Folksy Friday. Moustaches galore for Movember

Not to sure where this current craze started to grow a moustache for November, now renamed Movember. I've heard the male grooming industry are hit hard each November as men everywhere ditch their razors for a month and grow it out.
Inspired by this craze I've complied a list of moustache themed pieces from Folksy for you to enjoy. As always if you like what you see feel free to share this post or if I've inspired you to indulge in this craze you can click on any of the links in this post.

My first item is Organic baby Harlem pants with a colourful moustache design by BellaOski Designs. I love the colour in this fun design. If you like this design check out their other items, they are virtually a one stop shop for moustache designed baby accessories such as booties, dribble bibs and the pants I'm featuring here.

Staying with the baby theme, I have this adorable baby booties in white with a hand painted moustache design. This design is by so small shoes.

Next up I have chosen a extra large pencil case with a steampunk kinda of feel to it. Katherine Thompson Handmade have made this pencil case for teenagers and I'm sure I know plenty of teenagers who would use this for school. I especially like the big fluffy white moustashe in the middle it remembers me of a Disney character but I can't quite remember which one!

 

My last item is a mug cosy crocheted by Wife of Brian. I think mug cosy's are unvalued and should be used more, my brother got me one for Christmas one year and there great, no more burning myself on the mug!

I should also mention that if you are a fan of Movember this shop is the place to visit to celebrate all that is Movember!

 

As always if you have enjoyed this post you can share it in the social media links below.

Thursday throwback. Anne Boleyn's 'B' necklace

Queen concert Anne Boleyn has gone down in history as possibly one of the most famous of king Henry 8th wives.

In this post I will be looking at her famous 'B' pearl necklace, which at this time is enjoying something of an revival with high street stores eager to sell you monogrammed jewellery.

The 'B' on Anne Boleyn's necklace is thought to have referenced to her surname, Boleyn.

The necklace is seen in many of her official portraits. It is a gold 'B' with three identical tear drop pearls hanging below. This is all suspended from a strand of pearls, which where round and appeared to all be around the same size.

Anne also had two more similar necklaces, one had a 'A' for Anne and the other 'AB' for Anne Boleyn.

Not much is known, if anything, about what happened to these items of well known jewellery after the queen was beheaded in May 1536. Although of course many have speculated to their where abouts. My favourite theory is that her daughter, who would go on to be Queen of england, Elizabeth 1st inherited them. Other theories included that it was broken up and that some of the pearls where used in England's current queens crown.

A brief history of Anne Boleyn.

Anne Boleyn was born the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and Lady Elizabeth Howard. It was through her father that Anne Boleyn thrived in her early years, he got her a place in the household of archduchess Margaret of Austria, he then later got her place as a maid of honour to Queen Mary, wife of King Louis XII of France. It was while in France that she learnt french and acquired a knowledge of french culture and fashion. It was the skills she learnt in France that helped her when she later moved back to engalnd went to work for Catherine of Aragon, king Henry's first wife. She soon caught the eye of sir Henry Percy who she became ended to. Unfortunately Percy's father objected to Anne and made his son break off the engagement and sent him to marry Lady Mary Talbot. 

In 1526 king Henry had her in his sights and began his pursuit of her to be his mistress. Anne had no intentions of being a mistress even if it was to the King of England. She told him she would only be with him as his wife not as a mistress. It was this that was to change the course of history, as King Henry was so desperate for Anne that he ended his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and broke with the church all so he could marry Anne Boleyn.

It was difficult and to cut a long story short they eventually managed it. Anne was given the title Marquess of Pembroke while she was engaged to Henry in 1532. When she eventually became queen she was pregnant by six months as she had her coronation.

On the 7th September 1533 Anne gave birth to a girl, Elizabeth. Although unhappy Anne Boleyn had had a girl the couple where happy in the early years of their marriage.

She became pregnant again in 1534 but she miscarried the baby. Again in 1536 she was pregnant but after Henry fell from his horse and was unconscious for two hours Anne ended up losing this baby to, which unfortunately is rumoured to have been the longed for male heir that they both wanted it.

