Painting Fun

I love going to Value Village.  Yes, you DO have to watch prices, because to be honest, the people doing the pricing don't always realize that you can buy the new product for not much more...and it will be pretty much guaranteed smoke-free.
But sometimes, I do find treasures.  I usually browse (slowwwwly) through the sci-fi and fantasy (and vintage) book section, then the glass and the bagged up "etc." stuff. 
Yesterday, I found a large bag full of those cheap dollar store plastic pumpkins:  one large, several small (as in...a couple of dozen?) for $4.  Had to get it, those of you who have seen some of the pumpkin decorating ideas online would completely understand.  I also picked up two white ceramic cherubs.  My original plan was to buy some bronze or copper spray paint, but by the time I got home, I was in too much of a hurry and used the silver I had on hand.  The result:

The cherub on the left just needed the sealer, the one on the right is just after he was spray painted silver.

I moved on to the pumpkins...the small ones.  First, I went with...what else?  silver.  It was handy.
The before and after:

I want to try other colours for the pumpkins, including a hammered metal spray, and that idea I saw where the pumpkin looks like mercury glass.  After some searching, I found some at Michaels in Windsor, at $19.99 +tax.  BUT...more searching showed  a Rust-oleum product that promised the same effect, for $15.99 at Home Hardware.  Other places may have it in-store, but not searchable online.
**please note, these prices are valid at my local stores as of the date of posting this.  Prices may change, or may vary according to location.

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I'll post pics of more as I finish, I may even try some seaglass paint!

Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime

And I can feel the heat.  Not complaining, though, since I can well-remember looking forward to this when temps hit below freezing and an early morning shift meant scraping my windshield and possibly digging out my car.

So, what am I working on?  An afghan.  A nice, cozy, warm afghan.  With no air conditioner in place yet.  I had started it several weeks ago...February?  March?  Then my interest kinda fizzled, and I couldn't think of anything I really wanted to work on.  This past week, I finally picked it up again, figuring I would do a nice square afghan, 9 12" squares...then a border.  I finished assembling it this morning, then looked at the yarn I have left, and *think* I can do 3 rows of 4 squares before a simple border.  I hope so, at least until I get a thin border of cream colour done, the rest I can do white.

I chose cream and white, a simple monochromatic afghan, using my Autumn Warmth square.

The picture, to be brutally honest, stinks, but it gives you an idea.  I plan on posting this for sale in my Etsy shop when it is finished, so hope I can manage to get much better pictures of it!

It's DECEMBER!!

It happens every year, and much as I may try to prepare for it, December always manages to take me by surprise.

After quite a long creativity dry spell, I designed two crocheted gift card holders.  One was one of those lightning bolt ideas I love so much:  I had thought of crocheting a snowman, then thought maybe a gift card holder might be nice....and then I saw exactly how it was going to close....

Made with worsted weight acrylic yarn, plastic buttons and some dimensional fabric paint.
Then I thought I would do another version, this one closes with a loop through a 'handle' that forms a pompom of sorts as well as doubles as a hanging loop.

Made with worsted weight acrylic yarn, buttons, dimensional fabric paint and size 10 crochet thread.
The pattern includes instructions for both snowmen designs and is available in my Etsy shop, click on either picture to view the listing.
*Finished gift card holders can be purchased, I have one listed here, and a few others finished that I have not yet listed (including the green ones shown here)

A tough decision

I have long feared that one day, I would have to make The Decision. 

Recently, it became that time.

Our little Westie, Daisy,  has been through a lot in her 13 1/2 years.  ACL surgery several years back (she bounced back so fast it scared me until the vet said she was fine!), last year, a uterine infection, right after Christmas time.  This meant an emergency surgery.  After doing some reading while Daisy was at the vet's, I discovered that this could have been avoided if we had had her spayed.  It wasn't a matter of money:  at first, we thought we might let her have one litter, then as time progressed, she was fine, and when she was heat, it wasn't like a cat being in heat, so we just never bothered.

Late this summer, I took her in with a urinary tract infection.  I noticed before taking her in that she had lumps in one of her mammary glands and mentioned this to the vet.  He told me "lumps in the mammary glands are not good"  which I had kind of figured, but he was going to take care of the infection, we could discuss the other later. 

