From My Etsy Shop - Click on "hmmosko" to enter

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A Goddess, Seattle and a Lamp

Just a quick catch up on some things that have been going on in my etsy shop this week...

I sold a statuette of the goddess Kwan Yin (that I completely wanted to keep for myself but was a good little etsy shop owner and put up for sale instead - and someone bought it, damn!) I found her a few months ago at a church sale hidden behind a pile of Tupperware.So glad I did and that she is on her way to Texas to be appreciated again.
And a lovely lady in Portland bought this pendant I made with a piece of vintage atlas of the great city of Seattle. I've never been there but I want to go really, really bad. Although, I love rainy days so much, I'm a little scared that if I did go I'd never come back.
 And this mid century Tensor desk lamp was one of the coolest things in my shop and will be leaving via Priority mail tomorrow for...wait for it...Brooklyn, New York. Yes, currently the coolest place in the known universe. Wish I could tag along with the lamp.
   But it might be a little awkward, I'm not that cool.


Monday, November 21, 2011

Another Coach bag...Love it!

It was only the last week when I was out at a thrift store with the other blond and her mom, Lee, that I complimented Lee on the beautiful leather purse she was carrying. She always has the cutest bags. And, of course, she had found it at a thrift store for only a few dollars. I told her I was jealous as I never seemed to find very nice leather purses when I'm out poking around.

Well, the goddess of vintage leather bags must have heard me because it was the same day I found the two bags I mentioned in my last two blogs and I just found this Coach bag in perfect condition at the Salvation Army early Black Friday sale.
Oh, how I do love a nice bag...and shoes, but that's a whole-nother fetish.

This one looks like it might go to a buyer in Australia, and I'm going to keep my eye out for more at the thrift stores.I know I'll find one that will have to be ripped from my cold, dead hands before I put it for sale in my etsy shop, but so far I'm happy to send them out in the world and make a little profit to boot.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone and happy thrift storing! I'm going to a sale at a thrift store on Black Friday, can't wait!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Juggler - A Circus Act or Recipe for Disaster

An update on the leather bag in my last post (the one that hadn't sold yet and I was kind of hoping didn't because I wanted to keep it for myself) - it sold too. Which is good for my etsy shop's bottom line, but not for my wardrobe.

So today I will box that up,


along with a divided vintage Melmac bowl that also sold the other day, and head to the post office.

Then home to put on the domestic goddess hat and clean my house and catch up on the laundry.

Because tomorrow I have my second day on my new job and a half-off sale at the Salvation Army for some new merchandise for the shop.

And I really want to get two submissions out to agents of my last manuscript, still can't quite give up on my pursuit for publication.

And my youngest has a food drive for Boy Scouts on Saturday, so up early to drive around the neighborhood scoring canned corn.

And my oldest needs to be run back and forth for set crew all week and weekend because the play starts Saturday afternoon....
Can you hear the circus music in the background as all the balls are juggled in the air, or is that just me?

Ah well, nothing more than most people do anymore with jobs and kids. I'll just keep smiling like the clown...no, wait...not the clown. Clowns kind of creep me out. More like the lady on the high-wire as she smiles brightly while walking carefully across the abyss.

You know what? Its all good, I just remembered I love the circus.



Tuesday, November 15, 2011

You Old Bag

Some times I feel a bit...well...old.

Especially this week when my son turned 16. How could my baby be 16?! We are going to get his driver's permit next week. Ahhh.

Or, when I'm introduced to my husband's colleague who reveals in the course of our conversation that he graduated college in 2001. Wasn't that, like, yesterday? I gasp. How is he a grown-up, accomplished professional-type guy and graduated in this millennium? I sound old even to myself.

But age has its advantages too. In my early forties vs. my early twenties, I don't wake up hung over after doing beer bongs in smelly frat house basements. I don't buy used-cars based solely on how cool they look and then continually find my cool ass stranded on the side of the road.

