The Very Inspiring Blogger Award: Round 2

It's interesting how certain blog awards come and go like the quick, fun flashes in the pan that they are, and yet how others stick around for years, continuing to make their way around the blogosphere, sometimes returning to visit friends they've already said hello to for a second time. That is precisely the case with The Very Inspiring Blogger Award.




I've been seeing this particular accolade pop up on various blogs for a few years now and have already received it before myself (as you may recall from this post last September), however it has very kindly been bestowed on me again (at least) twice in recent months, once Janey of Atomic Redhead and once by Inky from On Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax.

I am sincerely touched that both of these lovely-as-all-get-out ladies wanted to pass this award along to me and am delighted to take this opportunity, as the soon-to-be-autumn-again sunrise begins to break across the taupe and sagebrush hued hills of Penticton, to share another handful of interesting little tidbits of information about myself that you might not know already.

♥ Seven more totally random facts about me ♥

1. Though neither myself nor anyone in my family was aware of the term or that such a classification existed at the time, I now know as an adult that I was unequivocally an Orchid Child (a term borrowed and anglicized from the Swedish term Swedish "orkidebarn: to describe a highly sensitive child).

As an adult, I have continued, as most Orchids do, to be a highly sensitive person (both emotionally and to various stimuli, including sounds, scents, touches, and a great many other elements in my environment). At times, possessing the trait of being so immensely sensitive can have its shortcomings and be a cross of sorts to bear, but I also greatly adore how perceptive, intuitive, creative, conscientious, attuned to other peoples' (and animals') emotions, loving, compassionate, and perpetually caring it helps make me and can scarcely imagine being any other (less sensitive) way than how the universe saw fit to make me.





2. Even though a ridiculously large number of foods are (and have been for many years now) completely off limits for me due to various chronic medical conditions (I would conservatively estimate that I'm unable to eat at least 95% of all foods in your average mainstream supermarket), I absolutely, flat out adore going grocery shopping (and cooking), and always have. When I enter a new grocery store that I've never been to be, even if it's just a branch of a chain I'm already very well acquainted with, I love to leisurely wander each aisle and observe everything that particular shop does, and doesn't, stock to tuck away for future reference. And by the same token, I love having the peace of mind that comes from knowing my fridge, freezer and pantry is well stocked after a big shopping trip.





3. Part of me will always feel like I was meant to be born into a well-to-do British family with old money, an aging Land Rover, and more tweed in their closets than in all of the Harris factory. I've been a devoted anglophile my whole life and genuinely sense that this was a path that I would have walked with aplomb, had I been reared in a rambling country manor home environment (alas, my humble Canadian upbringing with a million miles away from such an aristocratic lifestyle, but that doesn't mean I can't daydream about it from time-to-time all the same).





4. I was a natural, very pale blonde as a child to the extent that you'd think my parents were from one of those gorgeous Nordic countries such as Finland or Norway. While they're not, I do have quite a bit of Germany ancestry in my DNA, which likely helps account for my Goldilocks worthy hair colour as a youngster.

Earlier this year (in this post), I shared a childhood photo of myself and received a few comments and emails from folks were surprised to learn that I wasn't born with red hair. Nope, as much as I truly wish I was, I've been a bottle, and in recent years, wig, redhead on and off ever since I was 16 years old.

By the time I hit puberty, my softly flaxen hued hair had morphed into the dullest, most washed out "dishwater" blonde-brown you'd ever seen and as soon my folks would let me, I began dying it. I've always felt most strongly pulled towards being a redhead, so that's typically the colour you'll find atop my head and the one I've long come to feel most like myself while sporting.





5. I don't idolize famous people. I may look up to, revere, and admire them, as well as consider myself a fan of their work, but I've never been, and will never be, the type who goes "Beatlemania" for any celebrity or person, point blank. At the end of the day, fame or no fame, we're all the same in so many ways and it doesn't seem right to be to put anyone on a pedestal or view them as being akin to a god on earth.






