A New Mascot for my studio......

Our eyes met across the crowded aisle, and she seemed to be beckoning me....I ignored her for as long as I could, but seeing as how she was pretty much the first thing that you saw when you walked into this particular antique mall...well, I couldn't get her out of my mind. She "spoke" to me like no stuffed toy ever has before, and I will covet her forever.

Her name, appropriately, is Swani and she's a vintage Gund.

I'm telling you, they just don't make things the way they used to folks! The attention to detail on this swan is amazing to me, not to mention the colors! Muted and wonderful, except for her beak and feet which are a vivid orange...

Her close up! Trust me, she looks so much happier in my studio than she was in the shop....her tag said "needs a new home".
It was serendipity.....

It seems to be a creative time for me.....

So my newest Halloween puppets (from Rhonda's Originals on Etsy) are so fun to make. She provides the patterns, and I get to embellish to my hearts content! Above you see Bronwyn, an elegant witch.......

And this is Hermione, another elegant witch! (both in my etsy tonight!)

An an awesome find today, an ancient business book (soon to be in my etsy).

And a gorgeous French/English dictionary (soon to be in my etsy)

And some fabulous vintage Dennison parcel post adhesive stickers (soon to be in my etsy)....thanks for looking!
More fabulous finds coming soon! I've been lucky lately....!

New in my Etsy!!!!!

Yesterday I got away by myself for awhile and followed some estate sale signs.....found the most fun swim cap ever! It makes me smile every time I look at it.....:)

I found this old file box while thrifting and decided to make it prettier...for recipes and such.....

Awesome antique book, found at the same estate sale as the swim cap.........as was the amazing quilt below.

Isn't this a pretty quilt? I've always loved this pattern, and this one has the pretty jadeite green borders....all this and more listed in my Etsy today! Hope you're all having a relaxing Sunday....I also had time to make a fresh blueberry pie with my dd today....we'll be eating well tonight!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program.......

Just a really short entry today.....to talk about a passion of mine.
TOMATOES!
I adore tomato based dishes, of all kinds!
One of my passions is to preserve tomatoes so that I can enjoy them in the dead of winter. I love making pasta sauce or any Italian dishes more than anything.....
So I googled how to preserve fresh tomatoes (short of canning them) because I don't have the desire to use a pressure cooker, etc.

So I came across a site that said to merely toss some of your tomatoes (preferably Roma's if you want to make a thick sauce) into some boiling water for at least 45 seconds, then put them in ice water to peel the skins off......then squeeze out the seeds and put them in a ziploc bag (make sure you squeeze all air out of it).
Then, come November, when your dying for some fresh made spaghetti sauce, there you go. Take your bags out of the freezer and make your sauce.

I'm all over it, can't wait. Sounds so much better than canned tomatoes....don't you think?

New in my Etsy....back to school time....being sick in the Summertime

Well hello! It's been awhile, no? I've been busy trying to figure out Etsy's new "search"....never a dull moment on Etsy! I've also been busy creating my favorites....journals. Mine are all one-of-a-kind because, quite frankly, the skies the limit when it comes to designing journals. And since I really don't like to repeat my designs, they're a perfect fit for me...:). The journal above is a "Dreams" journal, meant to sit beside your bed (or wherever you do most of your dreaming!) It has mostly a French theme with lots of crochet lace and pretty fabrics added in, not to mention wallpaper.

And this is my "think happy thoughts" journal. These both come with their own bookmark so you can mark your place...I'll be listing them both this afternoon in my shop.

We've also been doing a lot of back to school shopping for clothes and supplies...usually my dh takes our dd out for her school supplies but this year I tagged along (more fun than you can imagine!). We're very lucky because she adores school and can't wait to start back (I was the same way).
Isn't it amazing how much variety there is nowadays with school supplies? I'm astounded at all the choices with binders, notebooks, even the scissors have decorated handles!
I've also been working on a special project for a wonderful customer who is getting married in September and I was flattered that she wanted me to make a personalized notebook for her wedding....I'll be starting on that probably tomorrow.

I've also been sick, courtesy of my dh (he loves to share...:)
It just never feels right being sick when the weather is beautiful outside, does it? I'm hoping I kick it to the curb right away because he was sick (and is still coughing) for more than 2 weeks now! Wish me luck friends, hope you're all well!

Beach finds.......Part Two

Continuing on with my vacation/birthday beach finds, most courtesy of my fabulous MIL, MaryEllen. She gifts me with a gift certificate every year to Yankee Trader and it's just so much fun!
Chris owns Yankee Trader and it's a fantastic and huge antique store....needless to say I don't have any problems......ever....finding enough to buy in this beautiful store. Check out these gorgeous platters....did I need more? Of course not! Could I resist these?
Of course not! (double click to look close up).

Beautiful!

Velvet hangers, couldn't resist.

Pretty old deck of cards....

This item is hard to explain...I'd never seen anything like it. At first I passed it over just thinking what a cool box with pretty graphics, etc. On second glance, after opening the box....oh my word!

