Gatsby Overkill?

A piece from Tart Deco  "Blue Magoo"

We knew it would happen. I am referring to the slew of Great Gatsby on the internet. In some ways I am glad because it could mean a boost in sales for my 20s hair accessories, as well as many of my colleagues who make some amazing stuff.

[start rant] However, there is a part of me that gets steamed because everyone and their mother is tagging items "Great Gatsby" or "1920s", or my favorite "Gatsby Inspired," when the item is not even close! Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of interpreting historical trends and I do it myself, especially in designing steampunk items. BUT- Vintage does not necessarily mean something can cover multiple time periods, especially when we are talking fashion. For example, there is a big difference between a 1940s silhouette and a 1920s silhouette. 'Nuff said. Even J. Peterman, who I normally adore, sent out an notice today about their newest online catalog called Gatsby Inspired. Sorry kids, I was unimpressed, especially because their amazing beaded "flapper" dress was not included. Perhaps I am overreacting? [end rant]

To end this on a positive note, I created a treasury of items by some of my etsy pals who have been selling and making 1920s/30s and Art Deco items for a while now.

I Had It All Along- 20s treasury

Also, when you get a chance, make sure and check out the latest Hey Doll! Magazine issue, which has a Great Gatsby theme. There a some really nice articles, plus a quick and easy 20s Day Dress tutorial (with pattern!). Let's support our blog pals Brittany Va-Voom and Bunny Moreno!

Click to view Issue Four: May {1920's/ Gatsby} on GLOSSI.COM

I'm Back!

Long time, no post :) I have had just about everything under the sun happen since my last post and I have been trying to get my blogging mojo back. Probably the biggest news is that I relocated to North Carolina and I am the new Music Librarian at Elizabeth City State University. I am actually creating a music library from scratch and it has all been very excited! If anyone is interested in following the process, I have created a blog. Yes. One more blog to upkeep because I have been so great at keeping up this one! Of course, that one is for work, so there is a bit more motivation in a time crunch. 

However, I happened to come across an interview I gave a few years ago on the Simply Stacie Blog that may motivate me to get this blog back up to snuff. There are so many blogs out there that cover vintage lifestyles and items. For those of you that are still with me, is there anything you would like to see in a blog that no one else is doing? Or is there something I used to do that you wish I did again?

Heads up readers- if you give me some input, you will get extra entries in a vintage giveaway that I will be having soon!

Moving Sale!

MOVING SALE! I got a job in North Carolina and now I have to move across the country. My gain is your gain- everything in my shop is 30% off until December 5th! Use the coupon code HAPPYMOVE.

Here's a preview of what is available right now:

Sweet Nothings: Women in Rockabilly Music

Janis Martin, 1956, Age 15

Image courtesy of the WRVA Collection, Library of Virginia

After 6 1/2 years of graduate school and much blood, sweat and tears, my Master's thesis "Sweet nothings: women in rockabilly music: LaVern Baker and Janis Martin" has been published and is available for download (free!) online through my university. It is 99 pages of rockabilly goodness, focusing on LaVern Baker and Janis Martin, of course.

Lewin-Lane, Stephanie P., "Sweet nothings: women in rockabilly music: LaVern Baker and Janis Martin" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. Paper 11. http://dc.uwm.edu/etd/11

The most exciting part is that I was granted permission to include transcripts of several interviews with Janis Martin, and her mother Jewel, that have never been available for scholarship. This was through the generosity of documentary filmmakers Beth Harrington (Welcome to the Club) and Elizabeth Blozan (Rebel Beat: The Story of L.A. Rockabilly).

Do yourself a favor and check it out. It's an easy read, if I do say so myself!

Thanksgiving Sale

Hello All! I am having a sale in my Tart Deco etsy shop starting right now until Dec. 5th. Use the coupon code TURKEY20 for 20% off everything in my store (including sale items)! I have lots of cute hair accessories, some for the holidays- plus other vintage goodies like a beautiful mandarin collar house coat.

Here's a sample of what is in my shop right now:


Also, don't forget my Shabby Apple giveaway. It ends Dec. 4th and there are some pretty good odds right now!

Tart Deco Mother's Day Sale

I have put a few items in my store on sale, including my vintage teacup pincushions and hanky sets. The sale runs until May 7th so get your goodies while they last!

I'm Still Alive- I Swear!

My cat Nigel Bunster is embarassed for me

Hey there readers,

I have been absolutely terrible about updating my blog lately. I actually should have been better because last week was Spring Break from Graduate school, but I decided to take a few days to really relax and not write anything while I could.