6. In recent years, bar none, the most frequent type of jewelry that I've purchased has been brooches. I love them something fierce and delight in having just the right one to partner with any outfit I may dream up. My collection has really grown in leaps in bounds since 2012 onward in particular and now, between genuine vintage and vintage appropriate pieces, totals more than 100 brooches and counting! I can only guess what that number will be in another five or ten years from now (I'll have to report back as much in 2024).





7. One of of mine and Tony's biggest long term goals is be in a financial position to purchase an RV and use it to travel extensively across North America. Beyond the sheer appeal of this unto itself (we're both massive travel lovers), this mode of transportation (we theorize, I haven't tried traveling in one yet as an adult) will be easier on my health than many others and potentially allow us to get in longer trips to more places then a car alone currently can. I really like to believe this will happen for us down the road (figuratively and literally speaking!), so who knows, one day you might just see us pop up in your town! :)

{To learn more a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}

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As its name implies this particular blog award is intended to be passed along to individuals and their blogs who inspire you in some capacity time and time again. As this describes every last one of the blogs I follow (I likely wouldn't be following them in the first place if they didn't!), it's no easy task to whittle my selection of recipients down to just ten.

That is typically one of the instructions/rules for this particular blog award however, so after much deliberation, I'm pleased as much to share The Very Inspiring Blogger Award with the ten following bloggers and their awesome sites.

If your own name isn't listed here, please, by all means, feel free to deem yourself "awarded", too, and play along, as I'm sure your site is delightfully inspiring as well.


1. Abigail from Sweeter Gets the Journey

2. Ashesela from Art Evolve

3. Beate from Bahnwaerterhaeuschen

4. Bex from Submissive Fem

5. Corilynn from Poodles and Pin Curls

6. Heather from Dancing In My PJs

7. Helen Mae from Lovebirds Vintage

8. Kate from Retro Rover

9. Marija from Purple Pinky Honey

10. Philippa from Gloria & Me

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Should blog awards not exactly be your favourite cup of tea (or if you've already received this one before and have no desire to post a "round two" of your own), fear not, you're under zero obligation to play along. These kinds of posts are intended to be nothing but lighthearted fun, and should they not feel that way to you, by all means bow out of taking part in this one. I adore blog awards, but fully understand that not everyone (by any means) does.

If though, you would like to take part, then all you have to is whip up a post of your own about receiving The Very Inspiring Blogger Award in which you link back to this post, share seven random facts about yourself, and bestow the award on ten folks whose sites you find to be a continual source of inspiration.

It was a blast to put together a second edition post for this particular award, and I want to wholeheartedly thank both Janey and Inky for thinking of, and sharing this award with me.

As I suspect The Very Inspiring Blogger Award will be one that, thanks in no small part to its name and the concept behind it, remains in play for many years more to come still, who knows, there might even be a third edition of here one day!


*PS* Want to know even more random facts about moi? On top my previous Very Inspiring Blogger award post, here are four other similar entries that I've shared here over the years:

-A scrap of honesty

-How many of these 99 things have you done?

-Receiving and passing along the Versatile Blog Award

-Seven Interesting Things About me

My vintage finds from the 25th annual Vernon Antiques and Collectibles Show

It would be charming, in something a bit akin to a "cute meet" kind of way (at least to me), if I could say that I had intentionally timed our return to B.C. after a week in Calgary to line up perfectly with ensuring that we'd be in Vernon for the first evening of last year's 25th annual Vernon Collectors Club Antiques & Collectibles Show, but I really can't - especially when you consider that while in Calgary we decided to add an extra day to our stay, thus returning home on September 20th, instead of the 19th as originally planned.

Yet, as I was aware of the show (though I'd never been before), I did make a point of discussing the possibility of hitting it on the way home that day with Tony and we timed our day to make it happen. As our vehicle was full of our luggage, camera equipment, and new vintage purchases however, he didn't want to leave it unattended in the parking lot, so he - bless his darling heart - very sweetly stayed in the car while I worked my way at near breakneck speed around the many tables set up inside of the Vernon Rec Centre where this show was being held.