About a month later, I noticed Daisy again showed signs of discomfort that she had shown with her UTI, minus the tail clamped so tightly its tip probably touched her abdomen.  I took her in, the vet felt a lump in her bladder.  An x-ray and an ultra-sound later determined it was not stones, but a large mass.  Not good news.  Without cutting her open and doing a biopsy, we couldn't know 100% for sure that it was cancer, but it was a very good chance this was.  My husband and I had discussed this: at Daisy's age, why put her through this just to be 100% sure?   When at her age, another surgery to remove it (if possible) might not be the right thing to do?  We would try to manage her pain, watch her, and when we thought it was time, we would make the call.

 The pain med/anti-inflammatory dose that she is getting no longer seems to be helping for long.  She whimpers, whines and groans while she strains...even right in front of us in the house...to eliminate.  She groans and barks outside while trying.
We are cleaning up puddles of urine and  trails of blood drops daily.

It is time.

But it is still hard, there is a part of me that wonders if it is too soon,  that if, aside from her sleeping a lot and in between the bouts of pain, there is still some quality of life.  Then I hear her groaning and watch her squirm or try to squat and part of me knows it is time. 

Mastering the Crocodile Stitch, and a couple of hasty reviews

I think I've gotten the hang of the crocodile stitch.  I remember trying months ago, maybe it was the pattern, maybe I was just not able to focus, but I was not able to figure it out.
Then, for a great-niece's birthday I wanted to make some adorable slippers that used this stitch, bought the pattern from Bonita Patterns and had no problem following her instructions.  I bought a few different patterns, I am hoping to do some winter accessories for myself before winter hits. 
If you do purchase, however, please note that I was automatically added to her mailing list, which is, btw, against Etsy's TOU's.  Instead of asking you to opt in, she considered buying the pattern as opting in.  It was easy enough to unsubscribe, but that is not the point.  Will this stop me from buying again?  Nope, but I will be sure to put something about this in my note to seller when checking out.
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Forward about a half year, and a couple of friends tagged me in a post on FB.  Someone was looking for someone to crochet some owls that used this stitch, the owls were adorable, so I messaged her.  Never did hear back with a yes or a no thank you, but someone else in the same post commented that she would be interested.  I messaged that one, heard back right away, and wound up purchasing the pattern and completed these:

The pattern from CAROcreated(click on the picture to see the listing) is actually for an applique and calls for sport or fingering yarn for an owl app. 4" tall.  The customer wanted one a bit larger, for a wall, so I used worsted weight yarn and ended up with these, app. 7.5" tall.  The colour may be a bit off, the owl on the left is not purple, but grey.

Now, this pattern was fairly easy to follow, however, someone with less experience crocheting may have gotten confused:  I had to stop and reread at times because the pattern did not exactly follow standard format.  Instead of saying (example, this is *not* from the pattern) 2sc in 1st st, sc in 10, 2sc in last, it was 'increase, 10sc, increase'.  I did have some difficulty interpreting that and something like 'inc, 3sc, 1sc, 2sc', when I wasn't sure if the 2 were in one stitch.  Until I realized there were actually brackets:  'inc, (3sc) 1sc, 2sc' to show that the 3sc were all in one stitch.

Would I buy from this seller again?  Oh, yes! CAROcreated has some awesome looking parrots and some more appliques that I would love to work up!

Has it been *That* long??

I guess it has, last published Sept of 2014.   My how my poor blog has been neglected.
So, quick sum-up:
Still here.
Still crocheting (although not as much, sadly)
Working on a new pattern, though I have been working on it for months.  And I think I have misplaced my hand-written scribbles.
Finally going through some of my craft supplies, which was my New Year's Resolution.  Only took half a year...

I do have to be honest, though, I started out looking for a pattern that I am sure I still have, which I never did find.  Hey, if you happen to know which magazine (I am convinced it was one of the digest sized ones) or an online site where I can find it, feel free to comment:  it is a long potholder, crocheted using 2 or 3 strands of cotton held together.  One long piece, tapered at each end, with two short pieces, also tapered, that are joined at each end to form pockets for your hands to fit into.

