Hunted:: Gathered: 06/30/12

I can't believe we've already gone through half of 2012! Wow. How quickly time passes you by...

I've been a busy bumble bee in my neck of the woods, or at least it feels that way! The shop did well this month and it has only invigorated me to keep chugging along. The hours put in and the money earned still aren't close to being comparable to my previous day job but I am confident that it can get there. I also believe that it's good to diversify your sources of income anyway, especially for young architects like myself (the field is still highly unstable).

The finds I'm sharing this week are a combination of this week's and last week's estate sales. Last week I decided to venture out to Orange County for an estate sale that had a lot of Abraham Palatnik items in one of their preview pictures. I didn't find anything else of interest in the pictures and so all of my eggs were riding on the Palatnik.

Since I am my mother's daughter, I get serious anxiety over silly things like Estate Sales. I went to bed and woke up at an ungodly hour due to my nerves. I tried to go back to sleep but I knew I was only kidding myself. I decided to drag myself out of bed and figured that waking up really early and heading out early would secure me a top spot in the estate sale list. The sale was set to start at 8am. I arrived sometime between 5 and 5:30 only to find I was #2! The other good reason for leaving early was to avoid the bad commuter traffic. So what was I going to do with that time? I decided to call my mom who conveniently lives on the East Coast. I started chatting with some of the other folks that started trickling in only because I felt obligated to apologize for my car alarm going off at 6am! I struck a conversation with the lady who was #1 on the list and it turned out she was an LA dealer with a shop in Hollywood. Whoa! We chatted about her beginnings as a seller, she gave some advice, we shared some fun stories and then before we knew it we were 15 minutes away from the start of the sale.

Well folks, she almost snagged ALL of the Palatnik pieces. I joked with her that if she had more hands she would've succeeded. She did manage to get the ones that were in the best shape. I managed to get the camel with quite a bit of damage but I was not going to go home empty handed. I also found the Festivo candlestick and the teak snack trays there as well.

Since I had done quite a bit of driving to get to that sale I didn't want to drive that much more out of the way. I had planned a thrift loop that worked well for my trip back home. However, there was an estate sale that was advertised as having been the home of a Landscape Architect and Sculptor. The sale sounded amazing and there weren't any preview pictures so I'm sure everyone's imagination was running wild because mine surely was. I arrived at the sale hours after they had started and there was still a line to get in. They were limiting the number of people who could enter because of the amount of items in the home. Everyone walking out of the sale would comment on how amazing it was yet they were only walking out with one or two things. Curious don't you think?

My number was finally called to enter the home and boy was I amazed at the amount of artwork. Both framed and unframed, all signed. I didn't recognize the names and the prices were definitely out of my price range to pull the trigger. It was looking like I was going to be one of those people walking out with one item but saying that it was an amazing sale. Everything changed when I walked into the kitchen. I saw one canister with the familiar black script and red dot. My perspective broadened and I saw all of the canisters above. Gadzooks! I panicked momentarily because I didn't have a box or bag to carry all of them. I quickly looked around and luckily there was a dish strainer nearby and I positioned them all safely in there. For those of you wondering, these are all Freeman Lederman canisters that were designed by LaGardo Tackett. If all of these were there, I can only imagine that some of the biomorphic pieces must have been there too. I received several funny looks and I know people must have been wondering why the heck I was trying to get all of these canisters. I was giddy and that was all that mattered. At the same estate I found the copper printing block in the back. It has a lovely art deco graphic that I'll have to share with you when I ink it.

Phew. I hope I haven't lost any of you. This is pretty long-winded for my posts.

This picture brings me to a local estate sale this weekend. I saw a blurred picture of this lamp from afar in a room with some retro wood paneling and that was my reason for going to the sale. I slacked off and arrived 30 minutes prior to them opening and was about #30-40 in line. I saw a couple of hipsterish fellas and started kicking myself for not getting there earlier. I had to wait to get in because they were limiting the number of people they were allowing in. Ayayay. When I was finally allowed in I walked to the room with the paneling and the lamp was still there! Without hesitation I walked toward it and turned it over. It was a Design-Line lamp (not Laurel like I originally thought) but still fantastic. I placed it in my bag and turned around only to find the green Design-Line Jack on the coffee table! I don't know the story about the lady whose estate it was but I felt she was a kindred spirit. She had a lot of craft supplies and pieces that were hard for me to say no to. As an example is the little wire critter standing in the back.

You can learn more about it here and if you want to see it in action ( i highly recommend watching it with the sound on)....

Lastly, I found these fantastic 3.5 pt Hudson Bay blankets that I'd been coveting. They are both in pretty good condition and are my first Hudson Bay finds to date. I will be listing one in the shop tomorrow.

Since I started reselling, I find that I am more willing to bring items home. Of course I wouldn't have said no to the items in this post even if I wasn't reselling but I definitely don't feel as guilty. That being said, I am getting overwhelmed by the inventory that needs to be listed. If you've ever been interested in some of my finds, stay tuned to my shop because I will be listing up a storm this month!

