Gathering Dust

My Love Affair with Mr. Dennison

  
I have a confession to make- I've had a long time love affair with Mr Dennison- and his office supplies.  When I go to an estate sale, one of my first stops is the room with the desk- if I'm lucky I can find a box of old labels, stickers or clips.

 
A lot of the appeal isn't the actual office supply- it's the box.

 
Like these photo corners- I have no need of 400 photo corners, but I really like the deco look of the envelopes.

 
 
Of course, its not just office supplies that have great packaging- this cute little box had a tiny tea set in it, but for me, the real prize was the gold lettering on the box.

 
One of my favorite Dennison products is their "Book Shelf sets".  This one is for sewing.  Each of these little boxes is like a matchbox- it slides open...

 
...and has supplies inside- buttons, thread, needles etc.

 
 
Dennison also made an office set and a set for canning labels.

I've added a lot of the items I've shown to my Etsy Shop, but they're selling almost as fast as I can list them- there must be other people having affairs with Mr. Dennison, too.

 
But I'm not ending my fling with office supplies- I have some stashed for a rainy day. 

Speaking of stashed away, I thought I lost my Button this morning.  Turned out he was lying UNDER a pillow in the corner of the couch.

 
 Here's Mr. Button peeking out from his nap spot.
 

You Know What's Fun?

 
Getting one of these in the mail.

You know what's even more fun?

 
Getting two of these in the mail on the same day.

 
I've been lucky enough to get two of my pieces of "fancy work" published by Stampington.  My grandma always called stitching and embroidery "fancy work".

I enjoy all of the Somerset/Stampington publications, but these two are probably my favorites, because I love combining stitching, trims, laces and fibers.

My altered baby dress is in Sew Somerset.

 

 
And the free style sampler I made after taking Teresa McFayden's class  is in Art Quilting Studio.

 
I haven't had a chance to really look through the magazines yet.  I like to set aside a chunk of time so I can look through them slowly and savor them for inspiration.   For me, these are not fast food magazines, they are a gourmet reading experience- and I'm thrilled to be included as a small part of the meal.

Hmmm....with that analogy, you can probably tell that I've been watching Top Chef Masters.

Estate Sale Follies and the "Consumption"

 
{Collage made by Dorthe}

At craft day on Tuesday, Karla, Mary and I were all a little out of sorts.  Mary has been dealing with a cough that won't go away, which makes it hard for her to get enough rest, Karla has been having a "creative slump" and had a bunch of little things add up to make her a bit down and I've been having frustrating bouts of fatigue- they can usually be relieved with a 30 minute nap- but it's not convenient to take a nap at 10 am.  I've been using Karla's catch-all phrase of "consumption" to describe what's ailing us.

 
Karla and I decided that an outing of estate sales today might get us out of our funk. 

Yesterday, after work I stopped off at sale that started at 2pm and went until 7pm.  It was in a newer house, close to home and I thought it would probably be full of expensive antiques- but I think I've lost some of my ability to read an estate sale ad- because although the house had some very nice true antiques, it was also full of great $1.00 items, linens, sewing stuff, paper- all the stuff I love.

I even thought "Karla will love this sale".

 
Karla came over this morning with gifts for me- all these pretty trims, a large Charlotte, and some baby Charlottes that are hiding under the trim.

 
Look at these fun trims that Karla sewed- crepe paper, silk, tulle embellished with rhinestones.

 
This rhinestone trim is perfect to go with this netting flower I made for the Paper Cowgirls apron swap.

So- back to the estate sale outing.  This morning, Karla and I headed out in the pouring rain with the sky almost as dark as night in search of a cure for what was ailing us in the form of other people's old stuff.

And we drove, and stopped, and waited in line, and drove some more, and got wet, and drove some more, went into some really depressing houses, drove over and dragged an orange traffic cone for 20 feet before a gentleman in his 80's grabbed onto the back of my car and said "Pull forward". 

Is it just me, or would anyone else be nervous about driving your car with an elderly man holding onto the bumper?

