when I helped them put up a display at the Michaels in Brighton, Colorado.  I had to leave Michaels before I got any shopping in that day, as my helper needed to get to work, but I can't wait to get back there tomorrow and make some deliciously agonizing choices about which components to buy.  You can see their  line at http://www.makingmemories.com/vintage_groove_jewelry_by_jill_schwartz ---there is so much cool stuff under "hard embellishments" (and under everything else, too--the site is packed with drool-worthy ephemera and paper collections, too) that you will probably get almost as obsessed as I am.  As it is, I've made two Vintage Groove necklaces to show you here, if I can figure out how to insert a picture.  I desperately need more Vintage Groove stuff!

I thought they turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Well, better get some sleep.  Tomorrow is the first time I'm going to the monthly meeting of a book arts club, where I'll actually get to hang out with some fellow altered art people in real life.  I'm so excited!  As of now, all my art buddies are online, except for one.  I still need to pack up all my supplies and such, and get it together to be there at the crack of dawn--well, okay, ten o'clock, but that's pretty early for me.  I have it on good authority that dawn actually happens much, much earlier, but I'd have to see it for myself to believe it.

So--welcome to the new blog.  Thanks for listening.  Please let me know if you have any good vintage info, either online or in Colorado.  Thanks!  Joani