Gathering Dust

Sarah Has A Baby- The Next Round Robin Page

My most recent page in Her Life in Stitches Round Robin is for Lisa's book. Lisa's book has a story to go with it- it's about a girl named Sarah who grows up on a farm.  My last page for the book was about Sarah getting married, then Karla made a page about the honeymoon and Sandra made a page with a baby. 

The cover of this old baby "biography" was pretty beat up, but the image was so sweet that I couldn't throw it away- so I covered the edges in scraps of lace.

I embroidered an "A" on this little linen medallion, added a tiny sprig of flowers and an old baby pin to finish it off. 

(The "A" is for Sarah's baby "Alec", who was conceived- by me- while watching Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock.  I'm still obsessed with 30 Rock.

Never mind that Sarah's baby would have been born in the 1910's and Alec Baldwin was born in 1958.)

The back is simple-I loved this old black and white picture of kids having a picnic.  I just added some lace and ribbon to finish the page.

My favorite part of the picture is the dog on the folding stool in the middle.

Here's another cute dog on a stool.  The "Other Karla" is on vacation on and we're watching her dog Dixie.  Dixie's favorite hobby is the same as my dogs- looking out the front window.

Google Giveth and Taketh Away

Sometimes Google makes me feel like a peasant, waiting to see what crumbs it will throw me.

Actually, that's not accurate.  Google has been very generous in what it's given us- its search engines, Gmail, Google reader and probably unnumbered and untold other innovations and information gathering that I'd rather not know about.

But I also kind of feel like Google is my drug dealer- its gotten me hooked on things like Picnik and Google Friend Connect and now it's taking them away.  I think it wants me to replace them with some other Google service, and I'll probably try it, because right now, I feel lost and I need my fix.

The most frustrating thing about losing the Google Friend Connect widget is that no one really seems to know what that means. 

Does it mean that if you've chosen to subscribe to "Gathering Dust" through Google Friend Connect (GFC) and by doing so, Gathering Dust has been added to your Google Reader, when GFC is gone Gathering Dust won't be in your Google Reader anymore?

Beats me.

People all over the internet are trying to figure it out.

Here's my suggestion.  If you originally started reading my blog by joining GFC, and you still want to read it after March 1- just go to your Google Reader, click on the red "Subscribe" button on the left side and type in "Beth Leintz".  You can do this right now.

That's how us peasants can stay friends.

(Images provided by- of course, Google Images)

Etsy Shop Update- Selling Still Gives Me A Thrill

I like to set goals- I don't always meet them, but I if set a goal, and make it "official", either by writing it down or fixing it in my head, I accomplish a lot more than if I just have some vague ideas about doing "stuff".  Writing it down makes me accountable to myself.

But enough Oprahsizing- this weekend I said my goal was to get the total number of items in my Etsy shops- Gathering Dust and SugarPinkMoon up to 100. 

When I started yesterday, I had a total of 30.  Now I have a total of 70- but along the way people are BUYING things, so the count goes down.  Geez....

Ok,you know I'm kidding.  I LOVE it when you buy things from me.  Even though I've been selling antiques for almost 14 years, I still get a thrill when someone wants to buy something I picked out.

When I got my first booth at the antique mall, my rent was $250 a month, and I had a 6 mos lease.  I remember talking it over with my husband, and realizing that I was committing myself to spending $1500.

But I really wanted to try it, so we decided I should risk the $1500. I moved in and went back the next day and realized that I had sold two pieces that I had brought in on the first day - for a total of $18. I was SO THRILLED.  I remember thinking "Now, the most I can lose is $1482"- always the accountant with the financial statement running through my head.

So, I haven't quite met my goal yet- but I still have a few hours.  In the meantime, here's a look at some of what I have listed so far- including a bunch of funky plastic stuff- buttons, jewelry, even a clothespin. 

I'm going to take a listing break and read some of Tina Fey's book BossyPants.  Tina is my new hero ever since I started watching 30 Rock a few months ago.  I relate to Liz Lemon because she wears clothes with food on them and sometimes has lettuce in her hair, and sometimes, I do too.

Her Life In Stitches Round Robin Update

When I was at Karla's on Tues, she asked me about our Life in Stitches round robin.  She didn't have a book, but wanted to get started making some pages.  We started looking at the original schedule I had made up, and both ended up confused. 

I think the confusion started in Dec, when the holidays got in the way for some of us in meeting our deadlines--- I'm not naming names, but you can just call me "Guilty".  If I was to make a recomendation for future Round Robins, I'd say take the month of Dec off. For most people, Dec already has plenty going on. 