There was a small admission (I think $3.00) to get in, which included a hand stamp that would allow you to get back in for free the next day, if so desired, but after a very busy trip and with precious little in my budget left for the year (let alone the month!) after shopping in Calgary, I knew that this was going to my only time there that weekend.

The show was divided between two rooms, with a few vendors also set up in a small hallway between the two. I didn't count, but I would estimate that was probably somewhere in the range of 70 to 100 different sellers there in total. I didn't want to make poor Tony wait in the car all evening (especially after having just driven several hours straight with 1.5 hours more to go that night before we got home), so I really did buzz around at lightning speed, scanning the tables quickly, but still relatively thoroughly, for pieces that caught my eye.

Despite the large number (for this part of the country) of sellers, I did not see anyone selling vintage clothing (save for men’s military uniform pieces) or hats. There were a few pairs of gloves here and there, but they were all vastly overpriced in my opinion. Happily though, there was no shortage of jewelry, some of which was scarily expensive, plenty in the mid-range, and some pieces that were true bargains. It was the last two categories that I gravitated towards, though I certainly enjoyed seeing everything.

I can't claim that I saw every last table, but I would say that I made it a good 75% or more, and made sure to quickly eyeball the others, just in case they had any clothing, hats, or other items that I was looking for (none did). There was a good mix of items, the main categories of which included vintage and antique jewelry, coins (and stamps), military items, small petroliana items, signs, housewares, china, ceramics, kitschy decor pieces, toys, postcards and other paper ephemera pieces, tools, jars and tins, fruit crate labels, license plates, and some small household items, such as lamps.

Most of the vendors were friendly and happy to chat, as well as being quite energetic still, as the weekend was just getting started. A good sized crowd swirled around the tables with me, many of whom seemed to be a warpath with certain items in mind, though there was also many others like myself who were happy to simply explore and buy an assortment of yesteryear pieces.

Though I have no problem paying reasonable retail rates for vintage items, I do love to bargain hunt at these kinds of events and wherever I go in my travels (or when I'm close to home), and the items I bought that evening in Vernon were no exception. I didn't record the prices that I paid for these pieces at the time (I'll try to remember to do so if I go again - as I hope I will - this year), but I remember nearly all of them, and at most, I wouldn't be off by more than a dollar or two in either direction on the couple that I'm not 100% certain of.

So without any further ado, may I present my selection of vintage finds from the 25th annual Vernon Antiques and Collectibles Show.




{Two WW2 Canadian ration books (with some coupons still inside) | $5.00 for the pair | I've long been fascinated by ration books (you may recall this post on them back in 2011), but did not, prior to this buy, own any. These two, which are series six (the last ration books issued in Canada) are in very decent shape and I feel privileged to be able to give them a new home after what I'm sure has been a very interesting lifetime.}




{Three vintage photo postcards from the Rocky Mountains | $0.50 each | While in Calgary, I'd been keeping my eyes peeled for vintage items pertaining to the city and province as a whole, but didn't run into too many things, so when I spotted these postcards (on the way home from our travels, to boot), I really felt like they were meant to be mine - and for that price, how could I even contemplate saying no?}




{Vintage Twink laundry dye and soap box (with original contents) | $2.00 | This is one of those charming little vintage pieces that one sees, has no actual use (or even space sometimes) for, but loves and just can't seem to pass up. It's the first vintage laundry related collectible I think I've ever purchased (the dye flakes inside are blue, in case, like me, you were curious).}




{Vintage Coats 6 Cord box (with two spools of c. 1950s/60s thread inside) | $1.50 | Much as with the Twink dye, I just loved the packaging on this mid-century Coats thread box. It's now on display in my craft room, still housing the two spools of thread that it came with when I bought it.}




