The New York Hat -- 1912 -- Mary Pickford and Lionel Barrymore

For your viewing pleasure, here is The New York Hat, a fine short film directed in 1912 by D.W. Griffith. This is a story in which Mary Pickford's character is given a tres chic hat which excites a great deal of comment.  Lionel Barrymore makes quite an impression (at least on me!) as the dashing vicar:

A New Old Look

I've been pondering tea lately. Not the kind in a cup, but the kind one uses to give an antique look to paper and fabric. There is a definite allure to tea-staining, but I've always steered clear of it because of the acid in the tea, which isn't so good for paper. Fortunately, I've discovered a way to neutralize the acid, and I've been tea dyeing everything in sight. What happiness!

A new coptic stitch journal, called "Evening in Paris," made of tea-stained pages, a woman's vintage red leather glove, and a French song, Envoi des Fleurs:

Evening in Paris

(Sold)

A guest book made with antique linen, reclaimed leather, and tea-antiqued pages:

Currently in residence at my Etsy store.

Puttin' On The Ritz

Last night, I dreamed I was Louise Brooks. I was on stage, wearing a really excellent flapper dress, and dancing to Puttin' On The Ritz. Hmmm....I wonder what that means. Anyway, it was fun!

Here is Clark Gable doing his version in the 1939 film Idiot's Delight. 

A Poem to Read Out Loud: "A Birthday", by Christina Rossetti

A good poem for February, methinks:

A Birthday

My heart is like a singing bird

Whose nest is in a water'd shoot;

My heart is like an apple-tree

Whose boughs are bent with thick-set fruit;

My heart is like a rainbow-shell

That paddles in a halcyon sea;

My heart is gladder than all these,

because my love is come to me.

Raise me a dais of silk and down;

hang it with vair and purple dyes;

Carve it in doves and pomegranates,

And peacocks with a hundred eyes;

Work it in gold and silver grapes,

In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;

Because the birthday of my life is come,

My love is come to me.

~Christina Rossetti