What I Did Instead of Painting

On Saturday after the soccer game, I hit a couple garage sales where I found a few neat things like a vintage Anagrams game with lots of cool wood letter tiles, vintage Chinese checkers game, little millinery flower, some very old Spanish books and dictionary and a little white homemade cabinet. After that I had every intention to do some painting as it was a very nice and sunny day. But unfortunately I lost my painting mojo and ended up being a lazy bum who watched a couple dvds instead.

Sunday I was feeling pretty guilty for wasting the day on Saturday so I got up early and made this.

My latest shopping cart liner. I really need to save this to take to Farm Chicks. The last one I made, I ended up selling to Joy's friend Pam who used it as a bridal shower gift and filled it up with some neat things. I thought that was a very clever idea. Anyway, I have another one cut out for another friend of mine who asked me to make her one back in November or December. She is going to Farm Chicks to shop so I'm sure she will want it before then, so that will be my very next sewing project.

In the spirit of using my best stuff, I also made these on Sunday. I have been hording these barkcloth fabric pieces for awhile now with the idea that I would make myself some pillows someday. I just decided that now was the time. Three of the fabrics came from Isabel who is so generous. I kept them very simple with no trim or pompom fringe. The backs are all done in vintage ticking, envelope style, so they can be removed for washing. Ultimately these will go in my front room which is currently a mess and is my "staging area" with things to take to Monticello or things I am saving for farm chicks, display pieces, and things I just need to re-do with paint or fabric before I can sell them. Someday I will take a before picture. Just not today. I really want to re-do this room and this is my inspiration.

I love the mixey matchy quality to this picture. Isabel has a day bed that I'm going to buy from her to replace the hideabed we currently have in there. I painted that room a warm carmeley color a few years ago, but it is just way too dark so I'm thinking of going with a creamy white or maybe even a light aqua. I am dying to get busy on the room, but the thing holding me back, is what do I do with all the stuff that is currently in there. There really isn't any place for it to go. So for now, I'm just dreaming. Maybe I'll sell a ton of stuff at Farm Chick and then I can get decorating in there.

I thought I would show you where the jewelry box I showed you in my last post ended up. Right on top of my dresser holding my collection of vintage bling. I love this! It is the perfect size to hold my rhinestone, handpainted roses, and a few enamel pins. As you can see, there is room for more on the bottom part. I guess I better go shopping. ha ha

Today I am taking my mom to her doctor's appointment and then we are going out for a yummy lunch. Kids are off from school tomorrow and Friday (again) for conferences. I can't believe that there is just a little over one month of school left. We are going to have a crazy busy summer. Farm Chicks, Maui trip, camping trips, more antique shows, etc. I can't wait!

Hope you all have a truly fabulous Wednesday!

Sunshine! Wee Hoo!

I can't believe we finally have sunshine here in the PNW! It has been an unusually wet and dreary spring. I hope the sun will stick around for awhile. I have lots of painting to do and I'd love to finally get out in the yard and work a bit. It's really a mess.

I had to work my lunch lady job a couple days this week, but I did manage to squeeze in a little thrifting too. Are you at all surprised? On Tuesday I did my usual goodwill, value village, salvation army boutique run. I even made a quick trip into the cancer society thrift store where it's usually hit or miss. Value Village had blue tag .99 day and fortunately I found quite a few blue tags. Here is a picture of my Tuesday finds.

Cute hand made vintage cabinet with drawers, little spice shelf thingy, floral wallpaper hat box, little white shelf, ticking travel pillow, glass and brass box, cute cottage style clock, jewelry box (I'm definitely keeping this one), metal mesh tray, wire tractor and vintage crochet hangers.

Isn't this little gal cute? What really sold me on her is her Princess Edith sash, not to mention her lovely dress and crown. Not sure hold old she is, but I've never seen a princess doll like this before.

Close up of the little tractor. Perfect for Farm Chicks!

On Tuesday, Joy and Isabel came over to work on some projects. Here's Joy cutting out a liner for her shopping cart. Notice the dresser/ cutting table? I got that a couple weeks ago on craigslist. It's in great shape. Just needs new knobs and a little sanding and it's good to go.

On Thursday I headed over to Monticello to straighten up the booth before the big sale they are having this weekend. On my way over I made a few thrifty stops and got these goodies. Pillowcases, floral quilted sham, rose fabric box, silver sugar/creamer set, metal mesh holder thingy, clip board, tool caddy and bag of trim pieces.

Oh yeah, I forgot to show you the picture of the box I sent to Heather for her Junque in my Trunk swap. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the inside of the box, but you can see them on Heather's blog here.

