Santos Dolls, Animals & More

 

Denise's Royalty Animals Decked out for the Holidays

 

We are Loving our new space at AOC; great location, customers, vendors & owners are really making us feel like we are in the right place. We were bringing more items in yesterday, when we just happened by chance, to meet the sweet lady who bought Denise's latest Dress Form. She was so excited to have it in her collection of treasured things and it was a joy meeting her.

We've recently added more santos figures, furniture & more one of a kind assembled pieces.

The swan is gorgeous and Denise adorned her with vintage jewelry and a tea light candle holder as the crown- she's beautiful when lit!

 

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Beautiful Assembled Swan

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We love this guy- he has real horns and of course we blinged him up a bit-
Not sure if he's a Long-Haired Goat or a Sheep, but he's a cutie

 

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Hand Carved Wooden Horse with Festive Hat & Garland



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We weren't sure what this charming guy was meant to hold-
A flower pot or gifts under a tree could be fun

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Angel Santos Doll with Italian vintage vine crown

Several new Santos Cage Dolls & Figures

Close up of newest Santos Cage Doll- I brought back the rosary and crown from a Mexico City trip.
I love the space next to ours at AOC with the to-die-for chandelier-
 it makes the most gorgeous backdrop for anything!

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Santos Cage Doll with added twig garland, giant wings, cross necklace
& vintage Italian vine crown 

1880's Wicker Baby Stroller/Carriage/Pram very sweet and in really good condition-
The interior sides still had much of the original fabric and horsehair padding,
Denise gently tacked some linen on top to preserve the original fabric-
It's a darling design with great detail & patina

 

1880's Wicker Baby Carriage/Stroller/Pram
This would be sweet in a nursery or in a sun room with wicker furniture







This is a view of the top of the cedar chest

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The pair of vintage Italian Marble lamps
are a recent find- the tole vine and porcelain flower shades are rare  

Assembled Dome
Found this carved wood vintage Infant of Prague and had fun assembling him into
a sculptural piece with this art deco frame and print of Jesus, vintage angel,
& real bird's nest

We first saw this clever Lampshade Tree idea at the Sweet Magnolia's booth at the
Vintage Marketplace in Rainbow, Ca
 Denise has been saving lampshade frames for
quite awhile until she finally had all the rights sizes to create one

 

Altar, quite large, hand carved and handmade from Mexico
with Bell, Sacred Heart & Light
 



 

Inside the altar is an assembled santos infant head in an antique silverplate pickle castor



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Display cabinet with Standing Santos Doll, old books, trophy &
candlesticks

Even though there are lots of these rerpoduction Santos Dolls on the market,
 one of the best things about them is their amazing faces & eyes, and being able to get creative
 and adorn them with all sorts of found objects. This one is wearing old coins as earrings-

It's hard to see in this pic, but this Santos Doll's belt is an old yet fancy metal
Burbon label wth keys found in a 90 year old barn

This Gorgeous White Santos Cage Doll is a future project for Denise to adorn,
I photographed her here in Denise's front room the day we got her.
Check back soon to see how she will transform

So we've been a little busy, which is great, we wouldn't want it any other way 

& look forward to finding more fabulous finds and creating fun pieces in the New Year!

 

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes in 2013!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



We're Now in Antiques On Cedros in Solana Beach!

Our New AOC space on Cedros

 

Denise and I couldn't be more thrilled with our New Home- AOC (Antiques on Cedros) located in Solana Beach, Ca! We will miss our little window spot at the Rustic Sparrow in Escondido,  as well as the owners and many of the creative, talented vendors we are lucky enough to call friends! And as for Knorr Candle Factory & Gift Shop in Del Mar, thanks for letting us be a part of your historic property- we learned a lot. I think narrowing our focus to just one place will benefit our artwork, our time and our clients.

 

We are loving every minute of our move into AOC- we officially moved in November 1st and are slowly but surely filling our space. The owners and fellow vendors we've met are also super supportive and making the move extremely easy. Cedros is an amazing street of designers, shops, boutiques & galleries. AOC is tucked back a bit near the corner of Lomas Santa Fe & Cedros- the shop features AMAZING antiques, one of a kind pieces from all over the world spanning several centuries. Here are a few (more like 20) pics from our White Horse Relics space:

 



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Denise created this Steampunk inspired lamp and nightlight with vintage clock and lamp parts.
This piece is great because we placed it toward the back of the booth and it really draws people into the space.

 

This Steampunk inspired dual lamp and nightlight Denise created in just one afternoon, it was one of those wonderful days where everything just came together and the piece turned out very cool, unique and is definitely one of a kind!

