A teeny bit of Christmas decorating.....

A new-to-me vintage 3-D advent calendar....you know, the beautiful old ones that were made in Germany? These are the type I grew up with and I've decided to start collecting a few of them. This year it will be all vintage for me! (Well, mostly vintage!)

I purchased the gorgeous doily keeper from a wonderful Etsy seller....there's a smaller one that is identical . The old fabric with the blue flowers and birds is just incredible....love them both! This vignette is in a corner of my dining room.

Pretty gold glittery bird holding a very old gospel card....he greets you as you come through the front door.

I've been so lucky to find some amazing old Polish ornaments (mostly at Vintage Industry) and they look so pretty all together in a bowl.....love all the pinks and the wee bit of glitter that is still barely hanging on......:).

Another advent calendar from Germany....adore this one with the trees that 'stand out' in the front.

More fun Polish ornaments. They're like miniature works of art to me!
How is your Christmas decorating going? Have you started yet?

(Please excuse my less than stellar photos, it's a VERY dark and rainy morning here in Oregon and I took these with my iPhone!)

What's on your work table right now?

I've been creating, how 'bout you?
A wintery angel house.....

Tart tin ornaments (with angels of course).
Crocheted ornaments (with angels of course).
Seeing a pattern yet?

Went shopping at the Vintage Industry yesterday and came home with some wonderful goodies, including the box of shiny brites above....I mixed and matched them with some of my own personal favorites and will set these two boxes out as part of my vintage Christmas decor this year....

I love creating at this time of year....it does the soul good!
I hope you find a bit of time just for yourself to make something that makes your heart sing.
All of the above creations are currently in my Etsy shop awaiting their new homes...!

Braggin' on my sister......she has a natural vintage shabby eye for the best.....

My sister came out yesterday to help 'foof' the booth with some of her new finds, a lot of wonderful Christmas!! She brought some awesome quilts, baby clothes and shoes, books, vintage Shiny Brites, Victorian celluloid albums and boxes, etc. Really great stuff! I'm so proud of her and amazed at how quickly she's caught on to "picking" the best!

We were able to score the MOST wonderful old chippy cabinet at another nearby mall at a great price that just barely fit into our space....whew! It's the extra bit that we needed as far as display space goes....it's in the pic above with the baby clothes hanging on it....you can see it, right? LOL! Well, we did get carried away with adding things but hey, we all know the old retail saying "Stack 'em high and let 'em fly"! That's our motto these days.
Our booth is stuffed.

There's lots of variety and it's such a kick to be in there while people are shopping your booth and they don't know that you're listening.....:).

I'm continuing to work very hard on my Etsy shop as well and since we just got back from the flea I'll be adding some wonderful treasures to that shop very soon....stay tuned!

Selling what you wish you.....hadn't.......!

Let's face it, if you've been in the business of buying and selling antiques for enough years you'll eventually run into this situation.

Selling an item that-after the fact-you wish you hadn't.
It's just a given that this will happen at some point.
Case in point for me is this fabulous antique butterfly sewing basket from the victorian era. Why I let this one go I'll never know......the fact remains that I did. Probably won't find another one of these beauties....lesson learned.

Lucky for me I was shopping and found a lovely "replacement" in this heart shaped beauty............!!!!!!

It had the perfect amount of shabby...actually quite a bit of "shabby".

Of course I've added many of my own items even though this came with a lot of it's own items....my favorite are the pretty reddish buttons on the card above in the upper left..so pretty!

So yes, this one is a keeper for me.

My latest conundrum.....to keep or not to keep, that is the question.

I daresay that one of the hardest decisions for any collector is whether to keep or to sell...I run into this problem frequently.

I found this wonderful rustic box at my thrift and knew it could be spectacular and I adore it's size...not too big, not too small. I also love the chains on the side of the lid that help keep it open for display.....absolutely perfect. Also the leather corners and handle. Perfection!

Do you like my linen stash I found today? I was in heaven with these gorgeous pieces....again, keep or sell? Sigh, it's so hard to know.

