Love it when I buy a bag of buttons at an estate sale, get it home and realize the buttons are already strung together and sorted!
Speaking of buttons, I've added a bunch to my Etsy Shop SugarPinkMoon.
And bunches of flowers, too.
And you'll find ledgers and other vintage paper in Gathering Dust.
Thanks for taking a look!
What I did this weekend: Made earrings. PAIRS of earrings. I have a very large collection of single earrings. Hopefully these will stay in pairs for a couple of months.
Cut up a vintage baby sleeper into hearts. Fuzzy hearts.
And decorated the hearts.
Probably not the most exciting weekend you'll hear about, but I found it satisfying.
I love having a booth at the antique mall. It gives me an excuse to shop estate sales and auctions, it's a place to for me to unload sell things I don't need anymore; and I make a little money at it. When I stop at the antique mall to restock or rearrange, I always find friends, other dealers and customers to chat with, so it's a social thing, too.
But sometimes, the merchandizing, the rearranging, the styling, is boring. I don't like things to be in my booth for very long, and I don't like them to stay in the same place. I find myself moving the same stuff around together, just putting it on a different shelf. Not very creative.
Karla is very creative, but she hates pulling together her business records for tax time. But for me, working with numbers and spreadsheets is second nature. So, we decided on a swap. Karla would redo my booth, I'd sort and add up her expenses.
And I got a bonus. Karla CLEANED my booth and went up on the ladder.
The ladder was needed to hang this fab and rusty garden chandelier- one of my favorite recent finds.
I used to climb ladders, hang stuff from the ceiling, make interesting wall displays, but because of creaky bones and laziness, I don't do it as much as I used to.
My cubby got a complete make over. Does it make you want to rummage around in it?
Some of these pieces have been around for a while, but Karla gave them a brand new look when she combined the blues with silver and clear glass.
So, while Karla was doing all this (and more that I didn't get pictures of), I hung a map on the wall. That's it, that was my contribution to the re-do. That's why I'm smiling here, thrilled with the new look of my booth.
(Thanks Ms Patty)
Our friend Patty was at the mall, so we asked her to take our picture together. Pattie kept telling us to lean in, shoulders together, arms on hips, but we weren't cut out to follow instructions.
The next time I complain about a dearth of good junk, just remind me of the estate sale I went to this weekend. It was a vintage crafter's "de-light". I'm still overwhelmed by the lace, millinery, ribbon and supplies I found.
The estate owner obviously enjoyed crafts- doll making, sewing, knitting; and like so many of us, could buy more than they would ever use.
The garage had over 40 boxes, most of which were labeled; wool, print,
hats, etc. But, the boxes didn't necessarily have what the label said.
So, we just started digging.
Beside the cardboard boxes in the garage, the craft room, and many other rooms in the house had boxes full of supplies- like this shoe box full of lace on cards.
Inside this box, I found one of my favorite sewing collectibles. This card with the dog was actually the cardboard that J & P Coats wrapped rick rack, bias tape and seam binding around.
The front and back of the dog were cut out, and glued to either end of a wooden spool. J & P put out several different versions of this like a cow, bunny and cat.
If you want to make a spool puppy, you can right click on the image and save it to your computer.
One box that I bought because of the lace and ribbons had some beautiful bonus fabric. Lots of sample pieces of embroidered Swiss fabric. I think they'd make a great quilt.
I still haven't gone through all of my finds and I'm a bit embarrassed by all my "riches". Last weekend was a good reminder that's there's still junk out there, you just have to keep looking.
Last Monday, on our trip to New York City, we had tickets to see Katie Couric's show. Katie was just like she seems on TV; funny, perky, friendly. She chatted with the audience in between segments, and was very good about explaining what was going on; where the cameras were, that she was talking to her producer on her wireless mike and not to an empty chair before the show started.
Katie and her staff were very nice about letting everyone take pictures. If I had wanted better pictures, I probably should have made friends with the lady in turquoise standing in front of me...
