Today's My Day!!!

Today is the day my shop, Verdigris & Ambergris, is being featured for Shabby Cottage Shops 'Christmas In July' event. Today is the last day for this event and if you enter the contest, you could be the winner of the beautiful floral vanity box featured in the photo above! For this special event the ENTIRE STORE IS 40% OFF!!!!! Just click on the image above to be directed to the contest page, there you can enter the contest and see all of the other fabulous shops and prizes which have been featured.

Mermaid

The Mermaid

I

Who would be
A mermaid fair,
Singing alone,
Combing her hair
Under the sea,
In a golden curl
With a comb of pearl,
On a throne?

II

I would be a mermaid fair;
I would sing to myself the whole of the day;
With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair;
And still as I comb'd I would sing and say,
'Who is it loves me? who loves not me?'

I would comb my hair till my ringlets would fall
Low adown, low adown,
From under my starry sea-bud crown
Low adown and around,
And I should look like a fountain of gold
Springing alone
With a shrill inner sound
Over the throne
In the midst of the hall;
Till that great sea-snake under the sea
From his coiled sleeps in the central deeps
Would slowly trail himself sevenfold
Round the hall where I sate, and look in at the gate
With his large calm eyes for the love of me.

And all the mermen under the sea
Would feel their immortality
Die in their hearts for the love of me.

III

But at night I would wander away, away,
I would fling on each side my low-flowing locks,
And lightly vault from the throne and play
With the mermen in and out of the rocks;
We would run to and fro, and hide and seek,
On the broad sea-wolds in the crimson shells,
Whose silvery spikes are nighest the sea.

But if any came near I would call and shriek,
And adown the steep like a wave I would leap
From the diamond-ledges that jut from the dells;
For I would not be kiss'd by all who would list
Of the bold merry mermen under the sea.

They would sue me, and woo me, and flatter me,
In the purple twilights under the sea;
But the king of them all would carry me,
Woo me, and win me, and marry me,
In the branching jaspers under the sea.

Then all the dry-pied things that be
In the hueless mosses under the sea
Would curl round my silver feet silently,
All looking up for the love of me.

And if I should carol aloud, from aloft
All things that are forked, and horned, and soft
Would lean out from the hollow sphere of the sea,
All looking down for the love of me.

Lord Alfred Tennyson

Beach Blues

The beach will always be my first choice for a summer vacation. The laid back attitude, the sights and smells of the ocean, collecting seashells, building castles in the sand (and the high tide which eventually washes them away), picnics under an umbrella, and swimming in the surf, are my fondest memories of vacations on the New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland seashores.


For those of us that don't have the luxury of homes by the sea, we can still bring the seashore inside by creating vignettes with beach related items or colors. Shells, corals, sand, postcards and souvenirs combined with whites, blues, and aquas can create a soothing and beautiful collage to remind us of beach vacations past.

This is an overview of the cabinet that I change out according to the season. For the remainder of the summer this will be decorated with a beach theme with items I've accumulated over the past few years.

I love vintage postcards of people vacationing at the seashore and have accumulated quite a few. Most are from Atlantic City and date to the early 1900's. I love the images of people in their beautiful clothing strolling up and down the boardwalk, and the swimming attire is such a contrast to today's beach fashions!!

This is a close-up of the bottom vignette with a vintage picture of a woman sitting on the Atlantic City boardwalk, I love the sailboat in the background! There is also some beach glass that I collected at Atlantic City a few years ago and a poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay:

Eel-Grass

No matter what I say,
All that I really love
Is the rain that flattens on the bay,
And the eel-grass in the cove;
The jingle-shells that lie and bleach
At the tide-line, and the trace
Of higher tides along the beach:
Nothing in this place.


I found this box of saltwater taffy at Fralinger's in Atlantic City. I fell in love with the ocean blue color and vintage graphic!

Wherever your vacation travels take you this year, remember to collect and save mementos from your trip to display in vignettes throughout the years!

Renee