The things you can learn from Dr.Seuss.......

I am loving my sons interest

in finally sitting still long enough to read...

and I am so excited that right now his favorite books

are written by that genius of a man

Dr.Seuss

Green Eggs and Ham

The Sneetches

The Lorax

The Grinch

The Cat in the Hat

Oh, The places you'll go!

and take an aspirin before you read

Fox in Sox...

I'd forgotten how tongue twisting,

silly,

sincere,

and profound

these books are.

I think some of life's most important lessons can be learned from

these books...

Believe in yourself...

Try new things....

Have fun and it's o.k. to be silly no matter your age...

Love your neighbor..

Respect our planet...

Don't discriminate....

Good friends and a loving family are life's greatest treasures....

One of my favorite quotes :

Be who YOU are and say what YOU feel,

because

those who mind don't MATTER

and those who matter

don't MIND!

Such an amazing artist and creative writer

what a gem to have both talents wrapped in one person.

What lessons of life do you remember learning before the age of 5?

Happy Tuesday!



Marvelous Memorial day weekend finds!

Took a few days off from writing

to enjoy some time with family and friends

I went out on Friday to an Estate sale

that just happened to be near my home

and I felt like I scored so well

I didn't bother going to any others

the rest of the weekend!

When I walked in I knew I would find something great...

and i was surprised because I got there an hour late

and it had been advertised to have "antiques"

but it seemed like no one was buying...

sometimes I think people don't see potential in items

they just want them to be perfect or "look" valuable...

I was so excited to see these on the first table I went to....

An Argoflex and a Cadet to add to my vintage camera collection! The cadet was $1!
The Argoflex was $3!  I couldn't believe it!

Then I saw this awesome Brownie movie camera..

It still has the original box and manual...

$8

Shiny Happy People....

The design is so lovely and sleek

Of course I had to open it

and the insides are pristine

It has a small reel of film still inside!

On the table next to the cameras I found these

old diaper pins...

Funny when I was looking for these

before my son was born I couldn't find them

now I have found two sets in the last two months..

.50 cents

I need to figure out a clever use for them

any suggestions?

as I entered the kitchen I noticed this huge pile of old towels

and tablecloths from the 70's with mushrooms etc.

I still decided to take a peek

and underneath all that brown and avocado green

was this lovely bright tablecloth

$2!

I've never seen this pattern before

Isn't it just lovely?

After roaming through several other rooms I made my way to the

 garage...

It became obvious that the owner of this home was

a very loving woman

she appeared to save everything her children or nieces and nephews

had

baby clothes, toys, chalkboards, doll clothes, and school papers.

Which is when I noticed two large boxes of old papers and "junk" in the corner near the trash...

I peeked inside and noticed old school notebooks and report cards...

So I asked one of the girls helping out with the sale if she

would consider selling some to me

that I used things like those in my artwork...

I didn't ask for them because I feel like a family deserves an offer...

She laughed and said

"You know I thought I should keep some of those because I am an artist too!"

She gave me the whole box for $5

Which to me for the amazing amount of ephemera inside was a steal

SOLD!

This box must weigh 10 lbs...

I still haven't gone through the whole thing

but here are some of the top layer

Love the note from the teacher on the little booklet on top..

it says she did a great job on her little book!

an Aviation news booklet

old letters and service papers

It appears the couple owned a Service / Gas Station locally here some years ago

Old logbook with wages for employees

not much compared to now...neat to see

Old posters in great shape

advertising all sorts of things...

These glasses are Anchor Hocking freebies

probably 10 of these workbooks for writing....

The back section of all the booklets have a section of punch outs...

The section I stopped in was where I found this photo

A church directory photograph and order form

It was taken in 1983

A lot of times I wonder about the people and what they were like

so it was neat to see the people these items were a part of.

Do you think I should try and contact the family about the portraits?

I'm not sure since they were also selling a lot of black and white photos that

belonged to this couple.

Hope you had an amazing weekend and found some treasures...

head on over to ApronThriftGirl

and see what everyone else was up to!

Happy memorial day!

   SuzieQ and Lisanne e-mail me your info since you are my winners from
my giveaway!
My mail link was disabled last week...
Congrats!

Randomness for Thursday.......

Just a bit of Random fashion pics for fun...