When I was part of a book club, we skipped reading a book in Dec and went out for dinner and shopping instead.  It was nice because we still all got together, but none of the pressure of trying to read the book the day before.

The first picture of the post is the front of the page that Sandra  made for Lisa's book.  One of things that these books have in common is lace- they are dripping in all kinds of beautiful lace and little details.

Like this- little pearls sewn on the edge of the page.  They almost look like pearl buttons along the side of the page.

The back of the page is a piece of crazy quilt.  I think this ties in so nicely with the quilted page that Lisa made.

Thanks for all the suggestions about the last square in my free style sampler.  Lots of people suggested I sign and date it.  I liked that idea, but I might sell the sampler, and I didn't know if a potential buyer would want MY initials.  After all, I'm not RL (Ralph Lauren). 

But I liked the idea of letters and numbers so I just did a simple ABC and 123.

Here's the full sampler.

There's a bit of shadow on the left side, because I had a DOG laying on the bed next to it.

Isn't it funny how a dog will lay down in even a little bit of sunshine?

Yes, Mom, that is a dog on the quilt you made, but he doesn't sleep there very often- it was his second choice.  Button got the first choice- the bench by the window.

Another Free Style Stitchery Sampler

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to comment on my five year blogging anniversary.  I know it takes time and effort to leave a comment- I do appreciate them- and try to respond- especially if it's your first time leaving a comment or a long time friend that I haven't visited with in awhile.

The winner of my giveaway is Lulu Liz in LaLa Land.

While I was tending my booth last weekend at the Bottoms Up antique show, I started a free style sampler.  I had run across this doily that's about 10" square and the pulled stitches made 16 squares with the bottom right square in a pulled work pattern.  Since it was already divided, it seemed like the perfect piece to use as a sampler.

I had needle and floss with me, and I borrowed some lace and buttons from my "inventory"- and I improvised with found items.  Susan, another dealer, saved this little strand of rhinestones from being thrown in the trash.  She said "Oh I bet Beth can use this for something"- and I did.

It's fun to have a project to work on as the customers browse- and its a great conversation starter.  Lots of people wanted to know what I was working on- and that gave me a chance to hand them my business card and ask them to check out the finished sampler on my blog.

BUT- I'm not quite finished- I have one square left- any suggestions for what should stitch on it, or stitch to it?

Five Year Blogiversary Giveaway

It's hard for me to believe, but on Wed (Feb 8), I'll have been blogging for FIVE years. That first month I think I had five posts and four comments- and I treasured every one of those comments- just like I do now.   When I started blogging, my plan was that it would help send people to my eBay store. 

The eBay store is long gone, but the blog is still going strong.  And when I started the blog, I had no idea how much more I'd get from it than just new customers.

I've made friends with people all over the world- people who share my love of antiques, lace and tattered bits of paper, people who share my love of my pets and have been so sweet when I've lost one.

I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of bloggers in person- on both coasts and in the great antiquing and crafting world of Texas.

I haven't done a giveaway in awhile, so this seems like the perfect time.  I had a good day at an auction and want to share some of the vintage goodness.

The giveaway is the pretty pink Valentine candy box in the second picture, a group of hankies- a Valentine hanky, a floral hanky and a hanky with a pink tatted edge.  Keeping with the pink theme, the candy box will have some pink millenary leaves, pink tatting and a pink velvet rose corsage- and to add a punch of a color- a tiny tomato pin cushion.

Just leave a comment between now and Thu Feb 9- I'll post the winner on Friday morning.

And thank you to everyone who reads my blog often, or occasionally or just once or twice- I appreciate it.

Packing it Up for Another Antique Show

I know some antique dealers go from one show to the next, week after week but I don't know how they do it.  I sold at the Old Summit show on Jan 21 and I'm selling this weekend (Fri & Sat) at Bottoms Up and I'm scrambling to find stuff to sell.

I decided to pull everything off my mantle and sell it including my favorite (and only) poultry trophy.  This will free up my mantle so I can paint it.  After the kitchen makeover, I'm in the mood to make some more color changes- like painting the fireplace wall a shade called Fudge Truffle and painting the actual mantle the same color as my kitchen cupboards.

From the other side of the mantle, I'm selling this cute little bridal couple and a mish mash of Florentine tole, too.

I've scrounged up some bling...

and made some tea stained lacy bags- ironically photographed in black and white.

If you haven't been to the West Bottoms in Kansas City on the First Friday weekend, check it out- I think you'll be amazed by all that's going on.  New shops and food trucks pop up every month.  Hope to see you there!