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.

The Ugly Step-Sisters of the Salvation Army

Friday was one of those combining errands with poking through thrift store kinda days. It makes my chores a little more fun when I know I can do some picking too.

So the other blond, her mom and I headed towards Baltimore to Trader Joe's and then the Salvation Army for a quick look around. Unfortunately, the shelves were dissapointing, as far as hunting for merchandise for my etsy shop went...but for bringing you a little strange, much better.
Found these lovely ladies next to each other on a shelf and the image of Cinderella's ugly step-sisters popped in my head.

The dark-haired girl on the left might need an appointment at the salon for a good eye-brow waxing.

And her friend must have once starred as the creepy girl in a B-rated horror movie.

Oh, the things people once had decorating their homes.

Please don't put me on "Hoarders"

In the far, back corner of my basement is a room that was once called my "craft room." It held a computer, antique drafting table, sewing machine and old cabinets containing various arts and crafts supplies for the kids and I. A place we could go and create and then leave if we were in the middle of something without having to clean up, so we could continue on with our creating.

Now, not so much.

When I started the etsy.com shop I decided this area would be a good place to store my merchandise - the boys are not into doing "crafts" with mom anymore and I was taking a break from writing so I wasn't visiting that computer as much either -- and at first, I kept everything fairly tidy and organized.

Now, not so much.

This summer has been a whirlwind and I have been running in and out of this backroom either grabbing something that needs to be shipped or throwing in a pile of stuff I just bought at a yard sale. There is no more order, only chaos.

This highlights a pitfall to this business, the ever-present possibility that you will make the transition from someone who is finding "merchandise" to sell, to someone who is a hoarder. I do not like a lot of clutter around me. That is not to say - as anyone who has entered my house will attest to -- I'm not a clean-freak, nor am I a minimalist with one Eames lounger in the middle of the floor and a white canvas on a white wall...I have some stuff around.

But there is, for me, an acceptable level of stuff. I have crossed that level and am at the threshold of freaking out and throwing everything away. I know if I just spend a day in the basement sorting, organizing and cleaning, my instincts to throw it all away (or just burn the house down) will calm. I just have to find that day.

That will probably come on August 30th...the day the boys return to school. Which will probably be a good day to distract myself from the fact my oldest "baby" will be going to high school and taking another big step in his size 12 Converse towards adulthood.

I do want to get rid of the clutter. And we are all ready for school to start. A clean, uncluttered, quiet house is coming...of course, there will have to be some chaos, just keep life interesting.

I did it, again!

I know there are people who do miraculous things every day without even thinking about it. Doctor's save lives, teachers change lives, farmers feed us - the list goes on.

So in the big scheme of things, raising my hand with a numbered piece of paper at an auction really isn't earth shattering...but for my simple life, its a challenge I'm happy I met.
My Aunt Joan and I were just going to stop at Wehrly's Auction for a quick visit, maybe a cup of homemade soup and poke around the tables and boxes and see what goodies were going up for bid. Turned out there was a lot of great stuff and both of us were just curious enough to see how much some of these items were going to go for, so we decided to get a number and stay awhile.

Neither of us were sure we wanted to bid on anything, most of the items we liked were very collectible and there were a lot of dealers in the room, so we figured the bids were going to be a little rich for our blood. But since both of us have etsy.com shops that need inventory, we decided it was a needed learning experience - not to mention entertaining.

We went back and forth between the room with the tools and box lots...this is where I did raise my hand and purchased this adorable Cosco stool (much to the surprise of the woman next to me who had bid on it also and didn't think anyone else really wanted it - but I did)...and the room with the higher-end collectible items. I did raise my hand again in that room too and bought this antique blue mason jar made in 1858. Couldn't pass it up.

It was almost like my hand had a will of its own. The auctioneer was doing his hundred-mile-an-hour rattling of numbers and some remote part of my brain registered that I wanted the jar and the price was very good, and the next thing I knew my hand was up and the auctioneer was pointing to me and saying "sold." Yay me.

And when they were selling box lots for a dollar, but I was feeling shy about elbowing my way into the crowd to get an old vanity mirror I'd spotted, my aunt grabbed my number and was kind enough to go up to the table and stake a claim on it for me. Yay Aunt Joan.
So my afternoon was spent having a hot dog with my aunt and two of her friends she ran into at the auction - both also are artisans and antique dealers (super interesting people, great conversations) -- purchased three nice items for my etsy.com site, and conquered my fear of the auction once and for all. May not have performed brain surgery or saved the world, but not a bad day at all.


twoblondsandavan.blogspot.com

Floating Vintage

This past Easter weekend I was lucky enough to spend in one of my favorite places on the planet, in Maryland at my aunt and uncle's farm near Chestertown. I love it so much, it is the inspiration for my first published novel Lake Meade.

My weekend was filled with egg dying, catching up with family and too much ham and mashed potatoes, so any thoughts of going to yard sales or thrift stores was put on hold. Ironically, I stayed in a house filled with beautiful antiques, passed down for generations, so thinking about buying and selling vintage items was put aside only with some difficulty.Easter morning my family and I went for a walk around a local marina, taking in the scenery and the mix of new and old boats moored to the warping, wooden piers. My husband and I fantasized about how nice it would be to have a boat to go out on the Chesapeake, and true to form, we liked the old ones more than the shiny new ones. The one pictured above was for sale...but we didn't call to ask how much, because we also realized boats require a lot more disposable income than we've got in the old piggy bank.But it was still fun to dream about taking one of these lovely old ladies to explore the bay and drift away a sunny afternoon.So whether china, linens, glassware...or even boats...I love the older things with charater and charm. Things that look like they have some stories to tell and have weathered a few storms. Come to think of it, the same qualities I enjoy in people, too :-)

twoblondsandavan.blogspot.com/