Vintage Goodness Found in Michigan

I have passed through Schoolcraft, Michigan (seen here in a photo from the Kalamazoo Gazette) on US 131 monthly for 15 years, usually at about 6:30 a.m. on Mondays or Tuesdays or about 6 p.m. on Wednesdays or Fridays, all times at which the many antiques shops along Main Street are closed.

Recently I came through on my way home from my office at a decent time on a Friday afternoon and was able to stop at two shops I had been eyeing for years. The red brick shop Abby's (see photo) had a beckoning window display, and I bought the two vintage bathing caps right out of the window. I had one like these when I was about 12, and later in high school when we were required to wear them for swimming lessons during gym class. County Living magazine recently did a feature on beach house decorating and noted bathing caps as a hot collectible.

I also got the household labels book, nearly intact, and a children's book printed on linen and supposedly dating before the Civil War from the owner, as well as the vintage Q-tip box (with Q-tips inside). We talked a lot about antiques because she had many things in her shop that reminded me of not only my childhood but of the years spent working in my brother's antique shop--something I did from about age 12 to 18. So there was a lot of deja vu for me at Abby's.

The other goodies above, including the rubber stamp set, I found on the other side of the street at an antique mall, Norma's, I believe. The cool stamp set in an open case was only $15, a true steal. I also found the vintage medical tins there, the child's paint set, the pink gloves, and several more little treasures to put to use in my altered art and mixed media creations.

There were many more shops. So many goodies, so little time.

The Last Beautiful Dress at the Castle in the Meadow ZNE Midwest Gathering

Neither wind nor rain nor tornadoes, power outages, 100% humidity, bad hair days, lack of A/C, a tyrannical tour guide, or even lack of food and water will apparently keep an artist wannabe from his or her pursuit. Such were the conditions at the ZNE http://www.zneart.com/ Castle in the Meadow event Sunday, June 8 at Meadow Brook hall on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.


None of the conditions were the fault of ZNE Queen Chel http://www.chelise.typepad.com/, who hosted the event while on a cross-country family reunion from her usual Pleasanton, CA. In fact, we were all so happily crafting (and having wine and hors d'ouevres) in the rock-solid, 80,000 square-foot mansion that we did not know what was brewing outside.


After a tour of the 28-bedroom former home of Mathilda Dodge Wilson, heir to the Dodge auto fortune, and a reception, we set about making our miniature castle vignettes with the wonderful supplies provided by sponsoring vendors, such as Shabby Cottage Studios http://www.shabbycottagestudio.com/, for which I am on the design team.


However, when it came time to leave (after five hours of crafting without air conditioning in a somewhat dank basement ballroom), we were sent back to the basement by police order due to a tornado touchdown in Oakland County.


It wasn't quite as bad as being sent to the Bastille, but with a four-plus-hour drive looming, no substantial meal (and the wine long-gone), we were getting rather antsy. When the all clear was finally given, it took us nearly an hour and a half to go about 10 miles due to downed limbs and power outages affecting stoplights. It seems Michigan drivers, with their unusual round-abouts and left-on-red-rules still have not mastered four-way stop etiquette. As well, there was not a bottle of water or fast food (or even gasoline) to be had for miles and miles due to the power being out. I never thought I'd view Indiana as civilization, but it was sure good to get home-16 hours after I left that morning.


My castle, "La Derniere Belle Robe" (The Last Beautiful Dress) is in the top two photos. The inside of the diorama has a 3-D castle scene, with birds in the sky on a sheet music background. The wire dress form by Stampington I spray painted gold and added some verdigris embossing powder. The form also includes some glass-beaded flowers, a ribbon sash and a fabric swatch pinned on. All of this is, of course, hard to see in the picture.


My project also includes vintage ribbon, millinery leaves and flowers, crepe paper, German scrap and German glass glitter as well as a metal fleur de lis. Without being too morbid, I felt the headless dress form represented the fashionable reign of Marie Antoinette, tragically cut short. The modern dotty ribbon represents the juxtaposition of her fashion trendiness at the time.


This is followed by my travel partner's castle in the third picture. Angela of Gemini Angel Art http://geminiangelsart.blogspot.com/ is a swell Blythe friend, fellow artist and excellent travel companion and navigator. In the next photo, Bernice Wagnitz (L) and Cathy Minerva of ZNE Artists and Poets show off Bernice's Castle. And another sweet unidentified ZNE creator shares her castle in the bottom picture.


All in all, storms notwithstanding, we were queens for a day- or perhaps simply court royalty of Queen Chel. Thanks for a great event!