15 October 2010

Moving!



Thanks to all of you who have faithfully followed me here on Blogger.  In the latest website update, I decided to move the blog over there, to ByMaggie.com!
One-stop shopping for all your BodiceGoddess needs.

I've moved all of my entries and all of your comments to the new site, and will start blogging from there from now on!
If you're using an RSS feed like Google Reader, the new feed URL is: http://www.bymaggie.com/?feed=rss2

Sorry for the abrupt change, folks!  I'm still super-excited for the Etsy shop re-opening on November 2nd, so keep an eye out for that, too!  More sneak peeks and updates to come over at ByMaggie.com and on my Facebook page.

04 October 2010

Etsy Sneak Preview #1



Vintage wallpaper, salvaged from the attic of a 100 year old house.

Scrapbookers, take heed!

Borrowed from Apartment Therapy

Yeah, that's right, another post on Apartment Therapy got me thinking, and I felt I could write more than a comment on their site. Adrienne Brieux posed the question, "If you were interviewed for a magazine and asked to give your top 10 home and personal items you can’t live without, what would they be? And most importantly, are all the items on your list currently in your home? If not, why?"

So here goes. My answer in an incredibly large nutshell.

1) My bedroom set, which used to belong to my grandparents.
I didn't know it when I got it, but apparently, mid-century furniture is super-cool and trendy now.  I just liked having a headboard that has the slidey-doors and ample shelving.  I also appreciate the lingerie drawers in my big dresser, and the fact that I have a matching mirror atop my short dresser.  Not to mention the fact that it belonged to my grandparents, who were super-cool in their own right as well.

2) My tiny pot.
I got it at a Cub Foods in college, when all I wanted to do was be able to heat up a can of soup.  Soup's much better when heated over the stove, and this pot is the perfect size for the heating (and eating) of a whole can.  It continues to serve me well.

3) My yellow scarf.
I went on a trip to Utila, Honduras, at the beginning of last year, and when I wasn't in a wetsuit SCUBA diving or drying off, and the sun was still up?  Chances are I was wrapped in my yellow scarf with a swim suit underneath.  I got it on the first day of the trip, wore it every day, and treasure it.  Also, it has fishes on it, and you can't tell unless it's unfurled.  That's fun, too.

4) My laptop, PJ.
Yeah, lame, I know, but I like having a computer.  PJ's my only computer.  It's also an entertainment laptop, and can run just the DVD player and the screen without starting up.  That's certainly handy for trips.  I've gotten in to the habit of watching documentaries on Hulu before bed, and I enjoy it too much to not want to always have PJ around.

5) My brown chair.
It's worn around the edges.  The cushion could use a restuff.  It squeaks whenever you sit down.  But I've had it forever, and there's no where else I'd rather curl up and read a book.  Some of my earliest memories happened around this chair (and its mate, broken in my parents' garage), and I can't imagine a home without it.

6) Oscar the Grouch.
Honestly, Oscar was the first thing I thought of when I read the question.  I have a plastic Oscar the Grouch figure (complete with trash can) that my grandmother always kept by her front door.  Oscar was her favorite, and it was always nice seeing him keeping guard of her house.  Now, in her absence, he guards mine.

7) My steamer trunk.
It's not living with me yet, and instead stays at my parent's house until I can fix it up (it's dirty and stinky on the inside... and I know I can change that.).  I have always wanted to have a steamer trunk of my own, ever since growing up with one at my parent's house.  They're beautiful.

8) My cast iron.
I can't imagine ever having a kitchen without cast iron ever, ever again.  It's a simple set of 3 seasoned pans - 1 large one, perfect for a family helping of yams with marshmallows; 1 medium, perfect for a single-serving chicken breast and vedg; and 1 small, perfect for a Saturday morning egg scramble.

9) My collection of "literatura"
All of my books and magazines, for sure.  I've parsed down my collection, and it currently resides on shelves and in boxes, but I'd like to have it all out for the world to see.  Especially my short stack of old magazines, ranging back to 1928 ("Is your Vitrola spread out like the dog's breakfast?"  Great late-20s ad campaign.), and my "The History of Architecture" book from the 40s or 50s, leather-bound.

10) Rerun.
"Rerun" is a painting I did as a part of my Stagecraft class in college my first year.  We were instructed to go out to the store, purchase a greeting card, and from that card, recreate the image to scale, assuming the bottom of the card is now two feet wide.  A friend and I painted ours once we scaled it, and mine ended up looking like a cartoon 4-year-old in his dad's aviator sunglasses and jacket, giving you the thumbs-up.  It's cute and kitchy, and makes me smile every time I see it.