Mrs. Murphy's House Warming Party

Downstairs at the beautiful Berns in Stockholm lies the erotic shop Pom Pom Parlour. Mrs. Murphy had decided to move in there, and last Friday she had her house waring party!

I wore a black pencil skirt from Daisy Dapper and a corset Fanny gave me once for helping her in her ex vintage shop. Peeking out of the corset is the underwire bra from Dita von Teese's Von Follies collection.

Bracelets and earring I had made myself with pearls from Swarovski.

The evening started with drinks in Ljusgården (The Light Yard), where the bartenders looked stylish in their white bathrobes.

Then we went down in the basement - and Mrs. Murphy's new home - which she had decorated very nicely!

She handed out streamers to pop, and small champagne bottles with bubbles to blow - here demonstrated by gorgeous Lenore Caine. Then the party began...

...and me and the girls made ourself at home in Mrs. Murphy's "apartment"! Here are Tifa, Lenore, Elegy Ellem and Ida.

Of course Ellem had to lick something, so she went for one of the big, inflated champagne bottles. She also licked my teeth. But that was after I licked hers. She had a bit of lipstick on one tooth, and I just wanted to help her. Um...Anyway...

I found a nice epée in Mrs. Murphy's lodgings, but I managed to go through the whole evening without killing anyone, so I guess I did good! As usual when it comes to Mrs. Murphy, it was a fabulous evening, and I hope I'll get invited to her "party apartment" again some time!

Hubert Duprat and Caddisfly Larvae

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This is a caddisfly...

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...and this is a caddisfly larvae! These little larvae are aquatic, and so live in ponds, lakes, streams, lakes and ponds etc. Here they build protective cases around themselves, made of silk decorated with whatever they find lying around, like gravel, sand, twigs, shells, and other debris. Here are two examples:

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Now you might wonder what happened here. Did that flu Miss Meadows just went through do something to her brain, that made her forget all about fashion, art and sparkly things, and turned her interest towards little bugs instead? But no, that is not the case! Don't worry, here come the pretty stuff!

Hubert Duprat. Source

French artist Hubert Duprat have been collaborating with these little larvae since the beginning of the 1980s. He collects them from their natural habitats, and takes them to his studio. After removing their protective tubes, he then puts them in tanks filled with his own materials, so they can start building their tubes again. These materials just happens to be gold flakes, and both precious and semi-precious stones, including turquoise, lapis lazuli, coral, sapphires, pearls, rubies and diamonds. The result of that looks like this:

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Quite amazing, isn't it?

Fabergé Friday

One sort of item that became very popular coming from Fabergé's workshops were miniature hardstone animals. In 1907 King Edward VII and his consort, Queen Alexandra, even commissioned Fabergé to create miniature carvings of all the animals on their country estate at Sandringham in Norfolk - both domestic and wild! Many other animals than those belonging to the king were created too, and today I will show you a little cat!

The cat is carved from one piece of cream colored chalcedony. With it's arched back, raised tail and open mouth it feels like the angry kitty could start hissing at you any time!

The cat is 1.6'' (4 cm) high, and it's eyes are set with cabochon rubies. 

PS. I have entered a burlesque competition over at Burlesque Bitch. If you want to help me win, follow THIS LINK and place a comment = one vote, at the bottom of the page! You can vote once every 24 hours, so the more the merrier! HEEEELP!!!! Please...

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Full Moon

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Well, well. Look at that! The moon turned round and full this month too! For this month's full moon music I have chosen I song by Electric Light Orchestra, fittingly called Ticket to the Moon! 

The Licorice Festival 2013

During last year's Licorice Festival I walked around for two and a half days wearing dresses made of latex balloons. This year I was only there for the press show, but my dress was the most extravagant of Maria "The Balloon Princess" Byquist's balloon-dress-creations yet!

It took about one and a half hour of frantic building - directly on my body - for Maria to finish the dress just in time for the doors to open for all the camera-holding press people.

On one side of the front I had transparent balloons Maria had filled with licorice. Even the crown on my head...

Photo: Danielle Bågenholm

...and the bracelet on my arm was made of uninflated balloons with wire in them. Look at the flower!!!