 

Close-Up of the Steampunk Lamp

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This Assembled Birdcage Lamp on a Vintage Stand is a pretty easy do it yourself project and it
adds a fun yet functional element to a space

This painting is a great size and subject matter, titled 'Bridge over River' it's by the Italian artist, Abruzzi

Detail of Vintage Italian Painting

 

Great little 3 Piece French Wood & Metal French Bistro Set- with just the right amount of age and patina

 

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This Vintage Dress form with antique corset, pantaloons and slip is Center Stage for the Booth

Denise created this Dress Form for our Vignette's space back in the spring, however for Cedros Denise felt she definitely needed to be crowned and blinged up a bit. The corset, pantaloons and slip are all antique, her short sleeves are actually a vintage night cap sewn in half. Her necklace, tiara and crown are newer.

 

Back View of Dress Form with laced up Corset and Hand-Felted Flowers, here you can see how the sleeves
are assembeld and tie in the back- she really is a gorgeous piece!

 

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This particular reproduction santos doll  comes as a torso, Denise added a tall birdcage underneath
& adorned with various metal pieces

Guess what the Florentine gold & blue masked item is? A Musical Pepper Grinder! Italians know
how to dine in style

Denise painted a pair of these darling side tables- they have great detailing and the neutral color
will go with any room decor

We sold almost all of our late 1800's books, these are few more I found, the bottle opener
is an antique one made in Italy with beautiful detaling in the metalwork

This authentic, antique, amazing santos crown came from one of the most charming souls we've ever met named Barbe Harrison, she has the most unique, unusual and inspiring collection of finds from all over the world. I've got my fingers crossed this crown won't sell so I'll be forced to keep it and enjoy it forever!

Handpainted Lane Cedar Chest with faux drawers and nice detailing with claw ball feet

These Vintage Magnolia Italian Tole Wall Sconces are in a pair and add soft subtle light

Speaking of subtle light, we pulled this Assembled Crystal Shade on an Antique Griffin Iron Base out of our Knorr space because it fits beautifully here and adds just the right touch of elegance

We were told that these very heavy, very old candlesticks came from a church and have motifs representing the trinity on each side- The Father, Son & Holy Spirit (shown in this photo)

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This tall reproduction santos doll is the very first item we sold! This happens to be the only photo
I took of her before she found her new home, but you can still see how we jazzed her up a bit with deer antler wings, a tiara and necklace

 

Our new AOC booth in Solana Beach

 

We want to Thank Everyone for their continued support, Denise is in the garage 10 hours a day again, her doc says it's great for her to be doing what she loves to do!

Please come check out Antiques on Cedros, the store features really amazing antiques,

 collectibles & home decor.

 Happy Holiday wishes too!

 

Denise & Ashley

Getting Ready for Fall at Both Locations!

Denise Handpainted this Wonderful Moon for our Holiday Displays;
 He's currently in the Rustic Sparrow window

Our favorite time of year is just around the corner and it's always fun getting ready for fall! We started a bit early this year and created a few new Halloween items, one of my favorite is the giant moon Denise painted- he looks awesome among the tree and merchandise!

 

Denise worked an entire day creating this beautiful masquerade pumpkin, we took it to Knorr Candle Factory
right at closing time yesterday and it sold first thing today!



 

 

I think my mom's imagination lives in a place called Wonderland and she has a best friend named Alice, because I know she secretly wishes all pumpkins & birds wore crowns- and people too!

She worked really hard on creating this masquerade pumpkin so it's very sweet that he sold so soon-

 

Colorful Hat - Steam Punk inspired - fun for Halloween-
New Years- or just to Display

 

I recently worked on a few of these top hats, they are pretty fun to create and you can use many of the materials you already have- The hats are common now at party supply places and I tied ribbon around the base, used playing cards(this one happens to feature a joker), clock parts, handmade ribbon flowers, leaves, metal embellishments, feathers and netting. I shouldn't joke about Denise living in Wonderland because these look a little Mad Hatter now that I'm looking at it!

 These would be fun to wear at Halloween with just a plain black eye mask

 

This Victorian Bench already had some beautiful detail in the metal work, but the old tapestries that
Denise covered it in really added to it's unqiue charm- this sold within a couple of days of being at Knorr

Like with everyone who does what we do, we put a lot of heart and soul into whatever we work on and it's always nice when a piece sells and you know it's moving on into someone else's space for them to enjoy!

 

Sweet Crystal Lamp Denise Assembled from different parts,
it's beautiful when it's on and off

 

This lamp was a labor of love, matching up the pattern of all the different crystals, it turned out beautiful though, the base features these lovely griffins and the lamp is assembled from metal parts, vintage and new crystals

 

I had been looking for a dresser to try this finish on and was excited to spot this old one!