It was this event that started the downfall of Anne Boleyn and led to Henry becoming disenchanted with her and seeking another woman. This woman was Jane Seymour a maid of Anne's. 

Henry declared that Anne Boleyn must have used an enchantment to make him fall in love with him and had her banished from court and gave her rooms to his new mistress.

On 2 May 1536 Anne was arrested and charged with adultery, incest and high treason. No one thought she or any of the men accused where guilty, however the judges had been brought off by King Henry and told to pass a guilty verdict.

So it was the men where beheaded, including Anne's own brother George Boleyn on 17 May 1536 and Anne Boleyn was beheaded two days later.

It said that Anne Boleyn woke with the sun on the morning of her beheading and said her morning prayers  and remained calm and composed.

When she walked out she wore a black damask gown lined with fur, mantle trimmed with ermine and an English gable hood. She made these choices to show she was every inch a queen and she was meant to be queen.

Later when her daughter became Queen, Anne Boleyn was elevated to the status of a martyr and heroine of the English Reformation.

I've always been interested in the story of Anne Boleyn and I hope you have enjoyed this post, to share it click the social media links below.

Featured Item. Blue Funnel Earrings

This week is the Blue Funnel Earrings I'll be celebrating as my featured item from my shop on Folksy.com , Fashion Magpie Jewellery.

 

These earrings are always admired at craft fairs but alas have not sold yet.

 I made these a while ago with antiqued bronze funnels I brought. The funnels are wire that has been expertly wrapped into the shape. At the bottom of the funnel I have a lovely deep blue porcelain bead and a little bead cap to finish.

 

My inspiration for these came after watching 'Who do you think you?' on BBC. It had June Brown, who plays Dot Branning/ Cotton, on looking for her family history and at one part, she had some very similar earrings in. I loved the shape of them so looked into making something like them, these earrings are the result of that process. 

All my items come to you in a little silver organza gift bag.

 

I have these earrings for sale for £6.00 with £1.95 postage and packaging for UK (I can post outside UK too)

 

You can find Fashion Magpie Jewellery at the below links

Website www.folksy.com/shops/fashionmagpiejewellery

Facebook www.facebook.com/fashionmagpiejewellery

Pinterest http://uk.pinterest.com/fmjewellery/

Featured Item. Red Swirl Earrings

Welcome to the featured item for this week from my folksy.com shop. Each week I show you a item from my Fashion Magpie Jewellery shop and tell you a little about it.
This week it is the turn of the Red Swirl Earrings.

 

These earrings where made with a Tibetan silver charm I chose because of its Celtic inspired swirls. Originally the centre was blank so I added a small red diamante to each side in the middle to give the charm a bit of interest. Below this I added a clear crystal teardrop. The earrings hang from nickel free ear hook. I'm always careful with my silver products to make sure they are nickel free as I know from my own allergy to nickel what a pain it is to find beautiful silver coloured earrings that are nickel free. I'm told they add the nickel to make the silver shine although I can't say whether or not that is true, it's just what I was told.

 

All my items come to you in a little silver organza gift bag.

 

I have these earrings for sale for £6.00 with £1.95 postage and packaging for UK (I can post outside UK too)

 

You can find Fashion Magpie Jewellery at the below links

Website www.folksy.com/shops/fashionmagpiejewellery

Facebook www.facebook.com/fashionmagpiejewellery

Pinterest http://uk.pinterest.com/fmjewellery/

 

 

Throwback Thursday. Jackie Kennedy's 3 Strand Pearl Necklace.

RJackie Kennedy Onassis was the style icon of the last century. The former first lady set trends and everyone wanted to be like her including the rich and famous. So when in 2010 her signature 3 strand pearl necklace came up for sale with a other pieces, buyers jumped at the opportunity to own the necklace.
It was at Bonham's first new and innovative Pioneers of Popular Culture sale at the inaugural Vintage at Goodwood Festival.
The pearls which not many people realise are actually faux pearls, are glass and hand painted; a technic perfected by Czechoslovakia.
The necklace has 3 strands and has channelling. This is something which Coco Chanel, one of Jackie's favourite designers, developed. It is a term used for the spacing in between the strands so that they lay comfortably on the neck with out clumping up together.

