Matthew Mead Style

Oh man, I think I am in love! Check out the eye candy at matthewmeadstyle.

Check out those bowls. (Yes you, C!)

Thursday Thirteen #3

Thirteen PAST and CURRENT COLLECTIONS
1. Rocks -- This was my very first collection. My favorites were pieces of glass worn down from the sand & water in Lake Michigan. (past collection)

2. Scottish Terriers -- I had blankets, pins, stationary, blown glass, framed prints, and ceramic items. (past collection)

3. Frogs -- The swim team I was on in high school used a frog as their mascot. This turned into a collection of mostly pins and stuffed animals. There was a huge stuffed frog that would travel from event to event with us. A senior would pass it on to a freshman at the year end banquet. It was passed down to me. I passed it on as well. I wonder if that frog is still around. (past collection)

4. VC Andrews books -- This started after seeing the movie Flowers in the Attic. I think I was the only girl in school who hadn't read that book until the movie came out. (past collection)

5. Small picture frames -- silver vintage & vintage looking frames. They hold pictures no larger than about 3.5 X 5 inches. (current collection)

6. Vases -- Pottery type from the 1940s and 1950s such as McCoy, Abigdon, Red Wing, Haeger, etc. Mostly in white, pink/peach, and green. (current collection)

7. Hull Sunglow -- The yellow with pink floral design. I have wallpockets, mixing bowls, salt & pepper shakers, pitchers and a covered casserole dish. (current collection)

8. Universal Cambrigde Laurella -- This is know as "poorman's" Fiesta in the dish collecting world. The colors are similar to the original Fiestaware dishes, but the design along the edge of plate is laurel leaves and bows. I am missing the nested mixing bowls and the salad serving forks. I have never seen the salad forks, and have only run across the mixing bowls once. Sadly, I lost that auction. Other than those I have at least one piece of every item that was made for this set. My favorite piece by far is the covered casserole dish which is in MINT condition. (current collection)

9. Just the Right Shoe -- You don't even want to know how many of these I have...lol! While this is a current collection, I don't add to it as much as I once did. I did make a few really GREAT friends through a wonderful online community because of this collection. Since Take a Seat was the creation of the same artist as Just the Right Shoe I will include it here. It is still one of my collections, but this portion of the line has been discontinued.

10. Lefton Rustic Daisy -- My mom & dad were given the cookie jar as a wedding gift from my aunt & uncle. A few years ago my mom gave me the cookie jar and we both have added pieces to go along with it since then. (current collection)

11. Pink ribbon/breast cancer products -- I have shirts, jeans, hats, pins, blankets, pillows, ornaments, stationary, blown glass, magnets, figurines, and probably a few things I am forgetting. (current collection)

12. Capodimonte -- This collection originally belonged to my husband's great aunt. I have added one piece. You can read about that thrilling find here and see the collection here. (current collection)

13. Universal Cambridge Mount Vernon -- This set belonged to my husband's grandmother. It was made in the 40s. (current collection)

ETA: I know I haven't listed at least two other collections, but this list might end up being endless if I listed all my collections...lol!!

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Find of the Season

I dropped Olivia off at her summer violin class this morning. Since it is only an hour long, and I hate to drive home and be in the house for about 25-30 minutes before I have to leave again I decided to hit a few rummages. I found the most wonderful item for an awesome price. Before I tell you what my little treasure is I have to tell a little story of why I have (and LOVE) this collection.

In January of 2005, Bob's great aunt passed away. His great uncle passed away before we were married, and I never met him. She was a wonderful lady and from what I hear Uncle Bill was just as wonderful. They never had any children and always treated Bob's mom like their own. Bob and his brother were treated (read spoiled...lol) like grandchildren. When she passed away, they left most everything to Bob & Jim.

So last summer when we went down to Florida to clean out her house and get it ready to put on the market. We walk in to her home and there is this darling little curio. It's about the size of a sofa table with just one glass shelf and of course the bottom. It is filled with Murano glass and Capodimonte. It was sitting right next to her chair. I knew by the way those items were displayed that she loved them. There was no way I was going to leave that curio for the person who bought her home. I wanted to be home and in the family. We had so much stuff to bring back home it just wouldn't fit on that first trip. Knowing that bummed me out, but thankfully we needed to make a second trip to finish getting her home ready to put on the market. On the second trip we had plenty of room for the curio. YEAH!! I knew didn't know much about Murano glass or Capodimonte, but I knew enough to know that some of the pieces were probably brought back from when she and Uncle Bill visited Italy while he was station over in Europe.

We brought the Murano and Capo home on the first trip so we knew it was safe. Bob's brother and his wife have the Murano and we kept the Capo. It has that shabby chic look I LOVE. The curio has a spot in the entry of our home and it is filled with her Capodimonte and the one piece I already had. On top is a her small Capo basket. It is the only thing on top of the curio and I knew it need more on it. I could just never find that right things to put there.

Well, I am sure can see where this is going. At a rummage, I ran across a much larger Capodimonte basket, It could be the fraternal twin of the one that we already had. I practically ran over to the table it was sitting on to grab it and check the tag. When I looked at the tag, I think I let out an audible gasp. Not because it was high, but because it was FIVE dollars. I cannot find anything on the web similar to it right now, but I know back when we brought her things home last year there a small one (the one I already had) on eBay that went for $105.00. There are a couple chips on two of the roses, but those will be facing the wall.

I still call it Aunt Vi's collection and I was SO thrilled to add to it for her today.

We love you and miss you Aunt Vi!

JTRS Lovers: Remember Karner Blue?

The 2002 Event Shoe that was inspired by the endangered Karner blue butterfly. Well, here's a bit from a story that was in our paper today...



A Nudge for Nature
Wisconsin program nurtures the flowers that feed the endangered Karner blue butterfly
By MEG JONES

Willard - The pale blue butterfly - hardly bigger than a nickel - fluttered and flitted at the side of the Clark County road dotted with lupine and other wildflowers.

It's no wonder the Karner blue butterfly was sticking close to the lupines, because the purple flower is breakfast, lunch and dinner for the endangered species during its larval stage. As a small caterpillar, the creature eats only wild lupine, snacking on the flower's leaves and leaving behind tiny marks like miniature window panes.

You can read the complete story here.