Normally the show is filmed in six segments, in order, but because of different guest's time constraints, we saw last Monday's episode, filmed out of order, and two seperate segments from other shows.
We had been on the subway by 7:45, in line at 8:30 and seated in the studio since about 10:00. By the time we got done watching so much TV, I was STARVING. (Katie's show was nice enough to provide granola bars to tide us over).
As we left the Katie show, a staff member handed out a list of nearby restaurants. When I spotted Top Chef's Head Judge Tom Colicchio's sandwich shop, WichCraft on the list, I knew where I wanted to go.
WichCraft is a soup and salad cafeteria style eatery. There are several all over the city. We ate at Lincoln Center.
. I had the chickpea sandwich and tomato soup that was delish.
An aside: I'm currently on a quest to find the world's best tomato soup. Maybe not the actual whole world, maybe just where ever it happens to be convenient for me. So far, Nordstrom's and Jason's Deli are neck and neck.
Later, we headed to Times Square to the TKTS booth to get discount tickets to Forever Dusty, a musical about Dusty Springfield.
If your in New York and don't have your heart set on a particular show, the TKTS booth is the way to go. They sell same day tickets at 20%- 50% off both Broadway and Off Broadway shows. I've gotten tickets for every show I've seen in New York City through TKTS, and its always been a positive experience.
The lobby of the Dusty theater had some interesting displays. They didn't have anything to do with the show, but I thought they were picture worthy.
Especially these hanging corsets.
After the show, we had more delish food. Crab and Pork Soup Dumplings at a packed restaurant on a dark narrow little street in Chinatown. I would never have gone there if I hadn't read so many great reviews.
See the "B" sign on the door? Restaurants in New York are required to post their inspection codes. Everywhere else we ate had an "A". The dumplings and scallion pancakes were so good, I'd go there even if they had a "D".
I've got to make some money for more dumplings, so I've added some new (old) things to my Etsy shops.
Here's what you'll find in Gathering Dust
And SugarPinkMoon
(Washington Square Park)
Why do I love big cities? I think it's the element of surprise. You just never know when you might stumble across someone sitting on a trash can, playing a grand piano in the middle of a park.
Or maybe it's that you can be in the hustle bustle of Chinatown and Canal Street with its sidewalk vendors and open markets, head down into the subway, and ten minutes later pop out of the subway in Greenwich Village where the view is these serene townhouses.
(On the right, the narrowest house in the city)
(Love this pink townhouse. I don't care that it still has it's holiday wreath- if you live in a pink house, you decorate it however you want.)
(detail of wrought iron gate and steps)
There are always new neighborhoods to explore. This time, it was Chelsea.
The Chelsea Market is an upscale food court, with an Anthropologie and bookstore thrown in for good measure. The building was originally the home of the National Biscuit Company, maker of Oreos and Fig Newtons.
They've kept a lot of the original industrial architectural details like brick work, exposed pipes and beams.
And added some eye catching accents like these arches of lights.
The High Line, an abandoned elevated railway that's been turned into an elevated park, is a few blocks from Chelsea Market. I'm sure it's prettier in spring as more is in bloom, but it still had a certain elegance in its spareness. You can read more about it here.
We went to the theater, saw a taping of Katie, and ate great food, but I'll leave that for another post.
Good estate sale day. A sale in an older house that was big enough that when the owners got tired of something, they didn't get rid of it, they just put it in the basement.
Neither of these candleholders was in the basement, but they both have wax drips. Do you think the wax drips make the candleholders look dirty? Or does the wax add to the look, making them more interesting, kind of like a patina on a piece of furniture would?
Almost everything I bought was metal, heavy metal. I bet my bag weighed 40 lbs, and I had to walk uphill to get back to my car. I know, you feel really sorry for me.
A hotel teapot, HEAVY candlestick, a pewter flask and a rhinestone trimmed clock.
A mini wire basket, silverplate shell dishes and metal cones. I really don't know what the cones are for, maybe baking? I think they'd be pretty filled with little bouquets.
