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On Her Birthday-The Best Dressed Irene Dunne

Irene Dunne 12/20/1898 – 09/04/90

American actress and singer Irene Dunne was born on this day 115 years ago. Her classically trained voice lent itself well to musicals popular in 20s and 30s,  but her talent didn’t stop there. She went on to become equally popular in comedies and dramas.

Irene Dunne in a promotional shot for Roberta. 1935

Irene Dunne in a promotional shot for Roberta. 1935

As a highly respected actress of her time, Irene earned best actress Academy Award nominations for Cimarron (1931) Theodora Goes Wild (1936), The Awful Truth (1937), Love Affair (1939) and I Remember Mama(1948).

Irene Dunne in a Robert Kalloch gown for The Awful Truth. 1937

Irene Dunne in a Robert Kalloch gown for The Awful Truth. 1937

Her elegant and ladylike style didn’t go unnoticed either. She made best dressed lists more than once, including the International Best Dressed List hall of fame in 1958.

In a newspaper article in 1952, when asked how she kept her “best dressed” reputation, Ms. Dunne replied-

“Perhaps it is because of the way I buy clothes. I don’t buy many, but what I do buy are of the best.
When I look for an outfit I don’t merely look for one that will last for a season.
I make sure the clothes are well made and I generally pick things along classic lines.
It’s not unusual for my things to last six or eight years.”

Irene Dunne wearing stunning, metallic Greer gown in 1939. Photo by Richard Kelly.

Irene Dunne wearing Greer gown in 1939. Photo by Richard Kelly.

On and off-screen, Irene was a class act. She was one of Hollywood’s leading ladies in her time, yet managed to stay out of scandal’s way, which gave her less press than some of her more flambuoyant colleagues.

Irene Dunne in a fabulous bow print dress in 1941. Love this print!

Irene Dunne in a fabulous bow print dress in 1941.

Fantastic Plastic- Vintage Lucite Jewelry

One of my favorite things to collect is vintage lucite costume jewelry.  Many people think of lucite as being clear, but it actually can be tinted many different shades.  I especially love all the various colors and shapes because they remind me of candy!  Except for pieces like the highly collectible “Jelly Bellies”, it’s still somewhat plentiful and not anywhere near as pricey as bakelite.
After doing a little research I discovered Lucite was invented by the Dupont Company around 1936.  It was used extensively by the military during World War II.  After that it was marketed strictly for decorative purposes.It’s a type of acrylic resin referred to as a ”thermoset plastic”, which means, like bakelite, it cures irreversibly into a stronger form once it has been heated and molded.
Below are a couple of sets I picked up recently. These fun pieces look quite fabulous with vintage sundresses.  But this type of jewelry would also add an interesting and whimsical touch to a contemporary outfit.


Here’s an unusual pink lucite bracelet with flamingoes. Offered by Bitz of Glitz  for   $75.99

Blue moonstone lucite and rhinestone grape brooch from Milky Way Jewels  $36.00

Laminated multi color lucite cuff bracelet. For sale at Loukie’s World   $75.00

Cherry red lucite and silvertone necklace from Deja Vu Collectible Jewelry    $35.00

IBA 2012. Three weeks to go!

The second International Bead Award (IBA) 2012 contest is to support the art of beadwork. The theme of this contest is POP ART. "Pop" stands for the English word "popular". The suitability of mass consume can be or turn to Art. Strong colors and shapes, two or three dimensional, a certain simplicity, a reference to everyday objects or free abstraction, all is possible at the same time as well as a smooth succession of objects. Trivial things become original and refreshing. Humor is very important!

Three weeks to go! Deadline is December, 31!

International Bead Award 2012 rules

Art Nouveau Restored - IBA 2011 winner!

On August 20, 2011 the winners of the International Bead Award Contest were announced at the Beaders Best Bead Art Fair. It was an exciting event! And good news: my Art Nouveau Restored necklace won two awards: First Place in Off-Loom Category and People's Choice Award.