I took these at the Richmond Highland Games...

I'd dare anyone to ask these guys about their "skirts"!

Look pretty manly to me....

Yardsale Relationships.....

I know I promised a few details about the yardsale...

I have to admit

I have a love/hate relationship with the whole yardsale event

I

Love

other peoples yardsales,

the money I make,

and

getting rid of things!

I

Hate

dealing with annoying,

rude,

and cheap people.

When I advertise that my sale starts at 8

that doesn't mean at 6 when I am trying to put things out

that you should walk up and start going through boxes and asking me questions

while I am trying to unpack.

I am one of the most friendly people you can meet 

and think it is common courtesy to respect others requests even if you are in their yard

and not a retail store!

I guess I also know there is sort of an unwritten code of ethics

for haggling also.

I think it is insulting to offer someone 75-80% less than what they have

marked on an item.

There was definitely a lot of stuff I wanted to just see

go out the door...

but the first little old lady who offered me .25 cents for something I had marked $1

I said sure...

then all her friends and a grown grandchild

came up to me with all sorts of items ranging from $1 to $4

and every one asked me if they could have them for.25 cents!

When I declined their offers with what they could see

was frustration in my face,

one woman looked at me and said

"These cards don't even have envelopes! This is a yardsale you know?!"

(15 or so full size Victorian greeting cards $1!)

she wanted them for .25cents $1 was already a great deal...

"Yes, it is a yardsale but I do have to make some money. If I wanted to donate them I would

have taken them to Goodwill,

Thanks but I'll keep them."

and just to see if she could add insult

the granddaughter whom I had already discounted several items for

had to ask again for a set of mugs I had $1 on for .25 cents

all I replied was "No, I think $1 is fair"

she slammed them down and huffed away...

For the life of me I just don't get what makes people act this way

over

THINGS!

Otherwise the day went really well,

we made some decent money,

spent time with family,

my awesome sister in-law came to help,

my grandmother showed up,

and we got rid of a lot of stuff!

I'm also proud of myself for having the willpower to

RESIST

going to the other sales

there were 27 in our little Village that day!

So,

what are some of your yardsale experiences like?

Do you have any tactics for dealing with uncouth shoppers?

Retro mommies...We have a winner!

Glad to be back everyone!

The yardsale was a success!

more on that to come...

The better part of the weekend however

was going to a retro themed baby shower!

Everyone was asked to come in vintage dress...

Right up my alley of course!

Think June Cleaver is what they suggested.

I think I pretty much got the "most accurate" look award....

of course I had to have a mini photo shoot when I got home

because so many people kept telling me how wonderful I looked....

What do you think?

The I'm so glamorous housewife pose...

(I took this with the Tilt Shift Generator app)

The next day my friend told me her husband didn't even recognize me...

Hmmmmm....

This is my "mommy knows better than you" look...

The earrings and the necklace I found at an estate sale for $2.00 for the set!

Funny because after looking at these later I think I look a lot like my dads mom

when she was younger....

Enough of my photo session...

The shower was so cute

we had meatloaf and mashed potatoes

deviled eggs and finger sandwiches

apple pie and cupcakes...

all the nifty stuff a good mommy would know how to serve...

It was a lot of fun.

I didn't have time to thrift because of our mega yardsale

so other than the jewelry set

 I am going to share a piece I "found" that had been forgotten about...

I found it a few months ago at a DAV for $3.95 

Ummm... so it's upside down ....oops...technical difficulties w/ the ICamera

Isn't it just lovely though?

Head on over to ATG 

to see all the other goodies everyone found.

and for the two lovely ladies

who entered my giveaway...

The winner is...

BOTH of you!

I'm glad you both entered and since you were brave enough to comment

I figured you both should get a little something!

Since SuzieQ entered first she's my big prize winner...

and Lisanne is my runner up!

Her gift will be a surprise but you know it'll be great!

Thanks for participating gals!

Send me your info so we can work out the details!

Happy Monday everyone!

 

ICamera Crazy....

 I'm probably one of the last people to update their IPOD

but I finally did!

Wonderful

and now obsessive Birthday gift....

Ever since I got home from work I've been scanning the

photography Apps...

I'll have to have a slideshow when I've started taking some real photos!

Do you have a favorite photography App?

Have you used the garage sale finding App?