Anyway, didn't find that, but did find some 'treasures' in a plastic bin I brought up to dig through.  Some baby dresses that I may work on at some point, some Hass Design patterns that I had forgotten about, and a few booklets that seem to be hard to find.  A couple of which are selling for considerably more than they did originally.  Finally, after seeing others discover such treasures, I have some myself. 
I started listing some on eBay, and some in my Etsy shop.
Crochet Ornament Toppers was one of the surprises, being unable to find many at all for sale, the one I did find is listed at almost $60 US.  Figured I'd try a bit lower on eBay and see if there are nibbles:

 

And one so far in my Etsy shop:

I have a week of "stay-cation", so am hoping to at least get through this bin.  It will be brutal, even after listing, that little voice in my head is whispering "Are you sure?  You might want to make these some day!"  I think you know how it is. 

September, Bring on Fall!

I can't complain too much about our summer.  Yes, some hot days, and yes, a slightly excessive amount of rain, which seemed more excessive due to a leaky roof.  Those days will soon be behind us, we've been approved for a short-term loan and are calling a roofer tomorrow.  Is it sad to be so excited about something as mundane as a roof? 

So far I'm not complaining too much about our late summer weather either (well, maybe the rain when it sneaks in and finds its way into my oldest's bedroom!), since it is cool without being too cool--although there was a morning or two when the heat was turned on just to take the chill off!

While outside enjoying the wonderful pre-autumn day, my mind wandered ahead to Hallowe'en and gorgeous full-fall weather.  Then it continued on to cooler weather in November, then December...and that S-word that shall not be mentioned here yet.  And I realized that the summer really did seem to fly by, that it hadn't seemed that long since we'd finally and with great relief were able to put the s*** shovels away, and the time spent with both my daughters home was over too soon when we drove our oldest back up to Ottawa.

With the fall weather, my creativity for some reason always seems to wake itself:  instead of wondering "what am I going to do????" I find myself wondering "what am I going to do first??"

Hopefully, I will have some time to create some new designs.  I have no idea how or why, but I've had many people join my facebook group where I've listed my free patterns.   It kinda puts the pressure on--in a GOOD way!--to thank them by coming up with more free patterns. 

Not so Hazy Days of Summer

My first sunflower of the year.  A little story about this sunny face:  last year I purchased a packet of mixed sunflower seeds (red, orange, yellow) but never did plant them.  I saved them, thinking I'd do it this year, but sadly, forgot all about them till I started my annual clear the overgrown garden task and by then it was too late to plant seeds.
 After I had finally cleared the garden and was planting some annuals I'd bought, a neighbour asked if I would like some sunflowers:  his plant last year had spawned hundreds of babies this year and he was giving them away to anyone and everyone.  I have a small patch now, and imagine there'll be lots more next year!

August 11th...and I could probably count on one hand the nights I have slept *without* a comforter this summer.  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, it is just hard to believe, after the nights last year when the hot nights made sleeping difficult.

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After not having been up in my attic for several months, I was up the other day and decided to get rid of all the yarn I had up there.  I haven't touched it in at least two years, so why not?  I listed one 68 litre tote in a local facebook group for crafters to post their unwanted crafting supplies for $30 (Cdn), tote included.
I had a request for more pictures than the grab-bag-style picture that showed only the top layer, and was surprised at how much yarn actually was in there.

Speaking of Facebook...I will admit I am shocked at how many people have joined my free pattern group.  Before, there'd be a few here and there, but lately, there've been days of more than 10, and as soon as I approve them all, a few more apply.   I am wondering why the sudden popularity?  And also feeling like I should finally get around to designing some more free patterns!

                                                

New pattern??

I will admit, I've been considering typing up and selling my pattern for a hand/dish towel and dishcloth.  I've held back for some time, since the stitches used are basic, the only 'trick' is the row count for the pattern of stripes.  However, after seeing how some designers charge $5 for a basic double crochet hat pattern (and they do sell!), I've been re-thinking this and may just type it up.

For a few weeks, I did not pick up a crochet hook at all, or if I did, it sat beside me tucked into a skein of yarn, both of which after a while were put away, in the same condition I brought them out.  Tiring of this lack of creativity, I pulled out a hook and some cotton yarn and figured I'd just work on some dishcloths.  Which surprisingly, did actually help with my creativity.  Since then, I have a couple ideas in mind, hopefully I can start one of them very soon.