Photo Credit: Friedhelm Ott | Perlen Poesie

First place winners are:

Lampwork Category

1 Place: Helix - Jacky Teuchert-Rimkus, Germany
jackys-glas-art.de

Loomwork Category

1 Place: Spring Has Sprung - Erin Simonetti, USA
simonetti.com

Off-Loom Category

1 Place: Art Nouveau Restored - Zoya Gutina, USA
mylovelybeads.com

Bead Crochet, Bead Knitting Category

1 Place: Diagonal Bubbles - Jolanda Violante, Italy


Embroidery Category

1 Place: Cascade - Angelika Kenner, Germany
schmucksyndrom.de

Paper, Textile Category

1 Place: Altes Kyoto - Dorit Koppen, Germany

Polymer Clay, Ceramic, Porcelain Category

1 Place: ...Love way... - Natalya Leitman, Russia
flickr.com/photos/madllen/

Wirewok Category

1 Place: Beach Dreams - Chris Wrinn, USA
gildedowljewelry.com

Mixed Media Category

1 Place: Born in the Sands - Svetlana Sametis, Latvia
orubis.ucoz.lv

Public voting

Art Nouveau Restored - Zoya Gutina, USA
mylovelybeads.com

Our warmest congratulations to all winners!


Full list of International Bead Award Contest winners

THE BEAT GOES ON FOR SHERMAN BUYERS ON EBAY

Well things are constantly changing on ebay these days and unfortunately, one of the things that has changed, to protect the seller I guess, is the way the photos are displayed. I wanted to post a photo for you of one of the beautiful cranberry colored sets currently at auction but I can't. So you'll just have to click THIS LINK and go over and see it for yourself. There's a reserve on this one so it'll be interesting to see how high bidders go to get this set or if they can meet that reserve. I've seen a few fall quite short of the reserves lately, but those reserves have also been very high.

But, in my humble opinion, this cranberry-colored set of bracelet, brooch and earrings is worth going for. The color is gorgeous...fuschia by any other name...and all 3 pieces look to be in good condition. The seller hasn't shown a photo of the entire back of the bracelet (really should as collectors like to see that kind of thing) but stones look clear and bright and design is, typically Sherman, just lovely. The bidding is at $152.50 as I write this and it doesn't end for another 29 hours. So you still have time to jump on this one.

There's also a 1/2" wide red Sherman bracelet finishing in 32 hours that you might like. That's narrow but the color is popular. There is an opening bid of $100 but again, there's a reserve. At this point, there are no bids. This one is signed and also comes with an original hangtag. You can see it at THIS LINK.

Of course, if you prefer to buy your Sherman outright and really know what you're getting, you could go over to our SHOP AT RUBY LANE, where we have up to 9 large photos of just about all our items with very detailed and accurate details. We don't like returns and want our customers to be happy. So though it takes more effort, it's worth going the extra mile to make sure our customers are happy. So you might prefer to pick up the Siam Red, japan-backed bracelet

& earrings shown above from our shop. The bracelet is one of those unsigned Shermans, but definitely a Sherman (see my writeup for explanation) and the earrings, while not an original match, go beautifully with this bracelet and they are signed. I'm receptive to offers too so don't hesitate to make one. Click the photo above or THIS LINK to learn more and make your offer. Given this bracelet is in the most popular color for Sherman collectors, I normally wouldn't consider offers, but since it's unsigned, there's room to move.

While I went through a rough period a while back and started selling off not just my Shermans but other costume jewelry, I've relented. It's just too hard to not buy some of those beautiful pieces! Besides, right after I starting selling it off, I had customers wanting to buy more. So I'm back in the game for now. Keep an eye our OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE and on this blog as I have some wonderful new Shermans to list in time for adding gorgeous glitz to your wardrobe at Christmas. So stay tuned and watch for this fabulous Art Deco necklace below coming soon!

exomitor

exomitor

Native American Necklace Contest. Winners

Congratulations of the Native American Necklace contest! This contest was based on the movie Dances with Wolves, and entrants were suggested to design a necklace using seed beads with a peyote stitch and exact color combination.



Alise from Canada took the First Place...



Alema from Russia came in second...



The Third Place was taken by Zhukis from Latvia.

IN THE PINK OF THINGS WITH BEAUTIFUL PINK SHERMAN NECKLACE SETS!