This week will be quite busy

Forgive me if I'm a bit scattered with the posts this week.

The Annual Village yardsale is this weekend and we are trying

to empty out leftovers from my business I closed a few years ago and all kinds of excess.

Funny how having a child can make you forget things...

I had no idea I had inventory left that had been hiding...

 I even have company coming for part of the week to help!

Don't forget about the giveaway

from Mondays post!

I'll be accepting entries until this Saturday evening

You only have to leave a comment to enter

but the more options you choose the more times you are entered!

See previous post for rules..

Let me know about those Apps or any other favorite you have.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Thriftshare Monday - Giveaway Surprise!

Today is Thriftshare Monday

check out all the finds over at Apron Thrift Girl

but more importantly for me today

I am hosting my

First GIVEAWAY!

Here is all I manged to find this weekend....

We've been busy trying to clean out for a yardsale

and my little sis came all the way from dreary ol' Chicago for a visit...

so time was limited for me the last week.

but

I really love what I found...

This lovely little hand stitched scene...

It has adorable ribbon trim w/ roses attached to the frame

but I really didn't realise until later

that it really resembles our little house built in 1918...

I just love it to bits.

I paid $8 for it but it was so unique!

Now

On To The Giveaway Goodies!

Every domestic goddess, farmgirl, or city girl who dreams of the country

needs her own apron...

New  with cute retro styling

You must have your own vintage hankie to keep in that apron pocket..

To add a little charm to everyday things...

Two vintage doilies and a few other pieces of decoratively stitched linen...

and in this day and age of modern communication..

won't a friend be surprised by a Vintage postcard to say

"Hello" or "Happy Birthday"

(there are several more)

Every woman deserves a little sparkle...

these retro style earrings are a must!

What better to hold it all than a Sunny Sunflower tote from

April Cornell?

or

Use it for your veggies or flowers at the farmers market this summer!
There is also a copy of
Mary Jane Butters
mini Farmgirl Wisdom
with 14 magnets included
and

I'm throwing in a few other items that will be a surprise!

I'm going to keep this first one easy...

Please do one or all of the following...

The more you participate the more chances you have...

Heck I'll throw in the chicks,too.

All farmgirls  and city girls need their chicks, right?

1- post a comment - I'd love to hear what you think..

2-Like me or comment/link to me on  Facebook or Twitter

3-Link to my page from yours

4-Follow Me!

Easy?

...

I'll be working hard on the yard sale and working at the ol' day job

this week..

I'll be selecting and announcing my winner next Monday May 23rd!

Good Luck and can't wait to hear from you!

Happy Monday!

The Memory Keeper...

I have a problem with "Organizers"...

There are the kind you see trying to help people who are messy and they need help organizing it,

then there are the people they call hoarders.

Peter Walsh

I love

and sometimes hate...

Maybe I'm one of those crazy people...

I'll be honest....

I live in a maybe 1,000 sq. foot home

 built during WWI  and I love to collect things.

I have really had to work at learning to live in a small space .

When you don't have closets in some rooms

 or your largest one is the size of some peoples broom closet.

You have to work at what  you really need to keep.

I struggle to this day.

Mr.Keeper is a pack rat,

but I'm not going to go there.

Organizers like Peter always try to get people to understand

that an object is not a person.

Your memories of them are what you hold on to.

I agree that items like this have to be kept within reason.

But here is my argument...

I've had this box since I was a teenager.

Have not really looked in it since then...

Recently I opened it up...

Girl Scout badges, pins, and my sash.

Sure I remember I was in Girl Scouts

but I didn't remember I had achieved so much,

and as I looked at each badge or pin

memories that had been stored away on a shelf in the card catalog of my brain

(no one uses those anymore right?)

came to me in an instant..

I remembered flashes of the swimming classes I took at the YMCA for one.

I remembered having a pen-pal.

I remembered having the International food and fun festival where

I got Mexico and taught the Mexican Hat dance and we had chips and tacos.

I remembered struggling to earn the math badge because I LOATHE math,

but I did it.

I remembered the Cookie sales ,

that we loaded the cookies up in my Radio Flyer and wheeled them door to door.

While I have "memories",

 I recalled memories I truly would have never remembered...

had I not had these tangible items to hold in my fingertips,

 feel the silk threads on the badges ,

or touch the ones  my mother stapled on for some reason.