Everything may get put aside in 5 days though, I've been waiting for 2 years for the third book in a triology to come out, and July 15th is THE day.  I was hooked almost from the beginning of Deborah Harkness' "A Discovery of Witches" and after finishing "Shadow of Night" waited anxiously for the third book.  And waited...and waited...I felt like an online stalker constantly checking for any sign of progress.  Finally, my stalking...er..waiting was to be rewarded, and with an actual date, even though it was still a few months ahead, the waiting was easier.
I haven't waited this anxiously for a book since the Harry Potter books.  :)

Hot Days of Summer!

I've been looking through my items in the basement, and it would be nice to clear some out to make room for more stock.  (Those 'Small Space' tv  shows are a joke, some of them can fit my whole downstairs in their living room!!  Some of the closets they show are twice as big as my standing room only bathroom)
So...I thought I would post some of my afghans on FB groups I am a member of at a 25% discount.  Then I thought:  "Why not go all out?"  And...I created a coupon code for 25% off everything in my shop with a minimum purchase of only $20 required.  Enter coupon code "hazydays25" (no quotes) when checking out:  feel free to contact me there or here if you run into difficulty during the checkout process.
Please note:  coupon code is not valid on shipping. 

I *Think* it's Spring at Last!

There are signs: 
**most of the snow has finally gone; what is left is the stuff that is insulated by all the dirt that covers it.
**The robins no longer look confused and lost.
**Our cats that do not step foot outside the door once cold weather hits have ventured out once or twice.
**Our little Westie has decided she does not need to come back in after only two minutes outside.

I found a pattern for a colourful gecko, and thought how nice it would be if I could make up a couple and attach them to the front of my porch's railing.  Of course, after suggesting this to my daughter, the idea was quickly and vehemently shot down.  I may still do it, right after I make up some budgies that I purchased the pattern for and wanted to make to put in our little tree.  A few years ago...

So, what am I working on?  A friend in one online group I belong to suggested a crochet along, and thought this time I might just try it.  So, each week, we are crocheting 4 squares from this tunisian throw pattern at Lionbrand.  Not only will I have a new throw for my living room (if I do stick with it and actually finish it!) but I am learning new stitches.  And getting ideas, some of these would make nice dishcloths and potholders!
We start the next square pattern on Monday, I have one square finished for this week, three to go.  Something tells me I may not finish all 4 by tomorrow.  :)

Another Goodbye.

I realized yesterday, while working and thinking of words to put together, that I have usually turned to writing in my times of grief.  Pictures flow through my mind of happier times, some from long ago, and I feel an urge to share them via words. 

Thursday, I found out my grandfather had passed away.  I found out on Facebook, which may seem shocking, but it was through a private message from my brother who thought I had already been called.   I imagine I might have felt differently if I had logged in to see posts from relatives in my feed.

Sadly, words seem to be failing me now, so

Dear Grandpa:
Although I didn't get a chance to see you one last time, I try to comfort myself with the thought that your pain was not prolonged, and that you are happier now and welcomed warmly by family who are waiting beyond.
I will try to smile when I remember visiting you and searching your bedroom floor for the change which we later suspected you threw there on purpose but never did confirm that.  And when I remember a Grandpa who got right down on the floor and played with three giggling young girls, giving them 'horseback' rides around the room.
Or when I remember a night my two sisters and I stayed with you and Grandma Betty and we drove to Windsor in your mobile home to see Freaky Friday. 

I think forever, I will picture you sitting at the ponds, surrounded by family at our yearly reunion, with a smile on your face that showed how much we were all loved and how happy you were to have your family around you.

Please forgive me my tears as I write this, I know in time the tears and the pain will fade and the same happy memories that bring those tears now will  instead bring smiles.
Love you Grandpa,
Sally

George Oliver (Ollie) Sharp
1923-2014

The Ugly Vase

In high school, my favourite class was art class.  Mr. Gombai was an artist, and judged our works perhaps a bit harshly.  If you got a 90, you knew darned well you deserved it, good grades were not handed out easily.
Sometimes, one of our fellow students would sit on top of the counter at the front of the class and the rest of the class would work on copying that image with pencil into our sketchpads.  I do remember mine looked a bit distorted, and I learned I could NOT sit and draw with my pad flat on my desk.  One model was tall to begin with, by the time I finished my drawing, he looked even taller and thinner.

One assignment was to paint a vase.  This was not an ordinary vase.  It was a mottled green vase with a black 'rim' around the top, and was slightly figural.  We teased the teacher about it, and he told us the vase was one he had smuggled out with him when he left Hungary.  To this day, I am not sure if the story is true, or one he made up just to put us in our place.