And I think I have a little more character than I did in my misspent youth. I don't even mind how my years have made smile lines (I like to refer to them as "smile lines" instead of crows feet) around my eyes (mostly, occasionally I panic a little as I scrape the bottom of my Oil of Olay bottle). I think this applies to well-made leather bags too.

Last week at my favorite thrift store I came across this vintage Coach lady's attache-shaped leather bag. I think it has gained character in its years, the leather buttery soft and supple. And a customer in New York City agreed with me, she bought it an hour after I put it on my site.
And this vintage Stone Mountain leather slouchy bag was in the same bin at the thrift store. It hasn't sold yet, but I'm not sure I'm disappointed about that - might need to keep it for myself.

In fact, I think I will wear my old bag with pride - along with my crows feet -- while I'm teaching my son to drive and telling him the story of how in my day I didn't even have a car but had to walk to school uphill, both ways.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Bloggidy Blog

I got an email today through my etsy shop from a great blog that highlights cool items on etsy.com. In fact that's what its called...the blog...what's cool on etsy this week.

http://www.scoop.it/t/whats-cool-on-etsy-this-week

I am just tickled pink that they featured two of my items in their blog.

One was this portable radio which appears to never have been used.
The other is this super-mod phone in yellow. You know someone wore bell-bottom hip-huggers once as they pushed the giant square numbers on this phone.The bloggers , Nina & Kristina from Norway, think my stuff is cool! Where were these people when I was in high school?

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

And They Were Good

On Friday I went to not one, but two, fundraiser sales at two different retirement communities. This caused me some consternation because these - next to church fundraisers -- are my favorite kinds of sales and don't come around very often, so I don't usually have to decide which to go to first. This is important because the best items are nabbed early.

I flipped a coin.

I arrived at the first sale just as the doors opened and then had to make more decisions as there where six separate rooms of items...and I wanted to go to all of them simultaneously...I have yet to figure out how to do this. Would be such a handy skill.

I chose the room with kitchenware and was happy I did. I found this unusual vintage stainless steel Revere Ware pan with a Sea Horse design. Never saw one of these before.

And then spotted this great set of 6 matching mid century high ball glasses.
The next room had electronics...found this cute Tensor lamp.And another room had linens...found this fantastic Eames era linen towel with cocktail recipes.

When I had picked through each room, twice, I decided I'd go to the other sale just to see if there was anything left.

There was...not much, but enough.

The best find was this Bates bedspread in perfect condition, like it was never used.
The picker Gods were smiling that day and my cup runneth over.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Ahhhh...its the Carrot People

This was once a normal couple that lived down the street from me and then they went on Weight Watchers and found out carrots were zero points and ate so many they turned into Carrot People.

Sorry, feeling a little silly today. And hungry...I'm on Weight Watchers too.

Can't wait for not one, but two retirement village sales tomorrow bright and early. Hoping they will distract me from wanting to eat Ring Dings instead of carrots.

No offense Carrot People.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Broken Bindings

I am not going to talk about my vintage stuff, my teenage sons or my writing (lack of) career today.

Not even going to show you any weird stuff I found on the thrift store shelves (even though I saw a ceramic angel this week with huge nipples - but the picture didn't come out very well, so no one would believe anyway how disturbing it was to see an angelic little cherub with giant headlights).

After a snowy pre-Halloween weekend where I was grounded from all yard saling, I'm going to write instead about my second shop on etsy.com that I opened a little over a month ago, Broken Bindings.

After a slow start I was losing all hope that any of my handmade jewelry from old children's books, atlases and dictionaries would sell, and then five pieces went in the last few weeks - and that just makes me happy.