 
Besides buying a few things for Karla's garden, all that driving, rain and darkness produced was these cute shoes for me.

 
Then, we did what we should have done in the first place- we went back to the great sale I had been at the day before and found enough goodies to fill up the back of the car.  Even though the house was big, and we spent a lot of time there, as we were getting ready to pay, Karla said "Oh, I'm sad we're leaving, that was so much fun".

If we had just gone to that sale in the first place, our thirst for vintage goodness would have been satisfied early in the day, and we could have spent the rest of the day playing.

 
Because when you can buy a netting petticoat trimmed with little flowers, why would you drive all over town?

The consumption must be addling my brain. I'll show you a few more of my treasures tomorrow- after I go back for half price day!

The collage at the beginning of my post was made by my dear friend Dorthe.  Her work is just beautiful and I wanted to share it.

 

Craft Day Shout Outs

 
Yesterday was craft day at Karla's Cottage.  (Beautiful wedding fairy doll made by Karla.)

Here's what everyone had to say.

 
 Mary says "No dolls for me, I'll stick with my gluebooks"

 
Karla says "Make me smile, join my Bird Song Tag Book Swap.

 
The Other Karla says "Happy Birthday Ethan". 

Ethan is her son. This picture is from his third birthday- we decided that was his peak of cuteness.  Now that he is twenty years old, he's no longer cute, he's handsome.

 
Agnes Rose and Button say "woof".

Actually this whole post was just an excuse to show you this picture- because I know I'm a little biased, but I think Rosie and Button are at THEIR peak of cuteness.

Lisa's Awesome Weaving Craft Project

 
At Karla's Bird Song Event, Lisa of Tarnished and Tattered showed us a fun easy weaving technique to make a nature pouch.  The really fun part of the technique is its versatility- you can make a nature pouch, like this one- with feathers, hardware, rust and a grapevine handle...

 
...or you can use satin, gold lame, maribou and a little bling to make it into an evening purse.

 
Another technique Lisa showed us was using a heat gun on the purse.  Some of the fibers fuse together, some curl up and some get a nice burnt look.  I covered my purse with hat netting and used the heat gun to fuse it to the purse.

 
Another fun project is using the weaving technique with fuzzy and fancy fibers to make a bracelet.  I added sparkly buttons to mine.

 
A little cautionary tale about a fabric bracelet- I don't wear jewelry very much, and I don't light many candles- but I happened to do both yesterday.  I blew out the candle, which caused a lot of smoke, so I decided to pinch the smouldering wick.  A spark flew out and came very close to landing on the bracelet.  For a second I had an image of the bracelet going up in flames while on my wrist. 

When Lisa suggested burning your weavings, I don't think that's what she meant.

Why Did I Buy THAT? would you have bought it?

 
...or maybe I should ask "Will you buy this?"

My recent run of low sales at the antique mall has made me a little more cautious about what I'm buying.  And spending more time second guessing myself. 

My usual buying pattern is spot something I like, check the price tag and if I think I can make money on, I buy.  I don't do a lot of hemming and hawing, if I think it'll work, I buy it.

At auctions, I make a list of what I want, decide the absolute highest amount I'll bid... and then bid $10 - $20 more than that because I can be pigheaded about the "winning" part of the auction- it doesn't have anything to do with the actual items up for bid- I just want to be the winner.

I wasn't even going to go to estate sales yesterday- there weren't any in the paper that sounded all that promising- but then a nagging voice in the back of head said "if you don't go looking, you'll never find anything".  This is the same crazy little voice that sometimes tells me "it's your JOB to go looking for stuff".

And look what I came up with in the first picture- a bunch of glass stuff- stuff that can (and does) break.

 
Some of it was broken when I bought it.  A mistake?

 
This is ALREADY broken- but it's so purty. 
And so is this.  But it's purty, but another mistake?

 
And I think there might be a little something off about this creamer, too. Chips on the lip and the handle looks a little wanky.  But it's so purty.

 
Now, these aren't purty...but I did think they're cool- great old packaging.  But will anyone want to buy an old container of Boric Acid Crystals- sounds a little like something you might need a license to sell.

