Wednesday, June 29, 2011

pink, a favorite color



i am not a palely complected person.  every now and again, i feel like doing something in the sunny outside world and i do not have the common sense to put cream on with an spf value. 

both yesterday and today i was painting outside. so not only did i sweat a tad, but i seemingly got some "color". yes indeedy. i am now a delish tint of pink. 

 it may be ironic, but the color that i was painting was a really pale pink. i love it.
and then a few other shades of rosiness. 


 when i worked in an office years ago, the other folks would make note of how many days in a row i would wear pink. seriously? what a truly boring place, but i suppose it was ok, cause loved being noticed. i had lots of nice dresses. a black one with gorgeous pink roses all over the fabric... pale pink linen pleated dress i got on sale at ann taylor for $15.oo...a couple of pink jackets,,, pink shoes for my wedding to match my peachy pink wedding dress(made by a friend with a piece of antique lace applied to it).... the list goes on. of course i never wore the wedding gown to work, but some of my friends attended the wedding from the office. i was particularly noticeable, since the color of clothes for my professional peers was close to that of a european vampire. everyone wore black. i did too, however mine was imprinted with roses or worn with a pink jacket. needless to say, i was fired from that job after a couple of years. i felt really crummy about that firing, but i just had not figured out that i could get hired in another place lickety split and was not obliged to be miserable forever. 
by the way, as much as i may groan, 
i now have had the same two jobs for twenty years now.

i am both a mother to a wild brood of three kids


 and i also get to make pretty things all the time. 


i make whatever i feel like and have carved out a niche for those things that make me happiest. almost all things are either floral in nature or vintage. basically i have a really nice gig ... if i keep at it all and work to keep the brood in food ( a tall task as they can exfoliate a refrigerator in no time at all), 
fresh togs... my son loves WHITE t-shirts (seriously, who is HE kidding?) , 
and also fresh flowers & beads that i can play with. 
add to the regular list of stuff the kids need, 
two college tuitions for the two eldest come this september
and i will be worn out for sure. 


on a more positive note, 
i am fairly certain that there will be plenty of new lush neck gardens, ear vines and bracelet trellises. 
i know that i just took that metaphor a weensy bit too far ... but then again, it is my  blog. 


* * * * *
my finds this week were almost exclusively all boxes
 some folks were pre-warned through social media(facebook/twitter),
 that i planned to let you know about my more recent finds chez les fleas. 
tomorrow i need to take this morning i took some pics of them. 

when i go to the dusty market, i like to go with the same budget every time, $40. 
 if i can make some good bargains, for that amount, i have not been unreasonable and a spendthrift. at least in my mind. also, i have a list of things that i want. i try to stick to it, but it is generally not easy to do. so i need to keep my mind open to whatever catches my eye. this is a devilish dance of two stepping.

 i went looking for rhinestones, a used drill press, some old metal tool boxes with slender drawers and finally some vintage chandelier crystals.
on top of this, rather widely flung collection of random seeming items,  there is my general list.
this one  always includes any kind of jewelry or items related that can be retrofitted for jewelry, nice vintage fabrics, things i can use for shows if i paint them, 
quilts, lace, tea towels, tablecloths,
a really pretty vintage bird cage was included 
until recently where my patience allowed for a stupendous score .



also shapely furniture for refurbishing, 
and tins with great old graphics.

 i fear my usual interests represent my own form of OCD.
 i really like lots of things that are multiples and repetitive in nature.
 in this grouping are things like sets of spice shakers, boxes that can stack neatly, piles of metal findings, 
keys, knobs, printers trays... oh this list is ever soooo long. 
basically most things that are contained or easily corralled  or are in mini collections already grouped for impact fall into my list as well. 
 finding a bunch of things that could be similar enough if not in content,  but as the result of an application of paint is also quite nice. being a cohesive color might make them a firm collection 
even  if they did not start out that way. 


my finds this week were almost exclusively boxes. 
good thing my karma allowed for things shaped rectilinearly. 
1} i found a pile of 5 cream cheese crates. they are sized about 4"x4"x12". they are formed like a 3 pound block of cream cheese. i know this from my dozen years making baked goods. i made rugelach for a local coffee house and i was altogether too familiar with that shape and volume. 
do not ask my ersatz waistline to verify this... it will do so and give me away as a rugelach glutton. 
no shame you know?


