Treasure Tuesday - Avon Jewelry

Quite by accident, I have discovered a new love affair with Avon Jewelry. A couple of years ago, I found a fabulous necklace at an Antiques store, and noticed it was signed Avon.

A little research online has revealed that Avon's vintage jewelry is quite collectible - not worth a whole lot $$ wise, but very cool.

Last week, iTaggit released an awesome new feature that allows you to post an item for sale on ebay in a few clicks.

I posted this necklace, on a whim. I had never sold on ebay - can you believe it? I was amazed that someone purchased it! So while I was on ebay, I looked around for pieces I wanted to buy, and found another amazing Avon necklace.

In one week I sold and purchased my first items on ebay - it was very exciting! The new piece is super awesome - 1970s deco style (deco refers to 1920s to 30s style - geometric, urban and angular with a few fancy flourishes). This is all the rage right now in fashion.

Now I have added the new necklace to my Funky Vintage Necklaces collection, and plan on selling and buying a lot more on ebay soon! Check out our online Help section for step by step guides to all the things you can do on iTaggit!

Jami Deadly: Vintage Pinup Beauty And Horror T.V. Show Host

Jami Deadly is a busy girl. Her resume is highlighted with activities such as becoming a renowned Marilyn Monroe impersonator, hosting her own goofy horror t.v. show called “Deadly Cinema”, and being featured as a pinup beauty contest winner in several magazines. She has been a retro enthusiast for over a decade and has collected just about everything there is to own about Marilyn, as well as vintage pinup books, old Hollywood biographies, and a large dvd collection. I will be sure to feature Ms. Deadly's collection on iTaggit as soon as she has finished posting her things.

As a young brunette growing up on a farm, she loved watching Betty Grable, Jean Harlow, and Mae West, but could identify most with Miss Marilyn Monroe. Jami spoke of Monroe's inner light that matched her beauty as one of her most outstanding features to replicate. Being an impersonator is more work than one would begin to believe. It takes a lot of character study and mental preparation to get down every little detail and mannerism about the person. Jami's first priority is portraying Marilyn in a positive light, as her memory has been skewed by media coverage since her death in 1962. “When I am applying my makeup in the mirror, I have to start the psychological transformation as well, and by the time I've applied the beauty mark, I'm Miss Monroe.”

As a successful Marilyn impersonator, Jami has been able to travel around the world performing in conventions and publicity shoots during her career. She has met a wide array of persons, including those who lose touch with reality, become starry eyed, and begin to ask her personal questions as if she were really Marilyn. Jami also mentioned one instance where she “did a gig representing the Marilyn Monroe touring exhibit, and people were coming up to me and poking me to see if I was a wax figure or not. It can get a little strange!”

In my previous two blogs of this trilogy, I have introduced you to Drew and his comic Halloween Man, as well as Gayla and 666photography. Jami is Drew's wife and the cover model for Halloween Man, which Gayla shot. Gayla has also produced some of Jami's favorite career photos, which can be viewed on their MySpace pages. Jami also loves starring in her own t.v. show, “Deadly Cinema,” which mixes Elvira with Mystery Science Theater 3000. Jami was inspired to create a blonde bombshell horror host, bringing a twist to the usual raven haired beauties. She crossed paths with director/writer/cast member Matt Muhl, and as they say, the rest is history. Jami describes her show as “an odd mix of a glamorous blonde, bad "b" movies, a pink coffin, and monster cast members.” People have embraced it and now it has its own cult following separate of her pinup career. If you want to check it out: Jami has a 3-disc set of all her episodes, including special features, available here on her MySpace page.

666photography Translates Rockabilly Culture Onto Film

Austin is known for its slogan “Keep Austin Weird” because of the unique culture that thrives in the heart of Texas. From the “Hi, How Are You?” frog mural by Daniel Johnston on the side of the old Austin Sound Exchange music store on Guadalupe, to being dubbed “The Live Music Capitol of The World,” the eccentric side of this city is visible where ever you are. 666photography was founded by Gayla, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and her vision adds to what makes this town so great.