I was also taking some time to concentrate on my hot jazz vocal trio Bootless Betties and set up some potentially amazing gigs. One of the gigs I am getting together is a fundraiser for our local PBS station MPTV in July. We will be performing with another local group called Wisconsin Hybrid Theater (Radio WHT) that does old-timey radio show adaptations and original plays. It is going to be a wonderful interactive show, so if you are in town make sure and sign up for our newsletter so we can let you know how to get tickets. We also have a dieselpunk & steampunk show coming up in June.



Back to blog stuff, I know a lot of you are on the verge of Viva Las Vegas 14. I envy you, really. I wasn't able to make the 350 followers I hoped for to have a mega-giveaway. But I am so close to 300 that I am starting to put together some vintage goodies for a giveaway then.

Thinning Out My Stash

Hello lovelies! Just to let you know, I am going through my personal stash of vintage items sell in my Etsy store Tart`Deco over the next week or so. I just listed 5 pairs of vintage cat eye glasses (see above) and 2 pairs of shoe trees and will be adding some lovely rhinestone pieces on Tuesday and Wednesday. I am pricing this stuff to sell so make sure to visit often over the next 2 weeks to get some great deals! Still in time for Viva too ;)

Valentine's Day with Tart Deco

Oooh- I just added some new hair accessories to my online etsy store Tart Deco. Some hair flowers and a mini hat like these:

Marabou Love Hat Topper

Lena's Jewel Hair Fascinator

I will also be adding a few more each day. Here's a sneak peek just for you:

If you are interested in either of these, send me a message at tartdeco at gmail dot com and I will create a reserve listing for you. You can also keep an eye on my etsy store widget to the right for newly featured pieces.

Viva Las Vegas Series #7- Shoe Clip Giveaway on Grosgrain (closed)

I adore shoe clips! I was just watching a documentary on Flappers this morning called The Flapper Story by Lauren Lazin and I know that some of the shoes those bad girls were wearing had to have shoe clips. I just started making some shoe clips to sell in Tart Deco and I am totally going to use this documentary as inspiration. I haven't been able to find a copy of it on it's own, but I know it is an extra on the restored 1927 film Chicago.

On to the giveaway. You may have noticed the Shoe Sugar icon in my sidebar for Grosgrain, one of my favorite blogs. This whole month she is doing one shoe clip tutorial a day. She also has a giveaway for Shoeclips.biz right now if you don't want to make your own.

Viva Las Vegas Series #5- Getting Organized in Style

I was inspired by a recent post on VaVoom Vintage about To Do lists. It struck me that getting ready for the Viva Las Vegas Weekender is SO much more involved than a regular trip. Forgetting even a pair of stockings or a jar of pomade (gasp!) could ruin the day's plans. So to make it easier for you all to keep sane I am designing some organization tools. The first is a To Do list with a little bit of attitude. I am working on a travel check list so keep an eye out!

To download it, click on the picture to enlarge and right-click to save it. When you print make sure the paper is set to landscape:

The To Do list is free for personal use only and cannot be used or sold for profit.

Last Day for 20% off Tart Deco

Today is the last day to get 20% off anything in my Tart Deco etsy store. All you need to do is use the coupon code blogxmas10 when you check out.

Here are my favs that are still left:

Vintage Housecoat Lg

Vintage teacup pincushion

Candy Ava Hair flower

Blue Christmas Hair barrette

Special Blog Sale

I finally got a chance to add some new holiday hair flowers to my etsy store Tart Deco. I will be adding even more in the next 2 days. To celebrate this and make up for my lack of posts during finals I am offering 20% off of everything in the store until Dec. 17th. YES, everything! All you need to do is use the coupon code blogxmas10 when you check out.

Here's a sneak peek at what I have right now:



Remember, the coupon code disappears on Dec. 17th at midnight, so don't delay!

Midsummer Night's Dream Treasury

I recently started to join in on the Team Discovery Treasury Challenge. When I need some inspiration, I join the challenge and make up a treasury that stirs my brain a little. It is especially good for interesting color combinations. Below is my most recent treasury entitled Midsummer Night's Dream. Hope you like it!

Midsummer Night's Dream Treasury by Tart Deco

Send a Little Love My Way

Cookie Cutie

Hello lovelies! I am entered in a vintage clothing contest and I was hoping you all might help me out by voting for me. You can vote once every day, so if you are so inclined that would be awesome! The voting ends Nov. 12th.


You can vote for me here.

THANKS!

Tart Deco Featured

I was recently interviewed for the blog Simply Stacie. Simply Stacie is a blog friendly website that started a list of PR friendly blogs that companies can contact about reviewing their products based on the subject of the blog, ie. vintage or music. I am not huge on giving away free reviews, however if I am contacted to look at a product appropriate for my readers and I truly like it- why not? I also like the page of blogger resources on the site.

