Hunted::Gathered: 04/29/12

Hey all, in case you haven't noticed, I'm running a bit late this week. I had a couple of nice finds this week but nothing like some of my fellow thrifters. I did a couple of my usual loops but my mind is cluttered with things I need to do so my junkin' heart has not been at ease. Now that I've started listing things on Etsy I've realized how much I need to list... and it's a lot! I also find myself not picking up some of the things I normally would, for instance I passed on a nice dish set by Thomas of Germany in the Arcta pattern. It's still nagging me and if it's still around this week I may just pick it up, but the thought of picking up more dishes kind of drains me.

On a positive note, I had what I consider to be a good week on Etsy. Sure the things I sold were small, but it felt nice. I'm going to try to devise a system of photographing, editing, listing, etc. so that I'm a bit more efficient 'cause otherwise it takes so much time! Any experienced sellers wanna share some quick tips?

Alright, so on to my finds:

I like to call this selection sea and sand. A few nice blue hues paired with some earthy tones. From left to right is a Pottery Craft vase, a UCTCI vase (i think), and a lone Heath cup. I don't usually like to pick up lone cups but the color was too pretty!

There was just something about this planter. It is a Takahashi wall hanging planter but I loved the hanging cord and the overall feel of this piece.

What's not to love about this little doggie paper sorter? I've come across these before but in black, I couldn't resist this brassy one.

My heart nearly stopped when I saw this piece. I missed out on one at a recent estate sale and although I think this is a repro (it's marked Taiwan), it's still awesome and heavy as all heck! These pieces are often attributed to George Nelson but it appears that the designer of this piece is more than likely Bill Curry for design-line.

Lastly, I had to pick up these pieces of fabric. I try to stay away from this because I don't sew but these proved to be too fun to pass up. The one on the left has a great gold print onto a rich purple and I already have DIY's in mind for it. The center one has a great pattern and vibrant colors for summer. The one on the right also got me with the colors, just so fun!

I have some catching up to do in another blog post about some Liebster awards (don't worry, I haven't forgotten) so stay tuned this week for my passing of the baton to 5 lucky bloggers!

I'll be linking up with the lovely ladies Sophie and Selena.

Hunted:: Gathered: 04/21/12

So is everyone having a good week? I hope so! It's been a bit of a roller-coaster for me but it's having a much better ending than beginning.
I haven't kept it a secret that my local thrifts haven't been abundant. A lot of my latest finds have been through estate sales and even from picking antique malls. I've even started picking Etsy! While I find myself telling a lot of sellers what they have there are some things that I just have to have.

My very first Etsy pick is this lovely platter in the Raymor Capri line by Michael Lax. I found my very first piece from this line when I had just started thrifting in SoCal. I picked it up and considered the price of $2.99. It was a divided bowl that I just didn't need at the time, but it was so beautiful! Luckily the boy is much better at just going for things and insisted that I get it. There was a fellow thrifter stalking me hoping I would put it down. I didn't. I paid quite a bit more for this one but I don't often come across these pieces.

Last weekend I was on my way to a swap meet and as soon as I got off of the freeway there was a loud tapping sound that lasted for a few seconds. It scared the crap out of me! Not long after, a maintenance light came on in my car. Uh oh. Just the day before the same light had come up and it turned out to be low air pressure in one of my tires. Since I had corrected the problem the day before (or so I thought) this shouldn't have happened. I called the boy in a panic, after all of my driving was I not going to be able to walk through the swap meet. These are life altering decisions here! (kidding)

He told me to relax, that I'd be able to walk around for a bit but that I should go to the nearest dealer. He thought they may have mounted the tire wrong. As I walked around the swap meet I couldn't help but worry about being stranded in the parking lot. I hurriedly walked around and then decided enough was enough and started walking back. Luckily I spotted a red Dansk platter that caught my eye and stopped for a second. I knelt down and saw this funny little scale next to it. I had seen it before on Alamodern's site and so I knew it was special. I was playing around with it and thought it was broken at first but it turns out it is just ingeniously designed! (The clear part rotates freely so that you can weight items in kg or lb)

So my trip to the swap meet wasn't a total miss after all. I went to the nearest dealer and their service center was closed! While there I took another look at the tire and noticed a nail sticking out on the inside part of the tire. I put some air in the tire and crossed my fingers that I'd make it home, taking all of the side streets of course.

Luckily I have a handy dandy Mister who has some (tire plugs)? and look at what he took out of the tire! Does that count as a find? If it does I'd rather not find those things in my tire again. ;)

Later in the week I went on my usual weekly route and came back empty handed. I visited 8 thrifts and all I got was an emptier gas tank. That's been the story for the past few weeks. It happens.

Eva Zeisel- Teapot in Museum White for Castleton

Yesterday, I decided to try my luck at another usual thrift. Different than the ones from my 'loop' and look at what I found. I couldn't believe my eyes and must have looked stunned 'cause I didn't move, kind of like a tiger ready to pounce. Since I found a nice set from this line last month the curves were as clear as day in my mind. The lid, the handle, the spout and the color. I picked it up and I turned it over, no marks. That's probably why it was still there. I'm sure if it had a floral pattern it would've been gone!

