Something Made Me Smile Today -- A Gentleman and a Brooch

Since my computer crashed over the weekend, I have not been able to access the internet until now, so, I have returned to begin one of our traditions here at the Robin's Nest Treasures Blog -- which is that I will close each post with a segment, which may be only a few words, or it may be longer, about "something that made me smile that day".   So, here is my "smile" for today.

                                                                            
       A GENTLEMAN AND A BROOCH

  As I was looking through my coat closet today I passed by my dress coat that I haven't worn much lately and I saw this vintage brooch pinned on the lapel.  It brought back a memory for some reason that I would like to share with you.
  Several years ago, long before I ever envisioned starting Robin's Nest Treasures, I bought a lovely vintage brooch which I thereafter wore on my winter dress coat.  I loved the pin and I received many compliments on it from strangers, but there was a compliment from one man that I  will always remember.                                                                                 
  I worked in downtown Pittsburgh, PA for about 22 years as a trial attorney, and through the years we came to recognize certain homeless men who frequented our end of town.  There was one particular man, whose name I am ashamed to say that I do not know,  who lived on the streets for years who appeared to suffer from schizophrenia or some other severe mental illness.  He often roamed in and out of traffic, disheveled at best, rambling unintelligibly, and shouting whatever was on his mind to whoever would listen.
  One bright sunny winter day I was walking down the sidewalk downtown toward a corner where I needed to cross the street, and I found this man standing on the corner.  His clothes were new, he was clean shaven, his eyes were clear and bright!  He smiled at me and said -- What a lovely brooch you're wearing madame, may I escort you across the street?  Normally, I might have hesitated, but his eyes were so bright, his spirits so high, I could not help but smile and say -- Why certainly kind sir.
  So we walked across the street -- just a few dozen feet -- and then we parted ways, but I must tell you that he still makes me smile because my heart leaped for joy for him that day.  Not because he had bathed or had new clothes, but because, for a least some brief time, he had escaped from the neurological abyss that fate had placed him into.  I don't know whether he received some medication or whether his brain chemistry just decided to give him a compassionate respite from his torturous disease, but, whatever the cause --- for a brief time --- his face was in the sun, and he was whole.
  The next time I saw him he was filthy, delirious, rambling - buried deep again in his horrible abyss.  I pitied him with all of my heart.  I don't know what ever happened to him.  Wherever he is, in this life or the next, I hope that he would be pleased to know that, when I think of him, I think of that gallant gentleman who escorted me across the street that beautiful winter day, and that even today - he makes me smile.    

Until the next time,
Be Well and Happy --
         Robin

 
 

A Slideshow of Canvas and Laminated Fabrics Available for Tote Bags, etc. from Robin's Nest Treasures

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Yes, it is 4:35 am and I am in Smilebox Slideshow Hell.  I will not even begin to describe the frustration that I have been through the past four hours!  Ha ha.  Normally I really like Smilebox, but tonight just was not my night.  No, folks, today Smilebox will not be the thing that I write about in my post later today that "made me smile"!

We have about 20" of new snow here in Pittsburgh, PA, and there is a state of emergency pretty much everywhere.  I have been hard at work on things for my etsy shop.  My house is in chaos with fabric and assorted goods everywhere.  I have been taking lots of pictures today of vintage flower brooches to post on etsy, and I think that my photography skills are improving somewhat.  I do not have the greatest digital camera, but it will have to do for now.  I will have to ventre out tomorrow and get some pictures of the snow at a local park.  I am thankful that I did not lose power, since many people in our area lost power and are still without it.  So, Henry Frank, Miss Bunny and I are nice and warm in the house and I think that it is finally time to go to sleep.

Until tomorrow -- well really - later today --
Be well and happy-

Robin 

Beginning Some New Nest Blog Traditions

Hello, Yes, It's about 3:00 am, and I have not gone to bed yet.  This post was supposed to be my "Friday" post, but, we will just pretend that I got it in before midnight, since it will still be here when you wake up.  Hey, there's about a foot or more of snow outside and it is still snowing!  The huge trees in my backyard are bent over to the ground and I'm just waiting for them to snap and crash into my deck.  They are so beautiful all covered in snow, I just wish that we would get some wind to blow the snow off of the limbs. 

Before we get down to business, I will share two photos with you.  Henry Frank and Bunny are not "outside" cats, so they have never felt snow.  They are almost 2 years old, but this is by far the most snow they have ever seen.  Bunny is afraid of the white stuff, but I let Henry walk a few feet into the snow.  He was so funny - the snow was so deep he could barely walk.  I built a little cat snowman at about 9:00 pm -- 6 hours ago -- which has long since been buried by the new snow, but here is a photo.

This Snow  Kitty Lady is stylin' with her haute couture birds' nest hat and her mousie purse from Robin's Nest Treasures' Kitty Kouture Line (yet to be launched!).  I'm particularly proud of her eyelashes.  I have no idea why I had these in my "stash", but I'm glad that I found a good use for them.