Awhile back I was asked to post some blogging advice which was pretty funny as I was and still am a blog dork and I am amazed each and every time I am able to put together a decent post. One thing I think I should have added though, was it's important for people to be able to email you through your blog. A lot of times I don't want to comment, but I want to send an email and I am always frustrated when there is no link to do so. You can either put a link on your sidebar to your email address or like me, put it in your profile. Boy, do I sound bossy, or what? But seriously, sometimes someone will comment on my blog and ask a specific question. When I go to their blog to answer, I sometimes have no way to do so other than leave a comment which isn't always appropriate.

So, soccer this morning and then I will be a painting maniac. Hope you all have a truly wonderful weekend!

CA Trip Part 2 -Long Beach Flea Market

Last Saturday night my step mom, Thetis and I headed over to Long Beach from Temecula to sleep over at my Aunt and Uncle's house so we could get up bright and early for the Flea Market. We arrived at 6:30 am and I couldn't believe how big this sale was. A lot of people were still setting up, but I could definitely see why so many people like to shop this Flea. I wasn't really surprised to see lots of high prices in many booths, it just meant I had to look a little harder to find the real bargains. Of course I had to keep in mind that I was flying home so I couldn't get anything very big as I didn't want to have to worry about shipping stuff.

Big stuff like this:

Awesome antique bed with carved roses.

Isn't this a sweet set? I would love to have it on my deck.

This was the most gorgeous enormous chandelier. Isn't it fab? There were a lot of dealers with vintage chandeliers and lighting. Enough to fill up several houses.

I loved this double baker's rack. If I had my own shop, this would be an awesome display piece. Gotta love the chippy/rusty quality to it.

There was a ton of vintage bling. This dealer had it all in bags. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but after awhile, I was thinking, "ugh, more jewelry," there was just so much.

Isn't this the coolest metal cabinet/locker? I didn't even dare look at the price. I think this dealer brought stuff over from Europe . Saying there was a lot of vintage clothing would be a gross understatement. I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of cool stuff to look at. I made it through the whole show by about 12:00pm and since I had a flight at 5:00pm to come home I knew I needed to get going, but I just wanted to take another quick look down the first isle I went down. I was about half way down when I hear, "hey, aren't you..." When I looked up I saw Heather Bullard coming toward me. I can't believe she recognized me with all the people there. I yelled, "Heather!" and we hugged. I'm sure people thought we were nuts. We had fun chatting about Farm Chicks (we're both going to be vendors there) and we're both so excited about it.


Here we are posing in a booth with lots of pretty vintage linens. I look terrible and I could barely smile as my feet were really hurting from all that walking.

So, now I guess you want to know what I bought. Not a lot, but what I got I really love. In fact, I was a little disappointed that I actually came home with money. I hate when that happens. ha ha

I got this cute little metal divided box and all the rhinestone buttons and pins that are in it. The little compact was probably my favorite find of the day. I also really love the hand painted roses pin too. It will be added to my collection.
I also managed to find three vintage crinolines, vintage roses pillowcase fabric, fabric vanity organizer and a large piece of pink gauzy fabric. I think I got pretty good prices on the crinolines I bought, but there were some there up to $40 each. Ouch!


Overall, I am very pleased with my trip to the Long Beach Flea Market and will definitely go back again in the future. Next time I won't plan my flight home on the same day so that I can take my time and not feel so rushed. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I will have more thrifted finds and completed project pictures coming up soon!


I have had a lot of new visitors to my blog in the last couple weeks and I just want to say thank you for all of your sweet comments. I really do love hearing from you and learning about your blogs too. Happy Thursday, all!

My California Trip Part One

Once again I missed the boat and didn't participate in the Show and Tell Sunday. Yesterday was suppose to be Vintage Bling. I got home last night from my trip and was just too tired. Had to work this morning and now I'm finally doing a post. Maybe I'll show off my bling another time.

My trip to California was just wonderful. I took a ton of pictures, worthy of at least two posts. On Friday, my dad and I headed over to the La Maison Rustique Barn Sale in Temecula. It was a beautiful sunny day which I really needed as it has been so soggy up here in the great Pacific NW.

It was great to see these gals again. From the left, Sherry, Joy, Linda, Tracy. The sale itself was awesome. So many wonderful treasures. As I said, I took lots of pictures so here are just a few of the many things for sale.

As I was looking around I met this sweet little gal and I asked her if she was working there or just shopping. She said that she had some things for sale. I asked her if she had a blog. She said no, but she had a website. I asked her what it was and when she said "Christie Repasy," I couldn't believe it. I have admired her paintings for years and would give anything to be able to paint roses like she does. She was very sweet and down to earth and said she "has a thing for roses too." I pretty much knew that. So Christie, if you are reading this, it was a real pleasure meeting you. Thanks so much for chatting with me.

