beads, flowers, collections.

I think I am naturally a collector of 'stuff'. Teacups, hats, shoes, bags, brooches, coats, teapots, flowers of all kinds, magazines, cookbooks, fabric, ribbon - loads of things! If it's pretty then I want it, if it's something useful then that's even better.

One small collection that I have is of beaded bags. Here they are, taken out in the garden this morning. As you do! I adore beadwork, but especially on bags. My first beaded bag was a black velvet Lulu Guinness one. At the time I bought it, I'd just seen Titanic at the cinema. I'd totally fallen in love with the embellishments on both dresses and bags. When I saw the Lulu one there was no doubt in my mind, and I had to buy it.

Where I live we have a small stall in the town centre, which sells nothing but beaded bags and purses. 4 of my purchases have come from that stall and I think their work is amazing. This photo shows the black velvet bag up close, and the white feather and bead bag that I carried on my wedding day. This week, I bought a bag that is simply the icing on the cake for me. It's a tiny vintage bag, in fantastic condition. I very carefully balanced it out in the garden to take a photo. Photos just do not show how delicate and beautiful this bag is. I am so pleased with it. I want to know who owned it, what outfit did she wear with it, was it for a special occasion. It's so wonderful to have a bag with history behind it. I just wish it could tell me its story.
I bought it from a lovely site called [Betty & Violet], if you have time do take a look around. There are lots of gorgeous items available there.

I have also acquired another piece of vintage beadwork, on incredibly delicate fabric. It is stunning. It's something else I wish could talk to me, and tell me why it was created and for what kind of garment. It was listed as a piece of 1920's embellishment, I love to think of it being so old. For the time being I think that I am going to copy the design for beadwork practice, while I decide what to use it for. It deserves a really special project, so I won't rush into using it yet.

[Vintage Amethyst] is a site that sells all manner of beautiful goodies. I've just bought a garland of paper roses. They are exquisite and look like they are made from finest bone china. I have artificial roses dotted around my home (another collection!), but I think these are my favourite. So there you are, just a little peep into a couple of my collections.