So, on to starting some traditions.  I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I am supposed to do with this blog, and frankly, I do not have the slightest clue.  Its initial purpose is to promote my business, and that is fine, but it should be more than that.  So, week by week, we will strive to make it more than a google ad.

So far, I don't think that anyone except for my closest friends are even reading this blog, but that's okay for now.  Things will change.  If there is one thing that I have learned over the past ten years, it is that you never know what life has in store for you -- don't ever assume that you have it all figured out, or that "it" will never happen to you.  Bloom where you are planted, etc, etc, etc.

Okay, since I have developed this fascination for vintage earrings, I have decided that each Friday, I will pick one pair of my favorite earrings out of my "stash" and  share them with you.  Big deal, you say.  Yes, the only person who may be entertained is me, however, there is more to it.  First, I will strive to learn and share with you each Friday some knowledge about the history of vintage jewelry (earrings), the artists, manufacturers, etc. 

Second, and most importantly, my FREE VINTAGE FLOWER BROOCH GIVEAWAY blog post event begins at 12:01 am on Saturday, February 20, 2010!  Beginning on Friday, February 26, 2010, for a period of 5 weeks, on each Friday I will give away one free vintage jewelry flower brooch in a drawing among individuals who have left posts on my blog the previous week during the period of time from 12:01 am Saturday to Noon on Friday.  The drawing will be conducted, and the winner will be announced between 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm on the applicable Fridays.  Each Saturday at 12:01 am we will start over from scratch for the new week.  Sorry, but you can only win one brooch per person. 

So, please spread the word among your friends/family!  Here are some samples of my vintage jewelry brooches for Valentines Day,  but I am currently making others for spring/summer.  I will post a photo of the brooch that is up for grabs each week on the blog.  As always, I am continually listing these brooches in my etsy shop at http://www.robinsnesttreasures.etsy.com/

 

The Second Nest tradition that I want to talk about starting is having a weekly post entitled "       "  Made Me Smile Today.  So I will fill in the blank and tell the story at the end of the regular post.  It may take three sentences or three pages to tell the story -- whatever it takes to share the goodwill.  I have a story to tell today, but at the moment, I cannot hold my head up any longer - I must go to sleep - I will tell the story later today.

Be Well and Happy--

Robin

Filthy to Fabulous -- The Jewelry Cleaning Adventures of Henry Frank II

Hello, my name is Henry Frank II.  I am the handsome orange tabby cat pictured to the left, and I am the Lord of the Manor of Robin's Nest Treasures.  My sister, Miss Bunny, pictured below, is the Princess of the Manor.  It is Friday night and my Mommy, Robin, just received some vintage jewelry from Ebay.  I am going to help Mommy clean some of this jewelry.  Bunny and I LOVE to play with Mommy's vintage jewelry pieces.  We call them the "shinies".  Mommy keeps them in sealed boxes most of the time so that we cannot get to them, but every once in a while, she brings them out so that we can plot our adventures with them.  Tonight is a jewelry cleaning night, and I must position myself on the bathroom counter so that -- FIRST, I may play in the water, and SECOND, I may get a closer look at the shinies! 

Okay, Henry Frank, this is my Blog, so I will take over the Post now, thank you.  I use a lot of vintage earrings to make my various "treasures" for Robin's Nest Treasures", and I love the old vintage clip earrings!  Today I received an order from a lady on Ebay who apparently has hundreds of vintage earrings (I'm jealous!), and she wants to get rid of them pronto!  So, in addition to my order, she sent me some free vintage flower plastic clip earrings that were very dirty.  She probably thought that they were worthless, but, behold, the power of TOOTHPASTE!

Yes, toothpaste is a vintage jewelry collector's best friend.  Get a soft baby's toothbrush and some toothpaste - wet the brush - and GENTLY rub the earring to remove dirt and grime.  Be very careful with pearl and pearlescent finishes because they peal off easily.  Also be careful with loose stones.

It is truly amazing, however, how glorious your vintage beauties will look after a thorough but gentle cleaning!  Remember -- Never use a conventional jewelry cleaner on vintage jewelry!

  

The photo above shows the "before" cleaning on the flower on the left, and the "after" cleaning on the right.  Unfortunately it is not as dramatic in the photo as it is in real life.

Anyway,  the next photo shows the formerly filthy freebies all cleaned up and ready for action.  I do not have many plastic vintage earrings in my stash, but I am happy to add these pretty little flowers.  They will be good for making summer flower brooches. 

As you can see from the photo below Henry Frank was exhausted by the end of the cleaning session! 

Bunny, on the other hand, was totally disinterested in the whole jewelry cleaning process.

She was indignant when I had the nerve to put a lovely pearl necklace on her.  No faux pearls for her highness!  Perhaps she can borrow Auntie Karen Louise's tiara.