(all 5 boxes and the tobacciana one mentioned just below for $15.oo a deal in fact, cause they were marked $4. apiece...SCORE!!!)








2}along with the cream cheese crates was a lovely tobacco related crate, nearly the same size. it also had some sharp turquoise paper labels on it. both the dairy and the tobaccian box items 
had really cool  imprinted info about their former contents.  mind you these were not really well maintained crates . i think that they were made as throwaways ultimately. although i think they were made for more than only one use, as witnessed by the dovetailing of the corners. they remain very nice with history rich patina and graphics.


  i am fantasizing about what they may become. 


i am fortunately not in any rush to fiddle with them. i think i may need to percolate for a while
 i know they are lucky to have survived 


and i am very grateful for this. 








3} i snagged two vintage vintage washboards. they both seem to have galvanized corrugated tin washing surfaces. the writing on them is similar in the imprinted copy to that on the cream cheese boxes.
my fellow seller at shows and pal, pam, has envisioned making  washboards into clever display stands for her own line of jewelry. her things generally feature some patina on their surfaces and are as delicate as my own are bold. 
 ($5 and $2.oo)



pam's washboard display rack
naturally, not nearly as decrepit as my own selections. 
and for that 
it is vastly more inspiring. 
i feel some painting coming my way to help deal with my lack of selecting more pristine ones. 
live and learn.  i will make something out of mine. 
is pam's shop where her jewelry can be seen in more completeness. 




4} i got a great painted grey wooden thing with shelves inside of it. its seller said it was his grandfather's and had hung in his garage for many years after he got it from  the local post office many years back. ($5.oo)
i can see this painted in white and serving as a shelf system for 
some cuff bracelets i am going to work on soon. 
if i say flowers, roses and rhinestones ... will you swoon along with me? 
cuffs could be a new addiction for me. 
which is important, since i have so few already. 
***snick***




5} a modern, plastic drawer filled grey wall unit for tons of little doodads that i keep losing. i am sooo over looking for the lobster clasps or toggles in silvery and golden finishes. i figure i can keep them all together in yet another organizational milieu, they won't get lost as often. i can only hope...( $5.oo).


6} moving a little bit away from the boxes,,, i was able to get a full sized red painted metal object. this is to say, it was painted ala tole onto a full sized cookie sheet pan. filled to the gimlets with red background and pretty flowers. the seller said her grandmother used it to serve tea from. i do not care... i have an odd spot in my heart for red things... it surprises me as much as anyone. 
($2 or 3 bucks).





7} a black narrow, long tole tray for a whopping ($4. i talked the owner down from $6. just by being spacy.)




8} a box of little peggy things was available for $10.oo. not wanting to be mean, i made  a price for the funny sellers and i splurged on a couple of hands full of the little wooden things. i charged myself  $1.oo for 20 pieces.  so i took enough for two bucks. the man selling them kept saying that i would never know what to do if i needed just one more. he really wanted those things gone. in retrospect, i think he was more right and i should have listened.
when i saw them, i  thought that i could paint them and use them to make little feet for some trays. 
20/20 hindsight is a pain in the tush. 


9} i bargained for a pretty hankie from a big box of them for $5.oo. i paid a quarter for that. 
i had not noticed at the time, since i was squiggling from total excitement and fear that i would be found out, that there was an embroidered letter on the hankie. 
if i turn it upside down, it is a W! and who might need that more than i? 
absolutely nobody. 

    so i did pretty darn well for my huge $40.oo budget. 


    i should have gotten the etched crystal sugar and maple syrup dispenser that my son spied. i went back to find it and was disappointed that it had seemingly poofed into thin air. 
    perhaps next week? 

    all's well that ends well! and no, i found nothing pink but i had a GREAT TIME. 
    But you all knew that already, right?

    xoxoxox
    W.

    2 comments:

    1. I like the washboard idea. Would love to go to your flea market! I saw a cute idea for the cheese boxes once. They had them on tables in a small cafe with salt and pepper and napkins in them.

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    2. Oh, what lovely finds...I loved this little shopping trip with you *smile*

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