Well if you've been wondering if I'd sold off all my Shermans and gone into hiding, given I haven't posted here for a while, you weren't far off right. I did sell off a lot of my Shermans ... and at ridiculously low prices. But then, something happened. I spotted the gorgeous pink Sherman necklace above and got thinking about the lovely dangling pink Sherman earrings I had that would go so nicely with it, and that ended my vacation from Sherman. How could I resist!

Then, to make things even sweeter, I got doubly lucky: it turned out this necklace was from the estate of an avid Sherman collector who loved pink and she had not one, but two Sherman necklaces! The second necklace is the one shown below: very demure and pretty, more a pendant style.



Of the two, it would appear she wore the large one at the top more often as the rhodium-plate backing is more worn on that piece and almost brand shiny new on the smaller piece. But in both, the stones are brilliantly clear and the same color.

Making my find a triple treat, was the fact that I also scored a pair of signed pink clip-on earrings with the two necklaces, and honestly, I can't guess which one the earrings go with best. So I've put them with the smaller pendant necklace as shown below:

It's very cool that in both sets, the earrings are inter-changeable with both necklaces because the pink color and stone cuts are such a close match. I suppose if someone loves wearing pink Shermans, they could dress up or down by owning both sets and always be "in the pink"!

To learn more about these lovely pink Sherman pieces, see more photos and purchase them for your collection, CLICK the photos of just the necklaces to go to the page at Ruby Lane where they are featured. Or click these links:

LARGE SHERMAN NECKLACE SET

and/or

SHERMAN PENDANT STYLE SET

I've also got the fabulous 1" wide signed Sherman bracelet shown below listed in MY SHOP AT RUBY LANE too if you're in the market for one of those.


Thanks for reading and staying with me at the SHERMAN JEWELRY BLOG. I'll be back when I have more to share!

Perlen Poesie issue 10

Perlen Poesie number 10 is coming out! In that issue:





• Beadpassion with the love of nature... Zoya Gutina implements that into all of her designs. Using many different techniques she adds enchantment to her necklaces opulence of which is unparalleled;



• Workshop Spiral Techniques - everything turns... Impressive designs can be achieved with these techniques;



• Scrumptious Beads... Angela Brackrogge: Jopanda - her artist name stands for handmade glass beads with subtle gradient colors and elaborate shapes. Look and enjoy!



• Winners of IBA 2011... Look at the winning pieces of the international jewelry contest IBA 2011. Savor the diversity of ideas and - maybe - participate next time!



The magazine is published in Germany by Beaders Best Verlag Company, you can subscribe it. If you live in the USA, you can directly or via Internet buy single issues of the magazine at the Beads by Blanche bead shop.



Subscribe to Perlen Poesie magazine

Buy Perlen Poesie magazine in the USA

Perlen Poesie issues 10 and 9

The 10th issue of Perlen Poesie magazine is coming out soon! For now we know just a cover page.





The 9th issue of Perlen Poesie magazine is filled with 51 pages of instructions:



• Science and Art. Since childhood Melissa Grakowsky was interested in both. She completed her education in physics and painting. In school she was not able to decide...



• Improvise with Beads. Brick-Stitch varies a lot in terms of popularity;



• Combined. Designer threads, antique beads, buttons are used by Doris Dohse in her freestyle crochet work and is modeled directly onto the body;



• Taking measures. Are you sometimes confused when buying supplies like wire? You don't know what the details of all those sizes indicate? Don't worry, just open page 83!



• Steampunk. Gears, lace, metal and glass - jewelry in nostalgic techno-romance;



• And a lot of info about the BEADERS BEST Bead-Art-Fair in Hamburg, Germany, August

20-21!



The magazine is published in Germany by Beaders Best Verlag Company, you can subscribe it. If you live in the USA, you can directly or via Internet buy single issues of the magazine at the Beads by Blanche bead shop.



Subscribe to Perlen Poesie magazine

Buy Perlen Poesie magazine in the USA

Fashion Colorworks 2011. Winners!!!

The second international Fashion Colorworks 2011 Beading Contest is over! We would like to say THANK YOU to all entrants, jurors, and sponsors who helped us make the contest successful. 99 participants from 25 countries submitted 149 entries! Today we celebrate our bead holiday together, with our winners, all participants, jurors, sponsors, and bead lovers. In general, we reached our goal and feel happy! We are looking forward to seeing all of them in 2012 and hope that the next year contest would attract more artists!