Do you notice the wonderful little 'cubby' areas behind the big center area? So very perfect for storing so many things.

Found this astounding wallpaper on Etsy, wish I had 50 rolls of it! Hmmmm, wonder how many times I've said that in my life.

Well, happily at the moment we don't have room in our booth to display this awesome piece so I guess I'll have to live with it for awhile......such a sacrifice. Although I guess I could sell it on Etsy. What to do, what to do.

I painted the outside with a chalky blue paint and then distressed it......trust me it's better off than it was.....!
For now I love this great little trunk/box and will fill it with some of my favorite things.

Our photo wall is up thanks to my dh!!!!!!!

Went to the booth today with my dh and dd. He helped me fix my wall for prints and frames.....what a sweetie! The booth is set up, we're selling well every day so far.....and looking for a bigger space!
Fingers crossed that it will happen soon!
Did I forget to mention that we have a lot of stuff to sell?

We're open for business~~~~!!!!!

A small sneaky peek into our new tiny space! This is the space on the right that we'll use for mostly holidays and some other items.

The center (and largest area) which will be for all miscellaneous and wonderful things.....

The doll dresser sold today (yay!). Had it in my Etsy for quite some time but surprisingly it didn't sell. Three days in the booth and it found a new home. Happy, happy!

This blank wall gave me grief today...I couldn't drive a nail in that wall as hard as I tried....wanted to make it our "print" wall.
Hopefully dh can help me out and make that work.
You can see our limitations.....a rest room on one side and an office room on another. Oh well, so far we've had three decent sales in as many days so that's a good sign.....right?
What matters is we're having fun. I think with the holidays coming up we'll have a blast finding fun items for the booth and with me making some fun things (from my lips to God's ears!)

And I have totally left out my photos of our "ledge" space above that has some fun suitcases, umbrellas, and other fun things.

Please excuse my less than stellar photos, I took these with my phone today because I forgot my camera.

Please come visit us at The Vintage Industry!
Kathy Colby has done wonders transforming it.
I'm looking forward to 'vegging' tonight and reading my Fall edition of Jeanne D' Arc Living....purchased at The Vintage Industry! So cool to find this gorgeous magazine locally.

