The charity auctions for Richard Armitage’s 50th birthday ended almost two weeks ago and Guylty has already apprised us of the overwhelmingly wonderful result. The funds have been transferred to LOROS Hospice and all was long done and dusted when I arrived home from my holiday last Sunday. Once I walked through the door and glanced at the accumulated mail, I found that the fun wasn’t over by any means as my own haul from the auctions had already arrived! All bills and boring mail were thrown to one side as I unwrapped my little treasures.
I was extremely happy to receive the The Martian Invasion Of Earth cd from Nokisuu that I had won in the auction, accompanied by a very lovely hand-crafted card. I think it’s the first time I have ever received mail from Finland.
I had another envelope waiting for me from Guylty, which contained a lovely Richard Armitage special delivery tag from Kate that I had bought and plan to use as a bookmark and other small goodies were included as well, such as a few stickers and a lovely Urban and the Shed Crew shrine card…
I had also bought a textile collage with a quote from Uncle Vanya from Guylty’s fixed-price sale and I had bought that for a very specific reason. For about a year and a half I’ve treasured my Uncle Vanya programme booklet that most of the cast had signed for me at the stage door last year. It was sitting in a case and what I really wanted to do was frame those two pages with signatures. However, framing just the pictures with signatures seemed meaningless without mention of what play it is from. So, I had already planned to cut up the booklet and also use the title page but as it’s not that easy to find an (affordable) elongated narrow picture frame to fit 3 pages side by side, I knew I had to use something bigger in a standard size. This meant that I would have a huge gap in my planned picture frame and what to fill that with? Then the auctions came and when I saw the fixed-price items I finally knew what to do with that gap.
Today I found an old wooden frame in the attic with a background I had once painted dark red way back in the 1990s. I finally cut up the booklet and, in addition to the signed pages, I used the title page, my own ticket to the play and that textile quote collage to fill the frame. This is the end result and I’m quite pleased…
I may yet decide to get another frame because this one, along with the red background, looks a bit dated, but then again Dr. Astrov is all about wood, so it does seem somewhat fitting in a way. In any case, I’m very pleased to have that quote collage to complete my little framed Uncle Vanya collection! Now finally those signatures are not hidden away anymore.
So, yes, I’ve been having my own private #RA50Auctions afterparty and it’s been fun. I’m also already getting ideas for the Christmas auction, if there is to be one…
Party on seems a fitting sentimemt.
Great idea with Uncle Vanya and hooray for your loot! I too zoomed in on something with Astrov in the auction
Enjoy your audiobook too ! ❤️❤️❤️
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Thanks. I’ve already listened to the digital version I purchased, this one is going into the car cd player to enjoy when I next drive on my own. 🙂
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Excellent idea! Enjoy ❤️❤️❤️
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I’m very honored to be your first Finnish postal connection 🙂
The Uncle Vanya collection looks awesome!
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Thank you, Nokisuu! 🙂
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ah nice little haul 🙂
if you feel the frame is a little outdated-you could either paint it opaque or i think a light grey wash over the wood might work-you would still see the wood grain but would look bit more modern
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I’ve been thinking about painting it too but looking at it just this morning, I think a completely different frame with not such a wide border would be better. Need to go shopping. 🙂
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Welcome home! What a good idea, the framed Uncle Vanya piece looks great (I like the red background, it looks theatrical!)
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Thank you!
Hmm, hadn’t thought of the theatrical appeal…
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I love what you did with your UV programme and the other mementos (and am chuffed to see the fabric collage in there!). Such a great idea. The frame has the perfect size. I liked Rachel’s ideas for updating it, if you feel it needs it. Depends on the rest of your interior decor? But it’s really a fitting framework (…) for the collected memories!
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I’m really happy that your fabric collage fits in so very nicely with the rest of the items. 🙂
This frame totally doesn’t go with the other frames I have hanging nearby (thin, black rimmed frames) so I think I just need to go shopping… I mean, I love an eclectic mix of things and I don’t want an interior where everything matches perfectly but the frame feels off, with the rim being too wide (although I have reconciled myself to the red backdrop). Maybe a new frame with the red backdrop?
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I suspect it’s also down to the style of the framing – it seems as if thinner frames are more “in” at the moment? The red backdrop looks nice, though!
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Yes, the backdrop has grown on me. So it’ll be new frame, same backdrop. 😊
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I love your Vanya collage. Very nice. And an excuse to go frame shopping might not be the worst thing. 😉
Have fun with your purchases.
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Thank you Kate! And the shopping has already been done. 😊
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Oh, can’t wait to see the new version.
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