Clown Car

This was the car as we left Karla's house.

Looks full right?

Not even.
 We managed to squeeze in 5 more boxes, a hatbox & a birdcage  somewhere between here & there.

If we had gotten in a wreak we'd have smothered.

An avalanche of junk.

Souvenirs from various malls across the flat-lands.

Tobacco tins for a future class, books & frames & this tarnished silver sugar bowl.

I scored some very fun things at Birdsong.

I'll buy Beth & Karla's cast-offs any day.

Kristi was my personal shopper at Marburger, she brought back a Victorian scrapbook, a lamp from Carolyn Westbrook & these amazing fabric scraps

Sweet little satin heart shaped pouch.

I found about 200 old monograms in a booth marked 75% off.

Of course I had to buy every bag.

Beth gave me some early birthday presents.

An old tin type album screaming 'make me into a book'.

And something from my Wish List.

A small album of pressed flowers from Israel.

I have wanted an herbarium for ages & this is close enough for me!

I am in love with it.

Aged, yellowed tissue protects each page of flowers.

 

 

It's too bad the book is in such good shape, wouldn't these be incredible displayed on a wall. 

Can you imagine 20 framed botanicals?

I have a few Victorian scrapbooks, but this one

Kristi found is wonderful.

Then an unexpected gift came my way via Philip's teacher.

2 big bags of goodies.

25 high school portraits from the 1940's,

 found near a dumpster in Massachusetts.

Besides being the coolest kindergarten teacher ever, Gail loves everything vintage.  

The second bag was stuffed with old laces, hundreds of them!

I think a lot of them were samples.

So that night I laid them all out in our bed.

Very carefully sorted.

Neat little piles, short ones together, cards together......

you know.

Kevin walked in & just stared at me for a second,

gave serious eye roll then left.

They just don't get it.

Colorado Haul

One of the great things about vacations is finding new places to spend my money shop. 

 I found some awesome antique shops in Pueblo, Colorado.  They have a darling historic downtown area, in case you ever go there. Kevin was a sweetie & took the kids to the park so I could do some power shopping!

I have a real weakness for celluloid albums,

especially if they are priced well..........

& filled with amazing photos! The cover & spine of this album were damaged, hence the low price. Good for me, I prefer it all falling apart!

This might be a good time to tell you this is going to be a long post.

And filled with lots of eye candy!

Do I have your attention???

They are doll shoes actual size......1 & a half inches long.

The leather loafers make me Crazy,

What is it about tiny things that makes my heart skip a beat?

These shoes are a couple of inches longer.  I really need to stop buying baby shoes, but I can't.

2 more for my collection.

And wait till you see this.....

Most of this came from one persons booth! 

 And most of it was priced at $1 or $2 apiece.

Beautiful bigger crocheted pieces.

I really love the flesh colored ones, I think I will hoard those for awhile.

This little box was $7, the note from someones Aunt Anna still enclosed.

See that piece in the back?  The sequined trim?? That is my favorite find of the day.  I love just all these little bits.

From lace to rust.  This lot came from one dealer too.  The prices were really cheap great.

I freaked out when I found these pins, they will be perfect on a tattered collage.

I saw this beat up looking box sitting on a shelf, opened it & discovered it was filled with ephemera dating back to 1920-40.

It may have been an 'insipration' box, there's a bunch of tracings & sketches inside.

And finally, this isn't new but don't you love it?

My niece wanted to stop at Urban Outfitters, their clothes are about 20 years too small young for me but they have some cute accessories.  I couldn't resist this lace basket.

So there it is, my vacation souvenirs! 

 Hope your weekend was fun & cooler than mine was.

(105 degrees!!!!!!!!!) 

How many more days until Fall????

Urban Legend

Warning: This is a long one, but the payoff's worth it!

For years I've heard the urban legend about a sweet old lady who bestow's happiness & riches of a vintage variety upon a lucky junker. I never believed it, until it happend to me! Last weekend while picking through a table at a garage sale, I stuck up a conversation with one of  the home owners.  I asked if she had any crafting supplies, fabric, lace, buttons. You know, your basic mixed media wish list.  The woman, Roxanne, told me she was moving & had scads of the stuff at home & was I interested? I gave her my phone number, went on with my day & figured  I'd never hear from her. 

Well, Monday evening while nursing my throbbing mouth, the phone rang. It was Roxanne, did I want to come over & see her stash?  Kevin was shocked when I grabbed my keys & headed for the door.  Even root canal surgery wouldn't keep me away from an opportunity to snoop through a sweet old ladies fabric stash! I took along a couple of my tattered collages to give her an idea of what I was looking for. 

Are you still reading???
This is the good part...
Roxanne starts pulling out these boxes filled with the yummiest, creamy, vintage laces. Before she even gets them all out, I asked her how much she wanted for the whole lot?  Nothing, she said. Nothing!
She insisted I take it all.  She liked my work & saw a kindred spirit.

Roxanne is an avid crafter & quilter.

And a long time collector of everything we LOVE!

Some of this amazing lace & trim was her Grandmother's.

Some very old,

yellowed from age,

some a little newer,

To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement.  But she wasn't done.  'Do you like buttons', she asked?

Of course they were sorted by color.

Pearly whites, cool blacks,

Those little bones are glass beads.

'Can you use costume jewelry'?

Lovely lockets,

Some vintage bling,

Old watches.

Then came the sewing notions.

I love this old satin blanket binding.

Some old Wrights, & some cool funky stuff.

These old embroidery skeins are awesome, ohhh the colors, & the labels!

She shared so many wonderful things, muslin, linen this old burlap looking ribbon.

As we poured through boxes, she shared her story.  She is a retired HR person, a lifelong crafter & leaving soon for Minnesota to care for a terminally ill cousin.  She also shared her love of paper crafts.  Look at the sweet cards she makes.

She recycles holiday cards & even paper bags! She shares her passion & her time, teaching seniors card making.

 I believe God puts people in our lives for a reason.  A casual conversation led to such a generous gift, from such a special lady.  Roxanne was as giddy as I was that night. So excited to find someone to pass her treasures onto, someone who'd love them as much as she did, & who would do something creative with it all. 

 My quick trip turned into a 2 hour visit, I left with 2 full boxes of lovelies & a new friend. Someday, (hopefully many years from now), I'll pass it on to a younger grateful artist.

Thank you so much for all of the birthday & get well wishes you left me! Everyday I am reminded of the wonderful friends I've made here in blogland. You are the best!  I'm about halfway through my oral ordeal (OMG, that sounds dirty), 3 days in a row of root canals, etc.  I have a week to rest & then big surgery next Thursday.  I'm just warning you, there may be some drug induced posts coming up!