I recently found a myrtlewood tie tack at my favorite thrift store and wondered how many jewelry items are made with myrtlewood.  So on to google and searching for myrtlewood jewelry.   I found relatively few references to myrtlewood jewelry, mostly from shops along the Southern Oregon coast.  Of those I found only one offering tie tacks.

However, I found a good bit of information about the myrtlewood tree, which grows only in Southern Oregon and Northern California.  This slow-growing, broadleaf evergreen produces a dense, richly grained wood with sculpted patterns akin to lace, flames and tiger stripes. Its colors, influenced by minerals in the soil, are unmatched in elegance, yielding hues of blond, honey, soft gray, and every shade of brown. One website has a page of photos of the various colors found in myrtlewood.

Most of the shops I found on google are described in an article by Laurel Gerkman in Oregon Coast Magazine (2007). This cottage industry dates back to the late 1800s.

Lucy Rigg is a Seattle area artist who began her art career by creating dough people which she sold  at the University Street Fair in 1970. According to a 1992 Seattle Times article, the “figures, called Rigglets, along with Rigg, herself, became fixtures at both indoor and outdoor fairs throughout the area.” In 1979, Enesco picked up the line and began producing bisque porcelain bear figures first with the name “Rigglets” and then “Lucy & Me”. These have become highly collectible since Enesco ceased production in 1994. Enesco produced over 1000 figurines,mugs,musical figurines,bells,jack in boxes, banks, cookie jars and plush bears.

Lucy Riggs has her own company “Lucy & Co” which is based in Edmonds, WA and sells her designs in paper goods like stationery, wrapping paper, etc. This company is still in business. Lucy has also designed scrapbook and baby items for CR Gibson, Frances Meyer and It Takes Two. Riggs has presence on Facebook and Linked In

Here is a list of the Lucy Rigg lines produced by Enesco:

Join my Lucy & Me Collectors group on Facebook.

2 Collector’s Guides and a Book by Lucy Rigg

Update Pages Available Here

A Gallery of Lucy Rigg items from my Amazon store (buy from gmastree!)

Sources:
Seattle Times
Lucybears.com

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オタギリ (Otagiri)

Otagiri is a name many collectors recognize.  The company name is Otagiri Mercantile Company, Inc. or OMC.  The company was a wholesaler from Japan and  an importer and a distributor of porcelain, stoneware, and giftware in the San Francisco area from 1958 to 1994.  The products were made in Japan and were sold to high end department stores and gift shops. Otagiri products were handcrafted and handpainted. The polynesian themed ceramics they made for bars and restaurants like the Kon-Tiki and the Kahiki in the 1960’s are popular among collectors.

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Most Otagiri products are marked with a yellow and gold sticker printed with the initials ‘OMC’ and ‘Japan’.

The company hired talented artisans to design its products. Among the artists  are a few you may recognize: Kurt R. Kress, Bob Harrison, Angela Ackerman, Wendy Morgan, Curtis-Swan, Tracy Flickinger, Tom Taylor, Linda Pickens, Mary Hughes, and Mary Ann Baker.   OMC products were designed for Gibson Greetings and San Francisco Music Box, as well as many others. In September, 1994 Enesco’s Worldwide Giftware Group paid $3.5 millon for the business assets and inventories, as well as its trademarks.

Sources:

http://www.pastwares.com/otagiri-collectibles.html

http://www.porcelain-collecting.com/otagiri/

I recently listed a bride and groom table topper on Amazon and thought a post on collecting wedding cake toppers might be in order.

Cake toppers first appeared during the Victorian era. Both French and American bakers would hand mold little figures for bride’s cakes, or small little dolls would stand atop a tier. Early cake toppers were made of bisque, composition, chalkware or gum paste and were set upon a base made of pierced or molded gum paste. Starting from around the turn of the century in the Edwardian era, all cake topper figure grooms wore or were holding a top hat and were dressed in a black tux with tails. Brides wore fashions of the decade. Bisque toppers were  popular during the 1920s. The bisque medium allowed  features to be realistically molded and great care was given to painting. The finest toppers were made in Germany and the lesser quality ones were made in Japan. Look for markings impressed onto the backs, and sometimes the feet or base.  German bisque is very smooth whereas Japanese bisque has a slightly gritty feel.  Popular themes for bisque toppers included Kewpies and the Campbell Kids.