The necklace smashed through it's estimate and made a brilliant £30,000 mainly due to it's iconic association with Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
The sale also saw Jackie's pair of simulated pearl and diamond ear clips, which fetched £15,600 and a simulated pearl necklace, which made £6,000. As well as some of her Jaguar cars.
To the delight of the organisers the sale was a massive success and they have since grown with each year since.

She was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in 1929.
In May 1952 she was introduced by a friend to the man who would later become her husband and president of America, John F Kennedy.
In 1953 they married in Saint Mary's Church, Newport, Rhode Island. 700 guest attended the wedding with 1200 by the time they got to the reception. Her wedding dress is now housed in the Kennedy Library.

The couple endured heartache after miscarrying their first pregnancy and then having a stillborn baby with their second. They endured though and went on to have two children, Caroline in 1957 and John Jr in 1960. Unfortunately their next child was premature and sadly died two days after birth.
In 1960, John F Kennedy became president just managing to beating his opponent Richard Nixon. He had many successes as president but as everyone knows it was on the 21st November that a bullet hit the president in Dallas while he rode his motorcade with his wife, Jackie by his side. He was rushed to hospital but nothing could be done and he died from the shots.

When he was put in the casket she removed her wedding ring and placed it with him, saying 'now I have nothing.' She accompanied the casket to Air Force one and was there when Johnson was sworn in.

After the funeral, Jackie devoted her life to the memory of John F Kennedy helping to set up the Kennedy library and other memorials to her husband.

Tradegy was to strike her family again in 1968 when her husbands brother Robert Kennedy was assassinated. This frightened Jackie, she was worried someone was picking off the Kennedy family and that her children or herself could be next so fled seeking sanctuary in Greece. It was here that she met her second Aristotle Onassis.

On 20th October 1968 she married Onassis on his private island called Skorpios in the Ionian Sea. By doing this she lost her right to protection from the secret service and franking privilege.

She enjoyed 7 years with Aristotle before in January 1973 the couple received the news that Alexander Onassis, the son of Aristotle, had been killed in a plane crash.

Aristotle's health deteriorated after this and he died in 1975 from respiratory failure.

Greece don't let non Greeks inherit after a certain amount so she had to fight to get her inheritance. She eventually won $26 million from Christina Onassis , Aristotle's daughter.

Jackie decided the next part of her life should be about her and she set about becoming a book editor and worked to preserve and protect America's cultural heritage.

In 1994 she was diagnosed with non Hodgkin's lymphoma and died in the May of that year.

Her children Caroline and John jr inherited her estate worth $43.7 million.

Folksy Friday. It's nearly time for fireworks!!

Happy Halloween everyone hope you liked my folksy finds last week for Halloween if you didn't see them then you can read here. This week I turn my attention to one of my favourite nights of the year, Bonfire night.
Remember, remember the 5th November.
I'm going to be going to the Hexham bonfire, one of my favourites in the area. I just love how if you stand at the bottom of the field, while your waiting every so often someone will shine a torch over the crowds standing on the hill (no doubt looking for lost relatives) it's then that you discover out of the dark just how many people go to this bonfire.  Also even though I'm nearly 28 now I still like to have those glow sticks you can bend into a necklace. It's childish but I don't care, bonfire night is about having a bit of fun in the gloomy months of winter!
My finds this week are inspired by the fireworks themselves and I've tried to find pieces that burst with colour.

My first find was a brooch that had a burst pattern on it like when the fireworks have gone off and are just starting to fade and tumble down to earth again. It's called Handmade brooch acrylic and resin spark and its by Couture Silver and Silk who make some beautiful pieces of silver jewellery.

This next piece is by Spindlework Patchwork and Quilting and is a wall-hanging called wall-hanging Fireworks. It has a quilted purple sky and bursts with colourful fireworks of sequins and fine thread.

