Where Bloggers Create & Giveaway

Welcome everyone visiting from Karen at My Desert Cottage's "Where Bloggers Create 2013" party! (And, of course, welcome also to those of you who regularly visit!!!) Karen, you are so wonderful to once again host the event of the year; thank you so much for all your hard work putting this together and for your awesome inspiration throughout the year.

This is the second time I have participated in Karen's annual event - last year I was still in my basement studio. Since then I have moved upstairs to an 8 x 10 room; not the largest space, but more than enough for me to create, blog and surf my favorite websites. In keeping with my Victorian Studio theme, you'll find old wood, tarnished silver and regal-inspired trinkets here.

Be warned; there are lots (a ridiculous amount, really) of photos - but to thank you for getting through them all, you'll discover a very special giveaway at the bottom of the post. As always, click the photos to biggify to nearly twice the size you see here. So grab a cup of your favorite beverage, sit back and enjoy the tour of Where This Blogger Creates:

Main Desk  - This is where I create cards, sculpt, paint, sketch,
draw digi stamps and blog on my laptop.

I like having everything at hand, but organized too.
Ribbon is on a 6' curtain rod, wooden stamps in printer's trays,
at the far left is an antique paper cutter that holds paper towels.
My OCD is obvious in that everything goes back to it's place
when I am done each day.  I know... it's a sickness ;)

Antique bridge lamp provides extra light in a charming fashion.
Behind it is a cherished "Joy" ornament from Dawn at The Feathered Nest.

Top of watchmaker's cabinet.
A Victorian celluloid-topped rubber band container is center stage.
An awesome find since I didn't even KNOW rubber bands were invented yet!
[They were. In 1845. There... you learned something too.]

Most-used supplies kept close at hand in watchmaker's cabinet
and desktop file drawers from the Diem Wing & Paper Co. Cincinnati.
(inscribed on front).

Victorian cast iron wall pocket, clip and hook -
found separately, but go nicely together.

A Victorian photo album, cast iron string holder, vintage clipboard
and a few favorite items in a silver tray.

My bunny watches over me and smiles.

Copics in my homemade organizer, tools in silver creamer and goblet,
glass pen tray, miscellaneous bits and bobs in an old muffin tin.
The lion head drawer pull is a single, so he sits here atop another drawer set.

I guess you've figured out by now I like small wooden drawers.
Well, I am sorry for you'd be mistaken...
I LOVE them!

Stamps, tools, brushes, pencils and markers in old silver.
Silver tape dispenser, gold stapler (yes, real gold), Achilles stamp stand
and Victorian note spike.
Antique postcards in an 1888 cast iron wire rack.
Peeking in the right side is my wall-mounted Victorian cast iron string dispenser.
Oh, and a candy tray always full, natch -
current offering du jour are sour jelly beans. (yum)

Old keys and tags on vintage regal key hooks.

Shelves over desk. They're too hard to easily reach
so I put decorative items up there rather than art / crafting supplies.

First shelf - a trio of Edison antiques.

Vintage products - love the old graphics and typefaces!

Trinkets in a printer's tray.

Old clocks and fan.
Ha! Just realized that each clock displays a different time...
now my OCD wants to fix that.

Second shelf - thrifted crystal decanters, transferware plate
and a plant in a rusty bird cage that obviously wasn't made to hold a bird
- at least not for long, that is.

Silverware, plate, birdcages and insulators.
Antique mouse plate - inscribed on back
"To Mrs Bell Merry Xmas From Flossie 1905"

Bulletin board made from an old frame
with vintage postcards, cameos, keys and a calendar from 1895.

Under desk storage - wicker picnic baskets store a variety of "stuff".
Because I'd probably forget what "stuff" I put in there, I labelled each one too.
Oh yeah, and that's an antique rusty metal creamer at the back that holds
a bunch of old yardsticks, rolls of paper and a Ranger craft sheet.

Chair-thief Dakotah.
A Master at assuming control the nano-second I get up to do something.
I swear she meows "Mine!" in victory... until I move her butt off it once again.

Stamping desk under window - Distress inks in thrifted cassette tray.
An easy find, since cassettes have gone the way of the dinosaur.
Metal "steampunk-ish" sculpture I made from old clock parts.

A peek in the drawers.
Notice I said "the" drawers. Not "my" drawers.
At least that's how I had to re-type it so as not to confuse...

Why I put a shelf under the window ;)

Watches and watch / clock parts awaiting re-purposing.

My reminder chalkboard - with MY memory, it's used a lot!
That crown frame used to be a mirror, but since the glass was marked,
I painted it with chalkboard paint.

Storage under the stamping desk.
Crown masons in front inside an antique oil tray.
Burlap, brown paper, twine and big rusty shears in old twig basket.
Because EVERY crafter needs big rusty shears in an old twig basket. Right?

Sheba - guaranteed to appear immediately upon the consuming of food. 
ANY food.
Perfectionist of the sad "I'm starving" look (which she never is, BTW).

