Another L.A. Sunrise Estate Sale Adventure

First off I have to say that Dear Handyman is such a good sport. He was up and out of the house for today's adventure when it was still dark and our local Starbucks wasn't open yet. He's a Keeper!

We decided to drive into Los Angeles today to check out an interesting sale listed as a two-day, Saturday/Sunday sale. Shame on the estate sale company for not mentioning in their ad that they had a pre-sale for their email list clients on Friday. So we drove all the way into L.A. for a picked-over sale. Some of the things we specifically went for were already gone but we still found some great stuff.

My favorite find was this 1953 Mattel tin toy in excellent visual condition although it does not work mechanically.

Personalized Gift Tags

I gathered together two boxes of gifts and goodies, one for my friend and one for my sister's birthday. I wanted to make a personalized tag for each of them. I began by using some simple decorative techniques using Distress Inks and finished by embellishing with vintage/thrifted treasures.

Here are the two finished tags.

I began with two die cut Tags and applied Distress Inks in a random pattern.

The one on the left was embossed using the Leaves Textured Impressions by Sizzix. I then used an ink applicator and applied more Distress Ink to highlight the raised edges. Along the bottom I "gathered" Tissue Tape and a piece of thrifted lace, both were colored with Distress Stains. I attached a thrifted rhinestone earring, a shell button and an old metal button that says Hawaii. My friend is from Hawaii so it was the perfect embellishment.

The second tag is for my sister as part of her birthday present. Because birthdays are a way of measuring time I decided to use the Pocket Watch Texture Fade to enhance her tag. I used the Ornate On The Edge die to add a decorative edge along the bottom of the tag.

I embellished the tag using several objects that remind me of my sister. First, her birthday is in March so I used a piece of the Tissue Tape that has a March calendar. Next, she collects Squished Pennies so I added one from an out-of-the-way store called Charley Brown Farms in Littlerock, CA. I'm guessing that she doesn't have a squished penny from there. She is also a good calligrapher so I attached an old pen nib that I thrifted. And to balance the design and add a little bling, I added a piece of a vintage earring.

As a finishing touch and to keep with the "measuring" theme, I used a piece of an old fabric measuring tape as a ribbon. 

I'm going to go add these to their gift boxes and get them ready to post. I hope they enjoy their tags as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Defining My Collections

If you had asked me a few days ago I would have said that I collect only a couple of things. Everything else were just one-offs of what I happend to find interesting while out thrifting. But today I realized that I have more collections than I realized.

My favorite find was this 1965 world globe with atlas. Vintage world globes are one of my admitted collections and the physically largest collection. I love old world globes because you can study them to find Countries that no longer exist and determine their age. This globe was easy to date because the atlas has a publication date.

Another admitted collection are my old Christmas ornaments. I bought only two that I thought were unique plus a vintage pink Christmas corsage. I now have three old corsages and am wondering if this constitutes a "collection" now.

We also found these old new stock, Shiny Brite "stems". The green one is dated 1967 and all are labeled "Made in Japan". I am not quite sure what they were used for. They appear to have a wire stem that is folded at the bottom. If anyone knows what they are then please let me know because I've never seen anything other than glass ornaments made by Shiny Brite.

I don't know if you could say that I "collect" old buttons and wooden spools but I do gather them when I find them. I especially like old button cards which could be the start of a collection. I love the graphics on the Lady Washington Pearl Button card below.

I also tend to buy vintage cotton bandanas when I see them. I already have several with the idea that I am going to use them for a craft project. Today we found a lot more. I don't really "collect" these but I do have enough to be considered a collection.

We found this wind-up, tin Popeye speed boat. I do have a few old wind up tin toys but it isn't something that I consider a "collection".

We also found this Napco {National Potteries Co.} mallard duck planter. I do like ducks but I don't intend on starting a collection {except for this collection here}. I like Napco pieces and this happened to be a lovely piece.

I decided that I need to redefine what I consider a "Collection". I used to think that three or more of anything was a collection. But in this age of eBay where you can amass a collection all at once, I now define a collection as a group of objects that I enjoy gathering and displaying. I enjoy displaying all of my world globes and my vintage Christmas items. I do not display my bandanas so they are just pieces of fabric.

I only ponder this concept of "Collections" because I don't want to rapidly gather masses of any one thing but rather to enjoy the slow hunt of objects on my thrifting weekends. And it is because I don't want masses of any one thing that I surprised myself when I stopped to consider the number of objects that I truly do like to collect and display.

Anyone have any thoughts about their collecting addictions?

Hope everyone had a great thifting weekend.

Flea Market Observations

After yesterday's gloomy day of thrifting I was hoping to go to the local flea market today. It rained all night and was very cold {by Southern California standards} so I wasn't sure if we were going to venture out today. Dear Handyman was such a good sport and agreed that we needed to get out of the house. Yay!

I only bought two things today. One was a vintage glass juice squeezer for my brother-in-law. The other is this amazing 1965 school map of the United States. I love maps and globes but could never afford a large school map until today.

It is printed on paper which is adhered to a canvas backing. This allows for the map to fold. Each rectangle of this map is about 11" x 15" to give you an idea of how large this is. The unfolded map is about the size of a queen size bed.

