Meet Laura -- and Check out Modern Creative Life!

I am closing in on 1,200 posts on The Marmelade Gypsy. When I started blogging in December 2007, I never imagined I would make so many online (and real-life) friends or find it such a rewarding experience.I guess I never figured I'd even have that much to say!

A bouquet of flowers for those who come back to the Maremelade Gypsy so often! And to those whose blogs inspire and enlighten me!

Over the course of those years I've followed all kinds of blogs. Some focus on the arts I connect with most intimately -- visual/mixed media art, painting, film and literature. Some are more "place" oriented -- blogs focusing on travel or cities/regions I love.

Yes, I read lots of blogs about Paris and other wonderful places. And yes, I love getting a good recipe from a fellow blogger!

Some provide thoughtful complex writing. Those posts may take longer to read and process but oh, they are so rich. Others simply make me laugh. They're like sitting at a cafe table with a good friend, sipping tea or Tab or margaritas, and laughing till we attract disapproving looks from strangers!

I love it when the colors are all mixed up together in a merry rainbow mishmash! All different and fun, like the variety of blogs follow!

I've learned incredible techniques for creating better art through blogging and my personal art collection has been enriched through lucky giveaways or trades. Others focus on issues that touch my heart. They may be social issues or challenges in day-to-day life that make me think, that make me a more aware person for having been part of the conversation.

I've been very excited to participate in a new online magazine called "Modern Creative Life," which came about through blogging relationships. Becca Rowan long ago started a series called "Write on Wednesday," where I connected with many bloggers who remain on-and-offline friends to this day. When Becca and Debra Smouse created the new publication (with daily posts -- you can subscribe and it's worth it!), they asked me to contribute. My current post, "The Fleeting Moments of Now" is HERE -- please check it our (and don't miss the other great content at the site, too)!

Oh, the thrill of a good comment is like getting a letter that doesn't come in a window envelope!

I remember well those early days of blogging, don't you? It was almost like sending a letter out to the world and wondering who would find it. Wondering if anyone would ever find you. And if they did, would they like what they found? Would they leave a comment? Would I make a difference? What did I want my blog to be -- a a personal message, a platform for sharing information to others, a communal gathering room?

I learned to blog from reading each and every one of you.

I like to think of The Marmelade Gypsy as a friendly cafe or bookstore. Each time you visit you may find something familiar -- but also may find something new. Not every post will resonate but I always hope people will return to see if the next one does!

So many times when I visit a blog it's like having a conversation with you!

Now and then I am fortunate enough to connect with a new blogger, someone who has just entered this diverse Land of Blog, giving birth to a new vehicle that has something to say. Being brave. Breaking out of the womb of having an idea and getting it out there, out in the open where people can see, learn, comment, relate.

When you're getting ready to let your baby into the world, it can be a scary thing!

 I want to introduce you to Laura Robertson who has just started her blog OCD: Neuroses and Other Nonsense.

Laura (second from left) and her sister Linda, flanked by two of their cousins, Heather and Anna.

Laura's dealt with her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder for a long while and she's found a way to write about something that I think affects many of us, perhaps not in a grand degree but somewhat. Even if we don't have that "diagnosis" medically, we all have our way of doing things and can relate. We also may know someone who does have a more rigorous form of OCD and it sure helps to have someone understand what they may experience, someone who has worn the hat and knows what it feels like.

I've known Laura for years, although not well. She is my cousin's niece by marriage, if that makes sense. Cousin's husband's sister's daughter. Whew. So, most of the time the youngsters were hanging out one place while the elders hung elsewhere!

Sometimes we don't realize what is behind the curtain until somebody says.

But this was something I never know about her until she reached out to me with some questions about blogging. I realized (once again) that we all have things about ourselves we more or less keep under the table. Talking about them and getting them out in the open is one way we can work with those things.

I was so thrilled she would feel comfortable asking me questions about this crazy, fun thing we do to connect and I hope I've steered her well. Truth is, it took little steering. She's a quick study, that's for sure! And she has something to say.

Three cheers, Laura! I'm proud of you! And, I hope when you have a chance you'll stop by Laura's blog and welcome her to the Land of Blog. And if she leaves a comment on one of yours that you'll check in to say hello!