My $45 Re-Store chandelier. A perfect addition to the room.
Reminds me of something off the Titanic
sans barnacles ;)

My dress form stands at attention for the antique Union Jack behind her.
Yep, that's my 33 year old wedding dress! (The hat's new though...)

Old glass and old glasses.

Glitter is too pretty to be hidden away.
Speaking of Titanic, that creamer and sugar at the top
are First Class reproductions I bought from the Titanic Exhibition in 2012.

Candlestick phone and bell box, bread box holds cards, oak cabinet underneath.

Did I mention I have a touch of OCD? Um. Yeah.

Tawnee blends in well with all the browns, no?
Here she is plotting to somehow replace Dakotah at the prime sleeping spot
AKA: "The Shelf Under The Window".
Meanwhile, Sheba, oblivious to the scheme, is still waiting for some snacks to fall...

Silver trays and doorknobs under glass.
I have old game piece magnets on one, the other I made into a chalkboard.
Errr...on the silver trays, that is.
Not the doorknobs.

Shelf below clock displays a Bobbie helmet bell, Royal commemorative plate,
old postcards, frames, cast iron bird and a cat weather vane.
Which is useless if you want to know which direction your cat is going.

Besides the antics of my three feline family members, I share my studio with two feathered friends; my daughter's two birds (since she couldn't bring them to her apartment). Yep, I am never lonely!

Zazu the talkative Budgie - chatters with real words....
freaks me out sometimes, I will admit.

Meeka the goofy Lovebird -
she tries to get my attention by hanging upside down and squawking.
It works.

Old dresser with drawers removed, stripped, stained and shelves installed.
Perfect fit for a lot of supply storage!
Did I mention I have a lot of supplies?
I do. But don't tell my husband that.

Each one of these drawers has four sections making organizing even easier.

Two Singers - one regular and one toy that really works!
Vintage needle books, wooden spools, pins.

My favorite pin cushion - actually it's my ONLY pin cushion.
But who needs more when you have one with an uber-adorable metal squirrel on it?
Not me.

My homemade "Antiques & Bygones" sign and
railroad memorabilia (I used to work on that train in 1975).
My daughter believes I worked on it in 1875...yeah, she's hilarious.

Vintage scale weighing old books and bird,
old sheep dug out of a dusty corner in the basement of a rural antique store
and knick knacks in a small printer's tray, all atop my 12 x 12 paper rack

Inside the closet with the door and hanger rod removed.
Vintage holidays at top, punches, Cricut, binders of unmounted stamps and info.
An Ouija board? Well the Victorians were really into the occult;
and the graphics looked good back there.
Even though the game used to Freak.Me.Out.
I refuse to put the pointer device thingy anywhere near it.

Vintage picnic basket and suitcase used for storage too.
Raw real sheep wool in a wooden tray behind with my new carders from
sweet Dawn at The Feathered Nest!
(awaiting a project I will get to.... one day).

When this room was my daughter's, she had a collection of Beanie babies that we displayed on shelves up high near the ceiling... here's what is on those thin shelves now:

Bunnies hippity - hop over the door

Vintage egg cups - most, if not all, made in Japan

Silver and rusty vintage cow bells, tag, oil cans, sprinkler head and knob.

More silver, vintage cookie tin and chippy wood columns.

Reindeer. A lot of reindeer. Actually, a ridiculous amount of reindeer.
I had to get that vintage reindeer handkerchief,
as the cuteness totally sucked me right in.

See? Told you.
Even more reindeer.

Whew! Congratulations! You did it (you must be blurry-eyed by now).  I really hope you enjoyed my Grand Tour... and to thank you for your incredible endurance, patience and determination (or that perhaps you had nothing better to do for the last twenty minutes), here's my giveaway to one lucky reader:

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 1ST: CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNER OF THIS SET - Sharon from Cape Town, South Africa!  I will be emailing you for your address today!

Six pieces of beautiful gold-trimmed embossed china from the Polish maker Walbrzych /Wawel. The teacup and saucer are in their "Rosebud" pattern and the creamer and sugar bowl with lid is from their "Vienna Garlandia" line.

Hold on.... your chances of winning just doubled, as I have TWO giveaways! 

I will also draw a name to receive the following lovely 7.5" wide gold-trimmed oval dish marked Lichte Fine China, GDR (German Democratic Republic - Former East Germany):

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 1ST: CONGRATULATIONS TO Doni from Texas, the winner of this oval dish! I will also be emailing you privately for your address!

If you'd like to enter to win one of these gifts, simply leave me a comment and become a Follower either through Bloglovin' or Google Friend Connect! Since there are so many blogs in the party and a lot of participants to visit, I will give everyone lots of time to stop by before the deadline of midnight, Central time on Saturday, August 31st. The winner will be announced here on Victorian Studio on Sunday, September 1st and be contacted via email... so make sure I have a way to contact you!

Good luck and thank you again for spending time in my Victorian Studio.

I can't wait to return the trip and come by each and every blog in Karen's Where Blogger's Create party!