This Sacred pendant made with a piece of antique dictionary was the one to break the ice. Felt like a spiritual blessing of the shop as its first sale.
 The next two sales to leave my worktable, made their way to the same customer. One is made from an old reading primer, See Pat Go, and a silver vintage Sarah Coventry bracelet.
The other is this fun set of a ring and earrings made from an old Lets Go to the Circus children's book. These are both some of my favorites that were sitting unnoticed in my other shop for quite awhile, so I was extra happy to see them make their way out into the word. 
I almost kept this one for myself, but decided to put it in the shop as well, and glad I did as it sold next. A little Yoga and Yogi definitions from an old dictionary, now a necklace.
And last (hopefully just for now) is a piece of vintage atlas of Key West I put under a glass cabochon and mounted on a silver-toned pendant setting with little flowers around it. Kind of wanted to keep this one for myself too, but I was a good shopkeeper and sold it to a lovely lady in Alabama.
My sales in Broken Bindings are not near those in my vintage shop Found Things, but there are only 17 pieces in total for sale (vs. 250 in the vintage shop) and it has just started so doesn't have the same exposure, but I'm good with that. Just enjoy making these pieces from old paper and hope someone else will enjoy wearing them...although certainly an added bonus to make a little extra money doing something I enjoy so much.



Sunday, October 23, 2011

Here they come...weird Santas

When I was at the post office on Friday the postman - who, after sending 500 mailings over the last 15-months, I've gotten to know pretty well -- was teasing me about Christmas coming in only 60-s0me more days. Ahhh!

But he was a little late in freaking me out about how close we are getting to the holidays, the thrift stores are way ahead of him. Everywhere I look now there's snowmen, reindeer and, of course, so many, many incarnations of old Saint Nick.

Some are cute. Some are kitschy. Some are even regal.

And some are just weird, or even a little gross. This rubbery santa in the bathtub caught my eye first because it looked like Santa was an amputee - and you don't see that everyday. Then I realized his arm was just bent behind him holding a towel stretched between his two arms, which moved back and forth if you hit a button on the bottom.

Plus, he's naked. I don't need to think about the big guy naked.
The actual gross part comes when you take a closer look to find rolls in his belly made of dirty-rubber that move too when its turned on. Eww.

And its not just Kris Kringle who lands on the shelves. His wife is there too.
In all the Christmas stories Mrs. Claus is portrayed as super-nice and friendly. Baking cookies for the elves and feeding Santa a big Christmas Eve meal because "Nobody likes a skinny Santa." So what's with the angry, librarian-looking-over-her-glasses incarnation of Mrs. Kringle here? She needs some gingerbread and cider, I think. Right away.

But not all the old Christmas decorations are bad. I picked up these cute, vintage, Homco angels and I'm happy to put them in my etsy.com shop.
They remind me of my father-in-law. Every year I ask him what he wants for Christmas, and every year he answers, "A blond, a brunette and a red-head."

I should give him these. Probably not what he meant, though.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

More pretty

In my last blog I gave a little taste of some of the more...unusual...things that turn up on the thrift store shelves that sometimes make me pause and think, Oh, my. Someone actually bought that on purpose, at some point, and put it in their home for decoration, or...holy crap...gave it to someone as a gift.

Today at another thrift store I was struck with the same thought, and here's why...

The photo isn't even doing justice to the matching girl and guy with the livestock, their outfits are florescent orange. The cow to the right looks friendly though, more so than the spray-tanned blond with the holes in her skirt.She looks a little pissy, her bow is probably too tight.

Although today there were some things on the shelves that reminded me of why I do look for - and often find -- some more desirable old thingies.

This 1950's tea pot made in Japan was on the thrift store shelf at 10:00AM this morning, in my etsy shop at 12:45 and sold to someone in North Carolina by 1:00...now that's how I like it!


And this mid century magazine rack may be hard to part with, looks so cool next to my husband's favorite chair (which also came from an estate sale - just an irrelevant fun-fact).
 I do get a kick out of wading through the weirdness at the thrift stores and estate sales to unearth the cooler old collectibles and atomic ranch decor. Sometimes I'm not sure which I like better.
Oh yeah...its the cooler stuff.


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Pretty, pretty, pretty

This is going to be a very short blog.

I was at the local Salvation Army today and noticed the following collection of items on the shelf.

I just want you to look at them and realize that each one was at one time purchased - or given as a gift -- knowingly, willingly and probably with excitement.
P.S. Yes, that is a multicolored ceramic monkey on the left.

