more random photos!

it's hard work, being cute! Prescott relaxes on the couch after dinner. It's hard to believe, but he'll be 6 months old next week, already. Where does the time go?

I've been spending time at one of the local thrift stores, Savers, lately, and managed to find some new additions to my spring/summer wardrobe... I got four tee-shirts, two sleeveless shirts, a short-sleeved silk sweater, a pair of sandals and a scarf, all for about $20. The most expensive item was only $4.99, and most of the items were on sale for half off, including the silk sweater, which I snagged for only $2.00! It was a fun couple hours, and I definitely plan on doing it again.

I should be asleep right now, but I just had to show you...

my estate sale haul from this weekend! I'll be taking pics and scanning more things individually, but I couldn't wait to share the overview pics. And this was totally by accident, too! A friend and I had gone to a craft show in Scottsdale which was a disappointment (too much stuff that was too similar, and it had quite a large number of items that were not handmade and/or commercial). On the way back across Shea Blvd, we saw an "estate sale" sign, I made a U-turn, and we spent the next couple hours happily immersed in boxes and piles of stuff, a la the "American Pickers" guys!! this pic is Saturday's haul-- I didn't want to get too many things, so I tried to limit myself by thinking, "what would I do with this?" before I picked something up. Sherry, on the other hand, picks things up and sorts thru that question after she gets them home. Thus, I did miss out on some things, because we do like some of the same sorts of things. But, I still got some cute stuff!! vintage greeting cards (from their trash pile; more to come about that later), little chotchke items, a couple vintage glass canning jars, and a tiered chrome serving tray from the 50s-60s. After we got back to Sherry's house, I said, "gee, I wish I had gotten that small muffin tin... maybe I'll go back tomorrow" (meaning today.) Sherry was game, so we did.

The small muffin tin is in here, I swear!! along with lots of other yummy stuff... LOL!! We did some more rummaging thru their garbage/castoff pile, and even got to go thru desk drawers of paper items that were still inside the house. (I think they appreciated the fact that we came back again!) We told the woman running the sale that we liked paper items, so she let us look thru them even before she sorted thru them. Which is good, because some of the things she probably would have thrown away, but since both of us are artists with a high regard for paper ephemera, we rescued most of them.

The contents of this packing box is mostly photographs, with some other paper items and vintage greeting cards added in for good measure. I've started sorting through them with the help of a magnifying glass, and I can't wait to get some of them on the scanner. The sale was the estate of a 90-year old woman who recently passed away by the name of Aurelia Booker (isn't that a great name--- Aurelia!). It's kind of tragic, in a way, and now I'm wishing we had taken all the photos and paper ephemera, since there aren't any family members close who would want them. We have managed to piece together some of her life already-- her son Charles died during WWII, and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. We even found some of their correspondence to each other when he was in the military.

This is a close-up of the tiny chotchke pile from yesterday. I'll show more closeups of the individual items, but I wanted to whet your appetite! (and mine-- it's like Christmas, almost, sorting through these things!)

This is the tiered serving tray-- no marks on it, so I don't have any idea of the maker, but I do think I scored, since I only paid $2.50 for it! I'm thinking late 50s, early 60s, by the looks of it?? I'm going to use it as a display piece for the craft shows I have coming up... (oh, I didn't tell you about those, did I?? I will in a couple days.)

(This is the canning jar I told you about on the phone, Mom.) Presto is the company, and it has a two-part glass and aluminum lid. This was another of the things that we dug out of the junk pile behind the house... I think the lid was on a different jar originally, so I am sure happy I managed to grab both of them! I didn't even realize that until I got them home-- talk about lucky! If this is the half-pint size (I'm no good with those measurements- whaddya think, Mom??) then it could be worth about $15, from the quick internet searches I did.

This is one of the greeting cards I found in today's searching. She is just darling!! It was never used, the colors are not faded at ALL, and it's even die-cut on the upper edge. Early or mid-1950s, I'm guessing, by the style??

Here's the inside, where you can see that the cuteness continues!! This gives you a better look at the die-cut edge around the little girl's head, and isn't that little winking dog just great?!? He would certainly cheer me up when I wasn't feeling well, that's for sure! I think I'll sell most of these things in my Etsy shop, or use them as art supplies, but I'm not sure I can part with all of them... maybe after I live with them for a while. But I will show you more pics (after the camera batteries charge up), that's for sure!!

Christmas crafting!

so, I didn't think quick enough to take any photos of my Christmas cards (it's always a scramble to get them done and in the mail!), but there was some additional Christmas crafting going on... wanna see?? This sequined and beaded beauty (pic above) was a great score at the thrift store... it was the entire kit, never opened, from LeeWards, and it was actually pretty fun to make! Okay, so my thumb hurt by the time I was done from pushing the pins into the foam ball, but it turned out great in the end. This was actually one of my presents to Tom-- we try to add to our ornament collection every year, and he has some similar ornaments from his Grandma in his collection, so I was really happy to find this kit. (I know there are companies that still make these kits, so I may make some of these for next Christmas, too.)

