A Good Weekend At Estate Sales

Had a great weekend at estate/tag sales.  I purchased a nice mix of collectibles, impulse treasure, and even got a few things to add to my vintage kitchen.  First, the Pyrex:

"Daisy" Mixing Bowl

I love this one!! 

Square baking dish and "Golden Poinsettia" Casserole dish
WITH LID!

I was very excited to add to my collection.  I also picked up these ADORABLE "snack" plates with built in rest for a tea cup and what I *think* is a thumb rest for someone to hold the plate on their lap.  Cookies and tea? Coffee and cake? I'm crazy about the atomic-esque pattern on them!

The lady at the estate sale said these were from the 40's
and were made in Japan.

My favorite thing however was this AMAZING psychedelic case for your 45 records - and it was FULL of awesome hit songs from the late 60's - early 70's.

Don't stare too hard, you might break out
into bell-bottoms! Far out!

Then today, Randy and I found this great Columbia Compact Stereophonic record player at an estate sale, a little dusty but in perfect working condition (needs some velvet or thin foam on the turntable) - and we had a crazy listening party with all of the great 45's in my snazzy case.

Some of the great songs?  The are ALL in excellent condition, too - all of them had jackets.  I don't remember EVER keeping the jackets of my 45's.  Maybe it's because I never had a great case like this for mine, I had a shoe box.

My other favorite stuff:

Fabulous Fondue pot...in RED one of my
kitchen accent colors.  Bring chocolate, stat!

Glass pearls and crystals and other weird stuff I can use
in my decoupage

Wood rooster canisters 

Swizzle Stick-o-Mania!

Lots of great vintage swizzle sticks from places
that don't exist anymore...love them!

Randy also picked up some dumbbells for the home gym and we picked up a little end table for $5.

I had BIG PLANS for some jewelry making tonight but I am now more inclined to read a book and lay around and maybe even go to bed early,

Coffee Cup

One of my favorite people owns one of my favorite places: Molten Java, a local coffee shop in Bethel, CT. If you are anywhere in the area, I highly recommend dropping by for a great cup of delicious coffee or a yummy snack, or to see some local live music.  Wendy was an art major in college and it shows - the shop is decorated with all kinds of local art.  Her painted guitar collection over the bookshelves actually inspired me to take my love of scrapbooking/collage and move it to a new medium.

A bunch of Wendy's friends all painted these guitars.

And hey, even if you aren't local but want to try
some amazing fair trade coffee, fresh beans roasted right in house and mailed to you, go to
Molten Java, you won't be disappointed!

Wendy sent an email out to a bunch of her artist friends saying she wanted to do an installation around the theme "Coffee Cup" to hang on one of the bigger walls in the shop.  She didn't care what we did as long as it was coffee cup related, so I decided to do a guitar with that theme.

I was given a Stella 3/4 guitar that once belonged
to my Aunt back in the 60's.  After determining it had no real value as an antique or vintage item beyond the fact that it belonged to my dear Aunt, I laid a base of several coats of "Summer Peach" acrylic paint and then went to town with photos.

I have to hit up some old magazines I have lying around that I've brought home from flea markets for additional images. 

I am also torn between using a pom-pom trim or trying something a little different and more ornamental.  Like swinging rows of paillettes.

What is also still a mystery to me is what color I'm going to go with, if I'm going to go for big punchy contrast or if I'm going to stick to something a little more monochromatic with the peach and pale orange.

I'm also not sticking with the glittery plaid paper in the sound hole, it isn't laying flat like I'd like it to and I think I want to find something a little more subtle.

This will come to me.  I am already leaning toward hot pink since I'm so turned on by the hot pink + orange combo I saw in a layout in Fresh Home Magazine - they did different color schemes inspired by countries, and my favorites were India and Brazil.  India's colors were all hammered silver, hot pink, orange and yellow.  Brazil was pale green, bamboo and fuchsia.  Love these color combos!

Not just for the guitars, but for beads.  I don't have much of a bead budget this month since I'll be going to Las Vegas to see my best friend in two weeks.  I want to bring a wad of cash out there -- and I don't drink OR gamble, I want to hit the FLEA MARKET! The possibility of the kitsch to be had out there is TANTALIZING.  It's worth laying off on beads for a few weeks just in case I score some amazing stuff.

A Crafter's Worst Nightmare (but not as bad as it could have been)

Last night I was roasting some potatoes at 400 degrees.  I opened the oven to add a pan of fish to bake during the last 15 minutes of the timer, when a ball of steam heat came out and burned my right hand.  I didn't jerk my hand back from the heat fast enough because I was afraid of dropping a whole pan of deliciously marinated pollock, so it was pretty bad.

Not As Bad As It Looked Last Night

As I was running cold water over my whole hand, trying not to cry from the pain, I began to freak out a little.  I really really need my right hand.  I play guitar, I play piano, I type all day at work, I make jewelry, I scrapbook (sometimes), and I decoupage guitars and other strange things.  As it was throbbing and swelling, I was unable to bend my fingers and all I could think about was how I just received a bunch of great pendant blanks and I wouldn't be able to work on them.

