New on Pinterest: Vintage Summer Fun

Source: huffingtonpost.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest

We've been having fun in the (unusually hot) summer sun in Seattle this year. Which got us thinking, how much more glamorous could our summer be? Turning to the ever helpful Pinterest, we got to searching for our favorite vintage summertime images. We've complied the best of the best on our Pinterest board "Vintage Summer Fun". From flowery swim caps to vintage drive-in movies, check out our seasonal favorites:

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Source: adore-vintage.blogspot.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest

Source: number-nineteen.blogspot.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest

New on Pinterest: Rain

Living in Seattle, it helps if you can come to an accomodation with rain.

We celebrate the beauty and creativity inherent in rain on Pinterest in our "Rain" board.

Check it out! And take your bumbershoot...

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Featured Artist. Stephania Dapolla of le Petit Foyer and Stephmel

Let us begin the 2012 series of featured artists inspired by the multi-talented artist Stephania Dapolla of Athens, Greece.

And I definitely mean multi-talented! Stephania has 2 Etsy shops, le Petite Foyer for her jewelry designs…

…and Stephmel where she makes available her fine art photography and original paintings. 

Stephania says her jewelry designs are “…an eclectic collection of vintage inspired handcrafted jewelry, which combines old and new elements, colours and styles in a romantic and whimsical way…made in small series or are one of a kind, with love, special care and quality materials, vintage and antique gems or ethnic findings…”

I know you will also enjoy discovering Stephania’s dreamy and evocative art photography, which to me is poetry in picture form.  

Stephania’s photography has been featured on the blog Photographers of Etsy, interviewed by Steve Raley of PhotoGrunt, where she talked extensively about her work, saying in part, “…I try to hear the whispers from the past and to read the old stories hidden behind the locked doors. I am very happy to hear someone saying that in one of my photos they recognized even vaguely a moment or feeling from their own personal history…”  You can read the full interview here.   

Stephania does bring together her photography and jewelry designs, such as in this lovely necklace.

A person who incorporates art throughout her life, Stephania also paints and restores religious icons in the many ancient churches in Greece. To learn more about Stephania, check out this blog feature.

I hope you will enjoy visiting le Petite Foyer and Stephmel to view Stephania’s art and designs!

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week, Mountain Majesty

(approaching Steven's Pass, east of Seattle)

Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way.

~Dr. Seuss, Oh the Places You'll Go!

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week, Columbus' Ship La Nina

(replica of La Nina, Columbus' ship, on Lake Union)

The crew of the caravel "Nina" also saw signs of land, and a small branch covered with berries. Everyone breathed afresh and rejoiced at these signs.

~Christopher Columbus

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week

(Skagit Valley tulips)

And tulips, children love to stretch

Their fingers down, to feel in each

Its beauty’s secret nearer.

~E. B. Browning—A Flower in a Letter.

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week

(white camelia, Japanese Garden)

It is at the edge of a petal that love waits.

~ William Carlos Williams

New, Old, Always Beautiful

When I photograph supplies for Bumbershoot Supplies, I like to include photos of how these vintage treasures look when they arrive, so you can see what I see, perhaps feel a bit of the excitement I feel.  The new old stock, new since it has never been used, old since it was made many decades ago, is stored in many ways.

Sometimes wired....

Or bundled...

Or in cotton or tissue wrapping....

Sometimes the wrapping itself is a wonderful surprise....

New and old, both at the same time, always beautiful.

The Cornucopia of Autumn

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;"

~John Keats

Spring serendipity

We use tins of beads to prop up the cards we use to display our necklaces and earrings in the shop. Very high tech! Emma saw and took these pictures during the process...