In the 1930s, Chalkware toppers were extremely popular and were inexpensive in the Depression years. Chalkware was still being used well into the 1940s with all the war time restrictions and halting of importation from Japan & Germany, the two major countries that supplied a good deal of bisque toppers. Chalkware toppers will sometimes have a date stamped into the base or on the back.  The 1930s also saw toppers on molded plaster of Paris on net lace bases, imitating the earlier look of gum paste. This medium was still being used well into the 1960s .

During the Second World War, some cake toppers featured grooms wearing military uniforms. There are collectors who specialize in collecting only these types and sometimes prices for military toppers are premium. The late 1940s and the early 1950s saw the arrival of hard plastic toppers. Wilton led the way for these and became the world’s largest company specializing in cake decorations.  This is one of the most common names you will come across in you search for cake toppers. Hard plastic ones typically have the company name and sometimes a date on the base. Many hard plastic toppers will have satin or lace attached to the skirt of the bride or frilly lace or tulle bows or arches. Hard plastic cake toppers were made well into the 1960s, 1970s and into the 1980s. The 1980s saw the arrival of the resin cake toppers. Porcelain & bisque toppers made by Norcrest and Napco can be found from the 1940s-1960s. Some post war bisque toppers may be marked Occupied Japan. Toppers by Lefton date from the 1940s onward. Blanc de Chine cake toppers were also being produced from the 1940s onward.

Sources:

eBay Guide by cleopatra’s_boudoir

Vintage Wedding Toppers by Penny Henderson

I remember one of the family decorations that I grew up with was a pair of clear glass star shaped taper candleholders.  So when I saw this set of star shaped candleholders, I had to have them.  But these are different.  They’re SILVER colored glass.  They almost look like mercury glass, but aren’t.  That’s why I was happy to find them in the original box that gave me the name of the manufacturer: Silvalyte.

The pamphlet that came inside the box reads ” The amazing finish which is the distinguishing feature of Silvalyte is the result of over 10 years of intensive laboratory research. The perfection of this long sought for finish represents a major advancement in the glass industry. The Silvalyte process is made to withstand every normal household use and Silvalyte 5901 Bay Parkway, Brooklyn 4, NY.”

Produced from 1955-1965, Silvalyte is silver nitrate over glass. It was made in some classic mid-century designs such as shown in this gallery.

Sources:

No Pattern Required

Glass Etch and Pattern Gallery

Last week I listed a vintage Strawberry Shortcake sheet that features the original illustrations of the character.

According to Wikipedia,  Strawberry Shortcake is a licensed character owned by American Greetings, originally used in greeting cards and expanded to include dolls, posters, and other products. The Strawberry Shortcake properties also include a toy line of the character’s friends and pets.

The original design of Strawberry Shortcake and her cat, Custard was done in 1977 byMuriel Fahrion during her time as a greeting card illustrator at American Greetings’ Juvenile & Humorous card department. Cindy Mayer Patton and Janet Jones designed the other later characters of the classic Strawberry Shortcake line. Lynn Edwards was the editor of the line and developed the personality profiles and the story line and philosophy. The first doll was a rag doll designed by Muriel Fahrion and created by Susan Trentel, Fahrion’s sister.

Strawberry Shortcake was very popular in the 1980s with many licensed products produced based on the original Strawberry Shortcake and the line of characters. The Strawberry Shortcake line of characters each had their own fruit or dessert-themed name with clothing to match, and they each had a dessert- or fruit-named pet. Like the Strawberry Shortcake doll, all the other characters’ dolls had hair scented to match their dessert theme. The characters lived and played in a magical world known as Strawberryland.

Since the 1980s, there have been two redesigns of the Strawberry Shortcake image, in 2003 and in 2009. Currently Strawberry Shortcake has both a website and a facebook page.  For a list of the line of characters see Wikipedia.

Sources: Wikipedia

The boom in Halloween business continues to grow each year, and is the second-biggest decorating holiday of the year – behind Christmas. The NRF’s 2012 Halloween consumer spending survey reported a record 170 million people planned to celebrate Halloween and were expected to spend $79.82 on decorations, costumes, candy and parties, with total Halloween spending estimated to reach $8 billion. Ity is always fun to see what the trends are each year. So here’s some insights:

