1910 Hippie Logo?

I did this logo because I play guitar & dress like this 1910 french gypsy girl. I was amazed at the simularities of the 60's "Hippie" fashion in this old postcard I aquired. I tweeked it a bit to make my art design header for my ME page over at Ebay a few years ago & now I plan to use it as a hang tag for my items at the flea market. I live her. Some of the many postcards I aquire these aand they are public domain so they can be use for all kinds of great items.

An outrageous use of 1st ammendment rights...

I actually saw 2 people on a busy street in my small county dressed like Hilter & carrying a petition to impeach President Obama? What did he do wrong? He just picked up the tab from the last guy? I'm not a pigeon holed liberal just a disgusted Daughter of a WWII Vet! Read your history books idiots? Hitler mustaches? Come on now? He is a citizen whether you teabaggers like it or not! Hawaii is a State the last time I checked? Will you question Palin on her Alaska Status if she runs? They were even in the rain. He may not be re-elected but he isn't going anywhere to soon. So come out from behind your sheets,Grrrrrr......This is normally a fashion & art history blog but I just couldn't help myself! The only thing fashionable about these losers were there umbrellas,lol....

The type of vintage things I sell & collect.

Stunning set of deco style 14kt./Sterling with blue & clear crystal stones on screwback setting,est. 1930's

Spaghetti Poodles from the 1950's

Crazy 1960's & 70's romance comics

Hollycraft 1951 signed sweater pin set

back side of Posket Ben watch

"Poppy Design"

"Pocket Ben" by Westclox

Kodak camera lens hood lot with extras & a bonus paperback book not shown

MINT! Mother of Pearl & glass jade with seed bead accents & flower clasp. Marked JAPAN & est. 1950's. Fabulous & so clean it looks like new. No flaws at all.

1800's braided hair locket. This peice is enclosed in brass with a glass face. These were kept in the pocket of a loved one during the Civil War & traveling to remember their loved ones

Stunning Sterling & Crystal dangles. Very art deco engraved design. The clear stones are bezel set. It's hard to pass these on!!

14kt. with a nice ruby. Great for the July baby in the family or maybe the gambler. Very unisex. No chain.

These are the best rhinestone peice in my collection. They are Albert Weiss. Signed on the back. AB stones set in goldtone & they have the sweetest little drop pear shaped stone dangle. Clip on.
Nice set of clear crystal bicone "Laguna" earrings. Signed on back.

1950's sterling & crystal earrings marked sterling. Nice holiday accessory. They have a great prism in the sunlight too!

Another pair of sterling & crystal earrings. Just stunning for the winter holidays. Marked sterling.


Faux pearl & rhinestone rondell necklace. Classic & well worn but still in good condition.


This set is so unusual. It is fucshia,gold
& black. The beads are a great combo of add shapes with wisps of paint on the gold beads. Glas & marked West Germany. The set includes matching earrings. Great for goth & pirate lovers!

Memory wire inspired,vintage bracelet. The beads are glass black with alot of facets attached with spacers & little beads stringers with rondells in clear rhinestones in silver setting. Great vintage peice for an ultra modern gal.

Stunning faux freshwater pearl,clear goldtone rondell & AB beads with matching earrings
I love this set & it is hard to part with. It is one of the best I've seen in 20 years. Clean & mint!



1/2012kt G.F. in a geometric Cleopatra design. Very deco. & well made. Marked with an unknown maker. It has a low case "t" & an upper case "P" interwined & marked 1/2012ktG.F.

Large ROLO design choker with 34 rhinestones attached with prongs not glue! on the links. Easy to wear with it's lightweight design. Great safety clasp. Not signed but very Sarah Coventry quality.

This is rare REINAD choker. You don't find these items anymore intact. It's a Hugs & Kisses design. Very heavy chain & beads & is very unisex as well

SOLD on Desember 13th,2010 for $79.99!

Striking enamel NORWAY sterling choker. It's marked Norway sterling with unkown mark of MW intertwined. Very mint & goes well with pearls. Highly sought after.

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Victoria who???

Way before the "Angels" walked the runway. Check out these fabulous 1910 french fashions.

Lost but not forgotten.....

