ART for DOGS (and maybe bunnies and kitties)

I've made a few art prints and I'm selling them in my etsy shop. 100% of the profits from these prints go to my local dog rescue, Fur Babies Rescue and Referral (www.fbrrny.com), where they help many MANY animals in need. This includes dogs, cats and bunnies. They are entirely foster based, and when they don't have foster room, they must put the animals in boarding. That is expensive.
I love dog rescue. I love it. No matter what organization I work with, I have found many kind people who are looking to change dog's terrible situations as best as they can. It can make you very sad. It can make you very happy. It is hard work, and I am glad to help in any way I can.
Part of what I do is create social media posts. Part of what I do is share posts on social media. But I thought, if I could make something pretty...maybe people would buy it... and I could give the rescue that money. So I started designing things. I asked other volunteers for input.

I've made several and they are available for purchase from my ETSY shop.

There are many adorable types, and they would be great for any dog lover in your life! I'm open to suggestions for quotes and color schemes - I'd love to make anything that you would buy! Thanks for reading and hope you all are well!

Trying to Clean out

Before the bebe comes! We have a lot going on - potential house construction, a leftover Superstorm Sandy tenant (who lives in our basement, but should be moving soon) a new baby coming...I'm trying not to add to the clutter, but to take away! This means making sure everything is listed (maybe it will sell for the holidays?), making sure I don't buy MORE and trying to use what craft supplies I have on hand for all of the delightful baby gifts I have yet to make (did I mention that there are three new babies just born and another one on the way before my baby comes?).
So here are a few things you might not have seen that I have listed in the ol' etsy shop.

Wheaton, NJ tiny bottles

Murray-Allen tins!

Tulip candleholders!

 

I have also relisted any Christmas stuff I have lingering in inactive listings...Man, I hope this works. Our house is full of good-intentioned buys and many things that I thought I had sentimental attachments to can go right out the door - wish the weather was warmer, because I would totally have a garage sale...oh, well.

I did go thrifting with my best bud, Kate yesterday. I bought a couple of baskets for the house and a couple of sweaters to cover my giant belly, and a couple of records for my dad for Christmas. I restrained myself and the only silly non-useful thing I bought were two lego sets - both turkeys...hilarious.

Catch up or Ketchup or Catsup? eh.

 Just a few favorite pictures as of late, to tell you what's going on with me:

 Andy and I, twinsies in our Converse. He's my best friend, and has cool shoes, to boot!

Kate and I drove for hours through the pouring rain to go to the Country Living fair in Rhinebeck, NY! It was pouring the whole time we were there, but it was WORTH IT! We saw so many cool things and it was the happiest place I've been in a long time.

You know who was there? Cari Cuxley from Cash and Cari on HGTV! I bought a red "M" from her, but she didn't recognize me as her long lost soulmate, so I didn't take a picture with her...She's really pretty, guys. Really pretty.

Look at these awesome wooden tulips! They were big, like two feet tall. I love love LOVED them, but if I brought them home and put them in the yard, Sophie would eat them. That's what she does. Wood is fair game.

And last but not least:

Quinn. You're welcome, Interwebs.

Just a Couple

I only went to garage sales in the afternoon on Saturday. Just a little bit...as I'm supposed to be prepping for my own and figuring out how to sell what I have. It's addicting though...thinking the most amazeballs things could be out there for me to find...

 This beautiful UPco planter

 A glass making book

This beautiful ballet dancer in an amazing frame. It's old, maybe forties, and I have no idea who the painter is. I want to keep it for myself, but it is so far from anything I own already. I mean, completely different. Maybe I'll have to paint a room around it.

And this wasn't from this weekend, but this is a selection of vintage wallpaper I found in someone's basement. I think it is awesome.

I feel like I always see posts where people got a jar of beads or buttons or something and they had something special in them and I NEVER see anything like that.
Except.
Except for YESTERDAY! I got a JAR OF WONDERS! A big giant jar of junk jewelry!

Magnificent!

