Gathering Dust

Just a Fabric Collage Sheet...

 
... a needle, some thread, a little bit of burlap and some trims can keep me busy for a long time.

 
When Karla and I put together our e-zine Romantic White Christmas, we scanned dozens of images- a lot more than are used in the projects.  We've included those images as an extra bonus part of the class. 

Karla even put together a couple of collage sheets.  I printed one of the collage sheets on fabric this afternoon and spent a nice part of the day stitching in my easy chair, watching Gilmore Girls on DVD. 

Gilmore Girls is one of those shows I didn't catch in primetime but I'm glad to have found it now.

 

I made a little collection of pillows, hanging ornaments and gift bags.  Almost everything was sewn by hand.  I practiced some feather stitch but otherwise kept it pretty simple and didn't get too hung up on making anything "perfect".

 

I stuck mostly with a "low color" palette, but Santa had to get some red accents.

 

While I had my sewing stuff out, I started working on some coffee dyed lace purses.  I haven't decided if I like them, or if they look like something that might be used to wipe up spilled coffee....and are they suppose to still smell like coffee?

 

 

 

 

Friday Flea Market / Selling at an Antique Mall

 
Along with turkey, stuffing and the Macy's parade, the holiday flea market is a Thanksgiving weekend tradition.  (Althought I have to admit, I don't go every year.)

 
 
The flea market didn't have as many vendors as in the past, but there were enough that I spent all but $8 of my cash and had about as much as I could carry.

Everything except one dresser box fits in the wood change drawer tray in the pictures.  I thought the change drawer with its six compartments made a good display.....I mean, don't you want to dig a little and really see what's in there?

 
A bunch o' keys with numbered tags.

 
I was kind of intrigued by this one- "Convent Locker".  I wonder where that convent locker is, and what would I find in it? 

 
A sewing box filled with OLD stuff-like these buckles- I'm guessing they are 1900's.  The cameo was a separate purchase.  I'm not sure if it was a wise purchase.  I remember years ago asking a knowledgable antique dealer how do you recognize  a "good" cameo.

 
She told me that after you look at what it's made of... obviously, a plastic cameo from a box of Cracker Jack isn't as valuable as a cameo made of shell or stone.  The second thing is- how attractive is the person on the cameo.  I'm thinking the lady on this cameo is a little past her prime. Oh well...

 
My sewing box also had bits of tattered silk ribbons and these little pink crocheted "things".  They're soft and are attached to each other with a pink ribbon- any ideas of what they are?

 
Another sewing box treasure- this embroidered scissor case.

 
Vintage metal price tag holders- they have a clip on the back to attach to a grocery store shelf.  The holders came with some price tags, but they were pretty beat up- generally, I think things can't be too old or too beat up- but these were- they were torn, hand written and held together with discolored cellophane tape- so I added some new old stock price tags that I just happened to have on hand....have I ever shown you my vintage price tag collection?

 
 
Speaking of collecting- if you're at the point in hunting and gathering treasures that you think you'd like turn "professional", my friend Sue from Vintage Rescue Squad has teamed up with Inis Lovely to write an e-book called Selling in an Antique Mall, a Beginner's Guide. 

I've read it, and I'd say it's not just for beginners.  They've done a good job of taking a huge topic and breaking it into managable pieces- and they're very honest about the perils, pitfalls and rewards of selling "vintiques" as they refer to their treasures.  The book covers everything from making the right choice in where to sell, how to manage inventory- both physically and on paper,  to how to keep your booth running smoothly.  The book is nicely illustrated with color photos of actual booth spaces- something I don't think I've seen in any other book.  If you're thinking about becoming a dealer, the $9.95 price makes this a bargain- and tax dedectible if you do go into business.

Happy Birthday Mom

 
This morning, Button and I got up early and before we put on our make-up, we took a picture to email my Mom a card for her birthday.

(Picnik has great tools for digitally applying make-up, and even smoothing out wrinkles- but Button is completely un-retouched)

Happy Birthday Mom!  We love you!

 

The "H" Word, Vintage Plastic Jewelry & an Ed & Fred Giveaway

 
 
When you buy and sell vintage, unless you're a lot more organized than I am, you're walking a fine line between "having a nice selection of backstock" and being the "H" word- a hoarder.

Sometimes, when commercials for the TV show Hoarders come on, my husband gives me the side eye- he doesn't SAY anything, but I still feel the urge to defend myself.  My response is "I'm not a hoarder, I'm willing to sell anything for the right price".