Here is a picture of Christie's sister-in-law Rita with Sherry. Rita makes the prettiest pillows out of fabulous fabrics.

I bought more than I thought I would at the barn sale. I thought I would just get one of Sherry's t-shirts, but I ended up getting one of her lovely necklaces too. After the barn sale, my dad and I went to a couple of my favorite shops in Temecula and found a few little things. While at "Serendipity" I ran into a fellow blogger, Debbie. Turns out we have both visited each others blogs before. What fun!

So, here's a few pictures of what I bought on Friday.

I love this t-shirt I got from Sherry. She has a few other styles as well and I think you can buy them on her blog too.

My favorite purchase of the whole weekend was this cabinet. Did I ever mention that I have a thing for cute little cabinets? I do and I absolutely love this one. I seriously have a lot of cute cabinets, maybe I will just sell one to make room for this cutie. Love the aqua paint and knobs. Not sure yet where I will put it, but I'm sure I will find a place for it somewhere.

On Saturday my Dad and I played tennis (he murdered me), had a delicious breakfast at my favorite restaurant in Temecula, the Swing Inn and went to see the new movie, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." Seriously funny, but if you are at all bothered by full frontal male nudity, you might want to skip it.

Well, this post is getting extremely long. I want to share with you my day at the Long Beach Flea Market so I will do that on my next post. Lots more pictures of some great vintage eye candy. Au revoir!

I'm off!

Just a quick post to say that I'll be back from my trip on Sunday night. Just in time to participate in Sunday's Show & Tell. This week featuring vintage bling! One of my favorite collections.

My honey got back from his trip to Japan yesterday and boy was I glad to see him. He had a great but short trip. When I got home from work yesterday he was home waiting and couldn't wait to show me this.

Let me explain. The day before he left for his trip, he was out in garage working on some project. I went out there to be with him and ended up taking apart a vintage dress form I had out there that had ugly fabric covering it. Well, I took the whole thing apart and left the dress form in pieces hoping that I would remember how to put it back together. I was so touched that he did it for me. And the best part, I didn't even ask him to do it. Now, my hubby is a pretty tolerant guy to put up with all my stuff, and if asked, he'll help me on projects from time to time, but he has never just done something like this for me without out me asking him. I almost cried.

I will be taking this girl to farm chicks where she will be outfitted in a vintage crinoline and some pretty necklaces.

Here she is modeling an apron I had Joy make for me.

And finally, I finished my very own shopping cart liner for my cart. I thought about taking it on my trip with me, but I decided I just don't want to bother with it this time. I love how cute it turned out.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

I'm a Lucky Girl, Part Deux

I finally got my swap package to Heather mailed out yesterday. Aren't you glad? Now you don't have to hear me talk about it any more. When I got home from work, I had a lovely surprise waiting for me. Okay, it wasn't a surprise as I knew it was coming, but I was so excited to see Heather's package in my mailbox. I had shown this sneaky peak from Heather's blog last week.



Now, I hesitate to show you all the fabulous stuff that was inside. I mean, I don't want to make you all jealous or anything. Okay, maybe I want to make you a little jealous. ha ha But seriously, I just have to show you. Let me say though, how amazed I was that Heather was able to get so much in such a small box. The "trunk" was an old sewing machine drawer that Heather painted white. So cute and useful for holding lots of my little treasures. This is what was inside:

gorgeous vintage wallpaper, little cards made by Heather and a couple vintage greeting cards, little lace box with rhinestone pin and the most lovely rhinestone button I have ever seen, glass buttons, ledger papers, victorian catalogue pages, velvet ribbons, millinery roses, an adorable piece of ticking fabric, pink glitter in a sweet little bottle, hankies, diecuts, gold and MOP pill box with ribbon roses, sweet little match box, the most beautiful lace doily, half doll, little cameo, pieces of lace, piece of barkcloth fabric, paper roses and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

I truly am a lucky girl. I only hope that Heather is half as happy with my gifts as I am with hers. I knew that her trunk would be fabulous, but I wasn't prepared for how generous she was. If there was a store called "Everything Lisa Loves" I'm sure this is where all of this wonderful "junque" would have come from. Thank you so much Heather! I'll be your swap partner any time!

Working today and again tomorrow. I leave on Thursday for my trip to Southern CA and the Long Beach Flea Market. I am so excited I can barely stand it. I know lots of bloggers like to go to this flea market, so if you see me, please stop me and say hi. That is if you can catch me. I'll most likely be in a vintage shopping frenzy. Gotta see it all. Have a great day!