Enough said.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Enamel Me, Baby

Perfect fall morning, leaves turning, sun reflecting off the water as the Suburban crossed over the Codorus Reservoir...and the other blond and her mom riding along...all good.

Our first stop was a church sale that held much promise, but turned out to be a dud. Although, it was a nice way to start the day, none-the-less. An older man excused himself when he thought he was standing in front of me at a table, and I assured him he was not by saying , "You're fine." He took my hand, looked me in the eye and said, "Why thank you, you are fine as well." And kissed the back of my hand. Had he been a few years younger, I would have found this creepy, but coming from the elderly white-haired gentleman with a twinkle in his eye, I took it as a charming little moment.

Not sure where to go next, we decided to turn the truck towards Hanover as there were several yard sales listed in that area on Criag's list. As we pulled into town Linda pointed to a church parking lot on a hill. "Something's happening up there. Let's go see." What we found was the second day of a church sale, so not much left, but what was left was all $1 stuff-a-bag. Nothing spectacular but I did score this little turtle planter.And a pair of red-metal candle-stick holders that would be especially cute at Christmastime.After grabbing a cup of tea at my favorite book shop/coffee house in Hanover, where I picked up a fresh copy of Writer's Market (yes, I'm going to start torturing myself with submissions and rejection letters once again), we admitted defeat for the day and started homeward. About 5-minutes from home we came across a sprawling yard-sale in an old garage and the picking became a little more promising. I found this great enameled, cast-iron, mid century Cousances saucepan in yellow.This was the second piece of enameled kitchenware I'd come across this week. I found this refrigerator box at a thrift store on Wednesday. I have a little thing for enameled metal, don't know why...maybe I should ask my brother-in-law what that means...he's a shrink.
I have several other pieces in my shop.
This set of pallella pans is one of my favorite examples of mid century kitchenware.And this super-mod frying pan in orange and purple could have fried up some fish while the cook was watching "Threes Company."
This tea pot is more kitschy than mod, but love it anyway.
These pieces stand the test-of-time because of how well they are made and how strong the materials are. I have a set of Le Crueset pans that I use and figure someone in thirty-years will probably buy them in a yard sale. I hope they enjoy them as much as I do.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Pickin' in a Pavilion

The first stop this weekend for the other blond and me was a church sale held in a pavilion a few towns away. The air was autumn crisp, leaves starting to turn, met my aunt at the sale too...all made the morning wonderful...but not the picking.
Left with nothing but a few pieces of pink depression glass...pretty, but not exactly the treasure of the Sphinx.
I did come across this statue of an eyeless girl eating a baby arm or a tree limb, or playing the flute, not sure. So creepy.
But it was all worth it anyway - not only because I got to be outside on a beautiful fall day with some of my favorite people looking for treasure in a churchyard -- but because I found the perfect Thanksgiving Day hat.Turkey hat...yay!Best $1.00 I may have ever spent. Buddy likes it too!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Quirky

Quirky...love that word...quirky.

One of those words that if you say it over and over again, it starts to sound weirder and weirder...or quirkier.

I have been called "quirky" myself, actually. I've been called much worse, so I don't mind.
And maybe that's why I have some odd little things in my etsy shop.

Here's some highlights.Who doesn't need a snake charmer bank from the 70's? I certainly do.
And Book Worm bookends. Everyone needs a set of these.


I'm not even sure why I grabbed this funky little dish off the thrift store shelf, but she appealed to me.

I even like to make quirky jewelry. Put these little crows from a vintage "Four and Twenty Black Birds" children's book under a glass cabochon, and then mounted it to an old metal brooch I found at an estate sale.

Can't wait to find the next weird...I mean quirky...thing.

Monday, October 3, 2011

St. Pauls and a New Shop

It was a busy weekend for me in the etsy world. I did make a few sales, but it was more about trying to find some fresh merchandise for Found Things, my vintage on-line shop. September was busy getting kids back to school and fall sports...blah, blah, blah...long and short, it was not so great a month in sales and I had to take a hard look at my stock.

Conclusion. A little shabby.