Randy is the bomb, though - he kept a cool head while I devolved into drama queen territory.  He ran to CVS and hooked me up with gauze and burn cream and ice packs and dressed my hand like a combat medic.  Thanks to him, my blisters are minimal and as of this morning, I can bend my fingers.  DISASTER AVERTED.

This just brought home to me how important it is to me to be able to have a creative outlet, and I realized too that it isn't exactly the finished product that does it for me.  Sure, I might have a glimmer of accomplishment, but for me, the true joy is in the process.  The actual "making" of whatever it is I am making.  I am known to lose myself up in my studio for hours and not notice how late it's getting.  I have to tell people to come get me if I'm not downstairs by a certain time or else I could easily be up there all night.

What was driving me crazy was the thought of losing my clearest path to sanity.

I should be back up in the studio and working/playing again in a few days, and until then, I am going to take very good care of my hand.

Some Things That Inspire Me

I'm gearing up to check out two new flea markets this weekend, I love Spring because it means flea markets and tag sales. Oh, and magnolia blossoms!

I am trying to go to the fleas/tag sales with specific things in mind to cut down on on-the-spot impulse purchases that I end up not using or even loving. I can love a useless thing, but if it's useless and I don't love it, I don't need to part with the green for it.

I am looking for jewelry, of course, always. I am also looking for old magazines I can use in my decoupage, old cookbooks, vintage Christmas ornaments, anything Danbury Fair or carnival related, anything "old New York". and of course, beat up old guitars.  I also have my vintage obsessions: textiles - particularly kitchen things, Pyrex, cake stands, religious kitsch, old beauty tools, Pfaltzgraff pottery (particularly Nordic Green which was discontinued in 1971 and given to me by my grandmother - except hers didn't have the flower, so I look for the plain), and many other things which I love or hoard and use in my crafting.

I love Coney Island, and the aura of decay it has around it's bright carnival colors. I know that they're re-vamping it, which breaks my heart just a little bit. Kind of like when they cleaned up Times Square.  I guess I'm a little demented and like things just a little bit seedy.  Developers want to turn Coney Island into a year-round destination with new hotels and possibly a casino.  Big changes!

One thing I hope never changes is the amazing Mermaid Parade held every year right around the end of June. A DIY-parade full of handmade costumes and floats. (all sea-themed). One year I took my family down there to see the fun, we missed the actual parade, but saw a lot of participants on the beach. I love the colors in this woman's costume:

She was with a large group of people painted and clothed in similar ways:

And here is some of that fabulous decayed carnival color I love:

I want to incorporate some of this feeling in a piece without it looking too "tropical" - because it's the decay along with the bright colors that thrills me.

One of my favorite restaurants in the world is Milon on 2nd Avenue between 5th and 6th Street in Manhattan.

 The Bangladeshi cuisine is delicious, and because the restaurant is located right around the corner from "Indian Row" the prices are very low in order to stay competitive. Being a starving artist in NYC is easy if you eat at Milon often. Like I did. Every time I go there, they add even more insanity to the ceilings and the walls. I am only 5' 3" and I even need to duck sometimes under strings of Christmas lights and chili pepper lights and sometimes hanging beach balls. This photo doesn't do it justice. It's bright, colorful, chaotic, and it totally works. I really like the deep jewel tones of the seat covers and how they play off the burgundy walls and the reflective wallpaper. If you are in the neighborhood, I recommend the chicken tikka mussalam and get the shrimp poori as an appetizer, it's amazing.

I also have to give a shout-out to the Elephant's Trunk, my hometown's local amazing flea market. Every Sunday from 7-2 (open early at 5 for a $20 cover, but I'm too cheap and sleepy for that).

Last week I picked up some howlite and ceramic beads, a few vintage postcards, and some foreign coins for my friend's six year old son, Buster.

These pictures are from last summer, but these give a good overview of what catches my eye when I'm wandering up and down seemingly endless aisles.  I never know when I'll find treasure, and I admit it, half the thrill is the hunt!

I am so in love with this lampshade! It reminded me of pom-pom trim and how much I love it.

I added red pom-pom trim to my monkey guitar, and to my kitchen curtains.

Isn't this a delicious jumble? I love to dig in there for possible pendants or connectors or even old glass beads I can re-use.

I love the crosses and of course, Hello Kitty.

I look forward to what I might find tomorrow.

Today I'm working on cleaning up this insane house and hope to get at least an hour in the studio tonight before going out with some old friends.  I've been making lots of earrings lately.  I'm also working on finding ways of using that green-dyed howlite that I bought last weekend without it being too bulky or overload, I like it mixed with hematite.

If anybody is out this weekend in search of treasure - happy hunting! 

Four Strand Buddah Necklace

Sometimes I don't know when to stop - I fused two separate necklaces together - a pearl necklace and a choker with a cloisonne pendant, then just kept going.

Coral/Pearl/Turquoise/Silver Choker

This was a Christmas gift for my boyfriend's sister, she seemed to really like it.

Disregard the pilled bedspread in the background, HA!

Art Guitars

Work in Progress:

Here are some finished works: