Make Someone Happy! Lend a Helping Hand

At Christmas time last year I had a woman contact me on Etsy.  She had a lot of items to sell and wanted to know how difficult it was to set up shop.  I gave her the entire rundown - the selling is very easy.  But then I realized - the only reason the back end of it - shipping - is easy for me - is because I have some space to have all those miscellaneous boxes and recycled materials to send things off with.  For someone in a smaller space - this would be very difficult and perhaps expensive.

Margaret contacted me again in June - perhaps I could buy outright/consign/sell her items for her.  I replied with an enthusiastic YES!  My time frame was not her time frame however.  Summers for me are usually reserved for re-finding my workroom. This summer (come hell or high water) was going to be dedicated to organizing my shop. I needed more shelves, and I needed to better organize all that I had listed in my Etsy shops.  These items are only the tip of the iceberg.
I told Margaret that I would be happy to help - but my thought was pricing and getting everything ready for October and the Town Wide Tag Sale in Purcellville.  She wanted things gone sooner than that.  Thinking, thinking...  I mentioned that she should go see Rebecca and Bill up at It's Bazaar in Purcellville.  They would probably buy some items outright - as well as consign things for her.

This is exactly what she did.  Why am I showing you my chairs?  Because she saw these in my space up at It's Bazaar and had a pair that she offered to me.  They were currently being shown on Craig's List.  I LOVED them, but I also had enough projects in the queue.

 My brain was still working in June - and I private messaged Miss Mustard Seed on Facebook.  I knew she would love them too.  She has a space at Lucketts and moves more furniture through her space in a month than I do.  The resounding answer was YES!!!  So I convoed Margaret back and told her to remove the listing from Craig's list, that MMS wanted them.
However - I was not prepared for the response!
She was over the moon that Marion might like them - let alone want them.  Well let me tell you - Now she is over the moon and back again - http://missmustardseed.com/2012/08/controlling-the-chaos/

And to top it off  - Margaret also told me she had some checks waiting for her up at It's Bazaar.
All of this came about because I took a few minutes to answer some questions.  In the process I made some one wildly happy.  That's just makes me smile :)

Love and Peace, Liz

A Day in the Life of a Self Employed Antiques Dealer

This IS a cautionary tale...
When I opened my shop years ago (1993) and started having open houses, many of the women who would come by to shop, thought that what I was doing was so 'dreamy'.  In many ways (that fall under the heading - A LOT of HARD WORK) it is 'dreamy'.  In a very disciplined way.  Some of them even followed me in to business - one started her own pick your own flower business on her farm and another bought a clothing and home decor store.  


I thought for those of you interested, that I would give you a glimpse into one of the types of days that have.  
The BUYING day:
4:30 am - get up and get ready to go - make coffee, have breakfast and get out the door by 5:00 am or so - because it is a 2 hour + trip to your buying destination.  Pack some snacks, and the rest of the coffee - we'll need that on the way!  Today my sweet husband has decided to forgo his plans, offered to drive, and help me shop.  Our Pit Bull mix rescue dog Cali, rides in between us - her happy place. Luckily - I have purchased vintage stuff from Roxann before - so I know she'll have something for me to choose from.  Otherwise - it's a crap shoot!
7:30 am arrive at destination.  Start looking around, picking things up, and examining them.  I have gotten to the point in my buying, that I only buy items that are in perfect shape (although I do slip up now and then).  There, of course, is always an exclusion to the rule.  If I know I can fix something, have the part (I just might!), or feel that it is rare enough to justify the purchase - then these guidelines over rule 'perfect'.
9:30 am this is what I have found so far.  There are things I am absolute about - and others not quite so sure.