 
BUT, I was rearranging some things in the bedroom and realized there are some things I'm not quite willing to give up-  like my vintage plastic jewelry collection.  It's kind of cheesy dime store jewelry from the 40s & 50's, but it just makes me smile- I mean, look at the little round headed bird pin- are you smiling yet?

 
And a green plastic cameo- what would you wear with this?  What kind of dress or jacket could you pin this to that would make your ensemble look even better?  I think it's a hoot.

 

My collection of plastic jewelry does extend to some non dime store pieces- a few of my favorites are this carved dress clip in a color that's called apple juice, a red carved dress clip and a carved moon in a marbled green.

I'm sure that keeping a handful, or maybe a jewelry box, full of silly pins that I'll probably never wear doesn't make a hoarder...

 
I'm NOT going to hoard any of Ed & Fred's scrapbook- I decided to take it apart before it fell apart.  In the back I found some really pretty old Valentines.  I put together a selection of cards to give away- just leave a comment anywhere on my blog between now and Sun Nov 28 and you'll be entered.

If you want to see some more of Ed & Fred's cards & Valentines, I've listed some in my Etsy shop.

Old Dogs & New Tricks

Karla and I got together at the cottage to create some decorating vignettes for our Romantic White Christmas e-zine.

Everything looked so festive, pretty and romantic that we decided to put together a little video to show it all off.  Neither of us has ever done anything with a video camera besides press start or stop, but we managed to edit it and add music.  We fumbled through it a bit, but old dogs can learn new tricks.

All of the projects are "low color" and have a soft romantic feel.

The e-zine is in a blog format and has twelve project posts, six decorating and entertaining posts, several videos and over 70 images and backgrounds for you to use in class projects or for your own projects.  The cost is $25, and the blog will be available indefinitely.  You can check it out here.

Antique Show Stuff- Bottoms Up

 
 A couple of weeks ago, I showed you pictures of my booth at the Bottoms Up Antique show.  Usually I try to snap some pictures of what catches my eye to share with you, but I was kind of a slacker.  Luckily, the owner of the building, Myron, had his camera and he got pictures of almost everything- here are some of my favorites.

 
Framed French Cheques from French by Design.

 
Check out the cabinent- just full of spools of wonderful trims and ribbons- French by Design.

 
French postcards and shelves of sea shells and other watery things- French by Design.

 
My show neighbor- Kristi from Locust Grove in Weston MO.

 
Antique wine bottle holder from Steve Rogers, Prize Antiques.

 
Prize Antiques.

 
Great Christmas tree from French by Design- LOVE the tarnished color.

 
Sarah from My So Called Junky Life has beautiful cottagey pastel treasures.

 
I don't remember the name of this vendor- a sweet little girl- her first time doing the show- I think she did a great job.

At my first antique show, I don't think I even remembered table clothes.

 
Awesome mid-century dining set from our retro guy, Bobby.

 
Me, taking pictures of the guy taking pictures.

Thanks for all your input on Ed & Fred- I have a plan and you'll be seeing more of them later this week...

...and congratulations to my BFF, Karla  on becoming a grandma for the second time!

More From the Pink Lady Estate Sale

 
I couldn't help myself, I had to go back to the Pink Lady Estate Sale on Saturday for half price on what was left.  The house was pretty cleared out- the porch and yard roped off with furniture that had been sold.

 
I found some more pretties- actually, the longer I look at these cameos, the more I think I know why they were still at the sale on the second day.  What were once pretty gold tone frames were painted with a pale pepto bismol colored paint- and the ladies in the cameos aren't really all that attractive.  The lady with pink roses in her hair looks like an unhappy school marm.

 
In the basement, next to the pink doors, the dainty broken pink painted chairs, the pink salon style hair dryer, was the pink lady scrapbook.

 
The first pages were full of gift enclosures from her bridal shower and wedding.

 

From what I "ciphered" from looking at the scrapbook, the pink lady's name was Edna- and her husband was Fred- and they were known to their friends as "Ed & Fred".  They were married in 1935- and I think they lived in the same house that the sale was held at...

 
...so that meant this book had been in the house for 75 years...

 
I love these cards- the style, the colors- the little details- like the fluffy fringe on this towel card.

 
So- I can't decide- do I leave the cards in the album, because they've been together so long and they do tell a story.  Or since the album is falling apart, do I harvest the cards and recycle them- either scanning them, selling them, or using them in projects?

 
What would YOU do?  I know, I know...it's a heavy question, don't spent too much time pondering it.

 
And what would Minnie do?