A gorgeous booklet.....

Measuring items and charts....

A gorgeous soft doll that looks ancient and so beautiful

Two amazing old books, the blue one is Joan of Arc, the other has the most amazing drawings inside!
I didn't do a whole lot of shopping this trip, but when I did I was very fortunate.....this trip was more about spending family time at the beach and sight-seeing, which we did a lot of also....
when we were in Astoria for the second time this trip we happened to be there when a Coast Guard ship was returning home after 6 months on the coast of South America doing some drug containment work....it was so cool to be there to see them re-uniting with their families.
What great work they do for our country!

Beach finds.......Part One....)

So we're back from a week at the Oregon coast, which is always much anticipated, and we really needed it this year. My dh got a wicked eye infection just before we left so I got to drive...and what normally takes about 3 hours took us 4 1/2 because of two accidents we passed on the way....:(.
The photo above is the stunning Vintage Hardware store in Astoria, which is in the historic and awesome Astor Hotel (I should say former Astor Hotel, now it's a decadent crumbling beauty!) As I was oohing and aahing my way through the store I happened to look down and see an incredible vintage trunk drawer sitting on the ground with a few items in it.....I was praying that it wasn't there as someone's "stash" and took it up to the counter.
The nice lady said they had just gotten it in from an estate sale and, "How about $15"? Ummm, "How about, o.k."! 

Inside it were these two boxes, one an old candy box with amazing graphics, and the other is an old men's stockings box. I love how someone took the time to actually stitch the edges of part of this box together!

Another photo of the trunk drawer, isn't she pretty? I love how the outside is faded and the inside is still bright with the most beautiful roses, here I show it with some laces I bought in another store, a huge bag of crochet lace for $6. I washed them all and let them dry in the sea air (which I miss already)!

Ooops, can you tell I'm a bit obsessed with this? They also had another one just like this one that they had attached to their wall as a shelf, I'd love to do this if I can find just the right spot.

The first thing I found (and quickly grabbed because it was only $5, was this all leather binocular case with awesome velvet lining inside. I love how someone did a make-do with an old garter to keep it closed.....works perfectly. I plan to do a neat project with this case.......

This old print was purchased in another store, it's an old Seaside beauty contest....this will probably go in my dd's bathroom since she has a Seaside and vintage theme in there already.

Another amazing find in the Seaside antique mall, this vintage roll of wallpaper.......for $5! Couldn't grab it fast enough.....

Anyway, it is good to be home even though we did have a great time (and even though my poor dh developed a horrendous cold shortly after we got there). I felt so bad for him but he tried to rally most days and rest on some others.....all in all it was a great time and I'll be back later in the week to share more finds with you.

So today was one of my lucky days........

Last night was a hard one sleeping wise, you know the kind. You wake up around 4 a.m. with a headache and can't get back to sleep.....lets' toss, let's turn, let's really hurt our back in the process! Yep, that was early today....then the mail came.....:).

Then I was all smiles because I won Hope's fantastic giveaway with wonderful goodies added by Michelle....brace yourselves!

I don't think I've ever seen more wonderful business cards...front and back are so artistically thought out...hmmmm, I need a new business card...who to ask for help.....?

Please excuse this photo, I mucked it up completely....doesn't do these pretties justice!

I was thrilled that Hope wrote on this bundle that these were some of her favorite old papers to create with...good enough for Hope?
Yep, good enough for me! They're gorgeous, thank you Hope...

The coveted "little bits" bundle from Michelle's shop,
that's right, you can go get your own right now....all wrapped up in a beautiful Moleskine pocket organizer...what a wonder.

A glimpse inside, I was so excited at this point!

Thoughtful.....how nice is this? My name in old game pieces and tiny envelopes....sigh.....

Tons of beautiful cut-outs of pretty papers and wallpapers, old labels....

More pretties to create with....

Look at all this ticket wonder!

Hello, my name is Happy!

Wrapping up, I just love all of it and it has truly inspired me to pull out my old journal and incorporate lots of these bits and pieces into it.....and since we leave for vacation on Sunday for the beach my journal is definitely coming with me, along with all this wonder.....can't wait to show you what I do with it all!
(Now if I can just find those pens that Hope loves.....)
Thank you so very much to Hope and Michelle for such a great giveaway!

The office nerd strikes again....no office supply is safe from her!!

So my Goodwill was good to me today....I found yet another of these old office file boxes, an entire bag of old Boston clips which I adore and have been dying to acquire more of.

There are all kinds of sizes and even some really old ones in this bag...I love finding these clips, especially in bulk!

And then I turned around and saw these beauties! I may have gasped, I'm not sure....

And right next to the chippy wonderful doorknobs was an awesome galvanized two tier basket, and not one of the new ones..this one has some age on it and is going straight into my studio to hold either millinery or ribbons, heck, maybe both!
I did hit several other thrift stores today but came out empty handed so I'm glad I went to GW first and found some goods I can use...hope you're all having some luck out there with your thrifting!