Some Weiss earrings (singles, of course), some crazy bangles...they're all a little mushed or squished or have parts missing. But, I'm pretty sure I can make something amazing with some of them, and find some use for others. The best feeling was breaking it open when I got home and looking through it. BEST BEST BEST!

Did a lot of cleaning

and no thrifting. But I thriftily found some things I had forgotten about:

70s family

Very heavy nursery frame with field mice and balloons.

You me and ours bar set.

And, because the Easter bunny brought me some new craft punches (bless you, Martha Stewart), I made some nursery art for friends of ours who are having a baby. They have a gender-neutral woodsy themed nursery, and I liked the idea of making a very colorful tree.

I spent a lot of time cleaning and trying to get things sorted for the Mother of All One Day Yard Sales...hopefully coming this May to a yard near you...my yard...

Two weeks at a time

This week and last, on Fridays, I have gone to Goodwill. This week, I took my sister, and we bought some clothes (I just got a shirt), and I also got this butterfly:

It's a little trinket dish, made in Japan, just the sort of thing I love to buy and sell! Last week, also at Goodwill, I had picked up a couple of Alice + Olivia dresses, which, if you don't know the label, they are super duper expensive. When I brought them home, I tried on the bubble party dress, and I thought it would look good, but it didn't, so I'm selling it on Ebay. I also found a Fiorello clutch, that had the tags still on it, but I gave it to my sister to use at a wedding, so I took the tags off and I'm selling it used on Ebay:

I also picked up these Brandani salt and pepper shakers that I thought were older, but upon further inspection, I realized they were fairly new. I may sell them on Ebay, they've never been used.

 

I also picked up this Baas vase, which I thought was pretty:

And I got this owl napkin holder, which I've had and sold a resin version of before:

 

This week, I've set a goal to list one thing per day, totalling 7 for the week. I'm behind in listing, I'm behind in cleaning, I'm behind in laundry...I'm ahead in unicorn sightings, and I heard a lot of dirty jokes this week, so that's something...

 

Stopping by the Thriftasaurus...



Treasuries!

I will admit, I have not been working as hard at etsy stuff. I haven't been hustling, which is what you have to do. Maybe I've lost my mojo, or my love for it. I'm not sure...

I've been cleaning out the basement, and making bins for a one dollar, two dollar and three dollar table for my May yard sale. I think we're getting a little overwhelmed with things, and, if I'm not selling, then I can't be buying.

So for the next few weeks, until my May garage sale, I'll be hustling on Etsy and Ebay - to see if I can love it again, or I should try to get rid of as much as possible that I don't find to be REALLY beautiful or useful. I love planters, and tins, and always will find uses for them - it's just that I know other people will be so happy with them too!

I didn't buy anything this weekend, but I did buy things AFTER I posted last weekend.

This is a VERY dirty vase I found at the Only-Open-Sunday-store:

And this is after I cleaned it:

It does have some mottling, but I think it is big and Beautiful! It's a USA vase, and I think it's awesome.

 

I also got this footed planter - Kidney shaped Brush - for sale.

I also bought another planter (surprise) and a piece of California pottery for a buck! sweet!
In other news, my dogs:

fin.

Not Buying, Just Listing...Well, buying a little...

I've been trying to clean out some things. I'm not sure reselling is the best thing for me, anymore. So, I'm trying to dig deep into my reserves, get things cleaned and start mega listing. Here's some things I've had stored up:

 

A giant GIANT roll of vintage trim. Some of it's a little stained, but I don't think it matters. It's pretty thick too.

A McCoy apple planter. It's sold already, actually. About 12 hours after I posted it, I got an offer for it!

A Murano glass bowl. I've tried to sell it on ebay. I'm not sure if my pictures always come out unenticing because it's so pale, so I put it on some crazy fabric.

And yesterday, when I was not supposed to be shopping, I bought this Limoges bud vase for 4.00. Limoges! for 4.00!

Turns out it probably wasn't an amazing buy, but chances are made to be taken, right?

 

Linked up to Sir Thrift a Lot!