 

Next up is a case fro use with a iPad 2, iPad air and Galaxy tab called Fireworks.  The colours in this item just pop boldly from the black cotton. This item is by a shop called Belle Borsetta who have some equally funky and cool looking bags and purses.

 The next item is something different for Folksy Friday, a dress. This handmade dress looks to me like when you get to the finally of the fireworks display and there is so much happening, thee banging and whirling and swirling everyway for the last hooray.  

The dress is called Handmade Woman's Vintage Style dress. It is a empire style bodice with a midi length skirt and comes in size 10.

The piece is by Dreaming of Avonlea who have many other vintage inspired dresses in their shop.

 

 

The last item, isn't technically any sort of a firework but these necklace with there starburst dried flowers in resin still have the resemblance of a firework. There called Flower firework and are by a shop called Phoenixxxcharms.
Please note if you want to buy any of these and click the link to go over to them at the blue flower has been sold.

That's your lot for the fireworks addition of Folksy Friday, If you would like to buy any of the items featured please click on the coloured links to take you over to Folksy.

If you want to share this post with friends and family you can use the social media links below.

Stay safe on your bonfire night and enjoy yourself

Thursday Throwback. The curse of the Delhi Sapphire

It's Halloween tomorrow so keeping with the spookiness of the day this Thursday throwback is about the Delhi Sapphire which is reputed to be cursed.
The Sapphire which is purple began it's life in the Temple of Indra in India. Sapphires are believed in crystal healing to hold properties for healing rheumatism and mental illness.

The sapphire was looted from the temple during the Indian Mutinies of 1857, it's believed the curse was placed on the gem after this. It was a Colonel W. Ferris from the Bengal Cavalryman who was responsible for the theft and became the first victim of the curse.
Ferris brought it home to England with him and soon after his family started with health problems and financial troubles. The family blamed the sapphire for their misfortune and said it was responsible for a series of failed investments which left them close to ruin. A friend of the family unexpectedly committed suicide whilst in procession of the sapphire.
Next came the author Edward Heron Allen to own the purple sapphire, being a man of science and reason he dismissed the curse on the pretty sapphire but would soon question his judgement. He tried to sell the sapphire on twice but both times the buyers met with bad luck and returned the sapphire to him.

It's said he even tried throwing the sapphire into the Regent's Canal and thought that he was finally rid of the purple sapphire and it's curse. That was until there was a knock at his door 3 months later, a dredger had found the gem in the canal and tried to sell it to a jeweller, the jeweller had recognised it and duly returned it to Mr Heron Allen.
It was in 1904, after the birth of his daughter he came up with a new way of ridding himself of the Delhi purple sapphire. He sealed the gem inside 7 boxes with a note inside and had protective charms placed on it and sent it to his banker with instructions to lock it away until he had died. Upon his death the gem was then to go to the Natural History Museum in London. No one was to open it until he had been dead three years and under circumstance must his daughter ever inherit the gem or even touch it in anyway.
Three years passed by and the box was eventually opened and the note inside was read.
It read:

Whoever shall open it,

shall first read out this warning, and then do as he pleases with the jewel.

My advice to him or her is to cast it into the sea.

 

In 2004 the museum sent the gem with John Whittaker an employee at the Natural History Museum, to an event for first annual symposium of Edward Heron Allen's society. Mr Whittaker said after that he and his wife had been trapped in there car by a furious storm with dramatic lightening, he claimed it was a horrific experience.

Unfortunately for John Whittaker he was again charge with transporting the gem a second time, this time he fell ill being violently sick with an stomach bug.

Personally I wouldn't have taken the gem a third time but Mr Whittaker was tasked for a third time with the Delhi purple sapphire. this time he fell in pain and eventually passed a Kidney stone.

Not surprising the gem was never transported again and remains in the Natural History Museum, London on show in their Vault collection of Precious gemstones.

 

Happy Halloween everyone! If you enjoyed this post and want to share it you can do so by using the social media links below.