1. Movie releases are a big influencer of costume trends this year. Expect to see characters from Oz the Great and Powerful,The Lone Ranger,Iron Man 3,The Great Gatsby,Star Trek into the Darkness, Superman: Man of Steel, Monsters University, The Smurfs 2, The Wolverine,The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Thor: The Dark World
2. TV Shows are another big influence. “Duck Dynasty” is costume royalty this Halloween as nearly one in two costume wearers plan to deck themselves out in camo and big beards as a group look. That’s more than those who would select the Royal family or the newest Kardashian brood: Kim, Kanye and North West.
3. Social Networking is a growing force in influencing decisions on Halloween costumes. Nearly 70 percent of typical costume wearers admit social media platforms like Facebook and Pinterest influence their costume choices, while nearly half of them say they get inspiration from looking at photos of what others wore in their social media newsfeeds. People dressing up will on average post 10 pictures of themselves in their ensemble to a social media channel!

• Buying costumes at the Thrift Store: After topping nearly every music chart around the world, hip-hop artist Macklemore has been an inspiration to many, including those seeking Halloween costume ideas. Almost one in two people who plan to dress up this year and have heard the artist’s “Thrift Shop” anthem say they would consider finding a costume in a thrift store because of the song. Close to fifty percent of respondents admit the song has made shopping at secondhand stores cool.
• Creativity Wins: Careful costume consideration is key as nearly a quarter of survey respondents think you can tell a lot about someone’s personality based on the type of costume they wear. To stand out from the crowd, 41 percent of people planning to wear a costume will get creative and create their own instead of buying a pre-packaged look, and only 4 percent will wear the same costume every year.
• Popular Themes include Vampire,Zombie,Skeleton,Grim Reaper,Fairy,Princess,Superheroes, Individuality(create your own idea), Humorous costumes are trending up, Sexy, with the option of showing less or more(Less lingerie style, more wearable), Rave and Gothic Costumes. Four in ten of those who typically dress up for Halloween opt for a funny costume with the rest of the costume-wearing nation split between scary and sexy costumes. More men than women (43 percent versus 18 percent) go for scary costumes while 42 percent of women choose costumes that make them look attractive.
• Fun for the Whole Family – And Fido Too: Ninety-two percent of parents typically dress up their children and 78 percent join in the fun and also wear a costume. More than one in two respondents will decorate their homes with Halloween decor this year, and pets will get in the spirit of Halloween this year too, as four in ten say they’ll dress up their pet. Top pet costumes in 2012 were Pumpkin,Devil,Hot Dog,Cat,Bee,Dog or Ghost (tie).Superhero,Witch,Bowties and Superman

Sources: Herald On Line

Professional Crafters

I currently have three Christian Dior neckties listed on eBay. My search for background on Christian Dior’s neckties landed me on the ties2pillows website. Neckties are fashioned out of silk, linen, synthetics, cotton or wool. The patterns in the fabric are created in one of two ways—woven or printed. Christian Dior ties are classics. Tasteful designs in elegant color schemes make these ties a reliable staple. No one would even think to question the quality of Christian Dior. Christian Dior is credited for bringing the “New Look” to men’s and women’s fashion in the late 40’s. By the 50’s his vision of men’s attire brought

slim, somber and conservative neckties back into fashion. Christian Dior designer ties, complete with their charming designs and elegant color schemes, are exceptional men’s ties.

Ziggy is a cartoon created by Tom Wilson, a former American Greetings executive. Ziggy first appeared in the 1968 book collection When You’re Not Around, published by American Greetings. The newspaper strip began in June 1971. In 1987 the strip was taken over by Tom Wilson II. The animated 1982 Christmas television special Ziggy’s Gift, which contained the Harry Nilsson song “Give, Love, Joy”, won an Emmy Award.

Ziggy is a small, bald, trouserless, barefoot, almost featureless character (save for his large nose) who seems to have no friends, hobbies, or romantic partner, just a menagerie of pets: Fuzz, a small white dog; Sid, a cat afraid of mice; Josh, a discouraging parrot; Goldie, a fish; and Wack, a duck. The appeal of the cast is juxtaposed with the endless stream of misfortunes which befall Ziggy. The character is frequently depicted in surreal or arbitrary situations, though many jokes mine typical comic strip pop culture territory, such as computers and the perils of modern life.

There have been annual calendars produced throughout the years, as well as various books, dolls, collectables, holiday-themed toys and promotional items. Vintage Ziggy items have become quite collectible.

Source: Wikipedia

Yesterday I listed a pendant that appears to be handmade from metal art clay. Today I found this video from Fire Mountain Gems that demonstrates how this product is made into jewelry. Enjoy!