What's YOUR vintage flavour?

I'm understanding that 80's jewelry is making the rounds in the vintage arena. Really, now... the 80s were not THAT long ago. OK, not to me. Time flies so much faster after 30ish. Yeah, that must be it.

Late 80s earrings.
I think I'm upset that anything I bought new is
now considered to be a collectible item.

I must confess that even though I frequently wore costume jewelry, looking back makes me shudder at the tackiness of the 80s style. Most jewelry back in that era was oversized and chunky. Well, naturally, big hair and big shoulder pads need big jewelry!

Mid 80s necklace and earrings. Is this considered vintage?
Really?

Now, these earrings below are more along the lines that make me look twice. The thing for me is I have no occasion to wear them (they were whispering my name). I live in a tiny village and typical outings involve going to one of two very small towns to do my grocery shopping. My other activities involve treasure hunting at local thrift shops (all three of them) and yard sales or playing with the dogs in the yard. Glittery earrings don't quite work in these settings any more than dressy shoes with three inch heels. But still... they're pretty and nice to look at.

My kind of eye candy!

Too much stuff...

I'm not a hoarder. I just have lots of stuff. I love stuff... mostly old stuff - vintage stuff. And I have lots of it. I can't stop my love of finding stuff and I can't keep all my stuff because I'm running out of places to put some of it and the little stuff just gets put into a jewelery box or something and forgotten.


I'm going to get rid of some of my stuff and have me a yard sale but not in my yard. Several items of what I'm showing here is stuff that was sold as junk jewellry. How delightful to learn I acquired silver and gold sold as costume jewelly. My kind of junk. 


When it comes to the vintage stuff, many here don't know or appreciate the value of old stuff. To them, it's just old stuff. To me, and perhaps you, it's a found treasure. It carries the feel of less complicated days... carefree and innocent. It has character, patina and was made with integrity. Does that sound odd? Made with integrity. Maybe I should say it was made to last, with quality in mind instead of mass produced and cheaply done.


Lots of my stuff is on my other blog... fabfindsgentlertimes.blogspot.com but there's so much more that I haven't taken photos of yet. Too much lovely stuff. 


Here's some lovely stuff but it's not necessarily old stuff. Just great stuff.

Snake chain and pendant, stamped .925 Italy

.925 silver ring with cubic zirconia
(not sure of the stone, actually)

Beautiful silverplated Monet choker.

Choker made of silver beads and
what I believe to be potato pearls

Ladies Zodiac Automatic 60's watch in 18kt gold

Pretty vintage clutch purse and earrings.
Wouldn't these be a lovely accessory with that little black dress?

Pretty little silver (.925) necklace, most likely for a child.

Silver (stamped .925) bracelet.
This is perfect for a small wrist. 

A whopping 120 grams of silver snake chain.
Stamped .925 Italy.

There are 21 stands of silver chain in this stunning necklace.

Blue turquoise and silver earrings.

About that reno...

Hubs to me... Why did you show that photo of the siding to your brother?


Me.... Which one?


Hubs... The one where the siding doesn't quite line up. 


Me.... Oh, Sweetie. It's not out that much. You're too fussy. He won't even notice. (umm... actually, he did notice)


Hubs... It looks bad. It makes me look bad.


Me... No, it doesn't look bad at all. Hey, did you know if you tilt your head all the way towards your left shoulder it looks perfectly lined up. It does. Try it.


Hubs...    


Me.... Hey! Where'd ya go? 


Seriously, though. A major undertaking, done solo by a perfectionist who is not a builder and who suffers immensely with 2 herniated discs, 2 compacted discs (and lots of spasms), a torn right rotator cuff that often causes a lack of feeling in his hand, a damaged sternum from a work injury, a damaged ankle from a break as well as severely torn ligaments (worse than the broken bone) that still causes him great pain after THREE years and there's even more that he suffers from but you get the picture, right? 


I don't ever look for perfection in the things done around our humble home. I love the little imperfections as they serve as reminders that we are just human, not perfect but doing our best. To me, those little things that aren't perfect are akin to the patina on a vintage treasure. They show character. Overall, the addition was well done; he does his homework and refuses to cut corners. It's a solid 2x6 construction with great attention paid to those things that will prevent issues down the road (like rodent prevention, for one)... ewww.

At present, (pics to come) the insulation and vapor barrier is completed inside. Hubs needs a break now and is chewing on how he's going to finish the interior. Wainscot on some walls, the style and size of closet, etc. The roof (to be re-shingled next year) and rafters are original and not to code. That is to say, not 16 on center and with materials being as 4 x 8, it's a lot of extra work with regards to drywall and such. It had been debated whether to completely replace the roof or keep it. We found the wood to be in excellent condition so he decided to keep it. 


I've probably caused Hubs much more 'labour' just by having him explain to me why this can't be done like 'such and such' because of the not-to-code rafters. I listen but I'm like a deer in headlights. I get it but I try to find ways to offer easy solutions for Hubs. I should just practice the fine art of shut-up instead. 


This is our inspiration pic for the east wall that faces the river. I can't wait. Just focus on the bench seating and vintage table. Our layout won't allow for all the other gorgeous elements in this gorgeous photo.

Inspiration pic for our nook.