The Background Photo...

So you ask, "What about the background photo?" Well, all the items in the photo were indeed chosen for a reason. Starting with the doily in the lower corner, my mom made it. She taught me to crochet when I was about 11 yrs old. She never did make lace, but a few years ago she wanted to try her hand at it. This little one is small but was challenging. I had to include this piece for it was my mom, Jean, who started me down this road.

The burgundy lace is one of two lace pieces I made in college.  I had never made crochet lace, but I thought I would give it "the old college try". This what I concocted while not really knowing what I was doing.  I would come to learn a couple years later when I started at Old World Wisconsin that I had created fairly good Victorian facsimiles. Who knew?

The doily in the upper right corner is one that I tatted ...and one of the few tatted pieces I've made and kept for myself.

The 3 photos are part of a healthy vintage photograph collection Karl and I own. There a 3 different time periods. Top: Oconto WI - 1880s; Lower Left: Rachele Cherry, Marion, OH - 1860s (w/older hairstyle); Lower Left: Young Ladies in Unknown Location (probably WI or IL) - 1890s

There are brooches on the doily. The vintage rose gold brooch was given to us by a dear friend. Bar pins were very popular throughout the 1870s and 1880s. The silver brooch is a Norwegian sølje. It is a traditional Norwegian piece of jewelry. This sølje is new but has vintage style. It was purchased in Stoughton, WI.

Lastly, there is the sewing basket. Here, I have taken a bit of artistic liberty. This basket is one of my favorite pieces because the glass handles and beads are still in tact, but it is really from c.1920. Our Victorian sewing basket is similar in style without the beads. It is so dark it didn't show up well in the photo.