{Vintage Oxo Cube tin | $5.00 | I have a super tiny (less than ten so far) collection of vintage spice and food tins, which I suspect will continue to grow over time. I'd not yet encountered a vintage Oxo Cube tin like this before in person, and since I had fond memories of my mom cooking with this brand when I was little (though the cubes came in a paper box by then), I decided to add it to said collection.}




{Vintage Aryton Heart Shape Indigestion Tablets tin | $2.00 | A wee vintage tin that once housed heart shaped vintage medicine for just two bucks? Naturally there was no way I was going to leave that behind.}




{Circa 1910s/1920s empty Riker's Peroxzone Cream glass jar/pot | $5.00 | This small, but very sturdy milk glass bottle for a product that my online research turned up exceedingly little for is just beautiful. I adore the art nouveau style graphics and fonts on the label, the somewhat eyebrow raising word "peroxzone", and the fact that it has held up so very, very wonderfully over the course of around a century.}




{Two circa 1940s/50s pink and gold decorative pine cone dishes | $4.00 for the pair | These lovely little dishes look beautiful as part of a pink/pastel Christmas display in December, then get put to work the rest of the year as handy catchalls and ring holders in our en suite bathroom.}




{Beautiful c. 1950s pink decorative swan figurine | $3.00 | Speaking of things to hold rings in, this sweet-as-can be pink swan would work great on that front, too. For the moment though it's just enjoying life as a display piece. I was especially drawn to it not only because I love swans, but because Vernon itself has traditionally been one of the few places in the Okanagan where, if you're lucky, you might be able to see real live swans, thus adding another layer to its importance to me.}




{Pair of c. 1950s ceramic girls in old-fashioned attire | $5.00 for both | These ladies have a few tiny paint chips and scuffs here and there, but are still in very respectable shape over all, and were too cute for that price to pass up.}




{1950s cream and gold ceramic spaghetti angel figurine | $4.00 | I was so surprised by the super great price ($4.00) that the seller quoted me for this lovely spaghetti angel when I asked, that I didn't (rather uncharacteristically for me) even try to bargain further. I'd pay that for here any day of the week! Christmassy though she may be, her gentle cream and gold colour palette easily enable her to remain out on display the whole year through.}




{Cute 1940s/1940s souvenir girl on skills doll from Banff, Alberta | $4.00 | This slightly quirky, completely charming vintage souvenir doll was the other great Alberta related find that day. Though the ends of her ski poles have long broken off, she's in excellent shape otherwise and is now skiing across a stack of hardcovers on my bookshelf.}




{1950s/early 60s copper ballerina charm bracelet | $5.00 | Usually, because of my pesky nickel allergy, I have to stay clear of most metal costume jewelry that comes in direct contact with my skin, but copper is a fair safe bet (ditto for brass), especially if its pure, so for a fiver, I took a gamble on this sweetly lovely charm bracelet. I haven't worn it yet - I really should soon - to road test if it's safe, but I suspect it will be.}




{Pair of 1930s/40s plastic dog brooches | $20.00 for the large brooch, $5.00 for the small | Despite being easy to come by and very popular, and the fact that I completely adore them, prior to this purchase, I didn't own any vintage Scottie/terrier dog brooches. These two came from the same seller, who offered the smaller one to me for $5.00 (instead of $10, which was its sticker price) after I bought larger one. How could I not nab it? These two seem like they were meant to spend their days together as best puppy friends forever.}




{1930s/1940s plastic deer brooch | $12.00 | Though it looks the part, I've run every test on it, and this darling brooch isn't Bakelite. I didn't particularly think it would be when I bought it, though that would have been a cool bonus. I just love its shape and sweet little face - and the price wasn't too shabby for such a pin these days either.}




{1930s/1940s celluloid flower basket brooch | $8.00 | This design of flower basket brooch was quite popular back in the 30s and early 40s, and I've seen many over the years, but hadn't yet added one to collection (much as with the terrier) pins, so when I saw this one that’s in great shape for its age, I knew it was time to do just that at long last.}