These two photos (above and below) are from another of Tom's presents, which is still not quite done, but almost. It started with a clear glass plate (again, from the thrift store) and some of his collected cigar bands... I saw an article about these kinds of things in a Mary Engelbreit magazine, and thought it would be really fun to make a keepsake out of the cigar bands-- he's collected them ever since we've known each other (because I asked him to, for crafting purposes!), and has quite a few saved up. This plate also was a lot of fun to see the design come together-- the artwork on (better quality) cigar bands is incredibly detailed, in terms of color and design. It only needs a backing of paper on the backside to cover up the wrong side of the bands, and then it will be ready to hang up in his office.

a detail photo, just to show the color and design of the bands... click on the photo to see it larger.

And, finally, a couple ATCs... I rearranged the furniture in my crafting space (!! It was a lot of work, but I just had the itch... I think I did this growing up, too-- I remember rearranging the furniture in my bedroom quite a few times.) It still needs to be cleaned (as usual, of course!) but in picking up the desk, I collected some interesting scraps and put them together to make a couple trading cards. I added them to some premade backgrounds I had stored in my stash. The one above is collaged from a die-cut piece of scrapbooking paper, more scrapbooking paper, glitter, and some random words I cut from a vintage gardening book.

This one started out with another premade background of watercolor paint, a napkin, and some handmade paper... I added a tiny vintage photo print, a German scrap frame, and more vintage words. Now if I just do some more organizing, I might find some more neat stuff, and get some more crafting done!

thrift store score!! (lots of photos...)

Yesterday, I headed to Casa Grande (a larger town about 20 miles away) to pick up Mexican for dinner. Of course, I couldn't just go to the restaurant and come back; I spent some time treasure hunting at the local Savers. You never know what you'll find in thrift stores; most of it is junk, in my opinion, but sometimes you can find a gem hidden in the "stuff" jumbled on the shelves. Most of my time was spent perusing the children's books and the Christmas decorations; I saw some vintage Christmas decorations that I thought long and hard about then left behind, but I just couldn't leave this stack of books in the store... they had to come home with me!! I do have a small collection of children's books but since I don't have much room on my shelves, these will be going up for sale in my Etsy store over the course of the next couple days. All of these are either Wonder Books or Rand McNally Elf books except the one in the back, which is a California state music textbook. The little ones are Rand McNally Junior Elf books. That book size really brought back some memories- I remember reading books like this in first grade, I think it was. These all have copyright dates in the 1950s, with some being reprinted in the early 1960s, by the look of the illustrations. (my Roman numeral knowledge really got a workout!)

The artwork in these is just wonderful, right down to the end papers! The top pic shows the end papers from "The Giant's Shoe" and the bottom pic is the end papers from "No-Good the Dancing Donkey."

Here's a shot inside "Mother Goose," a Rand McNally Tip-Top Elf book, which is a little larger than the Junior Elf books. (copyright date 1958; the illustrations have that late 50s/early 60s look to them.)

This sweet illustration is from a Junior Elf book titled "A Moth is Born." It shows the life cycle of a cecropia moth all the way from egg thru cocoon and moth. Copyright 1957, these illustrations remind me of the old paperback type of nature identification books.

This pic is the end papers from the book "Three Little Ducks." The end papers don't really have anything to do with the story, but I love the little squirrel, puppy and kitten! Copyright 1955, this book follows Ducky Diddle, Ducky Doodle, and Ducky Daddle (don't you just love the names??) as they wander off and have adventures while they are supposed to be taking a nap.

This is from Heny Penny, which is one of my favorites stories from growing up... I love the little kerchief on her head! Somehow the colors from vintage books have more "warmth" to them than new books... not sure what it is, maybe the age of the paper mellows the colors?

This cute illustration is from "December is for Christmas," copyright 1961. Jeremy the rabbit learns he can read, and reads a 2nd grader's story about Christmas to his family, which inspires them to decorate a tree and celebrate Christmas with all the animals in the forest.

Here, Alice meets the Caterpillar on her adventures in Wonderland, from a 1951 edition Wonder Book. This one doesn't even look like anyone ever read it- the colors are really vibrant, and the pages are all in great condition.

This pic is from "I Love the City" which is a California textbook that has small poems and short music songs in it. I love the washed-out, soft colored watercolor illustrations! There were actually three copies of this book, and I don't think any of them had ever been used, either. Thanks for enjoying my thrifted books with me!! I always wonder how things end up in the thrift store, and what chain of events brought them there, especially items like these. There were quite a few more I might have bought-- I felt sort of sorry for them, being jumbled in such disarray on the thrift store shelves in amongst countless wrinkly, torn, and dirty paperback books. I hope I can find them good homes!!