it's leap year and your birthday

For you, because some things are too precious to not not remember.

On another note, for Sammy's late nights:

Start frenching in the Etsy shop: www.frenchpressvintage.etsy.com

shop update + jenny lewis

Last week my lovely friend came over for a night of gabbing and frenching, aka modeling. We listened to Elliot Smith and The Stooges and the Stones and Willie Nelson. Sometimes loudly, sometimes quietly, without champagne, with. Here is part one of the frenching installation.


First, hear me: Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins - You Are What You Love

Back to the shop talk. Sometimes it helps to see it on someone, doncha think?

All images are linked!

And, keep your eyes peeled. Lots of new items coming.  
 
Start frenching in the Etsy shop: www.frenchpressvintage.etsy.com

The Imaginant!

My birthday was last month but I just realized that I never shared this amazing card that my talented friend J of The Imaginant sent me. She made this!

Start frenching in the Etsy shop: www.frenchpressvintage.etsy.com

inspired by: lace + teddybears

This morning I slept through an important appointment. I laid in bed and stared out through my single window of early morning light, and in between muttering curses for being a supreme sleepyhead, I thought, damn, those lace curtains are really pretty.

Currently playing: Teddybears, Punkrocker (I'm in an Iggy Pop phase.)

So I gots lace on the brain. And here's what I came up with.

handmade bobbin pin lace

kalofer lace

black lace

Things you may not know about lace:

• Lace was being made by the 15th century (maybe earlier) and varies in origination from Flanders to Italy.
• The 17th century was, according to the Guardian, "home to a roaring lace industry," making lace collars, lace caps, lace shawls, lace door knobs, oh my!
• In the height of popularity, girls as young as age five were apprenticed to lacemakers.
• After a brief pause in lace popularity, Marie-Antionette made lace cool again. 
• Lace is most often made from cotton, linen, and/or silk lace.  

How's lace made? From my research, the answer is it depends. The lace curtains in my bedroom? Well, Ikea made those with a perfected and astute machine. But a lot of vintage lace was made by hand, which in itself is mindblowing. Allhallows Museum writes, "Honiton Lace is made by hand in  a miniature weaving process: the loom being made from pins placed through a pattern on a straw pillow. Very fine threads held on bobbins are woven back and forth to build up the  pattern.Variations are created by the use of different stitches within the pattern."

Just to give you an idea of how long it takes to make some types of lace, such as Honiton Lace, "One square centimetre of lace could take up to five hours to produce. Large pieces such as collars or handkerchiefs could have taken up to 1,000 hours."

Lace in places you wouldn't expect:

lace fence 1

lace fence 2

Other great lacylace things worth checking out:

• A Brief History of Lace article in images
  
• Lace skull
• Lacy wedding invite
  

Lace from Etsy shops:

Go there: one // two // three // four // five // six // seven // eight

And this! From my own shop ;-)


Photo creds: Lacemakers // Lacemaking example

Start frenching in the Etsy shop: www.frenchpressvintage.etsy.com

wordless wednesday: justin townes earle

photo source

Start frenching in the Etsy shop: www.frenchpressvintage.etsy.com

etsy shop update: pattern-palooza, pt 1

A wave of vintage patterns now in the shop!

The image is linked to take you straight to the patterns and such.

And I can't stop listening to this song: (Shout Out Louds, Hurry Up, Let's Go)

Start frenching in the Etsy shop: www.frenchpressvintage.etsy.com

post-valentine's day love

Today I did something that I try to never do: I looked up an ex-lover (for lack of a better term, really) and his now live-in girlfriend/baby momma. A while back I bought a baby outfit for them when she was pregnant (which I only found out after another bout of "researching") and never mailed it. Now I'm glad that I didn't, because that would be a little weird, right? Also, I forgot about it anyway.

This is my cat, Pickles. I think he learned this face from his momma.

So I looked him and her up, let those ideas toss around in my head for a bit, stomped around the house for no reason, and then finally thought, this isn't about him. Like, at all. I'm working more on those misplaced things - that missing sweater, my other boot, all those emotions that come when you're in your late 20s and glaringly single and seemingly always buying wedding gifts.

After a semi-tough week, and Valentine's Day (yes, I said that with a grumble), it's time for some radical self love: dinner, drinks, a fresh hair cut, gossip with the girlfriend, and getting rid of this godawful faded hair color. Who doesn't feel better after a good meal, a story about a broken down El Camino, and getting your hair washed by a stranger?

I am super inspired to radical self love by my constant chats with D of Cafe Noir and two great blogs: Gala Darling and Olivine's Charm School, both of which focus primarily on just this.

Often I have to remind myself that life is beautiful even when it's broken, cracked, chipped, scuffed, or otherwise flawed. We are beautiful creatures destined for big, big things, right? Right.

In closing, a little bit of Jawbreaker, Chesterfield King.

 
You might also like:

• ConstantlyAlice's really fab blog post.
• My GIVEAWAY.
• This necklace.

Start frenching in the Etsy shop: www.frenchpressvintage.etsy.com

pattern-palooza + iggy and the stooges

The weather here is finally really nice so if I smoked, I'd be taking a smoke break right this moment. Sitting on the back patio, listening to Iggy & The Stooges, watching the people milling around the sandwich shop across the street.

However, listening to Iggy Pop in the studio is just as nice ;-)

Coming up to the shop are TONS and tons and tons of patterns from the 40s - 70s. This is part of phase one of pattern-palooza....

...and sheet music:

Start frenching in the Etsy shop: www.frenchpressvintage.etsy.com

giveaway!

Welcome to my first official giveaway!
Up for grabs is the divine little camel-colored vinyl 60s number.

Not only is this messenger bag/carry-on a great color, it has gorgeous hardware such as the strap. This is a US Luggage bag and it's in excellent vintage condition. Perfect for traveling this upcoming spring and summer!! Entering is EASY, see below! This contest will last for one week and one  winner will be randomly chosen by Rafflecopter on Wednesday, February 22nd and announced on the blog!

This contest is open to US participants only.

Enter now!

new to the shop - glass goodies + old skate love

New glass collections and what nots added to the shop. Bundling at rad discounts are available.

Images are linked and will take you right to the shop!

Oh, and since it's Valentine's Day, a little Hot Rod Circuit:

Start frenching in the Etsy shop: www.frenchpressvintage.etsy.com

ebay sale, pt 2

More goodies moved to the eBay shop for quick sale with hot discount prices and free shipping!!

Click the image to be taken directly to the saley sale!

Start frenching in the Etsy shop: www.frenchpressvintage.etsy.com