One non- metal find. At first I thought this was part of a Dickens Christmas village, but I looked closer and saw a hanger on the top. It's a birdhouse, and it feels like its made of clay. It also feels like there's something inside it. I'm going to assume it's the remains of a nest and leave it at that.
Tomorrow, I'm headed to New York City with the Other Karla. It sure would be nice if it's sunny like this picture, because I know we'll be doing a lot of walking.
We're also planning on seeing these:
Eating here:
Shopping here:
And we'll be in the Katie audience on Monday.
Yeah vacations!
I've had lots of diaries, scrapbooks, idea books and journals over the years. I started with one of the five year diaries with the lock and key when I was about ten, moved on to a fabric covered journal when I was high school.
I stopped journaling when I found out a college roommate had been reading my journal. Looking back, I can't imagine why someone would do that. It just couldn't have been that interesting.
I've made lots of scrapbooks, idea books and gluebooks since then, but they weren't really ongoing journals. When I made my Valentine journal in Karla's class at the begining of February, I decided it would be a semi-daily journal.
I've kept it in the living room, next to my "craft chair"- along with some markers, glue sticks and random papers and images from my stash.
I haven't made myself finish pages in any certain order. Here are some pages that started one day and added to later.
EARLY IN FEB:
NOW:
EARLY IN FEB:
LATER IN FEB:
One of the biggest influences to what I've doodled or drawn on my pages is Mary Ann Moss. Seeing her patterned journal pages made me realize that it was "okay" to draw some arrows on a page if that was what I felt like doing.
I guess the whole point of my post is: this journal is just FUN- it's not art, it's not documenting any important events, it's just a chance to play.
A doodle page drawn by Karla for her Snow White class. I loved coloring it- coloring is very relazing.
Inside the back cover- drawing with Sharpies is great!
I haven't finished or filled every page in my "February" journal- but that's ok. It's a work in progress- and I'm going to have to have a March journal in waiting before this one is done.
"Stop snowing, it's March already" she said in her whiniest voice.
We've really only had snow on the ground for ten days or so, but it's enough winter for me.
I am trying to "think spring" by working on projects for Karla's Bird Song 3 workshop. Last week we did some brainstorming- maybe more storm than brain....this a bird cage Karla's working on.
These are creatures that were rejected as more "shrimp-like" than bird like.
Nothing better than some craft project rejects to inspire you, huh?
Here's a little bit more inspiring picture- Mary's glue book papers.
...and a page in progress.
Lately, I've complained a bunch about just how hard it is to find good junk.
Thank goodness just when the junk seems the scarcest, and you despair of ever finding more than two items to buy in one place, you stumble across an estate sale that restores your hope, and gives you the strength to keep on junkin'.
Last weekend, I ran across a sale like that. I got lots of fun stuff- these are just the "smalls" from the jewelry table.
Want to look closer?
A little mother of pearl pin, a large mother of pearl pin that looks like a buckle and a Westie.
Pearls shaped like grapes, a filigree pin and a locket that looks like a book.
Another couple of pins- the buckle is actually a pin, and kind of a scary one at that.
The horseshoe is an Italian mosaic. I've heard that you should wear it with the open side up- if the points are down, your luck might run out the bottom.
A folding knife and a folding comb. Generally, I don't carry a knife- but if I decide to, it's going to be a pretty one like this.
These metal handled loops were new to me (although they are obviously old). One says "Arrow Collars". I think these were some kind of tool that was used to hook a collar stay on a man's shirt.
Speaking of "what's its?", in my last post I showed the tool on top and said I didn't know what it was. A couple people thought it was an orange peeler- and that makes sense. Look at how much they look alike.
My Birdsong friend Suzanne is as enamored of vintage sewing items as I am, and she looked it up in a reference book- and found the same item, with the same patent mark. It's a button hole maker.
I think you COULD use it to peel an orange, but I'm sure an orange peeler wouldn't help me with any buttonholes.