 

Planters Galore

Kate and I traversed to Somerville, NJ to see if we could replace any of her tin toys that quickly rusted from the Wretched Storm, Sandy. I bought a lot of planters and pottery!

 

Judy of California pottery - sort of a burnt orange big bowl!

More California Pottery with a top! Teal-y blue and perfect condition

 

Mint Cookson Pottery - also from California. This one is mint green, but it has a LOT of manufacturing errors on it - places where the glaze is messed up or the pottery itself is messed up.

I already had this Italian planter - it was so interesting looking - MidCentury for sure!

And a periwinkle nursery planter - a baby buggy with roses, so adorbs!

 

Spring is coming.

Just a Few Things

Things are crazy. I guess I say that a lot.
We moved some items from the library into a little room with a couple of laptops, and we're trying to have a little something open for the public. It may be a short time or a long time before things get back to normal, and I can't wait for that to happen. In the meantime, we're trying to make it work.
I've been trying to clean the house, and fix a lot of things, and decorate my pop's house for xmas. I'm sort of a grinch, but I'm trying to keep a happy face, because it means so much to him. I did stop for a couple of things yesterday, at the special Only0Open On Sunday Store:

I can never resist a tin. I love the graphics on this, and it's pretty clean inside!

A USA planter, cabbage-design. I never met a planter I didn't like!

A California pottery bowl, I have to look up more about it.

 

And these, Santa pants! They're about the size of a stocking. One of my best friends lost all of her awesome collectibles in the flood. I'm giving her this, which is spectacular, with a set of tiny doll-size kitchen cannisters that I got from Ebay, and a voucher for an out-of-town antiquing trip!
It's been a weekend of good news and bad news, and I'm hoping the week gets a little better for everyone.

In Which it is The Pinnacle of Selling and I am Unprepared

I showed at another craft fair. Andy says no more. I work really hard to get everything together, and Long Island doesn't appear to be my place to sell things. I do okay online.
Everything's crazy. Hurricane Sandy cleanup at the library is really hard. It's still a lot of physical work and my poor little out-of-shape librarian's body is unhappy about the whole thing.We're starting on the fifth week of all of this stuff, and everything's off. Andy's schedule is kind of back to normal, and I'm working 9-5s, which is unusual for me, as I used to work different times almost every day.
Now, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone and I didn't have time to really get myself together for it. So, I'm afraid I won't sell as much as I wanted to.
Some recent additions:

Shiny Brite Ornaments

Vintage polish ornaments

An awesome Murano glass bowl. It's beautiful and it has its sticker! I don't know a ton about glass - I've just picked up things I think are pretty. But it's definitely something worth looking in to. I listed the bowl on Ebay, hoping it will make someone the perfect present (and right quick!)

 

Now, for something completely different:

A long time ago (months), I bought this tumbler/vase. It is white ceramic and it has deers in a forest on it. I thought I found some answers about its maker, but I cannot find the info again! Anyone know anything? It was made in Germany (from the partial sticker at the bottom) and it has a mark I haven't been able to match.

Thanks for any help you are able to provide, friends!

Also, use the coupon code SWEETDEALS for 10% off anything in my shop - vintage or handmade!



In Which I'm Running Out of Time

Some weekends are lazy, I hear. But I haven't had a lazy weekend where I wasn't on the floor with the flu in a long long long time. I was running running running, but I did get to one estate sale on Friday and the ever-famous Only Open Sunday Afternoon store on Sunday.

I scored these angels:

They are tiny and like an all-blond choir-y spice girls.

 

 This rocking Royal Haegar vase is pretty awesome. It's a drip vase, and it is a very bright chartreuse:

 

 These ornaments were made in Poland and pretty much sold as soon as I posted them:

 I listed these bottle brush trees this morning and they already sold! I have to list the REST of my bottle brush trees. But I love them so! Maybe I'll keep a set...but I'd really want to keep about 100, and I only have, like, 20.

I think this picture is really adorable. Something about its tinyness makes me want to squee.

Happy week. I'm getting sick. This weekend I'm getting an amazing haircut, so I guess I'll see you next week when I look like a glamorous movie star...