SALE ends Midnight Tonight (30/04/12) on ALL Hair Jewels

Get 25% off all Hair Jewels in my Etsy Shop until midnight tonight. Prices start at just £3.75 for Vintage Button Bobby Pins. Included are Tribal Fusion Headdresses, Bridal Hair Ornaments and sparkling diamante Hair Combs. Like most of my creations these have beautiful antique and vintage elements for a special and unique look.

Visit Vaudeville Gypsy on Etsy

An Heirloom for the Future

For the past few weeks I have been quietly working on a tribal fusion bellydance belt. It's been a labour of love from the start. I was lucky enough to discover a stunning piece of Art Nouveau fabric from what must have been a heartbreakingly beautiful dress. The fragment from the past formed the idea in my head for a deluxe piece of tribal fusion art.

It takes time, patience and a fair bit of disposable cash to find treasures to adorn a deluxe belt. I was lucky enough to have been given some Victorian gold metal bullion braid by my mother. It has the most exquisite metal thread work and sequins hand embroidered onto purple velvet. My mother was initially horrified I'd cut a piece for the belt! thankfully now she's seen the finished piece she loves it, phew!

The belt has a true feel of Orientalism about it and a touch of Egyptian Revival. The colours are based on black with blues, purples and various shades of gold weaved through the design. Many of the sequins are iridescent which creates fabulous movement. Several vintage and antique buttons in glass and brass have been dotted around the piece to further catch the light. Art Deco jewels are centred at the back. Vintage Japan glass chain forms a fringe along with beaded tassels.

It's a treasure trove of historical delights waiting to adorn a belly dancer wanting to be transported back to a bygone age.

OOAK Dark Fusion Flapper Belt

Liebster Blog Award

I had the lovely surprise of being sent a notification from my dear friend Anna over at Annamaltoys that she had chosen me for the Liebster Blog Award. So a very big thank you and hug Anna! It's a super idea based on the pay it forward principle. 

Here are the rules:

1.  Choose up to 5 up-and-coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) to award the Leibster to.
2.  Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3.  Post the award on your blog.  List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites.  Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.

My chosen blogs are

Made For Me By Oaklie Anne Hopfer deserves this more than anyone else I know. What a talented, generous and lovely person. She makes gorgeous knitwear and crocheted accessories and jewellery. Anne also runs the On Fire For Handmade team on Etsy and beyond, which is so supportive of independent artists.

Edi's Little Treasures makes some of the most beautiful wire wrapped and chainmaile jewellery. I'm always pleased to see what new beauties she has made!

Trundle Bed Times a whimsical and eclectic blog of vintage treasure hunter's delights 

These are a few of my favourite things...on Etsy

It doesn't take long to get throughly addicted to looking at all the beautiful things people make on Etsy. If you have even a passing interest in bellydance you can find some of the most talented artists all in one place. So to share a handful of them I made a little treasury...

Dance Like There's Nobody Watching

This Weeks Featured Artisan

Oooh yummy stuff!

This weeks Featured Artisan is Debbie LaRue - Vintage Tags for Days! Gorgeous tags in a vintage

style to give a unique look to your gifts! You can find Vintage Tags for Days on:

Etsy

Blog

Facebook

Debbie also has a shop called Flower and Bud Jewelry on Etsy too!

This Weeks Featured Artisan

An original range of decorations, home furnishings, cards and gifts with a retro/vintage twist... Great to see a fellow Brit being featured! :-)

This weeks featured artisan is Phillippa Pinka - Court & Sparks.

Darling Creations that make perfect gifts! You can find Court & Sparks on:

Etsy

Folksy

Dewanda

Blog

This Weeks Featured Artisan

Oh heavens, I LOVE this shop!

This weeks Featured Artisan is Georgia Groves- Georgiamarbles! Beautiful creations!

You can Find Georgiamarbles on :

Etsy

Facebook

Blog

You can Grab the code for your blog Here:

I've re-opened my Etsy shop!

I made the decision to re-open my Etsy shop the other day, I've been pondering it for some time now and decided what the hell! Only pixie steps so far. I have a handful of special items including the following headpieces/headdresses.

Made with the finest quality materials, all these pieces have great attention to detail and can be found in the Hair Jewels section of my shop. The two flapper style headbands both have antique elements including bullion braid and French jet. The Gypsy Rose headpiece has a mixture of silk and flocked roses, a vintage jewelled brooch and ostrich plumes. Glamour rules!