 
Not purty, either- but I love the spools that have the name pressed right into the wood- Corticelli is my favorite.

 
And hats with flowers- they are purty, and they're a no brainer- of course they were a good buy.

 
While I was second guessing my purchases, I did a big Etsy shop update- well, big for me anyway.  You can find my listings here.

Bird Song Treasures

 
One of the most amazing things about an art event is the genorosity of the sponsors and other attendees.  Bird Song was no different. Laurie made everyone darling button card with a snippet of a child's book about birds, Suzanne gave me a handpainted bird plate, Cami brought wax covered tags.  I've nestled my tag in a glitter covered peat pot from Marie, who also gave everyone a hammered spoon necklace- mine says "Cherish".

 
Dawn sent soap in peat pots from her family's soap company.   I've ordered soap from Dawn several times- it's my go to gift that everyone loves.

 
Craft supplies are one of my favorite "gifties"- Hope made everyone a nest adorned matchbox filled with beads and bauble, my "suite mate" Sherry  gave me a goodie bag with shells, beads and the K & Company journal tags that I can't wait to dig into.  Sandy gave everyone a decorated case with a notepad and pen inside.

 
What a great idea- a pen and pad IN A CASE (a pretty one at that) for my purse that won't fall apart, lose pages or spot the lining of my purse with ink.

 
Laurie gave me this nifty vintage stamp holder- it used to be used to hold wooden handled business stamps like "Paid" and "Draft"- I think it makes a great picture and postcard holder.

 
When I was looking for cards to add to my holder, I really liked this one, so I scanned it for you if you're in the mood for a bird themed project.  Double click to open to a larger size in a new window.

 

Bird Song- Behind the Scenes

 
 
I've always know that Karla was a great hostess, but last weekend at her Birdsong event she outdid herself.  The decorations, the classes and the food were wonderful. Karla's Cottage, studio, fairy trail, garage, gardens & courtyard  and even bonfire pit were all put to use.

 
 
I was able to take pictures before guests showed up- this is the courtyard- Sat was perfect weather for eating and visiting outside.  In the background you can see Karla's signature disco ball- because it really isn't a party without a disco ball, right?

 
Karla's mannequin, Luwanda was all "birded up".

 
Each workstation had a bird gift/goodie bag.

 
The table covers were decorated with Karla's drawings, doodles and quotes- "Use what talents you possess".

 
Prettinesss everywhere- this is Lisa's sample project- a woven purse that I know I'll be making more of.

 
Carol's fringed paper flowers and tree...

 
... and a fringed paper wreath.

 
Even the supply boxes were pretty- this is a "Jolly Pets" cigar box full of buckles and buttons for Deb's lampshade class.

 
My nature journal swap turned out great- I was so happy with all the different styles of pages that the girls came up with.

 
Thanks goodness I had "the other Karla" to help me put the books together.  She had never been in a swap, or even used a crop-a-dile, but I wouldn't have been able to get the books together with the right number of pages without her.

 
Just so you don't think that to make everything so special, Karla must have been on high alert, running the event with the precision of a military operation- I think she was able to relax and have some fun, too- because she wore her bedroom slippers all day.

 

A Little Antiquing and Crafting Makes Everything Easier

 
Thanks so much everyone for your kind words about losing Maddie- it means the world to me that so many blog friends understand and  take the time to leave a heartfelt comment.

If I haven't thanked you personally, it's because I've been BUSY.  On Thu, Karla and I took our semi-annual trip to the flea market in Sparks and White Cloud KS.  I thought I'd show some of things we DIDN'T buy.

The dog in the lower right corner is Fred- the famous three legged dog of White Cloud KS.  He's not WORLD famous, but he's well known to anyone who regularly goes to the flea market.

The rest of my weekend was spent at Karla's Bird Song event which was fabulous- Karla really is the hostess with the mostess.  Great crafts, great atmosphere, great girls, tons of inspiration and friendship.  I could go on and on (and will, in my next post).