First Place Winners

Beaded Jewelry:
Margarita Kruchinina, Rostov-on-Don, Russia for Original Rus Set

Finished Jewelry:
Julia Turova, Krasnoyarsk, Russia for Harlequin Beetle Necklace

Beaded Objects And Accessories:
Evgeniya Semina, Orenburg, Russia for Falling In Love With Life All The More Wedding Dress

Second Place Winners

Beaded Jewelry:
Fumiko Sekine, Yokohama, Japan for The Power Of Nature Necklace

Finished Jewelry:
Svetlana Karimova, Slupsk, Poland for Jurata Neckllace

Beaded Objects And Accessories:
Angelika Motzkin, Ashkelon, Israel for Magnolia Handbag

Third Place Winners

Beaded Jewelry:
Svetlana Dubinsky, Beit Shemesh, Israel for Tropical Vacation Necklace

Finished Jewelry:
Ulyana Moldovyan, St. Petersburg, Russia Dream Of Fisherwoman Set

Beaded Objects And Accessories:
Aleksey Soloviev, Lugansk, Ukraine for Dream Of Flight Tie

Special Award Winners

People's Choice Award:
Evgeniya Semina, Orenburg, Russia for Falling In Love With Life All The More Wedding Dress

Best Use of Color:
Svetlana Dubinsky, Beit Shemesh, Israel for Tropical Vacation Necklace

Best Use of Materials:
Liudmyla Heggland, Rennesoy Island, Norway for Undine Dream Necklace

Fashion Colorworks 2011 Winners

Fashion Colorworks 2011 Finalists

Fashion Colorworks 2011 Entries

Fashion Colorworks 2011. Finalists!!!

The finalists of the Fashion Colorworks 2011 are announced, and the contest continues! Now it's time for contest site visitors to score beadworks juried into the final for People's Choice Award. That is going to be a difficult decision, but make it! Voting will be closed at midnight June 30, all winners will be announced on July 1.

Vote for Fashion Colorworks 2011 Finalists

Native American Necklace Contest

Drawing your inspiration from the movie DANCES WITH WOLVES by Kevin Costner, we propose that you put into beads your personal vision of a necklace that could have been worn by a Native American woman.

1. Your necklace must be original work of your own creation.

2. Imposed technique: peyote stitch.

3. Imposed colors: brown, beige and three colors of the entrant's choice.

4. Materials:
      - seed beads of any size (Miyuki round or Delica, Toho round or Ttreasure, or other seed bead brands);
      - any other materials of your choice like wood, feather, bone, metallic tubes, etc.

5. The contest is International, worldwide beaders may participate.

6. Photos make the judgment by the panel of five independent jurors.

7. Jurors will score each entry upon three criteria:
      - creative capacity;
      - technical quality;
      - appropriateness of the entry with the theme of the contest.

8. Photo requirements:
      - size - 800x600 pixels maximum;
      - the entry must be shot against white background;
      - no distinctive signs must be put onto the photo. The entrant's name will be revealed upon entries announcement.

Entry photo is to be sent until Midnight September 1, 2011, at following email address: perlesetdentelles@yahoo.fr. The sending of your photo will validate your registration.

Please indicate in the email your full name, your nickname (if exists) and the link towards your site, blog or album if you have one. It is not obligatory to have a site or blog to participate in the contest. Also indicate the country of your residence. Languages to be used in your correspondence are: English, French or Russian.

Publication of photos on the blog Perles et Dent’Elles: September 20, 2011.

We shall publish the three first place winners first and then other entries in order of their arrival. Winners of the three first places will be rewarded with vouchers offered by our sponsors whose names are indicated here below:

      - for Western Europe:
      www.perlesandco.com
      www.bricolart.com
      www.cyberperles.com
      www.mondialperles.com

      - for Russia and neighboring countries:
      www.greenbird.ru

      - for the United States of America and other countries:
      www.artbeads.com

This contest is held by the team of the blog
perlesdentelles.canalblog.com:
      - Coco-Labijoutisse
      - Nouchka
      - Veronik
      - Zaza

Happy beading!!!