She has always been interested in modern rockabilly culture, art nouveau, vaudeville, and Victorian fashion, so she was naturally inclined to begin shooting glamorous pinup photography. Gayla has early recollections of family outings to antique auctions or estate sales and has been collecting distinct pieces since she was small. Her first major purchase as a child was a 1930's armoir, and her furniture collection has since grown so vast that her storage room “looks like a bomb blew up in a vintage store.” There is no idea Gayla and 666photography can't recreate for their models. They build their sets from the ground up, and often hand make their costumes, hats, and accessories to form the concept perfectly.

Gayla was the photographer for the cover of Halloween Man, which I featured last week. Jami Deadly, who portrays the character on the cover, has modeled for Gayla on numerous occasions, and is married to Drew Edwards, the writer/creator of Halloween Man. Gayla knew if she combined her photography with Jami's look, they could give Drew the cover shot of Lucy, a main character in HM, he was looking for.

666photography currently has numerous projects in the works including two books, one of them covering the Seven Deadly Sins, and their schedule is filled through December 2007. If you would like to make an appointment and discuss a photography shoot with Gayla, you can reach her through her MySpace page here. To ensure you grab her attention, she humorously encourages titling messages to the effect of “Read This! I Want To Give You My Money,” and that should bump you up to the top of her respondee list.

Be on the lookout for the conclusion of this trilogy with my upcoming blog featuring Jami Deadly!

Thrift Thursday - Antique Quilt Block

One of my favorite pastimes is rummaging through piles of fabric at thrift stores. On occasion, I come up with a real treasure. My mom is an avid quilter, and I absolutely adore quilts - especially old quilts.

I found this hand-pieced quilt block about 2 years ago in one of my favorite vintage stores - New Bohemia in Austin, Texas. I had found two blocks from the same maker months before, and given them to my mom. Then I found this one, and decided to keep it!

I think the fabric is from the 1930s - but I am not sure. It is very old, and the prints are amazing. I just pinned it to a piece of acid free paper and framed it in a cheapie frame. It hangs in my "textile corner" at the iTaggit offices.

One of the things I love about iTaggit is how I can store so much information about each item - multiple pictures, the story of how I bought it, and all kinds of specialized fields depending on the item's category. My mom recently added a collection of her small quilts - check them out! Much more on quilting and quilters to come!

New Funky Vintage Jewelry Collection!

So for those of you who don't know - I collect jewelry. I started adding my extensive collection to iTaggit last week - and it was so fun!

I can remember where I bought most pieces, or who gave them to me. I like being able to write the history of each piece on iTaggit.

I wanted to feature a few of my favorite pieces today

First is this huge necklace that my friend Jasmine gave to me. I love the organic feel it has, and it makes any t-shirt immediately dressy.

Second is my "wooden delight" necklace - I scored it at a Thrift store for a few bucks, and I get SO many compliments on it.

Read more of my blogs on Jewerly, Art, Crafts and Antiques here!

I'll Trade You My Apple For A Nutty Buddy

My three favorite times as a child, in this order, were:

1. Last day of school

2. One day of year when it snowed

3. Back-to-school shopping

Back-to-school shopping was probably the only thing that got me stoked about the approaching school year. It wasn't that I didn't like school, but summers were just so unbelievably freeing. I disdained all the apple imagery that began popping up all the ads, reminding me of the inevitable early mornings, homework, and teasing. But once I got the school shopping list, my dread turned to eager anticipation. Maybe it was the smell of school supplies or the satisfaction of having a bunch of untouched objects at my disposal, but whatever the reason, I loved the careful choosing of supplies.

That's why I collect vintage lunch boxes. Because besides backpacks, lunch boxes were the single supply that insisted on personal expression.

I don't think I meant to collect lunch boxes. Something about that boxy, metal tote just triggered a memory one day when I was browsing a flea market. I opened up the lid and saw a Thermos. Oh yeah...Thermoses. I remember these...

And so the love affair began and has been rekindled since I've put them all on iTaggit. It's so much fun to stand back and look at these things that may not be worth much, but have always been a part of what makes me different.

How do your collections make you different?