Peter ,

people do forget.

This was a wonderful way to remind me of the things a little girl

could accomplish,

and even though she may not have been as confident as she is now

 she still achieved her goals.

To remind me that even if I may feel that

I just can't do certain things because of my circumstances or life choices...

that maybe yes I can!

I also see people throwing their personal history on the curb constantly.

Sometimes to know where you are going,

 it's good to know where you came from.

I have plenty of friends who know nothing about their families beyond their grandparents

and they may not truly know who they REALLY were.

  I just think sometimes there are things we should hold on to.

If my grandfather hadn't held on to his Army cap from WWII

I would have never thought to ask him about what happened "when he was in The War"

Members of our family have let a home that my Great Great Grandparents built themselves

turn back into wilderness,

because "No one would want that old house".

It was too old fashioned.

Not thinking to preserve it for future generations who might care,

or offer it to someone who would care that a family built this home by hand

 and persevered in farming, lived through the Civil War, lived through the Great Depression and

ended up with streets in their town named after their family.

My dad held on to his favorite childhood train set

probably never thinking he would have a grandson to pass it on to.

When my father is no longer around

my son will have the memory of running things down with

that "old" locomotive in the garage with his grandfather.

This Peter is why I have issue with you sometimes...

some items can bring back memories.

Call me a hoarder then and I'll wear that badge.

If all of my vintage collecting friends are crazy too for wanting to protect the past

then lets all start a hoarding history club!

What do you guys think?



The Finderskeeper: Thriftshare Monday....

The Finderskeeper: Thriftshare Monday....: "Long weekend of feeling tired, but a sinus infection couldn't keep me down.  Felt good enough to go out Mothers Day and do some junking... ..."

Thriftshare Monday....

Long weekend of feeling tired,

but a sinus infection couldn't keep me down.

Felt good enough to go out Mothers Day and do some junking...

What is it with old guys in thrift stores who think they know everything?

There are a few regulars I see at Estate sales and local shops

It's almost as if they aren't really interested in what they buy...

as long as it "looks old"

and they can be pretty pushy or rude...

I laugh at them usually and don't engage in much conversation with them...

because they are usually trying to get whatever you have

by talking it down

They just don't know who they are messing with when it comes to me!

My baby face makes them think I'm a newbie...

little do they know I have been trained by generations of

Knowledgeable

Crafty

Bartering

thrifty ladies!

SO

when one of these "Oldies" tried to get this board game from me

$2.98

Him ="Hey, that looks old"

Me="Yeah, it probably is"(acting like I don't care)

He comes over to inspect it in my hands!

Him="Probably missing most of the pieces"

Me="Actually it is in great shape and has all the original pieces,

there's another one in the back if you want to take a look"

Me= "That one is missing most of the pieces though, but it's old.

That's what you're interested in right?Old"

Him="Humpphh" (stinky smirk)

He= walks off leaving me in peace...

I'm usually such a friendly person but these guys just bug me

Don't get me wrong - I'm not just being this way to any old guy I meet at a sale

This "type" I just get their vibe right away..

Find #2

$4.00

Awesome Kodak camera for my collection...

Bellows are still great

Glass sight still there

Everything you'd want to be intact

There is even a roll of film inside!

But who knows if it can even be developed or if it has been exposed somehow..

It was raining and got wet on the table it was displayed on

I talked the guy into $4 from $10 since I was going to have to try and dry it out

and keep it from rusting...

Find#3

$2.00

Cigar box full of Ephemera

Postage stamps

Savings stamps and books for all kinds of things

from Silverware, China, and books..

I remember my mom and my great grandmother saving for things like this too.

Every now and then I see a promotion like this in our grocery

but they don't really seem like a deal anymore...

Hope you all had a great Mothers Day..

Head on over to Apron Thrift Girl to see all the other great finds!

Come back next week for my first giveaway...

Got some great items in the works..

Happy Monday!

Mothers Day...

Three years ago today...

Who would have guessed...

That three years later....

I'd feel so blessed.

You are the greatest gift I have ever received.



Citra-Solv and Old National Geographics = ART?

Day 5 at Art and Soul

was a very unique

-scratch that-

was a very aromatic experience!