{c. 1950s reverse carved clear lucite floral brooch | $7.00 | I love reversed carved jewelry and was looking for pins like this in Calgary, but didn't spot any, so when I saw this one I jumped on it immediately. It's now one of three reversed carved vintage brooches that I have, and I suspect more will be added to that little collection over the years.}




{Vintage stylized gold toned maple leaf brooch | $4.99 | This good sized, solid, elegant maple leaf brooch really caught my eye, not only because I adore maple leaf pins, but because we were just about to start fall at the time of the show, and it seemed like such an immensely fitting pin to start the new season of autumn themed accessorizing off with.}




{Vintage rotary phone novelty brooch | $8.00 | This brooch is not only darling, but it boasts an actual rotating dial! I'm old enough to remember using rotary phones (both sets of my grandparents had one when I was little, plus many public pay phones were rotary still into the 80s and early 90s), and the memory of doing just was more than enough to spur on the immediate purchase of this wonderfully fun brooch.}




{c. 1950s plastic floral hair barrette | $2.00 | I love vintage barrettes, but don't own many, so when I spotted this tiny (it's maybe an inch long) one on the table of a seller who was mostly focusing her offerings on china and ceramics, it seemed to call out "Take me home, Jess", and who was I to argue with it.}




{Vintage carved plastic orange tortoise shell style bangle bracelet | $4.00 | Neither Bakelite nor celluloid, but definitely old feeling, I'd estimate this carved bangle to be from the 30s or 40s, though it could be newer. It's has a little bit of wear to it, but is still in great shape and really works well with autumn hued garments, which makes me adore it all the more.}




{c. 1930s carved celluloid bangle bracelets | $18.00 for the cream, $20.00 for the mint green | These bangles were amongst priciest single items I bought that day, but they were still well within the range of a good deal for such celluloid bracelets in today's retail market, and were something I'd really been hunting for, so I was pleased as punch to find them at this delightful show.}

(All photographs taken by me)

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I love everything that I bought (I wouldn't have purchased these items if I didn't), but I can confidently say that my very favourite pieces are the two darling puppy brooches, the rotary phone novelty brooch, and the pair of floral celluloid bangles (which you may recall, were on my vintage shopping wish list last year).

This show was a blast, with no shortage of tables, items, or interesting things (and sellers!) to see. I'm delighted that I finally got a chance to attend and eagerly look forward to making the 1.5 hour long trek up to Vernon again in the future to do so again. It will be fun to see how many familiar faces I can spot next time, and to see if anyone just happened to have some vintage clothing they opted to bring along with them to sell.

As there's quite a shortage of that in the Okanagan these days, I won't hold my breath, but you just never know. Far more likely is a great selection of old jewelry, household items, cute little kitsch pieces, and a respectable assortment of decades old items that have all made their way, much like me, to the Vernon Rec Centre for an evening of fun, good conversation, and plenty of enjoyable vintage shopping.

By request: How to secure a brooch in place with an elastic band

Way back in the nippy snow covered days of last February, I posted an outfit featuring one of my favourite vintage Austrian fruit brooches and nestled amongst the comments was a question from Franny (from the awesome blog, The Curious Professor Z) regarding if I had a tried and true method for helping brooches stay attached to coats (or other garments). I did indeed, and I shared it with her, which lead to a follow up comment from my dear friend Joanna (of Dividing Vintage Moments), who asked if I could share images of said technique.

One very busy, topsy-turvy spring and first half of the summer later, I'm happy to finally do just that this sizzling August morning. Thank you very much for your questions, lovely ladies, I assure you that I had not forgotten about them.

This technique is dead simple, but it does lend itself even better to being explained via photos than merely in words, so I grabbed one of my favourite vintage brooches (which you may recall from this post) and my iPhone and took a few snaps detailing the key steps involved.

Before you start, you're going to need a brooch with a bar style clasp, a small (ideally fairly strong) elastic band (such as these ones from Goody), and whatever you're pining your brooch too. That's it, my dears. Now, let's get started...