I love specific designers & follow then religiously but I really love vintage "no name" dime store jewelry. I think I may have found a niche in this huge industry. Sometimes a little sparkle can make a drab outfit come alive. I have found a whole new community of jewelry collector's out there that I didn't know existed. I especially loved a recent Ebay sale of a Alice Caviness Bib necklace set. I was given a huge bag of so called "junk" jewelry peices by a friend to make upcycled new items for my Etsy shoppe. I got out my magnify glass & discovered names on these little treasures. Caviness,Reinad,Marvella,Ciner,Vendome & many more. She is giving another bag of bobbles soon & I also have a connection in North Carolina who goes to auctions out there & ships them to me in California. My shed is filled with past finds that I had forgotten about too. So I look forward to setting up this little cottage industry along side my own designs at The Virtual Hippy & The Altered Angel.

Discrimination in fashion???

I live very rural & it's assumed that when you live in a small town that you are unaware of the fashion world outside,in the "Big City"? Well I live in the wine country region of Northern California. We are a small community of 2500 or so. I grew up near San Francisco & spent my summers in Long Beach. I know the high life & the low life. I get aggrevated when I'm pigeon holed into the so called "Hick" lifestyle. I've loved fashion all my life. I designed clothes with my Mother as a child when we had very little cash on hand. We would buy one Simplicity pattern and tweek it a bit & then I would design my own fashions in highschool with thrift store finds like 1940 fur sweaters,beaded sweater,poodle coats,etc. So just because we live in small towns & we are not a size 0,we too have style & are aware of the "Big City" style out there. I buy online most of the time anyway?

Fashion for the vanity

This brush is a 1940's rhinestone & pearl encrusted piece from a vanity set I aquired years ago. It came with a mirror too. It has a bit of patina but we like that shabby chic look. Don't we?

Unknown Artist?

This necklace is an abstract Tourqoise shadowbox design with an open bale. So it could also be a dress clip. All sterling & marked with an unusual log cabin logo or beehive? & JB on the back. If you know let me in on it,okay?

Green fashion??

Well if you consider recycling a form of green living than I guess I'm green. I love vintage & if it is truly vintage than it came from someone else's closet & therefore it is truly recycled. If it is designed to look vintage than it is not a true vintage piece but an inspired vintage piece. Even my car is a 1974 VW. Who needs a hybrid at $25,000.00,when you have a $400.00 VW that gets 35 MPG & is a blast to drive.

History repeating itself........

I grew up near San Francisco during the 60's & 70's. So it was an exciting time in fashion. But usually by mistake. Janis Joplin & The Beatles are very copied in today's world. Joss Stone,The Jonas Brothers Suits, to name a few. I see the influence that the fashion industry is going towards with the so called retro look. But the skinny jeans,faux fur jackets,platforms in wood? Come on now kids? We had Pegged Pants aka Skinny Jeans? Remember the Beatles attire on Sullivan's show? My Mom wore Amy Winehouse's attire to the tee! No mascara & only blue eyeshadow with heavy liner & red lips? Ratted hair,as high as you could get it with a boat load of the ol' Aqua Net,OJ cans with bobby pins & Dippity Doo was a part of any 60's fashion regimen. We wore crocheted hats,chokers,hip huggers,hot pants,dog collar sweaters,mood rings,knee socks with pleated mini skirts aka Britney Spears School Girl Look,tight cordouroy jackets,holey Levis........ Snooky's bumped hair? She is the reincarnation of my cousin Peggy who wore white lipstick & go go boots. The shorter the dress & the higher the platform was my only goal in life at 15 in 1973. I love all the looks I see around me but it is just history repeating itself.

My "Shoe as Art"....

I think all fashion is art. But especially shoes. I have a huge Clog collection of wood to Delftware & the series of "Just the Right Shoe" art by the artist Raine.

"Joyride"

This is my little saddle shoe altered art piece. Made up of an old 60's child's shoe & misc. found objects. I sold it in 2007. It was my 1st art sale. I was nominated on Ebay for an ACA artist award in 2007 too!

Unknown beauties....

I can't find the designer of this piece. It has a makers mark on it and is 1/2012ktGF. I love the design and is up for auction this week.

Au Revoir....

Another one that was tough to part with. I love all things french. This rare minty fresh sweater pin chain from the 50's. Auqamarine is a rare rhinestone color.

Marvelous.......

This is a rare find. A mint condition vintage 40's Marvella bracelet that I sold last month. It was tough to part with but I have a ton of this stuff & need a new art design studio!! The perwinkle & topaz design was stunning when I first saw this piece. I died(thank you Ms. Zoe)!

