One Proud Peacock

This beautiful vintage chenille peacock rug was hanging on the tailgate of a truck at a yard sale.
 I wasn't even going to ask the price, because I figured if it hadn't been purchased during the first few hours of the sale, it must be priced really high.
Otherwise, surely someone would have snapped it up earlier, right?

Well, I did ask - and was pleasantly surprised at the price the nice woman gave me.
So, home with me it came.
Such a pretty peacock!

What's Penny Wearing? #111 - A Vision In Vintage Scott McClintock Velvet

Today, Penny is happy to show off this lovely 1980's vintage green velvet formal-length gown that I found at a thrift store.
It has the Scott McClintock label, from the line by Jessica McClintock that was named for her son:

It looks so pretty with my cameo necklace that was made by a friend of mine named Barbara, with whom I used to work at the Cedar Dining Room which was located inside the Raffle's Hotel on Main Street in Placerville, California.
(What is now known once again as The Cary House was named the Raffle's Hotel when owned by the Raffetto family. I discovered just now on their website that the Cary House Hotel first opened 157 years ago yesterday!)

The employees at the restaurant drew names and exchanged gifts at Christmas, and I felt very lucky that Barbara picked my name and gave me this beautiful pendant. I have treasured it for nearly forty years!
I love the lace bodice on this dress:

It also has a cute sort of a little "bustle" in the back. (Nice for the people who don't mind adding a little something in the back, I suppose! Let's suffice it to say that I don't need that, myself!)

The addition of a vintage shawl, also found at a thrift store, tops it off rather nicely.
I think Penny looks rather elegant today - just perfect for, perhaps, stepping back in time for a visit to a historic hotel!

Models, Revisited : Betsy Cameron, Once More

Today, I'm featuring the lovely Betsy Cameron, yet again. You have seen her in numerous posts here where she is modeling clothing, but I have also done two other posts just about her alone, as well.
 (Click here and here to see the previous posts.)
Once more, I have a number of pictures of her from my vintage collection of Seventeen Magazines.
First up is a nice close-up from an advertisement for charm bracelets:  

And a number of photos from various fashion layouts:

 Nope, not Claudia - Betsy:

An ad for "Most Precious" perfume:

And one more advertisement, this one for Adorn Hair Spray:

Last of all, here is an ad for her furniture line "Betsy Cameron's Children" - I am not sure what year this ad came from:

I TOLD you she was (is) talented!

Pottery Finds From a Thrift Store

When I went in to one of my favorite thrift stores last week, it appeared that somebody's entire pottery collection had been donated.
I'm showing you today what I purchased.
An aqua McCoy Dutch shoe. You may not remember that I collect these shoes. It looks like this one has a chip in the photo; it does not.

Not McCoy, but still nice:

And another in blue (guess I should have cleaned them up before I photographed them!)

And two southern belle lady planters:

Yes, they have paint that is pretty much worn away, but no chips or other damage:

And I couldn't resist this cute little guy:

I'm pretty sure he's a distant cousin to both Smokey Bear AND WinnieThe Pooh.
(I cannot help but wonder what treasures had been purchased before I got there!)

Patterns From The Past: More Butterick Designs By Betsey Johnson

Since I wrote about Betsey Johnson the other day, it inspired me to do another post featuring more of her vintage designs for Butterick patterns. All of these are from the 1970's.
Here is an advertisement from Seventeen Magazine, 1976, featuring pattern numbers 4676, 4678, and 4679:

The pattern below looks to me as though it was meant to coordinate with those above. I am loving those shoes!

Here's a pretty coat, all made up in a nice, warm plaid with faux fur lining the collar:

It was made like this one on the pattern front, you see:

From Butterick pattern number 6837:

And this pretty quilted satin jacket and matching skirt....

...made like the black one pictured below:

From this pattern, Butterick number 6839:

I thought I'd just throw in a couple more patterns.
Butterick pattern number 6838, shirt dress, sweater, cardigan and vest by "Young Designer Betsey Johnson of Alley Cat":

And last of all, Butterick # 6907, an evening dress to make short or long, with a jacket as a cover-up:

That's all the vintage Betsey Johnson I've got for today!

Daisy Doodles From Studio Twelve

I found this partially finished kit at a thrift shop.
"Studio Twelve Presents Daisy Doodles Instant Stitchery", "Three Delightful Mini Pictures".
 They're pretty darned cute.
I have done other posts in the past about Studio Twelve ( here and here.)
Here, you see the first one, which has quite a bit of the work done:

The box is messed up, but at least it's still around!
 (I can relate!)

You can see in the photo below that both a skein of white Strawtex, and the little yellow "Mini-Fleur" flower loom needed to make the daisy flowers were included in the kit:

Here are a few more looms I have found recently - one from Bucilla and Studio Twelve, and the other packaged one is from Boye:

It has the instructions, too:

Two were started but the third was not:

I love the artwork on the back of the box:

Package Design by Chris Art Studio, Garden Grove, California, and this kit is dated 1969.

The Past is Present in Placerville No. 8: The corner of Coloma and Spring Streets

Just a quick little post. This is the corner of Coloma and Spring Streets in Placerville looking North. There is a four way stop there now.  The home on the right is for sale. On the left out of sight is a Bed and Breakfast, the Shafsky House.

Below is a fairly recent photo from Google of the same corner. The blue house is the Shafsky House bed and breakfast.

Just a quick Past is Present post today.

Welcoming Autumn.....

Let's welcome autumn with a walk down a country lane.....

....that's what I'd LIKE to do, anyway!

Alley Cat By Betsey Johnson , Circa 1972

I have written about Betsey Johnson a number of times before here on this blog.
I was able to find some more advertisements featuring her clothing designs in my vintage Seventeen Magazines, and I decided to share them this morning, since I am looking forward to seeing Betsey again tonight on Dancing with The Stars.
Last week she had an unfortunate situation with a feather boa prop; I felt badly for her.
 But she made it through to dance again with her partner Tony Dovolani, and I am wishing them both the best this evening.
In honor of that today, we have some more of the fabulous vintage clothing she designed for Alley Cat.
Most, if not all of these are from 1972.

SO cute - love the sweaters, socks and shoes!

 The cardigan, shirt and cords in the photo below were all her designs for Alley Cat, as well:

 And in the next picture, you see a cute, quilted jacket that is the same fabric design as the shirt above:

 In 1972, I would have been THRILLED to have owned any one of these fashions!
Good luck tonight, Betsey!