Gathering Dust

What Did I Buy at the Auction?

So much of the time when I unpack my auction or estate sale finds, I realize that besides buying "stuff", I've also bought WORK.

It would be so much easier to be the kind of antique dealer that goes on a shopping trip, buys a vase, a plate, a figurine, a book, a candlestick etc etc and could just slap a price tag on it and call it ready to sell.

But I just seem to be drawn to projects- like this bundle of baby shoes- they'll have to be stuffed with tissue, laced and possibly cleaned before I can sell them.

A stash of beautiful baby clothes- but they need to be soaked, washed, starched and ironed.

I also have a habit of buying items that need "just a little tweak"- like these bank boxes.  One of them I can't open, and the other won't stay closed!

A box of old letters- actually any box of old paper- I can't resist.  But they'll take sorting and bundling to get them ready to sell.

Same with this box of old snapshots.  Great fun to look at, but time consuming.

But really- I'm not complaining.  I enjoy the "work" of getting things ready to sell, and get satisfaction in the cleaning, sorting, arranging and even ironing.

Can't you tell how happy I am?

Vintage Finds, Vintage Knitting

Unfortunately, not every weekend gives you great estate sales, but that's ok- that gave me time to rearrange my knitting needles.  

That sounds kind of sad doesn't it? 

"What did you do this weekend?"

"Sorted my knitting needles".

But really, its one of those mindless activities that can be kind of satisfying- and honestly, don't you think a crockful of knitting needles sorted by color has some eye appeal?

(I left out the ugly needles, the plastic needles, the gigantic size 50 needles that are bigger than a poster size Sharpie).

This is a little collection of crochet hooks (kept near the knitting needles) that are in shades of white- I'm not sure what everything is made of- I think some bone, some ivory, some mother of pearl and some celluloid.

Actually, they aren't even all crochet hooks- this is a button hook- and a dirty one at that.

And I'm really not sure what these are...but if I get a chance to buy one, I do!

Possibly manicure tools, and the pieces with the routed edge are bodkins- a tool for making a hole in something.  These are so fragile I really don't know what they could put a hole in.

So that was my shopping weekend- it leaves me plenty of time to something else interesting, like alphabetize my books.

It's Torn, It's Worn, It's Crumbly, I'll Take It

If you've read my blog for very long, do you remember the good old days when I used to go to estate sales or auctions and come home and play with my stuff and arrange it and take pictures and then blog about it?

It's like I say to my husband sometimes- "Remember when I used to be fun?"

It's not that I haven't been finding good stuff, but it doesn't always go together, or lend it self to pictures.

For example:

I got these 1020's-1930's railroad passes at an auction the other night.  They're kind of cool, but they don't make my heart go pitter patter.

But stained ironstone, crumbly old baby shoes, a worn down to the nap picture frame, a crochet purse with shredded silk ribbons- those are the things that make me giddy.

And the picture in the background of the second picture- it was labeled Berlin work.  I know that it's German, but I don't think it's Berlin work because it's stitched on paper.

This fabric doesn't really go with anything else I bought (or anything I have in my house),

but the ribbon work on it is so detailed- all hand sewn- that I thought I needed to rescue it.

I got books with some fun surprises in them.  The black piece on the left is mother of pearl and it's actually falling apart.

But it's so pretty inside- I think it once held a tintype.  Even if the case is in two pieces, I can't pass up mother of pearl, or old worn velvet.

I found these two pieces of old wallpaper inside the scrapbook album.  I'm not sure, but I think they are hand painted.

And ironstone and old books- the sale had so much of each they could have called it Ironstone, Old Books and Beyond.  I got several pieces of plain (or stained) ironstone, but my favorite piece is this platter with shoots of green leaves- it looks so nice with my old bird book.

It was a fun sale- and this was a FUN post to write!

Auction Goodness Vintage Sewing Basket

A few days ago at auction I won a very full wicker sewing basket.  Besides actually buying the basket, a good part of the fun is digging through the basket to see what kind of treasures it hold.

I had to dig past a lot of flotsam and jetsam- dried out old rubber band pieces, nails, screws, rusty paper clips, the rings that go around canning jars- but in the end it was worth it.

Buttons had been stored in these vintage Christmas boxes- the top one if from Daytons- my favorite department store when I was growing up.

Cute snap cards- a picture of a couple kissing and the caption reads "Two parts with but a single snap"....sigh, how romantic...

I love this cute little strawberry pin cushion- actually, it's not a pincushion, it's an emery "needle cleaner"- an advertising giveaway.

And of course, lots of white and cream buttons- I usually sort those out first because I love the way they looked grouped together.