Rhinestones Rule....

Above is an Albert Weiss set from the 40's. These are in mint condition and rare to find in this shape.

Above is an Austrian rhinestone set from the 40's. I like the gunmetal base on these. Very rare.

Fashion romance.....

It's a great choker with a modern look but is actually from the 1948 Reinad Company.

It's the hugs & kisses necklace design. It's up for auction this week.

Sweet Tweets!

I'm lovin' those fashionista's at Twitter. Thanks for the following girls! I've always been one. Next to my 1976 highschool (Farah Fawcett) yearbook picture it states: "Gail plans to go into the field of fashion design". I never made it until I was 50 but it's never to late. Just made a sale at my virtualhippy Etsy site,so thats 4 fashion pieces so far. I sell vintage & I'm having an auction this week until Sunday the 17th at Ebay to the left at the My Ebay Auction Link.

Fabulous faux.....

A vintage love affair....

I've been collecting vintage jewelry for years and luckily I have a business that gives me access to free items that would be destined for the landfill. We,my hubby & I, have had a real estate business for 19 years now,where I am a interior design stager/handywoman and he does the landscaping on properties that are for sale. The people hire us to clean out all objects from attics to garages & you would not believe what people leave behind. Everything from old photos to vintage jewelry & fabulous furniture from the 30's & 50's too. I sell at our local flea market & at my house for an occasional yardsale but lately I've noticed a good market online at Ebay & Etsy.com. I've decided to go into the vintage jewelry business for fun & extra income too. But mostly to keep these hidden treasures in collections all over the world. These pieces are "costume" but have a whole personality of their own. They bring out memories in people that my have been kept hidden. You may see a peice from the 60's that your school teacher wore to keep her sweater on her shoulders or even an awesome art deco piece that brings back the good old days of Hollywood glamour. You can mix these little gems with even the most casual of outfits and still they stand out. So I hope to meet some new friends at some online networking spots & make this new chapter in my life a nice change at my age. Reinventing myself at 52!!

July Splendor!

This is an annual event at our house. This old fat barrel cactus blooms out these beauties 12 at a time. It happens on or around the 4th of July and it does ironically look like fireworks. But the catch is they only last a few hours,so it's a nice surprise every year. I've yet to get a snapshot of all 12 in bloom at once. Maybe next year,huh?

Sleeping on the job......

Little Chita my office clerk?

My first ACEO....

When we had the secret summer swap at RESPECT I decided to do an ACEO & this is the one I swapped with artist*r. She absolutely loved it & I was thrilled.

Religion & Art....

I was pleasantly surprised when I sold this little altered child's saddle shoe I called "Joyride". I had never heard of Santos & was bombarded with emails about this peice & what saint it represented. It was bought as a gift & went back east but I still had no intentions when it was created to be a Santo.

Patience is a virtue.......

George Jetson & the demise of the quill......

I guess when all those guys were signing the Declaration of Independence with that big Ol' Ostrich plume,they had no idea that one day there may be no need for the ink filled contraption. I recently had a friend move faraway & she has no computer or desire to own one,so email was out & calling each other was costing us a fortune,so I picked up a pen & started to write. I was thinking that it had been years since I had truly written a real letter. Not just a thank you note,but a detailed accounting of my monthly adventures. I realized that I now look forward to those little gifts of words I receive each month. Handwritten by someone I care about. I make walnut ink & my neighbor gave me an old fashion fountian pen as a Christmas gift. It's not the kind with a cartridge,but the same type used in 1776. I tried it & 1 dip lasted about 2 lines. I was quite surprised,so I decided to write an entire letter in walnut ink to my friend. It's actually an art form now! It takes a canvas & ink,right? So I got to thinking that even a typewriter is extinct? I now dismantle them for altered art pieces. Well! If you're a "Boomer" than you'll know what I mean when I say,"I think we have finally become The Jetson's!!" From George Washington to George Jetson,hmmm.........I'll take the quill anyday!

Animals & Art .....

Some of my favorite ACEO Artists!

On a Diet by Lisa Roller


Dump Night Date by SueB AKA aligatorsue


The 3 Tenors by the late Luna Rivera AKA Lun8


"Lost in Thought" by Winafret L. Burns

Here is the reason I buy from Windy. The photo below shows how she captured my long departed "Mister",by chance,so well......