Hungarian vase, photo is property of bellaroni on Etsy and is used here with permission.  This vase has been sold and is not available for purchase, but bellaroni does have other  vintage items to check out!

Sometimes, my brother and I will reminisce about art class and Mr. Gombai, and usually, the topic of that ugly vase comes up.  Looking back, it wasn't really so ugly; perhaps the years have added beauty to it in the memories that it brings forth.

Saying goodbye...

...to crochetsal.com.
And boy, it's taken some work, even considering the work is all done with me sitting on my tush.
For now, all my free patterns are listed in a new Facebook group I started.  The drawback to that is their file feature is somewhat limited and you can't have different folders .  BUT, I did discover that if I comment under each file, the words in the comments are searchable, even though the title of the file itself is not. 

I will also have to edit all my free pattern links on Ravelry, and may eventually add the free patterns there, but wow, I tried yesterday and instead of getting easier, it seems to have gotten more involved listing a pattern. 

On a non-crochet note, my father brought over 3 boxes of old books.  Now, I remember a lot of these from living at home, most of them came from my Grandma Dobson's house after she passed away:  she had shelves and cupboards of books and when I visited her one of my favourite things to do was look through them all.
Two of the books are from *my* high school days.  Which don't seem like that long ago, but are still vintage according to Etsy's standards (20 years).  Some are my father's books from school, and several are my grandmother's school books!
There is even one book from 1873.  Wow.  Sadly, looking online, these books that are such treasures to me, with names of loved ones in their younger days, are not treasures to the rest of the world, not even the book-loving rest of the world.

I have to admit, my husband was not too happy to see 3 boxes of books taking up space in our small living room, even if they did make our living room smell like an old library (mmmmmm), so I assured him, I will go through, pick the ones that I want and list the rest online.  The Sherlock Holmes book is going no farther than the bookshelf in my bedroom.

Personal Post Day today. :)

I used to write, a lot.  Page after page, words would appear, put there sometimes by me, sometimes by the characters themselves.  Nothing ever was done with those pages of words, often what started out with plans to be a novel would never be finished, but I wrote.
Then, I'm not sure what happened, the writing stopped.  The creative part of me continued, though, especially when I learned how to crochet.  Instead of words joining together to create a short story or an unfinished novel, stitches joined together to create an afghan, or doll clothes, or a toy.  And then, the only writing I did was in the form of  letters and numbers that to anyone who cannot follow patterns would make no sense at all.

But there still remains a small part of me that sometimes thinks fondly of those days plopped in front of a typewriter or with a pad of paper and a pen with a bottomless cup of coffee beside me while words, then sentences, then paragraphs emerged.  And how great it felt.

Last night, I dreamed of a typewriter.  I can't remember what the dream was about, something about ;was it my old typewriter??' but it got me thinking that today, I wanted to write.  Maybe not fiction, maybe straight up stuff from the heart, so....

Today is a day of mixed feelings.  More so today than the last few months, after Dad told me about an old friend from grade school.  Well, not just a friend, but his grade 5 girl friend.  He'd been thinking about her the last few years after meeting her at a funeral, and after my mother passed away, they got in touch and reconnected and began a long-distance relationship.  She had come from a bad relationship, Dad had at last spoken aloud the words I'd known for years:  "I loved your mother, I still do, but she made my life miserable".  It seemed the two were destined for another chance at happiness.  And I was and am so happy for my Dad, and hope this relationship works out.

But (of course there is one, I did say 'mixed' feelings!)...there is the ghost of my mother.  Years ago, my sister had commented she would dance on the grave when mom died and I had replied with "No, you won't.  You will mourn what once was and what could have and should have been."  I had no idea then that it would be only a matter of a decade or so before my words would prove true.
So, even though I hadn't had much to do with a mother who thought nothing of calling her grandchildren "crybabies and tattletales" or in one niece's case, a streetwalker, when my mother passed away, I did mourn.  We all did.
And while we sat with my dying mother, I worried about my father.  My parents had been married 45 years, and had dated for a few years before that even.  Mom was all dad knew.
But before I even left the hospital in the wee hours of the morning, a feeling washed over me that dad would be all right.  And then a few days later came the hope that he would be able to enjoy life now; the words uttered aloud brought on a sense of guilt that my mother was somewhere watching, and could hear these words and actually after death finally realize just how badly she had treated her family and drove them away.  And that she would finally feel remorse...but I didn't want that.  Not in death.  Perhaps in life when it could have made a difference, but not in death.