I had some interesting observations at the flea market.
1.) I saw several sellers that were the same people I had met while waiting in line at local estate sales.
2.) Knowing the cost of things at estate sales and seeing what people were asking at the flea market gave me a better idea of how to price items.
3.) It would be very easy to start a new collection of something at a flea market. I considered starting a collection of vintage aquarium figurines or miniature billiard balls after seeing several at the flea market. I don't need to start another collection but it was tempting.

Although it was cold and soggy, the weekend turned out great.

Rainy, St. Patrick's Day Thrifting

They predicted rain today and they were right. I don't enjoy soggy weather. Rain also limits the number of garage sales in my area. Thrifting was slim this week.

My favorite find was this Disney Bambi ceramic figurine. I started collecting resting deer figurines because my dog tends to curl her legs in such a way that she looks like a fawn at rest.

I also found this wire and glass, shabby chic, "vase". It isn't quite the shape of a vase but I don't know what else it could be. I just liked the wire and glass shape.

Earlier I had found a set of old stencils from the 1940s. The stencils have mellowed to a nice honey color. I thought they had a nice graphic look that could be used for altered art projects.

I also found this box of spools. The colors were beautiful and I love old wooden spools.

I have some of these items listed for sale in my Stuff to Treasure store. I'm hoping that the rest of this weekend is dry and maybe we can catch a local flea market. I hope everyone had a good thrifting day.

Oh So Happy Thrifting Day!

You couldn't ask for better weather for a day of fun thrifting. We were up early to get to the sales and were rewarded with some wonderful finds.

My favorite find was this vintage, plastic, light-up Santa Claus. He is 13 1/2" tall and in great condition for his age. The best part was that he was super cheap. Oh I love hunting for treasures!

We also found this tattered box of vintage Christmas ornaments. It wasn't until I got home did I notice the writing on the front of the box. This is a box of ornaments from a baby's first Christmas from 1930. Sweet and sentimental ornaments that I will cherish.

We also found a lot of vintage kitchen goodies. I am so excited to find red or green kitchen kitsch.

A flour sifter with advertising copy.

A vintage chopper.

Several old tins. 

Dutch girl and boy salt and pepper shakers.

I don't know how old this is but I've always wanted one of these straw dispensers.

A well-worn Kraft American cheese wooden box.

The weather is great. The thrift hunting was great. Now I'm spending time appreciating life in general. Hope everyone had a great day of thrifting.

12 Tags of 2012 - Retro Flower Power Tag of March

This is the second tag challenge for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2012. I was so excited to start working on the new tag. You can see the inspiration piece on his blog here.

Tim's tag looked like it was inspired by the beginning of Spring, I decided to do a Retro Flower Power version for my tag. As always, I tried to use as many thrifted or vintage items as possible.

I first cut the tag out of cardstock using the Sizzix Tag and Bookplates die. I also cut some butterflies out of the recycled clear die packaging using the Mini Butterflies Set. The flowers are all vintage thrifted earrings with their backings cut off.

I first stamped the words using archival black ink. Next, I used Distress Inks in Peeled Paint, Dusty Concord and Stormy Sky and rubbed them on a Non-stick Craft Sheet then lightly spritzed water across all of the colors. I pulled my tag across the inks until I liked how it looked. While the inks were wet, I quickly sprinkled salt across the surface. The salt causes a resist effect with the water and when the ink dries there is a subtle but interesting texture.

Salt on the surface

After the ink dries and the salt is completely brushed away

Another example of the salt effect on the ink

You can experiment and get other effects. It tends to look better on darker inks. This is my attempt at a tie-dye effect for my retro tag.

Next I used Alcohol Inks on the clear butterflies. I always like to make my butterflies as symmetrical as possible. I applied the Alcohol Ink on one side and Silver Mixative on the opposite side so that they would not blend.

The butterfly on the right shows the alcohol ink side up. The one in the middle shows the mixative side up. The one on the left is folded for added dimension.

I began assembling the tag by adhering the Film Strip Ribbon and butterflies to the tag using Glossy Accents. I used the Film Strip ribbon as a "trellis" to visually support my flower. Next, I used a glue gun to adhere the flowers.

I used a thrifted piece of vintage Rayon seam binding for the ribbon. I laid it on the Craft Sheet and rubbed the Peeled Paint Distress Ink pad across it. Then I crunched it up and used it to wipe up any excess ink on the Craft Sheet. This created the wrinkled, distressed look on the ribbon. 

I'm having a great time playing in the Studio. 

This is linked to:

Coastal Charm, Making the World Cuter, Rook No. 17, Sew Can Do, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Tim Holtz and Twin Dragonfly Designs

A Weekend of Racing and Thrifting

This is the first driving event weekend of 2012. My son is totally excited. I was able to fit in one estate sale on the way to the track. It was another farm sale which are my favorites.

My best find was a bag of old millinery flowers. I took these photos in the car on the way to the track so they aren't lit very well. I was thrilled to find two old poppy stems among the flowers. They are the orange flowers at the top of this photo.

I don't know how old these dolls are but they were too sweet to resist. They are tiny bisque jointed dolls. The dresses are handmade and need a little repair. Their hair is silver and their arms are jointed. I believe  they are made in Japan.

This is the second time I've found only the groom figure and no matching bride. He is also bisque and marked "Made in Japan". I wonder where the matching bride went?

So another weekend of fast, noisy cars. My son is living his dream. I just need a quiet nap.

Hope everyone had a great thrifting weekend.

This is linked to:
Apron Thrift Girl, Cherished Treasures, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, Mod Vintage Life and Very Merry Vintage Style