I was ecstatic, my heart was racing and as if it weren't enough I went through the rest of the store looking for more. In the end she was the only one, but boy was she a good one! Finding a lot of these pieces recently only makes me wonder if I've overlooked them in the past. I probably have. It's the nature of the game and one can only look forward.

So did you have an eventful week? I'll be linking up with Selena and Sophie and hope you do too.

Hunted:: Gathered: 04/14/12

Welcome back fellow thrifters and collectors! I hope your thrifting adventures have been more plentiful than mine. The thrifts seem to have been wiped out of a lot of goodies so I've resorted to hunting in Antique malls. Sometimes you can find hidden gems so you must never count them out.

This first piece I picked up because I liked the look of it and thought it would be a good decorator piece. It was also on sale at a local antique mall. I knew it was a vintage spin top but what I didn't know is that it is a Folk Japanese spin top likely dating to the 1950's. I've seen it described as a Sasebo Goma Koma fighting wood top. It's a hefty piece with loads of charm.

This next piece was my lonely yield from my usually fruitful estate sale company. I am not complaining though because I have the lone teak tray that this can go with. It was designed by Vivianna Torun for Dansk. The condition wasn't great but I conditioned the wooden part of the handle with a food-safe conditioner and now its good to go.

Here is the piece it matches. I love the subtle detail on the tray. These will be in the shop soon.

Lookie loo, I found another one of these Marimekko bags that were done for the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade. I have a little giveaway in mind for when I hit 100 followers and this may just be one of the items! It'll probably be a while before I hit 100 though...

Lastly, I couldn't resist this little family of ducks. They strongly resemble the Hans Bolling family of ducks except that these are made of Japanese Cedar, have glass or plastic eyes and are much smaller! They are really cute though and are already in the shop.

Have a great weekend and be sure to share your goodies at Selena's and Sophie's!

Moment of Snark :: Lolcats are Over!

Don't get me wrong, I love animals but I am horribly allergic to cats as an adult and therefore I don't like 'em. They try to cuddle up to me because they know I'm allergic, I just know it! They're evil!
So because of that...

Feelin' Crafty!

Do you sometimes get a vision or an itch to make something? I know I do.

I was thrifting the other day and came across a couple of vintage children's books. I fell in love with the illustrations and thought I could use them for something else. I spent an hour or so cutting out pages from the books. I've never done this before and felt a little bit guilty. However when you know that a book is just going to sit on a shelf it doesn't bother me so much that I repurposed it.

I have tons of colorful cardstock at home and wanted to back the illustration cutouts with them. I went to Michael's to buy some spray adhesive and came across a stamp that read "Thank You for your gift" in their dollar bins. In those same bins they usually have some ink pads so I bought two of those too. Michaels' is a dangerous place for me so I had to get out of these ASAP!

I came home and started printing, adhering, cutting and stamping away. I probably should have spent the time listing items for the shop but when I am on a mission, I am on a mission. I was partly inspired by the realization that I hadn't made little thank you notes to go into my Etsy packages. I had long considered doing moo cards but this won out instead.

For those who are curious about the lovely illustrations, the book is Attic of the Wind by Doris Lund and illustrated by Ati Forberg.

So have you been crafty lately?

Hunted:: Gathered: 04/07/12

This has been a good week folks! If you hadn't heard, I opened up my Etsy shop. It was long overdue. I also had my very first sale this week. It was quite exciting and invigorating. The sale happened on Good Friday no less so a Good Friday it was.

I have to admit that my thrift hunger is insatiable! I find one or two things that are worthwhile but I am hungry for more. To use a term from Leilani, I am a thriftaholic.  

My first find of the week is this taper candle holder. I bought it for research purposes because it was still in the box. This mystery flower taper holder, that is often attributed to dansk but has its differences, now has a known manufacturer. It is La Cresta out of La Crescenta, CA. The box reads that it is rust proof and can be "immersed in water" or "for table top".

Here is a comparison of a Dansk spider taper holder and the La Cresta flower taper holder. See the differences?

After going to several thrifts and coming out empty handed, I came across these two sets of Vignelli Glass Bakeware. The large one is #16 and the smaller one is #18. I am not sure how the numbers work because I've seen similar sizes with very different numbers. The large one measure 9-3/4" (outer diameter ) X 5-1/2" (total height). The smaller one is 8-1/4" (outer diameter) X 5" (total height).

This little guy was too cute to pass up. It looked well made and so I was curious. I could tell that it was signed but I couldn't make it out at the thrift. They always put stickers right over the mark and I always feel guilty peeling the sticker to see it. Once out of the store I took off the sticker and was happy to see that it is a Martz piece for Marshall Studios. It is a wee little one measuring in at 4 inches. It can be seen here on page 6. It is the M80 bottle in gloss white.

Lastly, look who it is! Another little feeder for people. This one is different than the previous ones I've found. It is about the size of the small one but in the style on the large one. It's filled with some Easter candy and on that note, I hope you all have a Happy Easter!

I'll be linking up with the lovely ladies, Selena and Sophie.



p.s. If you want to take a peek at my shop you can do so through the links in this blog post or at the top right of my blog. I'd love for you to see it!

Moment of Snark :: Going Viral is Over!

I've finally launched my Etsy shop!

I know this is has quite a bit of cheese but I couldn't help myself, I'm just excited that I opened up shop!