You can also like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter if you would like updates on when I actually list stuff.

I hope you had a great week this week! I'll be hopping around to take a look at your finds. I'll be linking up with Sophie and Selena.

Hunted:: Gathered: 06/16/12

Who knew that putting yourself on a schedule would be so tough! Especially with all of the distractions of the interwebs and multiple social networking media. Anyone else find themselves with this problem?

I usually have a lot of things that I plan to accomplish during the week and well, I'm lucky to get through half of them. Enough about that though! I'm glad to be posting on a Saturday. I haven't managed to do that in a while.

I've been pretty lucky at the thrifts lately and the shop is also doing well. This makes me feel like I'm doing something right. I have high hopes for my little shop and other ventures so this just motivates me to keep pushing.

This wall plaque is one of a few that I found at a thrift recently. I knew I had seen them before but I could not remember who produced them. Luckily, Alamodern is a pretty comprehensive site and thus my questions were answered.

These plaques are made by Saint Andrew's Abbey and they are all similar in style. While I am not typically fond of religious souvenirs and figurines, I do appreciate the style that they have.

I am not sure about when these were produced because there are some scenes still made today. This means that I may put them up on ebay or look for a different venue. However, if any of you are interested you can just contact me through the contact page.

I just recently sold both of my cat related David Stewart pieces so it was a great coincidence that I found another to stock the shop!

A week or two ago I found this get little coffeepot by Figgjo of Norway in the Lotte pattern. I listed it in the shop and my gut told me to add Australia as one of the shipping locations and that's exactly where it went! I have yet to add the Everywhere Else option in my shipping locations but I hear it's great for sales. Buyers: If and when you find something you like on Etsy do you convo the seller about a shipping quote if they don't have it listed or do you end up changing your mind to avoid the hassle? I'd love to know.

Lastly, I found one more Ultima Thule piece this week! After years of not finding them I have found two in the past two weeks. This one is a Votive Candle Holder.

How did you do this week? I hope you share at Selena's and Sophie's!

Hunted:: Gathered: 06/10/12

Yikes! Since I missed posting last week I have a backlog of items to share with you. Trust me, I'm not complaining because the thrifting has finally picked up in my neck of the woods. I was beginning to think that 2011 was an anomaly and that my thrift luck had just about run out. Boy was I wrong.

For some reason or another, there haven't been many estate sales in my area. Whether it was because of a holiday weekend or because some of the local companies just don't have clients. I don't know. However, this item is from an estate sale as are the next two. This is a beautiful Finnish glass vase designed by Tamara Aladin.

I love these mod wire/ mesh racks. I don't know if it's the simplicity of the design that I like but what I do know is that if I see one, I more oft than not have to pick it up.

I found this great little paper clip letter holder at the same estate. It's kitschy, mod and fantastic.

On my way back from the estate sale I passed by a thrift that I hadn't been to in several months. I usually don't have much luck at this particular one but this time I did. I found this stunning woodblock print by Shodo Kawarazaki. It has several marks in the margins and Bryan from Alamodern was kind enough to help decipher some of them. There are marks from the publisher, the date, as well as the artist's name.

In keeping with the Japanese theme, I found this cute Japanese Cedar bear figurine. He is also signed on one side. I know I referred to this figurine as a bear but I am wondering if this creature has a special meaning because I've seen several similar iterations. Anyone know?

This was one of last week's finds but it has a story that goes along with it. I was doing a usual thrift loop of mine (one I hadn't done in a while because of a transitional car situation) and I stopped by a thrift that is typically hit or miss. I've been at this thrift when they bring out carts of new stuff and the 'regulars' that usually sit by the back waiting for said carts are surely a sight. I stay away from the carts while they push, pull, and trip over each other. This day was no exception. I was in one of the aisles and the commotion had died down so I started making my way to them and then I saw the bowl. My heart sank. It was still sitting there unclaimed and just as I was about to reach for it a little girl put her hand on it to show to her mom. "Dangit", I thought, I just missed out on this bowl by a few seconds! But then, like music to my ears, the mom told her not to touch it and leave it behind. So goes the story of my first Finel bowl find in the wild. I hesitated to put it in the shop and I thought it would sit a bit longer but I listed it and it sold within a couple of days. Goodbye beautiful bowl.

Another first for me is this Ultima Thule sugar bowl. I've always coveted the Ultima Thule finds from other thrifters and for once I found my own! Can you believe this is the first time I've found one of these in the wild?

Lastly, I am finally sharing a piece that I collect. I purchased it from another reseller because sometimes that's what you have to do.

It's a set of salad utensils designed by Michael Lax for Raymor Capri. They are a combination of porcelain and walnut. They are 14" long! It's hard to determine the scale without any objects paired with it so...

I decided to show you how big the ceramic portions are by setting one of my Toikka birds in it. They're huge and I find the scale to be a bit garish but it is what it is. Scale is always a bit tricky when you just have online pictures for reference.

I have plenty more goodies to share with you, but they'll have to wait till next week. What did you find this week? Please do share at Sophie's.