My Kingdom for a Cloche!

Alas, the Downton Abbey costume exhibit never came to my town. But through early October, those visiting Lansing, Michigan can get a flavor of the era at the Michigan State University Museum.

When I was on my recent walk and landed at the Museum, I couldn't resist going into this little cultural gem in our community. They bring in and create wonderful exhibits but I didn't expect to find two that fit me so well! (See the Chinese quilting post HERE.)

The exhibit focused on the jazz age with an emphasis on that wonderful hat, the cloche.

I can never wear the cloche. My head is too big and I have too much hair. It is not a good look. But the Downton women pulled it off so well! (I'm much better with a bit of a brim like the hats from this catalogue of the times.)

I loved the gowns that were featured, too -- lovely beaded creations with great details.

                  

Can't you see Mary or Edith making an entrance in this one?

Accessories were on display and so, too, was a small dressing table that gave a flavor of the period.

 

Several theatre seats were placed in front of a small screen offering clips from silent movies, including the "scandalous" "Flaming Youth."

And of course you couldn't have a silent film without featuring the Charleston!

We learned a bit about Clara Bow, the "It" girl and one of the hit shows of the period, "Good News."

 

The description on the museum's website explains that the American "flapper" rejected tradition and embraced more body concious styles, wearing "her newly won freedom to vote, earn and learn on her body: short dresses and clear stockings, bobbed hair, and a head-hugging cloche.

"The cloche -- a bell-shaped hat considered 'clever and smart' -- framed the face with fashionable Art Deco panache."

I confess, I would have walked out with the large Vogue panels showing Deco-period models. They were featured throughout the exhibit giving a greater sense of the fashion of the time.

 

A special piece that touched my ephemera-crazy heart was a scrapbook from the period created by a woman who attended Michigan State University.

                

It featured photos from the J-Hop, movie star photos and ticket stubs and even a souvenir bunco card!

                

Every detail, down to the books on the dressing table, fit the period.

So, if you're in the mid-Michigan area and in mood to find your inner flapper or a fashion throwback,
check out this fun exhibit.

It continues through October at Michigan State University.

And as for me... these words say it all!

This post is linked to Talk of the Town, to "Thoughts of Home on Thursday" and "Share Your Cup," where you can find other fun links to stimulate your imagination, creativity and sense of home, beauty and spring!

Eye Candy Quilts

In my last post I ended up at the wonderful Michigan State University Museum where I was lucky to take in two exhibits. The first featured Quilts of Southwest China.

The exhibit closed in East Lansing on May 1 but will begin a national tour. The MSU Museum was the site of the world debut for the exhibit.

The exhibit goes next to  International Quilt Study Center and Museum at University of Nebraska in Lincoln in June.

It's also coming toMathers Museum of World Cultures in Bloomington, Indiana and Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. Check websites for schedules.

The museum at MSU and the Yunnan Nationalities Museum (Kumming) led a bi-national consortium of American and Chinese museums fostering "an effort to document this textile tradition and, at the same time, advance an understanding of the intangible and tangible cultural heritage of China."

Like American quilts, the quilts and bed coverings of China contain intricate patterns and colorful fabrics.

And, they were used for the same reasons -- to cover a bed and those who slept within.

Marsha MacDowell, curator of the exhibit, offered a fascinating interview on the WKAR Radio program, "Current State." If you are a fan of quilting, take a listen!

This isn't the first quilt exhibit MSU has hosted. It has quite an extensive collection of quilts in its permanent folk art collection and has also hosted other quilt exhibits. But this one might have been one of my favorites, with the magnificent colors.



Look closely -- you'll find traditional symbols like dragons and other animals along with the flowers and tucked in the complex patterns.

              
The details are amazing.

              
I'm a quilt collector myself, though I don't venture near quilting myself. All I could say while looking at these was that I wished one or two or ten of them were in my collection!

I leave you with a few details from the quilts -- glorious eye candy!

 

(I confess -- visiting this exhibit almost made me want to pick up a needle!

Next time we'll look at an exhibit that reminded me a great deal of the later years of Downton Abbey!