American Popular Music

pic from kclibrary.lonestar.edu

I may have mentioned that in my "spare" time I am getting a dual Masters degree in Library Science and Music History. I have recently started a blog on American Popular Music where I wax poetically on various genres in that subject.

I started the blog to satisfy a course requirement for a class I am in right now so the posts are fairly spread out in time periods and subjects. However I am sure that once the class ends I will tend to concentrate mostly on music from the 1920s-50s which are my favs! I do have a post up on The Hillbilly Casino which should be of some interest to my rockabilly readers.

Vintage Closet and Boudoir Giveaway (closed)

pic from thevintagehousewife

The last two apartments I have lived in were pretty old (1920s and currently 1884) and they both had very small closets in the bedroom. Being that my husband and I are hoping to eventually buy a 20s or 30s bungalow I have a feeling I will have a similar issue. Thusly, I am obsessed with how people organize their closets.

I LOVE it when I find an ad or picture in a vintage magazine that shows a bedroom closet or when I see an old movie that allows a peek at a boudoir. I am also inspired by modern closets, but vintage examples remind me of how little I really need for clothes, which is a good thing in my case.

So to have a little fun I am hosting a giveaway to feed my closet obsession. I will be giving away a vintage boudoir package to one lucky reader. The package will consist of a pair of padded hangers, 2 handmade ribbon sachets, a vintage hanky or lingerie bag, and a set of vintage shoe trees that have been personally "tarted" up by me. Plus there will be a surprise gift added based on the picture that wins.

What do you need to do to win? 

-Leave a link (and your email) in the comments of this post to a picture of a bedroom closet with a vintage feel that inspires you and tell me what it is you like about it. Please make sure that you include where you found the picture so I can give the proper credit! If you don't give me the pic source you can't win because I like to play nice when using other people's content, k? You can take a picture of your own vintage inspired closet if you'd like and upload it to the web so you can link to it. Just make sure and let me know it is yours.

-You get one entry for every picture you send, but they have to be a different closet (no multiple views of the same closet). Also, once a link for a picture is left in the comments it can't be used again (so no multiple entries on a single picture).

-You get an extra entry per picture of any bedroom closet that is 1950s or earlier

-You get an extra entry if you blog about this giveaway. Make sure and leave me a direct link to the post in the comments to get credit.


- The giveaway ends Monday, Oct. 18th at midnight, central time. That gives you two whole weekends to find your pictures. The winner will be picked by random out of a hat and I will post it by Wednesday of the same week.

- The giveaway is open to anyone in the US and Canada. Anyone outside of that may enter but they will have to pay the difference in shipping to their country.

- Make sure to leave your email in your comments so I can contact you if you win!

Fun, yes? I hope so! I can't wait to see what inspires you!

My Other Vintage Passion

Figgy Pudding- I'm the dramatic one on the right

I don't remember if I have ever posted about the fact that I love madrigal music, especially the bawdy stuff (which frankly accounts for 80% of the secular music of the time, just read between the lines). Sometimes I hear it in my sleep and have spent hours and hours looking through music books at the library and loving every minute of it.

I used to perform every summer at the Bristol Renaissance Faire for 11 years, first as a madrigal singer in various groups, then as the director, arranger and performer in an amazing all-female group called the Consorte Bella Donna. I still have thoughts about reforming this group because it was all kinds of awesomeness and what else is one going to do with a courtesan costume that sports an 8-yard bustle?

Consorte Bella Donna-Lusty Young Smith.mp3

English Ivy at Stronghold 09

I still perform at Renaissance Faires on occasion and this weekend I am at one in Oregon, IL called Stronghold. I am also selling my Tart Deco hair flowers and wreaths with a few extra Halloween goodies like witch hats. If you are in the area come and visit me!

Tart Up Your Sewing Room

Hold on to your hats! I have gotten addicted to making teacup pincushions. I made one for an apron swap I am in right now and it was so fun I made more. A LOT more. So I am going to start selling them in my online Tart Deco store on etsy.

DuBarry's Delight

This teacup is especially wonderful because it has 3 claw feet. I made the cushion smaller to see the flower detail inside the rim of the cup. The pink flower is included, but not attached.

Sherbert Tart

A candy-colored cushion with handmade ribbon flower and glass raspberry affixed on top. Comes with decorative paper flowers, not attached. There is a lovely ornamental pedestal bottom on the teacup.

 Red Velvet Daintie

This is my favorite so far and the most unusual. A half-moon pin cushion of red velvet and vintage lace allows a flower detail to peek out from the inside of this bone china teacup. The cup also has a pedestal bottom that fits gently into the matching saucer.

All the pincushions come with matching saucers that are not attached, but can be at your request. To lay claim to one of the above lovelies visit my Tart Deco etsy shop or click on the title of each pincusion for a direct link.