Here's a cute vintage brooch pinned in place without anything (beyond it's clasp) holding it in place. As you can see, all looks good, but lurking (quite literally) behind it, may be a clasp in need of some reinforcement.



This is the same brooch seen from behind with its clasp open. Like most brooches - be they costume or fine jewelry - this one has a standard bar clasp. Before jumping ahead to the next step, let's assume you've slide the bar on your brooch through your fabric (whatever you're wearing), but that it's still open (in other words, you haven't closed the clasp yet).



In order to help the brooch stay in place more securely, we're going to need a small (the kind used for micro braids are great here) elastic band. I usually use a clear one, but to ensure it helped show up better on camera (especially because I took these snaps with my cell phone), I used a grey one. Take the elastic band and slip it under the base of the bar clip as shown and then close the clasp on the brooch.



Next, securely wrap the elastic band around the bar of the clasp AFTER the clasp, save for one wrap which you do lastly on top of the clasp itself. This can take a little dexterity, but you should be able to get the elastic band around two to four times in total including the last loop, depending on the size of both it and the brooch you're working with.



When seen from the back (a view that is unlikely to ever be seen except during the process of putting the brooch on), this is what your bar clasp and elastic band should pretty much look like.



The elastic band rest under the brooch on the front on the garment, it is not visible from the underside of what you're wearing (unless your garment was very sheer, that is).



In this shot, I purposely tilted the brooch to show you what the elastic looks like when the brooch is secured in place. So long as you use a small, thin elastic and your brooch is not especially tiny, if you've done the elastic up tightly enough, you probably shouldn't be able see it that it's there at all (have you ever noticed that an elastic was on any of the brooches I've worn here?).



This is what the brooch, with the elastic in place, photographed or seen from head on looks like. Even with a grey elastic band used here, you can't see it and yet the brooch is so much more secure because the band is looped around in front and over the clasp on the bar (in order to remove it when taking the brooch off, simply unloop the elastic band, slide it off, and open the clasp like usual).

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Now, this may go without saying, but sturdy and reliable as this method of helping to secure a brooch is, it's not entirely failsafe, because the elastic could always snap or slip off, thus rendering your brooch only as secure as the clasp itself (I usually like to keep an extra elastic band or two in my wallet at all times so that if this were to happen - it hasn't yet - while out and about, I could replace the band right way). If you have a brooch with an especially loose/wiggly/tricky clasp, I would suggest ensuring that your elastic band is wrapped very firmly in place before wearing it out and about.

I don't use an elastic every time I wear a brooch, but for many - especially those with loose clasps and/or which I'd be pretty heartbroken if I lost (or had fall and get damaged), I certainly do. I bought the wee little elastic bands that I use for this purpose several years ago at the dollar store, and you should be able to find some similar ones there, at a drug store, beauty supply store, big box chain, or pretty much anywhere a decent selection of hair accessories are sold (in addition to online).

If you've been worried about losing a much loved brooch, I hope that you'll give this dead simple approach a spin yourself. It takes mere seconds (and gets even quicker the more times you do it), costs almost nothing, and can be used with just about any bar clasp brooch of you choice – plus, and most importantly, it gives you a hefty dose of peace of mind that your beloved piece of jewelry is going to stay put from sun up to sun down.

Maple leaves, a cute totem pole, and plenty of red to celebrate Canada Day

Outfit details

Black hair ribbon: saved from the packaging on something I bought
Black rhinestone heart earrings: Claire's
Green 1930s beaded necklace: Jewelry seller in Okanagan Falls
Red 1980s does 50s shirtwaist dress: eBay
Vintage totem pole brooch: eBay
Black floral carved bangle bracelet: Unknown (I can't for the life of me remember where I got this from - perhaps thrifted?)
Vintage maple leaf print scarf (used as a belt): etsy seller Boomerville
Black vintage handbag: etsy seller A Vintage Revival
Black sling-back bow flats: Payless
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red


Photography by Antonio Cangiano

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Though such was not intentionally planned, it seems especially fitting to me that the last outfit post of the this month should include photos taken on the very first day of July. This feels like such a lovely way to cap off a month that, including the ensemble here, had not one, not two, but a grand total of five outfit post! Of these five however, only the photos for this one one were taken in July, the rest hailed from last month, as I wasn't doing too stellar on the health front throughout July and thus didn't get out and about very often.

