Sequins Through the Ages

We have some really great sequins at Bumbershoot Supplies, like these vintage French metal sequins shown above, see also the last photo. I’ve been looking into the history of sequins, and recently found an interesting blog post on the topic.

Threaded, a historical fashion blog by the Smithsonian, provides an overview of the history of sequins from King Tut’s tomb (where gold discs were found sewn onto garments) to Leonardo da Vinci’s sequin punching machine, to the gelatin sequins of the 1930s (you can see some above and below, found at BumbershootSupplies) to today’s vast array of contemporary sequins.

I was fascinated to learn that gelatin sequins were introduced as a less expensive alternative to metal sequins, but were abandoned because they were not robust. They collapse into a rubbery blob in water (yes, I have tested this), and a dancing partner's hand on your back could melt them.

Check out the Threaded sequin post here for more tidbits of sequin history. For contemporary sequin inspiration (and a bit of glitter too), I invite you to visit our Pinterest board, All That Glitters.  So many sequins, so little time…

 

Vintage Design Inspiration Board #16 with Creativity Quote

Life is a great big canvas

and you should throw all the paint on it you can.

~Danny Kaye

Inspiration Board #16 features:

vintage straw millinery leaves (Paris, France,

wrapped with embroidery floss and vintage Czech button)

vintage mother of pearl buttons (USA)

vintage pearl leaf bead drops (Japan)

vintage glass mirror leaf cabochon (Western Germany)

vintage plastic leaf charms

vintage red glass leaf cabochon

paper wrapper from vintage sequins

twine from original boxes of vintage buttons

embroidery floss

vintage linen tea towel

stamped with Thicket Birds stamp by Memory Box, black StazOn ink

and embellished with French knots

mounted on 4x5 inch gallery wrapped canvas base

 

 

New at Bumbershoot Supplies. Vintage Glass Pearl Bead Drops and French Metal Sequins



It is very late.

There are many new items at Bumbershoot Supplies this week, but this post will be short.

I'm behind because I played hooky for a few hours today
to make some necklaces and earrings.
You know, sometimes you've just got to get away from everything and create.

So for today, I'm going to share 3 splendid items that are newly listed at Bumbershoot Supplies.

These champagne bead drops, beautifully aged teardrops....

These absolutely incredibly rainbow golden ivory drops, out of the original packaging from Japan...

And oh happy day, restocked vintage French metal sequins, shown above also. Haven't had these in stock since April of 2010!

Going to knock off for the day now, wishing you all a great weekend!



Marie Antoinette. Mixed Media Monday.

This is my entry for this week's challenge, Marie Antoinette, at Mixed Media Monday.

Tea stained tag, stamped, rub ons, vintage button card facscimile, stitched, with vintage French ribbon, old mother of pearl buttons and vintage paper flower as embellishments.

It turns out that the challenge at Three Muses for this week is "cards", and that got me looking at my vintage button cards and I found this gorgeous, pristine button card with a Marie Antoinette-style graphic. I scanned the button card to use as the image for the tag. I sewed through all the button holes and added 3 real buttons to the image.

I also have a couple of jewelry designs available at Bumbershoot Designs inspired by and named after Marie, using very old vintage glass pearls.

One light...

And one dark...

These earrings are regular items at Bumbershoot Designs, available here. If you can't find them, just contact me and I'll help you out.

We Have a Giveaway Winner! Painted Flower Cabochons and Fabric Bag

We printed out all the comments, cut them into strips and folded them up.

We used Eric's Easter basket to hold the comments. 

Eric picked out one strip, and the winner is.....

Anne T!  Congratulations Anne!  The bag and cabochons will be in the mail to you tomorrow - I will email a shipping confirmation with tracking information when they have shipped!  Have fun!

A very big thank you to everyone who participated.  I hope you will join us for the next giveaway, which will be... vintage buttons, including glass buttons made in Germany in the US Zone, immediately after WWII.  Stay tuned...

Vintage French Ribbon Featured on the Front Page of Etsy

Just featured on the Front Page of Etsy, about an hour ago, as part of a beautiful treasury.

This gorgeous vintage French ribbon dates from the 1940's - 1943 is written on the spool.

Vintage 1940s French Ribbon, Antique Ivory, 5/8 inch

Many thanks to Jennifer at FriendlyFairies, for including my ribbon in this lovely treasury!

Spring. Wednesday Stamper

These tags are my offering for the Wednesday Stamper challenge blog, where the theme this week is "Spring".  Luckily for me, I had been playing with some vintage French seed packet labels and stamps and last Sunday I made a few tags that fit the theme!  I also used these seed packet labels in a Spring-y tag for Art Creations Friday, and you can see that tag on my blog here.

These are tea stained tags, stamped with script and flower stamps. Copies of the seed packet labels were stitched on top, then the cards were stitched and embellished with vintage goodies: lace, mother of pearl, enamel flowers, and some of my hand dyed fabric.

Vintage Children. Art Creations Friday

This is the first time I've participated in Art Creations Friday.  I could not resist these two beautiful children, especially as the image is French and I have been working with some recently purchased antique French seed package labels. 

This is a tea stained tag, with stamps and rubons, over which are laid a copy of one of my French seed packet labels, trimmed around the flowers.  Also stitched, and embellished with vintage French ribbon (from 1943) and vintage flower cabochons.