 

 A while back online I found artists- I believe in Arizona- that paint a lot of pieces with color on just the cabinets and not the drawers- so I had been on the lookout for a piece to try it on and I happend to find this huge old dresser with a beautiful finish on it already- so with some help on the color and paint via friend and artist Carol Rea, I was able to do this in one morning- it's a lot easier when you have less surface to paint!

Looking forward to cleaning out more of the garage and finishing more projects in the next few weeks- I'll post more pics soon :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Our Space at Knorr in Del Mar

White Horse Relics in Knorr

We've been busy these last few weeks setting up shop in the beautiful & historic Knorr Candle Factory & Gift Shop, located off of Via de la Valle in Del Mar

The owners and staff have been amazing & welcoming

Our space features some of our favorite pieces as well as some new items we've worked on just for this space

Denise hand painted the b&w stripes on the vinyl cushions for an updated look

Can't take credit for painting this lovely piece, it was done by fellow Knorr vendor Carol Rea
of C.rea.tivity

Denise's latest handpainted furniture piece- a vintage desk with great detailing

She worked qutie a few days on this one- but I think it turned out beautiful

With the holiday season just around the corner, we are thrilled to have this space to showcase pieces that we love to create and find

Next up for us is continuing our move into Knorr as well as creating our Halloween window at the Rustic Sparrow

Knorr Candle Factory is open Tues-Sun 11-5:30 and is located off of the 5 freeway at Via de la Valle just past the polo fields in Del Mar

The Rustic Sparrow is open Mon-Sat 11-5, Fridays 11-9 (Until the last Friday of September)

located on Grand Ave. in Escondido 



More Dress Forms, Birdcages & Summer Finds!

Sophie created this Whimsical Dress Form, she pieced it together in a half hour and then
spent about 2 days stitching it all together

We're having a Happy & Healthy Summer! Denise has been back in production mode, recently creating new pieces, as well as loving Pinterest, with all of it's networking and fun ideas- I'll take some pics of her newest creations and post soon.

Just before we took off for our summer vacation back east we left our beautiful window space at Vignette's Antiques on Newport Ave. in Ocean Beach- we really enjoyed our time in Lori's store and the best part was meeting and working with her and her staff, as well as all of the amazing vendors in Vignette's that never cease to amaze us with their creativity and skill in finding really beautiful pieces for the home and garden! So a Huge Thanks to Lori and Vignette's for all of their support!

These latest photos are some of the pieces we've worked on this Spring & Summer...

Sophia working on her Dress Form- it's pretty cool to watch her design- she's
 the one teaching me 

Close up of the dress form torso; she pieced together a bustier, vintage tulle skirt, vintage chains,
necklaces, broaches along with hand-made flowers and ribbons 

She did a fabulous job with attention to detail on the entire form,
 and I love the sweet influence from one of her favorite designers- Betsey Johnson  

'Time Flies'
Denise and I both worked on this piece- we used different clock and watch parts, faces and metal embellishments-
The birdcage is new, as is the artist model- we stained it to give it an aged look

The clock shown here can keep real time, or
I like the idea of setting it to a memorable time in your life, like the birth of a child -
time flies, but in those special moments time stands still

Rare Hendryx tear drop shape birdcage? I bought this at the Irvine Flea Market from the
sweetest vendor named Betty, she knew Denise loved Birdcages and offered it to me
right as she was unloading it from her van, she said she had never seen one like it
and we were eager to research it online but haven't been able to find much info on it-
the stand is not original, but the paint and patina look to be original

The Hendryx logo plate on the tear drop birdcage

Denise painted this sweet pair of French side tables with Annie Sloan Marie Antoinette 

This was our last dress form to display at Vignette's, it's a vintage corset, slip and
a pair of pantaloons underneath,
they all fit beautifully on this old dress form

Altar Cabinet at the Rustic Sparrow in June

My favorite new piece is this hand made large altar with a bell, columns,
glass panels, light, and beautiful detailing-
This would make a beautiful display for a religious relic or an art piece

I was running late to set up at the Rustic Sparrow one morning and forgot to stop
and pick up some 'S' hooks to hang this light, happy accident -because I think it
works on the old patio chair- I wonder how this composition would look hanging from the ceiling?

This lovely long bench would look great by a window, the foot
of a bed, or any space that needs a unique touch - it features beautiful soft colors and fun patterns,
customers love the unique pink vintage lampshade also shown in this photo

More and more photos to come and hopefully Denise will get back into the blogging groove again too! She's  been able to work on her artwork more and more every day and it's nice to have her back out in the garage- hammering, painting and drilling away!

This week we are busy adding our pieces into the Knorr Candle Factory and Gift Shop
off of Via de la Valle in Del Mar, Ca!
Knorr's is adding several vendors to their store and we are very excited
to showcase our work in this beautiful location- I'll post pics and info soon!