Which brings me to today and the mixed feelings of being happy for my dad, and a strange feeling of seeing dad with someone other than my mother.  Today, I meet my father's girlfriend face to face for the first time. 

Spring Cleaning!

I've only just begun, but have several listings on eBay and a few on Etsy. 
The process is tedious:  take a few pics, upload, edit.  Create a new listing, publish....start all over. 
Yes, it will be sad to see all the yarn go, but perhaps I should be happy that it will be going to a new home where someone will love it and use it instead of stashing it away in a dark corner for months.  Years?
So far, I've gone through my cotton yarns and my eyelash yarns, well most of the eyelash, I think I have a bag somewhere, too, but that might just wait for another day...
If anyone is interested in destash yarns, several are available on eBay now.

To clear out my finished items, I do have a coupon code available on Facebook, but I'll share it here as well.  Valid only in my Etsy shop, enter coupon code "fbmay" (minus the quotes) on checking out to save 20% on everything in my shop, destash or completed items.  Feel free to share the code with friends and family that might be looking for crocheted gifts!

All items are included, old, new--even my newest listings like Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter:

Those who have read L. Frank Baum's books about Oz may recognize the name. 

Happy New Year!

My new year started out with a bang.  The bang being my left leg hitting cement when my right ankle twisted after stepping on uneven pavement at 1 am New Year's Day.
I did manage to limp home (only a block) with relatively little pain...the pain hit when I removed my shoe once home.  It was only a mild sprain, and knowing it wasn't broken and that a doctor would probably only tell me to ice it and rest it, I went to my chiropractor who adjusted it.  And did suggest icing.  It could have been much worse:  I could have broken it, or severely sprained it.  I could have cracked my head on the bumper of the van that was right there.  I will admit, I babied it for a couple of days and took those two nights off work.

Because of my good fortune  in avoiding a more serious injury, I dredged up an old coupon code in my Etsy shop.  This will be valid on all items in my shop, excluding shipping, for the entire month of January.  If you purchase this month and enter LUCKY13 as a coupon code, you will save 13% on your purchase at Smudgekitty on Etsy. 


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I can't help but wonder if I am the only one who has subscribed to AllFreeCrochet/Hooked on Crochet's newsletters?  I had subscribed to their crochet newsletter as well as their 'special offers'.  Yes, I understand 'special offers' are from their advertisers, but most companies try to send offers that appeal to their subscriber base.
AFC/HoC??  Not so much.  The other day I received an email entitled 'Sugar Shocker Shakes Medical World'.  In the email was a link to an 'underground video'.  I could not believe this had come from the site, but figured they'd been hacked so I contacted them.
Wow.  Imagine my disappointment to hear that they *had* sent the email on behalf of one of their subscribers.  They went on to say that I could unsubscribe if I no longer wished to receive these.  This morning, another, I think it was something about weight loss.  I sort of got the impression that they'd send any crap from anyone as long as they were paid.  As for being a 'special offer'?  It's not so special if I receive several of these daily from spammers.
Not only did I unsubscribe from that newsletter, but also from their crochet one.  I figure anyone who cares so little about their subscribers doesn't want me as one.

HOT DOG!!!

Thought I'd have a bit of fun with an Etsy team creative challenge.
Each month, I find obscure 'special' occasions, draw out two, and members can challenge their creativity by crocheting something for one or both themes.
July's choices were National Hot Dog Month and Blueberry Month.  Guess which I chose?  :)
 The amigurumi ketchup and mustard bottles need some work, so the bottles will not be available for sale.  I am hoping to re-work them into something I'm happy with and have a pattern available before too long.

Vintage Fun

I have mentioned my Grandma Dobson previously...where I mentioned how sure I am that my love of glassware began with her.  I firmly believe my love of yard sales also started with a visit to Grandma.

This past weekend, my husband, oldest daughter and I went to the Treasure Hunting Flea Market at nearby Heritage Village.  My daughter thought perhaps she could find some items for a  low enough price that she could turn around and sell them on eBay.  After all, the end of her free education (well, not exactly free, we pay taxes) is soon coming to an end, and university is not cheap.  Especially if you plan on attending one that's not exactly within driving distance.