Hope you're all enjoying a wonderful Fall season so far!!

~~~~~~~~~~~The Vintage Industry Mall~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, it's happening and I'm so excited! My tiny space at The Vintage Industry should be open in the next few weeks.

This Mall has undergone a wonderful transformation in the last couple of months. It looks so fresh and full, I can't wait to get started! When I have my space set up I'll be sure to let you all know so you can find me in my little corner~~~happy, happy!

A huge birthday and some exciting news........!!

Our baby turned 14 on Saturday.....huh? So hard to believe...seems like just the other day we were filled with excitement driving up to Portland to pick up our angel.
You see, we adopted her at birth and it was just the very best day of our lives!
We spent her 14th (sigh) birthday up at Mt. St. Helens and the day was sunny and perfect. She's a happy and blessed girl and so are we....after all we have each other....:).
The exciting news is that I'm considering opening a booth in a local antique mall that is now being run by someone special. Many Portland gals will recognize the name of Colby Cottage.
That's right, Kathy Colby now is in charge of a mall named Vintage Industry and it's fabulous!!! I think I may need to jump in there and get my feet wet, and my sister is encouraging me and if all goes well she'll be my partner in crime! Look out!
Stay tuned, hopefully I'll have an update soon, my sis is visiting tomorrow and we'll be paying a visit to the mall....fingers crossed!

A flying road trip.......

So last Wednesday I got a call that I hope to never get again. My sis called me and said that my Dad had taken a very bad fall and was in the hospital. He had lost his balance while on a walk alone. A neighbor rushed him to the emergency room and checked him in. He's 83 years old and up until now has been very healthy....walks a LOT! My sis and I flew to Arizona right away (last Thursday) to help my brother who lives near him. He's doing great now, we were with him for an entire week and able to cook, clean, and generally see that he's back on the right path and feeling better (and thank God he is). While Dad was in the hospital we got some shopping in (of course we did!) The shops in his town were amazing and we only scratched the surface. After all, what would expect from a shop called "Snap-Snap"....awesomeness! We didn't even make it into any thrift shops and there were a lot....we kept going back to the antique stores because they rocked. Lots of pretty books.....what else, right?

This book on Scottish clans and tartans is amazing, there are even some little fabric samples in it.

A gorgeous hooked pillow that says "Rock of Ages" with a cross and some flowers. Some great vintage shoes from "Snap-Snap".

A vintage RED celluloid neckties box with a green silk interior that looks new, two gorgeous floral books.

I was happier than happy to scoop up all of these vintage velvet trims and ribbons.....perfect for Halloween crafting, right?

I love old labels, especially when they look like this! How pretty would these look in a bowl with some pinecones in the Fall?

A pretty, pretty wastebasket.

A wicker covered bottle.....love!

Two fantastic old hat boxes (I'll be keeping these). They make for great storage in my studio while looking pretty. One was $5, one was $7. And my sis got one also! We were happy!

This silver casket with pink silk lining won my heart....there's a name engraved on the top of it.

We weren't sure at all how we would get all of our goodies back home......! Our dad's friend gave us her very large and brand new rolling suitcase that she bought for her trip back to Sweden...so sweet of her! We packed it to the gills and checked it through (we had to take 3 different planes both going and coming back) and were just barely able to fill it completely with both of our many finds.
Even though this was NOT a pleasure trip, because our dad did so well and was discharged on Sunday it all worked out just fine.
We all spent some quality time together, and most importantly he's on the mend.
Make sure you check my etsy shop....many of these finds will be listed as soon as I'm rested!!!!! It's not fun getting up at 3 a.m. to catch a plane......we're a bit on the tired side.....:).

As we get ready for our annual beach trip............

This is on my mind lately.......Balance. The importance of priorities and how they affect us and our everyday moods.
I find that this summer has been challenging in many ways. I have an online business that I love to nurture, but to do so every day can take away from my family (I know you can relate!)
So I'm in the process of forgiving myself for those things that I haven't focused on that I should be. It's crucial to do this! After all, none of us is perfect.
We leave for our annual beach vacation later today....it's much needed in many ways. I'm taking some great reads, a big puzzle, and not much else.
After all, vacation is a time to unwind, right?
I do hope to hear from you all as to your best ways to unwind and relax.....it seems to get harder and harder to do.
Please remember to take some time for yourself!!!
(image found here....www.someonelikeme.ca)

Where Bloggers Create....my creative happy place, warts and all~~~~

I so appreciate your peeking into my creative space...you'll notice I did NOT clean it up because....well, ain't no one got time for that! And it's not because I don't love ya, it's just that I REALLY don't have the time to straighten it up at the moment and I REALLY wanted to participate...so please forgive my jumble, k?
This year there are a couple of changes, pieces have been sold and moved onto new happy homes, I've added some treasured dolls, etc.
Without further ado....some pics.

HomeGoods chicken wire cubbies....love them!

My huge wallpapered cabinet panel finally got hung up, whew!

Pretty new doll, found the umbrella in a separate store but think they belong together.....after all it does rain quite a bit in Oregon!

I took the doors off several of my upper cabinets for display and so I could easily find what I need.

My favorite dress form, an ebay find. The angel wings were found at St. Vinnies.........

A bookmark I made.

Another HomeGoods find. They usually have fabulous storage bins.

This was a very happy find for my studio this year, a huge floral carpet....in case you didn't notice florals are my 'thing'. I love to surround myself with them! They make me happy, and unlike my garden I can't kill these flowers.
I adore my space, which is what it's all about, that and the inspiration that a space can give. I've loved seeing all of your gorgeous spaces so thank you for joining in and thank you to Karen of MyDesertCottage for hosting once again!