Photo: The Licorice Festival

The dress also had a long, heavy train, with two "wings" behind my back, that made it almost impossible for me to walk around without the help from someone who could hold it up for me. But I heard people saying I looked like a Licorice Dragon Queen, so I guess I should have had two Licorice Pages - preferably shirtless - to look after my train...

Sex-guru and modist Marika Smith was also there, wearing a hat made by herself, which she had decorated with licorice.

Photo: The Licorice Festival

People took pictures and tasted licorice from the press show table until their tongues went black! And after everyone had left Marika helped me undress - by popping all the balloons...

Except for her normal balloon-decorating-jobs, The Ballon Princess has started a project called Balloon Magic that brings the magic of balloons to severely sick children. The project has a Facebook page, and you can follow it here!

Shoes!!!

No, I have not bought new shoes! Not this time... This shoe-post will be about shoes I wish I had though... So, without further notice; here are my favorite shoes for spring/summer 2013!

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The Eliza Character Shoe in dusty gold sparkly leather from Mulberry.

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Camilla from Christian Loublutin. For the modern Cinderella!

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Calina pump from Kate Spade New York.

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Bauble d'Orsay sandal by Jimmy Choo.

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Kalpa sandal, also by Jimmy Choo.

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Murmansk sandal by Sergio Rossi. Perfect for midnight dancing!

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Phallon sandal by Ivanka Trump.

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Jewelry Couture Bow d'Orsay pump from Valentino.

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And lastly, a pair of Gianmarco Lorenzi sandals I've been ogling for quite some time since I discovered them in Dondoca's web shop. Right now Dondoca has lowered the prices on some items - including these shoes!!! Goddammit... Guess I need to make room for another pair of foot-holders then...

Fabergé Friday

As you might notice, I have skipped the "vintage" in the title of this blog. In the beginning I planned to write more about my love for vintage fashion, but now I have realized this blog is about so many other things I love too. So to not mislead anyone, the name of this blog is now, simply, Miss Meadows' Pearls! But now to today's Fabergé object!

Not only jewelry and objets d'art came out of Fabergé's workshops. He also designed utilitary objects. Like for example the little bellpush I will show you today. It was made by workmaster Johan Victor Aarne, sometime around 1890!

The triangular bellpush is made of wood, enameled with highly translucent pale pink over a guilloché ground that looks like sunbursts. The edge is of gold, and so are the decorative laurel wreaths.

In the center sits the pushbutton, which is made of a circle of chased gold leaves, holding a moonstone.

The bellpush is 2.24'' (5.7 cm) across, and is standing on three gadrooned bun feet. Underneath it still has it's original bakelite under panel. Wouldn't this be perfect to use when you need the butler to bring champagne?!!!

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Lydia Courteille

On 231, Rue Saint Honoré lies a little boutique that sells magic jewelry. So if you want to cast a spell on someone, this is where you should go!...Or at least I think these sparkling works of wonder holds magical powers. They look like they should...

The creator behind the jewelry I'm talking about is Lydia Courteille, and her creations belongs to another world. A world of fairies, pirates, dreams, and mythological beasts. I wish I could go to a party dressed in nothing but her creations...

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Colibri earrings, orange Mexican opals, orange sapphires, green garnet, blackened gold. From the Gardens of Xochimilco Collection.

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Spider ring, orange Mexican opal, black diamonds, orange sapphires, green garnets, blackened gold. From the Gardens of Xochimilco Collection.

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Tree-men, from the Homage to Surrealism Collection.

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Spider pin, from the Homage to Surrealism Collection.

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Bat ring, black diamonds, drouzy agate, rubies and blackened gold. From the Black Mass in Paris Collection.

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Bat earrings, black diamonds, drouzy agate, rubies and blackened gold. From the Black Mass in Paris Collection.

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Tiara depicting Paris, dark gold, black diamonds and sapphires. From the Cabinet of Curiosities Collection.

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Opal flower ring, oval cabochon opal, carved flowers of moonstone, diamonds, green tsavorite garnets and white gold. From the My Secret Garden Collection.

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Bracelet, from the Amazonia Collection.

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Earrings, white gold, diamonds and opals, from the My Secret Garden Collection.

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Ring, white gold, ruthenium, diamonds, baroque pearl. 

To see all the beautiful pieces in the collections, pleas visit Lydia Corteille's web site!