My friend Jennifer - that we hooked up with along the way - happened to 'touch' the fish sign, as well as the turquoise bowl in a curious sort of way - I snapped them up immediately.  
PLEASE NOTE - I did not steal them out from under her.  She was there just for the company and the fun of it.  And she probably thought they were hideous  :)  I have long discovered that there is plenty of stuff out there for all of us - if someone wants it - go right ahead!  The Icehouse sign was 'picked' by my husband - not a beer drinker - he probably liked the scene - he loves the cold!  No, really, he knew it would be a cool addition to some man cave somewhere.  The beige table down in front - I hemmed and hawed a bit over.  I have enough to fix right now - but you can never argue with good bones.  So - it will need a GOOD sanding, and then a paint job.  Let's take a closer look at what else is on the table here.

                           
From the top left: 2 white vintage planters -perfect for organizing stuff on your desk, a bowling 'trophy' bottle stopper, the fish sign - from a carnival, a bear and beehive honey pot, a Kodak Brownie camera and case - in mint condition, rooster salt and pepper shakers,  a big golf ball - we'll look at that closer in a minute..., The umbrella - a Disney piece from the 1960s - Donald Duck is the handle.
back over to the left: some plastic picnic dishes, a jigger and cups from a travel bar, NOS (new, old stock) set of spoons, two different kinds of toy blocks - one kind my husband remembers playing with, the other has snaps all over them - to connect them to each other - way cute!  
On the far right: A bunch of fabulous bronze pieces - way cool!  These were from a jewelry store that had closed.  Very old - they once had the ever popular pocket watch dangling from them!  below that - some wonderful childrens' pots and pans.

as for that golf ball - well lookie there!  It's the 19th hole.  How kitsch is this???
On the little table I was dithering over:

A fabulous black floral carpet bag and white carpet bag change purse, a baby sweater and handmade flannel slip, the 1970s bowl - with a mink and ribbon hat - would make a great 'spider' fascinator for Halloween!  I may have to play with carpet bag for a while - we'll see.  It is pretty wonderful.


Other picks that have already been put in place up at It's Bazaar:

The hat rack was getting empty - so I added the peacock blue Peter Pan hat, the purple cloche, and the wool hounds-tooth.

 Three fabulous picnic hampers - ready for your fall picnic or tailgating party  :)

Two bedroom pieces - a little bit french provincial - one a dresser, one a chest of drawers - there is also a mirror - not shown here.  These I added 'as found' - They have great lines, but I am passing them on at a lesser price.  Take one home and use it - or have fun with it and paint it up differently!

10:00 am OK - now let's get back to my day...  The furniture goes into the truck bed - we hear rumbling in the distance - hmmm...  The rest of the smaller items get packed into the picnic hampers and these get loaded into the back seat - I have a crew cab truck - these fold down seats get used quite a bit.  
Bob and I go back and forth a minute on how this will all be paid for, and finally Roxann gets a check, and some cash.  We say goodbye to Jennifer - it was great to see her if only briefly!  We take a different route home - very pretty and scenic.  We're still hearing thunder as we drive along and decide it would be a good idea to get the tarp and bungees out to cover the furniture in back.  Good thing - because as soon as we do - it starts to rain.  The rain follows us the whole way home.  Honestly, how many times does a weather front go from NE to SW??  Really?
12:30 pm Once at home - I unload the picnic hampers on to the front porch.  Time for some lunch!  After lunch I start washing everything, and going over it with a 'fine tooth comb'.  
3:50 pm  Time to start thinking about dinner - boy am I ready to sit down!


The next day we unload the furniture onto the porch. Thanks in big part to the flooding tropical storm, Lee, that is making it rainy all over the East Coast.  I think I am going to repaint the blue pieces - but I change my mind.  We re-load them back into the truck - No, Bob doesn't mind - isn't he the greatest?!  and helps me unload them, putting them in to place at It's Bazaar.  On Thursday I manage to get some suitcases, the picnic hampers, hats and some other smalls, packed up to take to It's Bazaar.  Bill, the owner, gives me some good news - the gold 1880s sofa in the background behind the picnic hampers sold the day before.  YAY - this is good - because I have had this piece since mid May (which reminds me about another "Day in the Life" post I could do...)  I spend 5 hours, pricing and arranging these 'new' finds.  All done, time to go home! 


