One of a Kind Wisconsin, LLC

Yes- I do like to Mess Around in Photoshop…

Relinquish all claims to “antiques” and “vintage” and no bloggers will get hurt.

This little video is disturbing in so many fun ways. It features goofy eighties music and favorite Star Wars characters in a dance competition… and the winner is? Check it out for yourself and don’t blame me if your eyeballs hurt afterwards.

Guilloche (pronounced gee-oh-SHAY) is a repetitive, interlocking pattern that is engraved or etched into materials . Typically- it is seen today in vintage jewelry, in some construction (you may have seen the swirling patterns cut into stone), in mosaic tile work, or guilloche is printed on paper currency as a security measure against forgery.

Historically- Guilloche was an engraving technique that was mechanically etched into materials with a machine. These were very precise and intricate patterns, and were done with a machine that was invented by a French engineer named “Guillot,” and where the term Guilloche originates. The machine improved on hand done etching in that it was quicker and more accurate in regards to repetitive design work. These machines are no longer made and Guilloche in modern jewelry is only seen in high end watches- or so I am told.

When I think of Guilloche, I think of vintage enameled “Granny” jewelry that  has a hand painted rose over the enamel (like the picture above). Or I might think of Fabergé eggs. I hadn’t really given much thought to the beauty of Guilloche- until I saw this little Scotty dog necklace and fell in love. He is so shabby, wabby, chic cute- I could just die!!!

Examples of guilloche;

• Vintage Jewelry- typically lockets, pendants and brooches with hand painted roses over the guilloche background
• Faberge Eggs
• The front nose of Lindbergh’s Spirit of Saint Louis

The modern definition of guilloche is as follows;

Guilloche- as in vintage jewelry, just another thing to get obsessed with on eBay.

Apparently guilloche charms are highly collectible- so say eBayers.

The weekend is upon some of us already and so instead of writing more vintage drivel, I thought I would spread some link love around to some of my favorite blog stops this week.

This week I received the Glittery Fly Award from DCR but not because I am spectacular or a “glittery fly” per se but because I commented first. From one Glittery Fly to another - Thanks Dan! Be sure to stop by Dan’s blog because he is now taking questions from readers in his new segment called Ask DCR. His first question this week came from Pete of My GPS Camera Phone who asked “why is American cheese yellow?” Check out Dan’s very informative answer and while you are at it ask Dan a question.

Speaking of Pete (he’s a 9 on a scale of 1-10 Blogger Babeness) he has been recently recruited by Joeprah and the tobacco corporations!. Pete is not only trying to get ex-smokers hooked with his subliminal picture of Joe Camel in tree bark- he is also guest blogging for Joeprah! Way to go Pete and thanks for getting me stung out on cancer sticks again… I never noticed that Joe Camel is actually a picture of male genitalia until it was posted on your blog.

Want some serious good reading this week- check out Bobby’s posts (and the commentary) on Partisan Politics and Copyright Infringement. Finish it up with a fun post on what makes the Revellian so quirky!

Link Quickies

Have a foot fetish- I do! Check out these cute toes and then leave a comment.

Not only do I love sucking on toes and cancer sticks (not really) - I love sucking on a good rasher of bacon, but when it’s not in the house, I pacify myself with reading about it here.