A Lapse in Etiquette

        I love Smarty.  I really do...some days more than others.  Puppies just seem to arrive with so much baggage though.  While we took our short walk this morning, Smart found something horribly gross smelling to roll and rub his neck and one shoulder through.  I don't know what it was, but since we live in the country, you can let your imagination go to work. As soon as I got close enough to smell him, we came directly into the house and he had a shower.  I like a little perfume myself, but really, Smart boy, what were you thinking?



Smarty Phineous Welsh Corgi as a "mature"  three year old.

                                    Lately he's had a few other lapses in etiquette:

- Like the day he decided to visit the neighbor's dogs with out an invitation.

- Or what about when he hears me call him and perks up his ears before he looks in my direction.  Then his brain tells him that I must not mean him as he has important stuff to do.  His head drops  back down and he continues to to whatever he was busy with before I so rudely interrupted him.

- The other night Riley Dog came over, and Smarty immediately let Riley know that this was his house and everything in it belonged to him...including all the people. 

"That's no way to treat a guest," I told Smarty.

But he just looked at me and trotted off to the other side of the table.

      Wouldn't it be great to know what's going on in their brains.  How much do they understand?  What makes them mind sometimes and other times not at all?  Could it be that they're smarter than we are?  What do you think?  Please comment.

Smarty and I'll be back soon.

Carol



Don't Wash, Dry Clean Your Hair

     Did you ever wonder how those gorgeous movie stars of the 1950s kept their hair so perfect? 

     Recently I read a 1957 book called Eleanore King's Guide to Glamor where Ms. King explained some of the mysteries used by them.  She, herself, went to a beauty operator to keep the gray out - not by dying her hair but by plucking it. She did this 1 1/2 hours weekly for 13 years.  If I'd done that, by the age of 35 I'd have been bald!

     Ms. King also mentioned that many dark-haired women of the time didn't wash their hair very often so that their natural hair color would remain.  She personally met many women in their 60s who had gorgeous hair which they dry cleaned most of the time with only semi-annual shampoos.



  Idea #5: art journal

     
     After step #1, you "scale" the head by parting the hair every quarter of an inch, and with a comb, loosen as much of the dead cuticle on the part as you are able to do. With vigorous shaking, the scale should fall out.  If a woman wanted to add her favorite perfume to the witch hazel (step #4), she could but she would take a chance of making streaks in her hair.

     So, I'm thinking that this whole process sounds like a bit too much work for me.  Some how I don't remember the shampoo of the 50s being so harsh on the hair that it damaged it, but I was just a child then so maybe it was that bad.  And, I can't really believe that not washing your hair will keep it the color you had at the age of twenty. 

     How often is often enough to wash hair?  Ms. King suggests that a middle of the road schedule might be to wash once a week and dry-clean the next week or wash one week and dry-clean the next 3 weeks.  Which ever you choose, good luck.

Smarty and I'll be back soon.
Carol 

 

The Story of Adrianna

     I was born in 1867 with pale china skin and hand painted blue eyes like most of my friends. My molded hair has such a beautiful shine to it.  My name is Adrianna.  My mistress, Miss Mary Louise, sewed me a fine cloth body by carefully following a magazine pattern.  Although many of my friends had molded jewelry, Miss Mary Louise enjoyed changing my jewelery to match my different outfits.

      My green velvet promenade dress matches the one worn by my mistress.  She makes calls, but we are "at home" every Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.  That's when others can come call on us and we'll be sure to be here.

 
      Here's an example of the type of dresses I wear when Miss Mary Louise and I read, write, paint with watercolors and sew.  Sometimes we play dominos or paste pretty scraps in books.

    
     We go to a ball or the opera some of the evenings.  All the ladies dress in silk and lace which makes such a lovely rustling sound when they walk by us.  I have pierced ears so I can wear many different earrings just like they do.  Underneath my dress, I wear whalebone stays and a crinoline so my dress will stay puffed out and my waist will look as small as possible.  It's hard to bend over in all these clothes!

      The main thing a woman is to do these days is to be a proper wife.  There are rules for everything, and the men don't think the ladies are as smart at them.  The men are positive that women aren't  nearly smart enough to vote, but I'll be around a long time and I plan to watch it happen...with my china blue eyes.

    

Creative Idea #4

Here I am in the body Miss Mary Louise made for me.  I'm so
embarrassed!

My book was made from a report cover with white paper
 pages stapled inside.
All my clothes and accessories are cut seperately - many of
them from magazine pictures.



Smarty and I'll be back soon.   Carol



Advice from Coco



Idea #3:  Art Journal page



  Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel was a gifted designer, but this quote makes me think her 

 take on the roll of women might be a bit limited especially in today's world.

As a French designer, during the 1920s Coco influenced women to wear their hairshort. After WWI

she made simple dresses from wool jersey which were worn with cardigans.  She began to wear slacks with pullover sweaters starting a new fashion trend. 

Coco loved jewels!  Soon she encouraged everyone to wear costume jewelry, and she reproduced

copies of her own fabulous jewelry ornamented by rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and pearls. 

It's said that in 1930, Coco was offered $1,000,000 to design Gloria Swanson's clothes for the

movie Tonight or Never along with her personal fashions.  By the time the movie was released, Chanel's

simple clothes looked out-dated. 

  

The art journal page above began with one of Coco Chanel's famous quotes.  When looking

through my magazine stash, I came across the perfect picture to go with the quote.  Since I paint the watercolor backgrounds for many pages at one time, the background was ready. I just needed to add a chair, the dog stand, the quote, and a border.

 Smarty and I'll be back soon.  

                Carol

    

What Was I Thinking?

      Hi!  Thanks for dropping by.  If this isn't your first visit, you may have already figured out that I'm no computer or camera whiz.  In fact, I'm quite challenged in both areas which makes me wonder "what was I thinking" when I committed myself to this blog.  The learning curve is straight up for me, but that's probably exactly what I need as I try to rebuild my life after the death of my husband of more than 40 years.  It's been 19 months since he left me, and I need something to make me come alive again, to nudge me back into creating more often than during the once a week quilting  group I attend.  I already feel better.  

     Now, I'm not saying everyone needs a blog when they're lost and trying to find themselves again.  What I am saying is that having something engaging to do is making my mind re-enter the world in a more hopeful way.  These days I'm thinking of what might be of interest to others who love some of the same things as I do.  What can I offer in the way of stories of women, books and movies,  project ideas, and free things to down load for your own use.  There's so much that I'll need to do some sifting and sorting...and some shopping!

     What's helped you when you faced a crisis?

     Here are some old photos that show women of the 1890s for you to download for your own projects or collection. 

      

       

Smarty and I'll be back soon.