Thanks to everyone who came over for the Silpada Jewelry party yesterday afternoon. I had fun planning out my vintage props for the jewelry displays. Take a look.

I have exciting news to share!

At the end of last year, I received a request from a lovely lady who wanted to know if I did international shipping. I never considered it before because of the distance and potential breakage of a ring holder. It took 7 – 8 weeks to get to Glasgow, Scotland; and she left such sweet feedback that I just had to share….

I am thrilled that my work has been featured in the 4th issue of Uppercase Magazine. A big huge thanks to Janine for including me on page 89 where “orphaned saucers (are) turned into adopted treasures”. I just love her coined phrase ‘frugal and fancy’ which is ‘the art of taking a discarded object and repurposing it into something beautiful, useful and treasured.’

Every couple of weeks I go to Heirloom Antiques to buy more saucers from the collection of Mary Nielson. There are shelves upon shelves with stacks of saucers. I love going through them all, one by one, and carefully making my selections. I put the ones I have picked into a ‘Oh, my God, have-to-have-it’ pile and then a ‘maybe, I-am-not-sure’ pile.

The saucer pictured here is one of those ‘have-to-have-it’. I have been collecting saucers for a few years now and it amazes me that I can still find saucers that absolutely take my breath away. And believe it or not, this pattern was manufactured by Royal Albert. I find a lot of Royal Albert and the patterns have become very stale for me. So I am totally mistaken to think that Royal Albert was the ‘white bread’ of fine china.

I only wish that there was a pattern name on the back. I like it when there is one because it gives it meaning; otherwise, I am lost as to how to reference it. So in need of a proper name, I will call this pattern ‘doodles’, just like the loopy doodles I draw with my pen when I am daydreaming.

My usual ritual on Sundays is a trip to the local Hillhurst-Sunnyside flea market. It has always been my intention to photograph my thrifty finds here on this blog. Thus so far, this has never happened. But today, here is a pic of a saucer that I scooped up. I absolutely adore it.

The name of the pattern is Senorita by Royal Albert. It features a pink rose in the middle with a border of black lace, also referred to as ‘Spanish Lace’. This design was manufactured in the 1950’s. I think it is as beautiful and elegant today as it was back then produced over 50 years ago.

A few weeks ago, I entered my ring holder(s) design into Avenue Magazine’s Design Inside the Box Competition.

Winning entries will be included in the May 2010 issue and the designer showcase at Domicile Interiors. There will be an auction which will go partly to the designer, Avenue, and Inn from the Cold.

Not sure when I will hear anything (if at all). So wish me luck!