My DAY summarized:
Up at 4:30 am - finally 'done' around the same time that afternoon - 12 hour day.  But wait, there were two of us.  So that makes for even more man hours.  And we haven't even taken into account moving the furniture into place, (have't cleaned that yet either), pricing, etc...  
Did I make any money today? - NO
Did I spend any money today? YES
And more money - This truck costs a lot in gas these days - the bright spot was that we filled up at $3.49 a gallon - cheaper than it is where we live. Not to say I don't love my Crew Cab Chevy Silverado - I do!  But she is an expensive habit.
The rest of my purchases are sitting on the kitchen table - most of them waiting to be photographed and listed in my Missing Heirloom shop on Etsy.  


So there you have it.  Just one of my days.  Now it's up for you to decide. 

From Drab to Fab!

Entered in MissMustardSeed's Furniture Feature Friday (http://missmustardseed.com/2012/03/furniture-feature-friday-favorites-a-link-party-7/)- to anyone coming from her blog - Welcome!!

My continuing mission to simplify my life - is resulting in a new vision for my sweet 1909 home.  Yes - this is all related to the workroom organization, etc...
I started with the Living Room and the Master Bedroom.  The major work on the Living Room is just getting my jewelry/other crafting items out of there - and up to the workroom.  Some of this has gotten done, but I have put that on hold so that I could make major changes in the Master Bedroom.  My friend Jennifer came down for a few days - and we went to work!  I love the overall look of this room - but it had been in the same basic configuration for 20 years.  I know, I know!  Some of this is because it it a small 1909 home and the room has windows/a door on three walls, and has NO closets.  First we took the two biggest pieces of furniture - the bed and the wardrobe - and moved them into place.  Then we determined that one cupboard would stay - but the two taller chest of drawers had to go. 
 I would have to find a low, 6 or 9 drawer dresser to take their place.  That meant doing a wardrobe overhaul as well (as in making some of my clothes go away - ouch!).  Luckily for me, Jennifer is one versatile girl!

Fortunately, within days of needing a new dresser - I found one at an estate sale for $25.00 (I loved that!).  Ugly - but I saw that it had potential - hence the title of this post - from Drab to Fab!    

Here it is - The top was all scratched and had paint splotches all over it - and the wood  finish was questionable.  It did, however, have dust protectors between each row of drawers, and was well built - even though it was only about 10 years old.  It also had great lines or good bones - very important!!

The 'stuff' on top is just there for now - I am still working on what will stay and go - although I an pretty sure the transferware will stay!

I removed the hardware, washed the dresser inside and out, sanded where I needed to, and then gave it a first coat of paint - I wasn't sure what color I wanted, so I started with a blue/grey.  The second coat was a cream color, ending with the top and base being painted a taupe color - a suggestion by another friend Jennifer Huffman, who sells awesome furniture and other cool stuff at the Old Lucketts Store.  I shabbied it up just a bit, and then gave it a coat of Butcher's Paste Wax.  The hardware was a really ugly color of dark/bright brass so I used a dry brush technique and hit it with the blue/grey paint, and then used the same light touch with the cream color paint.  This whole process, from beginning to end, was done over the course of three days.  So no big deal - Really!

I love the way it looks - and it was definitely worth getting rid of some clothes to trade out 2 dressers for 1!

More photos of the rest of the room soon!  

Sorry I bailed on you...

I'm back...

My Story:
Some time ago, someone was searching the web and came across some photos of my newly redone 1960s French Provincial furniture. They had similar pieces, and their furniture was in need of some love. They wanted some advice.  To be able to share it with everyone - instead of just answering her questions privately...I wrote this great post, answering in great detail, how to redo this type of furniture.
Because Google doesn't allow you to be logged into your Gmail address while being signed into Blogger - and I was currently signed into my mail account - when I went to post this particular blog entry - I lost the whole thing.
I was so pissed off - I haven't posted since.

But I need Blogger - Facebook is great for the 'close in' circles - but I want the wider audience, and the ability to share more info - so -

So here goes...  don't disappoint me...  My first post will be for my Cousin Karl - he wanted my recipe for Bolognese Sauce :)