While there, we did find some goodies, and actually did buy a few.  Whether or not they are worth anything...well, I'm finding out now that searching for information is almost as fun as looking at everything at the flea market!
One item I did find was a Cap'n Crunch bank.  Years ago (for those too young to remember) breakfast cereal often had some cool freebies, either in the box, or fun things you could mail away for.  The Cap'n Crunch bank was one.  This guy was in very good shape, and I just had to have him.  I found out afterward, that they have been selling for anywhere from $14 US (not in very good condition) to $50 US!!

I currently have him listed on Etsy, and will leave him for a bit, but am also considering listing him on eBay instead.  Here, if I have heard correctly, I must thank those scammers on eBay who would list something for pennies with an exorbitant  shipping price to avoid paying eBay their final value fee--eBay now takes their FVF on the shipping cost as well.


I also picked up a set of 4 carnival glass goblets.  My daughter made me promise I would not keep these--we really don't have room in this house, but I LOVE carnival glass!  I have to take pics of these and list them on Etsy, or eBay, as well.
What really caught our eye was near the end of our 'shopping'.  On the ground under a large table was a box of frames.  On top, a framed black and white print of a man.  The original photo was vintage, you could tell from the pose, the clothes, the hair...but there was just something compelling about this man, and my daughter had to have the picture.  I agreed...we hadn't fully decided, when the man behind the table quoted us a not-to-be-turned down price on the whole box which helped us make our decision.
Once home, we looked at the picture.  The backing paper was brown, very dry and brittle, and glued along the back edges of the wood frame.  There were the numbers '12 04' in red, and a stamp below with the name of a business (the picture is downstairs at the moment, and I'll admit I just don't feel like running down just to do an exact quote right now), Tschirhart was the name.  The address was 85 Pitt St. East in Windsor.  Cool, local!  But, a Google map search, street view did not show us any such business, and a regular Google search showed lawyers at that address.
Which is understandable, I'm sure 'piano and player piano' businesses aren't exactly a dime a dozen nowadays.
So...how long ago did this business exist?  A look at the phone number on the stamp is a very good indication.  Now, phone numbers are 10 digits, you must dial the area code as well, and as long as I've been alive, we've had 7 digits for local calls.  The phone number for Tschirhart's shop?  896-K

THREE digits.  So far, the best  I could find was this was before the mid 50's.  My father is pretty sure it was much earlier.
So...way cool!
Again, I will have to take pics of this find.  I am not sure if we'll wind up putting him up for sale or keeping him, but I am having fun trying to learn about him.  If we do sell him, I honestly think I'll miss him.

The $4,000 doodle

I think I've decided to leave yesterday's post up.  If anything, it could be a lesson on why sleep is important. 

While on Etsy this morning, a seller posted a comment in the forum.  I'm still trying to figure this seller out, whether he posts just to get a rise out of people, or he sincerely is trying to sell his work for the prices he is asking.  I won't paste his work or his name here, but I will give you a general idea of what it looks like: 

Imagine this done in marker, on a wrinkled piece of art paper torn from a spiral art pad, with a picture that looks like it's taken on someone's carpeted floor.  With an asking price of $4,000.
Of course, the 'artist' spent hours on that (my representation took about 10 seconds, but it is very close), and take your pick of different drawings:  goat, mask, horse...they all look almost identical.  And apparently, the artist studied some kind of relationship...can't remember his exact wording, lines?  geometry?  Alcohol?
Keeping this $4,000 doodle, ooops, masterpiece in mind, please take a peek at my daughter's drawing.  Now, obviously, she's not in the same class as the artist I've mentioned, and has not studied any relationship between lines and shapes other than one year of high school art class, but if I *have* to pay $4,000 for one or the other, hands-down, I'd pick hers. 
Another difference between the two, the 'artist' stands firmly by his prices and his boasts of his skills, while my daughter claims she is no artist.  Ah, modesty.  :)

This is one of her more recent drawings, and isn't one of her best. 
If by chance anyone is interested in an 8 x 10 print of this, it will be printed on acid-free paper on our HP colour printer and shipped sandwiched between cardboard to prevent wrinkling and bending in the mail.  $20 includes shipping anywhere, and all profit will go to my daughter, to put away for school, or spend as she sees fit.  I can be contacted at crochetsal (at symbol here) yahoo (dot symbol here) com.