So please take a moment to look at my Etsy shop, favourite my shop and add me to your circle. And if you're feeling like a 21st Century Vamp you may end up the proud new owner of one of these wearable works of art.

Vaudeville Gypsy on Etsy

Feathers In Her Hair

Vaudeville Gypsy features in this lovely ArtFire collection curated by Catinalife Creations. It's a super collection of feathered loveliness for your hair's adornment! Vaudeville Gypsy has a great range of unique and stylish hair adornments mostly made from One of A Kind & Vintage elements.

Click HERE to be taken to the collection where you can visit each studio individually, comment on and rate the collection.

Visit Vaudeville Gypsy

My Favourite Piece of Vintage Jewellery

I thought today I would share with you my favourite piece of Vintage jewellery. It is an Art Deco dress clip and brooch set from the early 1930's. Attributed to Coro it is in wonderful condition. It is a dress clip 'Duette', with a difference. The design incorporates tiny flowers over the typical geometric lines of Art Deco, all set with sparkling diamanté. It carries the patent number for the sprung mechanism, which was registered in 1932 to Elisha A. Phinney.

Duette was a term used by Coro to describe their combination dress clips and brooch design. It is a piece of metamorphic jewellery which can be worn in more than one way. The typical configuration is a frame which has two removable dress clips. When all pieces are fitted together the piece then becomes a brooch, as can be seen in the first picture.

This piece is slightly different. Normally the frame which holds the clips together to make the brooch is purely functional. Alone it cannot be used as a third piece of jewellery. However, this piece has been made in such a manner that the frame is a brooch in its own right that can be worn alone.

I know this is quite a rarity, as I have been searching for another! They are out there but I think I'm in for a long wait. It gives me great pleasure to own this little piece of Art Deco heritage sitting here telling you about it from Balham's own Art Deco jewel, Du Cane Court.

Studio Sale @ Vaudeville Gypsy on ArtFire

I'm spreading the love this Valentines by holding a studio-wide sale on ArtFire. I have a nice selection of hair jewels from bobby pins to headbands to glamorous fascinators. Great for a mysterious evening assignation! My hair ornaments are heavily influenced by Vintage aesthetics and use beautiful elements including Vintage jewellery, feathers and millinery flowers. Also in the studio you can find other handmade jewellery and accessories, tribal costuming and signed Vintage pieces.

Visit Vaudeville Gypsy's 20% off SALE

So if you'd like to find something unique for a loved one, or even to treat yourself, please take a look whilst my Sale is on

21st Century Vamps, Tribal Goddesses and Ruffles ahoy...

I've been putting this off for some time now, but spurred on by my friend Anna and her newly started blog annamaltoys I've taken the plunge and created my very own blog. I suppose I ought to introduce myself and what I'm about.

Vaudeville Gypsy is born of my love of Tribal Fusion and ATS Belly Dance, the Silent Film era, Art Deco and Victorian Vaudeville. These things all go to influence my designs. I originally trained as a jeweller and also went on to train/work in costume and props. Vaudeville Gypsy is my outlet for my creative ideas, be they jewellery, costume or accessories. I like to make beautiful things to adorn 21st century vamps and tribal goddesses.

Autumn Rose Gold Feather Fascinator

 

 

I collect vintage jewellery and I also like to re-use and re-vamp vintage and antique jewels and textiles within the pieces I make. From Sari fabrics to Victorian applique; from Art Deco dress clips to Atomic age brooches, I like to take forgotten pieces and give them a new lease of life so they may be treasured and loved once more.

Vintage Diamanté & Feather Fascinator

I've been poorly this last week and have lots of work to catch up on, so I won't write much more today. I was supposed to be going in to hospital for a small op but ironically have not been well enough to do so! I'm trying to muster the energy to make some Gypsy Twist skirts and a bra/matching skirt combo as I have an event this weekend coming, To The Beat Of The Drum 2 - A Day and Night of Arabic Dance where I shall be offering up some of my creations.

My latest toys are some new feet for my vintage Elna SU62 sewing machine. I can't even start to tell you how ridiculously excited I am about them: a gathering foot and a RUFFLER foot, oh the joy! I will let you know how I get along with them next time and hopefully post some photos too.