Last year I took a class w/ Cathy Taylor

and she mentioned a technique she used for creating works with

National Geographic magazines saturated in the natural cleaner Citra-Solv

Once the company learned about the number of people

who were using their product

they created a site dedicated to it

you can check it out here

New Citra-Artist

Cathy has judged a few of their contests

she was also recently featured in

the recent issue of

Cloth-Paper-Scissors

but onto the experience....

Cathy started the day with her usual

Cheerleader like enthusiasm during her demo..

sorry I didn't capture it in a photo...

Basically you sprinkle the solvent on every page

shut the magazine and wait...

we headed outside

so we wouldn't ummm...

as Bubba would say "Inhale" too much...

but it was a gorgeous day

so wonderful to get outside for a bit...

We headed inside and laid them out to dry

and by lunchtime the whole Convention Center

smelled

Squeaky Clean...

at least we pretty much masked smell of the  the Wabi-Sabi-wax class

who totally stunk up their room w/ beeswax...

and here are some of the results

The photos don't necessarily show some of the range of color.

more of the dark shows up in the photos but not in person...

but a lot of people pay money for paper like this!

Here are a few of the pieces I created

I decided to use the actual design that appeared and paint what I "saw" in it

kind of like looking at clouds

we all see something different...

I realize now looking at the photo you can't see some of the subtleties in the image

but basically I imagined a sort of cloaked / camouflaged wood nymph

It would have been nice if I had the original page image

but would have been impossible for me to photograph the whole magazine for before images

However it was a photo of red ants carrying leaves

This image I clearly saw the wings in the angel first

and took it from there

kind of out there for me...

but all the reds and oranges

kind of a guardian angel with a child wrapped in her arms in a post-apocalyptic world?

This cloaked couple (man w/ a bit of long hair on the right)

appeared to me quite easily...

It was a photo of a hayfield....

If you stare at these images long enough you see all sorts of tiny things in them...

I think all these figures seemed ethereal to me

since I was letting my imagination go...

most everyone else saw trees and mountains

a few awesome fairies and mermaids as well.

So what do you think?

This is definitely not what I usually

paint..

but it was fun and different.

It's good to branch out.

Thriftshare Monday...Art and Soul style....

To go along with my usual participation in

Thrifshare Monday

at ATG

I thought I'd share some of the thrifted items

that I used in my artwork this weekend

and some of the goodies

from vendor night

These purchases were from Dimestore Chic
they are on on Etsy
I didn't provide a link because they are on vacay right now...
I'll definitely be doing a feature on them as soon as they are back...

Cheery vintage fabric swatches and two hand towels...

Eight of these vintage Christmas Goodies boxes..

Vintage match tins and candy tin
I'll definitely use the candy tin as the house for a tiny vignette..

All Vintage
diaper pins - to use in jewelry
 ballerina cake decorations (I actually got 8)
weighted handmade clown
sweet little bisque dollie
all will be used in future projects
Come back for a glimpse of the Dollie in her new home
I'll feature her in the Niche' I made with Sally Jean Alexander
in another post....

Jewels, Jewels Jewels!
all vintage

All kinds of vintage plastic western kids toys
with a bag of fencing

Loooove this tin basket!

Two tin cigar boxes and some paper ephemera
from Rusty,Dusty,Old and Crusty

This sweet doll
and the shop owner throws in a handful of old rusty nails
if you want them for projects...

I HAD to buy this paper doll set
her name written on the back was PAM!
She has quite the wardrobe...

When I purchased the paper doll
all I saw was what was on top
The added bonus was that underneath was this Orphan Annie set
Whoever owned these took very good care of them
they are definitely vintage
I can't wait to use them in a collage project!
In total I think I spent right around or less then $40 dollars
the quality of everything was so great it was worth spending a tad
more on a few of the items
Lastly
Here is what I can create out of your old National Geographic magazines

This is using a special technique to change the existing image

with a solvent

it liquefies the inks and creates beautiful designs

then you let your imagination run wild

I think this one is was channeling a bit of Klimt?

The photo doesn't show all of the iridescence in some of the areas of paint

I'll show more of my work and the whole process in a future post

SO,

How do you think I scored?

Happy Monday!

Don't forget to check out the other finds at ApronThriftGirl

(link at top)