I've had several people email me about kits from my Paper Cowgirl class.  You can find them in my Etsy Shop.

Petticoats on the Prairie- I Love Texas Style

Whenever I go to Texas, I'm so impressed and inspired by the style and displays I see in antique malls and shops.  As part of Paper Cowgirls, we went to the Petticoats on the Praire Vintage Market, and I took some pictures of what caught my eye.

Cute Sign by Jennifer Babcock.

Beautiful Bridal Bouquet made of vintage materials.

Isn't this what we all just want to be - "Girls Gone Junkin'"

This chair seat was covered  with a vintage rug- and there was a desk to match with covered drawers.

Ann Denise Anderson always has such happy displays.

I especially liked this little guy.

That's all...just a quick post to give you some Thursday morning eye candy.

 

What I Brought to the Antique Mall

Almost every time I do an antique show, I have customers ask if I have a "shop".  And I always answer "No, but I have a booth at the antique mall". 

And then I hand them one of my cards and tell them that they can check my blog because I often show pictures of what I'm taking to my booth.

Until today- that's never been true. It was just something to say to get them to take my card....

But I took my camera to the mall with me today- and here's some of the vintage goodness I brought in.  A BOXFUL of jewels.

Silverplate.

In anticipation of spring, a shelf full of green and white- along with a great shabby chair.

See those roses on the wall behind the chair?  Karla painted those years ago when we shared the booth and were in our pink roses/shabby chic phase.

This pretty set of green and gold books fit in nicely on my sort of spring shelf.

As I was putting the books on the shelf, one of them seemed a little bulky.  I opened up the book and found this:

How sweet- I left the pressed flowers (carefully wrapped in paper) in the book.

Besides these opalescent eye cups, I've also got a bunch of amber eye cups.

A multi-multi loop and button wedding dress- and handmade/homemade veil.

And in the supplies dept, bags of paper ephemera to inspire crafting projects.

Check it out- you can find my booth here.

Keeping Downton Abbey Running Smoothly: Mrs. Beeton's Book

No doubt both Mrs Hughes and the Countess of Grantham from Downton Abbey  had copies of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.

Mrs. Beeton's book, first published in the 1860's in Great Britain, dealt with all aspects of running a household- recipes, cleaning, caring for the sick and dealing with servants.

I got my own copy of Mrs. Beeton's book at an auction last week.  No doubt it will aid in the smooth operation of my three bedroom suburban ranch home.

That recipe for Ox Cheek Soup I've been looking for.

... and General Observations on Pudding and Pastry.

I do love this book for two reasons- one, it gives such insight into the day to day life of the Victorian age- mostly the wealthly, but the beginning of the middle class, and two, the illustrations and color plates.

Here's a scan of one of them.

It looks like it's a picture of those yummy puddings, doesn't it?  But no...actually it's Chartreuse of Partridge, Pigeon Pie, Pig's Feet with Truffle and other assorted dishes of fowl.

Somehow those Victorians even managed to make vegetables look romantic.

The text of a lot of Mrs. Beeton's can be found here.

But I really like my original, falling apart, coverless version.

In the same stack with Mrs. Beeton's was another beautiful but tattered book.  Crown Jewels has worn edges and is held together with tape- but look inside.

A beautiful presentation page.

Beautiful fonts and graphics.

And beautiful engravings.

Yes, it's held together with tape, but when you open it, you don't see the tape- just the old and pretty.

Crown Jewels is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Mrs. Beeton's will be for sale as soon as I try that Ox Cheek Soup.

 

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.

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!

Old Summit Antique Show Part 1 (sigh...)

The Old Summit Antique Show that I sold at on Saturday was wonderful. I sold very well.  I've got great customers who get me and the sometimes weird things I have to sell- scissors, flash cards, eye glass lenses. old tool chests and string...things that in their time were meant to be functional, not collectible, but today they make us "sigh".

Before the show starts, I like to get some pictures of things that make me sigh- like this big old pile of doorknobs from Chris & Diane Ripper.  Just like candy to an antique dealer.

Or this stone fruit- which is just like... stone fruit to antique dealers- and more expensive than organic fruit at Whole Foods.

The simplicity of this little vignette caught my eye.

Beautiful hearts made from old books by Ginger Schrader.

A whole bowl full of beaded whimsies.

Melinda Dennis of Tres Melinda always has an eye catching set-up to

compliment her pendants made from repurposed materials.

A stool stack, wonderful crazy quilt and an owl perched on concrete table.

I've got more pictures- there were so many pieces and vignettes than made me....sigh...