Luckily, the best cure for adding new, and good quality, merchandise to the old etsy shop is a church sale...and there were two this weekend (my hands still fly to my mouth as I think of this, so exciting). Yes, I am that pathetically simple that even the thought of a church fundraiser, filled with little old church lady things for sale, makes me bounce in my seat.
Even more luckily for me, Linda (aka: the other blond), her mom Lee and even her daughter Emily - who was visiting from Philadelphia -- are also like minded, or simple minded, whatever, so I was in good company bright and early on Saturday morning as we made our way to St. Pauls in York and filled our bags with goodies.

The first thing I spotted was this beautiful porcelain figure of Kwan Yin, goddess of mercy and goodness - she rocks.
She is standing, holding a tall lotus blossom while her robes are blowing in the wind. The base is decorated with water, waves and more lotus flower blossoms. She is also known as Guanyin and Quan Yin. I may have trouble parting with her.

On the other end of the spectrum of cool was this exercise video from the 80's that made me giggle. I think my mom might have worked-out to this in our living room in front of the console TV when I was a teenager, and I think I might have laughed at her...in fact I'm certain I did. Of course I was probably snorting through my braces, ponytail on top of my head and striped leg-warmers pulled up too high, so I'm sure she was laughing right back at me.


In addition to hunting down old stuff, I love making pendants, rings and bracelets with bits and pieces of vintage jewelry, mixed with old illustrations, dictionary pages and atlases.

My Jewelry felt like it was getting lost in the vintage items in my etsy shop, so I decided to open a second shop just for the jewelry called Broken Bindings...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/heathermosko1?ref=si_shop

This is a piece I just made using an old dictionary - the word "Divination" under a glass cabochon. Hoping it will appeal to people during the Halloween Season.
So here's hoping October is a more profitable one than September with some lucky goddesses and a fresh etsy shop...fingers crossed.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Halloween is Coming...yay

You wouldn't know it to look at me..housewife, 43, driving the car pool to football practice...but inside beats the heart of the Queen of the Damned Vampires from the Underworld Werewolf Coven..in other words, I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

It probably stems from Halloween being my first taste of freedom. When I was little my father and our neighbor would follow far behind us, sipping beers (this wasn't frowned upon in 1975) and letting us run ahead to ring doorbells. We felt like we were big kids out there on our own - although secretly happy to catch a glimpse of moonlight reflecting off the Bud cans in the distance.

When I was eleven my parents released the reins completely on Halloween and my friends and I were allowed to go out in the neighborhood on our own unsupervised...at night...dressed up...scoring Reeses Peanut Butter cups...in the dark and everything...it was the coolest thing EVER. None of this was frowned upon in 1975 either in case you were thinking of calling child protective services.

So when October 31st approaches, I get that old giddy feeling and my jewelry-making takes a decided turn to the spooky. I already enjoy making steam punk pieces, so it doesn't take much to push a little more over to the dark side

Here are some pieces I made the other night and put in my etsy shop.
This is a vintage necklace and pendant I found at a yard sale, but it once held a plastic cabochon with a smiley-faced-sun picture...not anymore...bwaahaaa...I ripped out that smiley face and replaced it with an illustration of a cobweb from an old children's fairy tale book and sealed it with resin. Hoping this will make some little witch very happy.

I got a little spooky-Steam Punk with this piece made from a vintage chain and adorned with a crystal from an antique chandelier (picked up at an estate sale last summer). Also with a pendant made using an illustration from an old Four and Twenty Black-Birds book.


This one isn't really macabre, but has an old, mysterious feel. I cut out the word "sacred" from an antique dictionary and put it behind glass. The clear sealant gave it an even darker, more aged look than it had originally. Perfect gift for your secret society friends.

I am just a little sad this year that the boys might be officially too old to go out trick-or-treating. But maybe not, they may surprise me. They also like the freedom of running around with their friends in the dark without parental supervision. Although I never walked behind them with a beer in my hand...some spiked cider or a Cosmo in a coffee-cup maybe...but not beer.