Thursday, August 29, 2013

Hand Made Key Chain

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Keys! We all carry numerous keys in our pockets. I seem to have accumulated an unusually large number of them I have multiple keys to the multiple vehicles in my driveway. There are the house keys and I have keys to my adult children’s homes. There are the boat keys and a variety of other keys. The list goes on and on. I might have more keys than I have passwords. Well, no, that’s not true. I have way more passwords. But I still have a lot of keys. It would not be so good to have all those keys just lying loose. I would loose track of what goes where.

All of the sets of keys are on various key rings or key chains as they are sometimes called. And, all of the sets of keys are kept in a nice little birch bark box on my desk that I cleverly call  the key box. Each key chain has its own special hand made design making it easy to grab on to the correct set of keys.

Tiger Creek Gifts has a wonderful set of hand made key chains in her store. One is pictured above. I am sure you will want to take a look at the others.

 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Occupied Japan Ceramic Tea Set

Occupied Japan

 

Occupied Japan ceramics are still highly sought after collectables. During the American occupation of Japan after World War II from 1947 to 1952 exports from Japan were required to be stamped Occupied Japan. Many pieces so marked were toys. You will find this cute little Occupied Japan tea set for sale at the Sirocco’s Curios on-line curios store.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Signed Original Painting Neon Electric Lights

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I was wandering through the Tiger Creek Gifts store when I came across this intriguing painting. Titled “Neon Electric Lights,” it is created with acrylic and metallic paints on a piece of high quality black Artagain paper. It is an original one of kind. I have always envied those who can draw or paint. It is certainly a talent that I have none of. Drop in to Tiger Gifts and see other original artwork.

Monday, August 5, 2013

What is Chintz Pottery

Chintz Vase

This is an adorable little pink rose chintz wall pocket. Chintz is a name given to patterns that consists of many small flowers and leaves covering the pottery. The patterns were popular in England near the beginning of the 20th century. Royal Winton was a major manufacture of pottery with such patterns. Dinnerware with the chintz pattern is not as popular anymore but pots and vases are still sought after.

This particular piece has pink colored roses running all down the front and sides of the vase. Gold trim surrounds the top. The body of the piece has gentle swirls that wind up to ruffles at the top of the vase. It gives the vase a Victorian feel. The inside is glazed and all white. The back is unglazed and white with a hole for mounting on a wall. It is 7.5 inches tall. This piece is a contemporary piece from China.

You can find this item for sale in Sirocco's Curios on-line curios store.

The Park Bench

Park BenchMy project for this week was to recondition an old park bench that I had in storage. The finished product is at the left. I bought the metal components for the bench at auction last year and they have been laying in the garage since. I didn’t pay much for them; it seems that no one else wanted them. I thought it would not take much to bolt some 2X4s across for the seat and to make a wood frame for the back.

Well, it turned out to be much more work than I anticipated. That seems to happen to me a lot. I found that readily available dimensional lumber does not fit in the cast groves of the bench sides so I had to rip 2X4s to fit. That takes a lot of time and it makes for a lot of sawdust. In addition the bench seat is curved so I ended up using my block plane to shape the wood a bit. The metal parts were rusted so I had to clean, prime and paint them. It just turned out to be more than I wanted to do. But it came out OK.

I don’t know why I get myself into these projects. They usually consume more resources (time, money, and energy) than if I just went and bought a finished product. Well, I guess actually I do know why. I like to work with my hands. I need always to be making something, or repairing something or repurposing something. Just buying a finished product seems so benign. As Monk would say, “It’s a blessing… and a curse.” Now, I need to decide where put this thing. It’s very heavy.

When I am not fixing or repurposing something you will usually find me in my little studio making adornments for sale in Sirocco’s Trading Post. Stop in to the trading post and take a look around.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Scheurich Keramik Vintage German Pottery

Pitcher W German

This fine vintage pottery pitcher is from the Scheurich Keramik company in West Germany. It was produced in the late 60s. This decorative piece is green with raised relief of fruit, grapes, and leaves. The interior has a dark glaze.

Scheurich Keramik was founded in 1928 and is still active today. It is one of the largest producers of pottery from Germany. The under side includes the “W. Germany” Hallmark and the numbers 419-18. The “419” is a product number while the “18” is the height of the vase in centimeters. Nearly all of Scheurich pottery is hallmarked in this fashion.

You can find this piece for sale in Sirocco's Curios on line curios store. I invite you to stop in and look at the many items available.

 

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Men’s Brown Leather Slip on Sandals

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I came across this fine pair of BROWN men’s sandals in the Le Petit Marche store. While I wear moccasins most of the time, I do frequently wear sandals especially in the summer heat. I rarely wear shoes anymore. My toes are seriously distorted from bouts of gouty arthritis so regular shoes don’t work for me anymore. But I like a good pair of sandals. I can’t wear the kind that have a thong between the big and second toe for the same reason I don’t wear shoes very often. These shoes would work but they are a tad too small for me. Stop in to the Le Petit Marche store and take a look at the various men’s footwear available.

 

Noritake Hand Painted Nut Bowl

Nippon Candy Dish

Some time ago I listed this outstanding hand painted Nippon nut bowl in the on-line store Sirocco’s Curios. The makers mark on the bottom is a green “M” inside a wreath of leaves and the words “hand painted Nippon” encircling the wreath.

Prior to 1890 pieces from Japan were marked with Japanese characters or were not marked at all. After 1890 American imports were required to be marked with the country of origin in English characters. The word “Nippon” means “Japan” and pieces were so marked until 1922 when the requirement was changed. After 1921 the word “Japan” had to be used.

The “M” in the wreath stands for “Morimura” and is the earlier name of the Noritake Company. It was introduced in 1911 and continued until 1921. It is clear then; this particular nut bowl was produced in the time period 1911-1921.

The bowl is in excellent condition for something that is nearly 100 years old. Stop in and take a look. Just click on the picture.