Thankfully though, I was able to do just that on July 1st, as it meant I could celebrate Canada Day around town, pausing late in the afternoon to grab some snaps against a sun-bleached yellow wall on the outside of a skating arena that's located just a few blocks from our house.
 
This day was a scorcher - one of the warmest of the entire summer so far (temps hit at least 38C/100F), with little wind and an abundance of glistening, sizzling sunshine. Though I'd hoped to be able to stay awake long enough into the evening to catch our town's local July 1st fireworks shows, the heat zapped my last ounce of energy by about 8pm, and so after a quick, late dinner, I turned into for the night. Oh well, there's always next year - and I'll try to factor in a nap or sleep in extra late that day so that I might have a better chance of staying up to catch the twinkling fireworks that are shoot off over Okanagan Lake promptly at 10:30pm on Canada's birthday.

As you may know, I'm a big fan of dressing festively, and rarely pass up the opportunity to do just that when a holiday rolls around. Red and white are Canada's official colours, and I do usually reach for the pair on this festive day (case in point, my cute 1950s gingham dress worn for this day last year), but this year I was really in the mood for a lot of red, coupled with some thoroughly Canadian approved accessories.

I own a couple of completely red dresses, this 1980s does 1950s shirtwaist dress (which is light as air and absolutely perfect for a melting hot summer day such as this) being one of them, so on it went, followed by a maple leaf print scarf used as a belt and a super cute little totem pole brooch. Ever since I was a very young child, I have loved and appreciated the beauty and reverence of totem poles and the important role they've long played for some of British Columbia's First Nations people (such as the Haida), and had always kept my eyes peeled for a vintage brooch depicting one.

A couple of years ago I came across this brooch on eBay and couldn't bid fast enough. It was being sold by someone in the UK, and when I won, I loved knowing that I was able to help it return, many years later, to Canada (and even get it relatively close to its original home of Jasper, Alberta, which is located in the Athabasca River valley of the Rocky Mountains). It is, without a doubt, one of my all-time favourite vintage brooches, and seemed like the perfect piece of jewelry for Canada Day.

To compliment the scarf belt, I opted for summery black sling-back flats, a black vintage handbag, a carved black bangle, black rhinestone heart earrings, and a simple black ribbon, plus a fabulous (very newly acquired) 1930s green beaded necklace to round out the accessory mix.

This necklace is one of a few pieces of (exceedingly well priced - this cheerful necklace cost me an extremely reasonable $7.00) vintage jewelry I recently had the great pleasure of purchasing locally from a marvelous elderly lady who runs a small jewelry shop out of a cottage behind her house on the weekends during summer months in the neighbouring town of Okanagan Falls. (I'm planning to devote a post just to the discovery of this charming woman and her shop in the future, so that's all I say about her and her awesome wears for now - however, if you happen to be in the Okanagan Falls area, be sure to let me know and I'll give her address, as she doesn't have a website or online presence; I'd lived in the area again for nearly a year and a half before I even discovered her).

It's almost hard to believe that a whole month (shy of one day) has passed since these snaps were taken. We had such a fun, relaxing, awesome Canada Day - it set the mood for much of the rest of July, and was just what we needed in the wake of the basement flood we'd been hit with a few days prior. Then, as now, I feel happy and excited about what the rest of the summer holds in store, no matter if I've able to get out and about more often in August or not.

There's just something magical about the warmest season of the year, and though the heat can drain me at the speed of light sometimes, I cannot get enough of the beauty of summer and the fact that it allows this Canadian lass to wear feather light frocks outside of an ice skating rink in July.