Well folks, that's about all for tonight.  More later from "the nest" this weekend.  Stay well and happy.  Robin

Time to Sew

Hello Everyone -- The small January "thaw" has inspired me to start on some new sewing projects, as well as some "old" unfinished projects. Some of my friends have asked to see some of the canvas fabric that I have available to make my reversible tote bags with, so, instead of lugging my book of fabric samples all around town, I have come into the new age and discovered the SmileBox Slide show! As you can see, the first slide show is devoted to canvas fabrics, so you can browse at your leisure. For some reason, when it downloaded it cut off a couple of the titles of the fabric, but if you want that particular piece of fabric, we will figure it out, don't worry. There are plenty of other canvas fabrics available that I do not have yet, so if there is a particular color that your are looking for, please let me know, and I will find some things for you to look at. I love custom orders!

I have two "sewing" things that I am excited about. As a Christmas gift, I gave my special neighbor girl and friend who is in elementary school a fully stocked Mary Engelbreight sewing kit and a certificate for me to give her sewing lessons on the machine. I was not sure whether or not she would like this gift, but she was thrilled, and we are both looking forward to it. So now we have to pick out a project, and she can dig through the mounds of my fabric to choose her favorite.

The second thing is that, in addition to using upcycled sweaters to make my vintage jewelry flower brooches, I have discovered that you can use sweaters and sweaters/coats in combination to make beautiful, one-of-a-kind creations. I stayed up all night last night working on my first two creations. It is so exciting making something out of nothing.

Come hell or high water, I am posting some of my flower brooches on etsy tomorrow, and I have also made some special Valentine brooches for etsy. I will also list the two Nordic sweater coats that I am working on now when they are finished.

I hope that everyone has a good weekend. Next week I hope to do a feature on making some very beautiful Valentines Day ornaments. So, please check back!

Stay Well and Happy.

Robin

robins nest treasures tote bag fabric selections

Make a Smilebox slideshow

January 11, 2010 Burrrrrrrrrrrr -- Confessions of a Fabric Lover

Hello out there in cyberworld! Greetings from Pittsburgh, PA, where the 3 rivers are almost frozen over and the Steelers are washed up!

My name is Robin and I'm a virgin blogger, so be gentle with me. I don't tweet, or facebook, or myspace, etc., YET, but I have a feeling I will be entering into that arena in the near future.

I recently started my own business -- Robin's Nest Treasures -- which you will hear more about in the days to come. I have a store on etsy which I am beginning to stock as we speak. I make purses, briefcases, tote bags, and flower brooches using upcycled sweaters and vintage earrings and pins. I also make sweet aprons for ladies and girls. My most beautiful and unique item are my silk floral teacup wreaths which feature antique teacups, vintage ladies' gloves and handkerchiefs on a silk floral wreath. You can see my store at http://www.robinsnesttreasures.etsy.com/

Please check back weekly the next several weeks as I will be adding new items every week.

I will start my blog with a confession. I am in love with fabric! I love to look at it, feel it, smell it, imagine all of the things that I could make with it (but often ultimately never do)! Moda, Tina Givens, Robert Kaufmann, on and on and on. I will share more of my favorites with you in the months to come. There are several great quilt shops in my area that I can, and sometimes do, spend hours in -- Quilters Corner in Finleyville, PA and Piecing It Together on Babcock Blvd. in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. I am always on the hunt for a sale.

My only comfort is knowing that I am not alone. I routinely hear women in quilt shops saying that they have to sneak their fabric purchases into their houses because their husbands have threatened them with divorce if they buy one more yard of fabric to put in their ever-growing "stash".

Last summer I converted my third bedroom into my sewing room. I was so excited at the prospect of fitting all of my fabric and sewing supplies into one room! It was heaven for about 2 months until I grew out of it. I tried to convince my Mother that the fabric fat quarters and half yards must engage in hanky panky at night while I am sleeping, and in the morning, I find them multiplied threefold, but she just gave me the "mother look".

Hold on fabric -- enter my discovery of the world of upcycled sweaters! After much research and experimentation, I developed a way to make purses, briefcases, etc., as well as beautiful flower brooches out of recycled pieces of sweaters and vintage earrings/pins. This put my fabric compulsion on hold. Hurray!

But wait..... I then focused my quests on local thrift stores for sweaters and vintage earrings and pins. The jewelry is easy to organize and does not take up much room, but, oh no, now I have bags and bags of sweaters in every color and pattern you could possibly want. The good news is that these flower brooches have proved to be my most popular item. So, I will reorganize, and reorganize, and make room for the sweaters. Even better news -- I hear there is a whole new area of design making custom jackets, coats and sweater coats out of recycled sweaters! I'm in love! I really do have a life - Ha, Ha - Just ask my friends - if they will admit that they know me!

But, for the time being, my mantra must be -- I don't need any more sweaters -- I don't need any more sweaters! When I go to the thrift stores, I will not look at the sweaters, I will only look at the jewelry!

So, now the time has come to start sewing and make some beautiful things with all of my "stash", sweaters and fabric alike.

It is cold outside and I am cozy at home with my precious kittys Henry Frank II, and his sister Bunny. Henry is the orange tabby -- the ornery one.