The House of Unfinished Craft Projects

 
 
I'm going to paint a sign to put over my front door- "the house of unfinished craft projects"...except I'd probably only get as far as painting "the house of..." and I'd decide to move onto something else and finish the sign later.

 
I can't remember if I've shown any stage of this sampler on my blog before.  It started with a sad quilt top that mixed these pretty pieces of toile with a 60's mod floral print.  I salvaged the toile and tossed the floral.  I machine patchworked the toile scraps to the inside of this napkin and then started hand stitching.

I think I'm close to being done, but the area in the embroidery hoop needs a little something...any ideas?

 
One side of the sampler has this toile and lace flower.

In another corner, I used an iron on embroidery transfer to print a flower and then embroidered it.

 
I've shown this sampler before- and I asked what should go in the oval on the left side.

  
I ended up with a quote "our attitude towards life determines life's attitude towards us".

 
Again, I think this is almost finished.... 
 
This was one of those stitch an inch samplers.

 
I think Iost my taste for this one because of the colors- gold & purple are school colors, not sampler colors. 

Don't you wonder how school colors get picked?  There are some awful combinations out there.  About the only good combinations I can think of are blue & white or red & white or maybe even orange & white.

If I had a school, the colors would be white & white, or white & cream, or white & ecru, or maybe white & tea stain. 

 
And these little stitched and semi stitched pieces- who knows where they'll end up?

Even if I'm a starter and a stopper when it comes to sampler (and knitting) projects, I have finished all the projects for Karla and my Romantic White Christmas class.

 
I think my favorite project so far is this flashcard mitten- it's fast to make and cute with the vintage Christmas card image I colored, but it would be cute with your own favorite Christmas picture or image.

The "Pink Lady" Estate Sale

 
After having gone to estate sales for years, I've found myself coming up with categories or names for some sales.

•  dysfunctional family sale- you can spot this one by all the self help books;
• too much credit too quickly sale - a couple with young children that bought more house than they could afford and charged more furniture & clothes than they could handle- most of the stuff in the house is new
• insomniac sale- lots of stuff from QVC, still in the box, probably purchased late at night
• the good hoarder sale- they had good taste and didn't throw anything out- vintage notions, trims, wrapping paper, sometimes wallpaper, scrapbooks, everything their parents owned
• the bad hoarder sale- they liked to shop, but it was mostly at the dollar store and thrift stores

 
Of course, there are a lot of sales that don't fit into these categories, and some sales fit into to multiple categories.  Today I went to one of my favorite kinds of sales:

The Pink Lady Sale

These sales are full of over the top feminine, bejeweled, floral and ornate items.

I imagine the pink lady as very petite and dressing kind of like Nancy Reagan, only mostly in pink.  She always wears heels, and when she goes out, she wears gloves, Her shoes always match her dress.  She wouldn't dream of leaving the house without make-up and her hair fixed.

She is the anti-Beth.

 
But I still love her stuff- like her velvet leaved hats, beaded earrings and embroidered gloves.

 
The sale was full of things like this- a minature cupid studded bejeweled tissue box, along with a myriad of similiar perfume bottles, lipstick holders and other vanity items.

 
The sale had a lot of Florentine items- and some of them had been "altered"- like this jewelry box that was painted pink.  Even though it's super sweet the way it is, I hate to think about how much the value decreased by adding the paint.  In the basement, I found a whole box of bits and pieces- shelf brackets, single drawers etc of painted Florentine.

Oh wait...I think there's something in one of the drawers- it feels heavy. Maybe it's full of a treasure trove of jewelry or pretty lace.

 
No- darn- just office supplies- and not very good ones at that.

 
I've added some of these pink lady treasures to my Etsy shop SugarPinkMoon...

 
...with the help of this guy. And tomorrow, he'll be helping me sort buttons.

 

Close-Ups from an Antique Show- Bottoms Up this Weekend

 
Bottoms Up Antique Market is this weekend. We had a special open house tonight to benefit Harvester's Food Bank.

 
Usually, I walk around with my camera, taking pictures of everybody else's treasures- but tonight I stayed in my own booth.

 
Olive wood rosary and a slightly tattered French beaded purse.

 
Some of those "low colors" I like so much.

 
It wouldn't be a truly cool antique show without a doll head, right?

 
A tattered lampshade decorated with lace, vintage stockings and some of my collage projects from my last show at Bottoms Up.  I was so tickled that I sold more collages than lace- it's nice when people "get it" and don't ask for an explanation of why you like to play with paper.

Come out and see us- the show is Friday & Sat, Nov 5-6 from 10-5.

Bottoms Up

1200 West 12th Street - KC, MO