Thursday, December 30, 2010

Some thoughts

Are you guys sick of staring at that photo yet? This post is going to be what has happened in my life since my last post, and my thoughts of the new year. Throughout there will be random photos of my favorite garage sale finds of the year, because I know I don't like reading pictureless posts, and figure you all like something to look at as well.
This is a velvet painting that I just loved, my grandparents had one of these when I was growing up.
So, since I cut my finger, life has been pretty normal, I did learn how to shower with a plastic bag around my hand, and then got smart and bought rubber gloves. I had a virus attack my computer. I'm still not entirely sure how it got in, but it definitely came from a website. It was called System Tool, and looked like a virus scan program. It popped up saying I had a bunch of files infected and that I needed to get rid of them. The bad thing is, if I had clicked OK, I would have gotten rid of some very important files on my computer. I knew it was some kind of virus, as I had run my software a few days earlier, and had come up fine. I tried to delete the file, it put an icon on my desktop and in my start menu, as if I had downloaded and installed it. It wouldn't let me run my virus scan software or get into my control panel or task manager, saying they were all corrupted. I finally called DELL, and had them take control of my computer in safe mode. After running a few more virus software, and deleting my temporary internet files, it was gone. That cost me another bunch of money I can't really afford.

Here's my first teacup, starting my collection.

I got my stitches out and my hand is healing nicely. I was told it would take about a month to heal completely. I guarantee I'll have a nice scar. I noticed the other day that when I write (it's on my dominant hand), when I'm laying my hand on the paper or whatever, it kinda feels numb, but the doctor did say I might have cut some nerve endings. I also noticed it's a bit stiff when I bend my pinkie, but I figure that's normal as well. I love vintage handkerchiefs especially with embroidery.
For Christmas, I received quite a few things I had on my list: a new printer, which is also a scanner. A pair of black dress pants for work, 2 pairs of pajamas, some clothes, a hand beater. Next time I bake, it will be much easier. My friend, Loretta, made me a very cute journal. I'm still waiting to see what Kevin got me, I sent him home Wed night, figuring the weather would be much worse than it was on Thurs evening. He went back to work Mon night, and we're planning to have our Christmas sometime soon. It all depends on how his schedule works out, I'm kinda hoping he'll have New Year's Day or Eve off.

I love the bowl, carnival glass, and the glass.
I don't have huge plans for New Year's Eve. Right now my plan is to watch a couple movies with my parents, stay up until just after midnight and go to bed. I'm actually kind of dreading it, because my mother has decided that once again, I'm not doing enough to find another job (after losing one of my more permanent ones in September), and is requiring me to do volunteer work with my time. She's never quite figured out that when it's required or pushed on a person, they really don't want to do it. I guess since I live in their apartment, and don't pay rent (even though I've tried to give them money), I must do something else to their liking. They have this thought, that if they don't know what I'm doing all the time, I must be doing nothing.
Love everything in this photo. The stick pin is cloissone, I love these pieces. I gave the box to my stocking swap partner, more on that in another post. The bracelet was just so cute and dainty, and I've worn the earrings a couple times and gotten a lot of comments on them.
I have a few resolutions for next year, even though I don't really make resolutions. I'm trying to cut back on spending money on stuff I don't need. So, I'm not buying more HotWheels/Matchbox cars for myself, and probably won't be buying more for Kevin just for the heck of it. Or at least I won't be buying more than 2 at a time for him. I figure if it's really cool (meaning a great color scheme, or something he doesn't already have), it's ok, also when you find a good one in Matchbox, you kinda have to buy it, as they don't have cool/new ones out that often.
I'm going to think a lot about my garage sale purchases, and only buy the following for good prices: vintage hankies, preferably with stitching; tiny teacups, doilies, rose items, glass items mostly cups, creamers, and sugar bowls; and game pieces if they're really rare/old looking. I have way too much stuff as it is, and I don't need more. I'm also going to be on the lookout for good gifts, as they will be cheaper.
I'm going to try and not buy more craft supplies, I have a ton I don't use as it is. And it's not something I need more of.
The new schedule for the library starts in 2 weeks and I'm scheduled to work Fridays 1-6pm, so I won't have to worry about going to those garage sales. Though I do plan to be on the lookout for garage sales. I found I love going to them and that extra air of mystery of what might be at them. Also, other than having to be somewhere, I don't have a huge reason not to go, I can always plan not to spend anything.
I love finding creamers and sugar bowls, as well as the teacups.
I'm going to try and get back into walking every day. I have no reason not to, I'm just lazy. I gained more weight than I wanted to last year, and most of it is because I wasn't walking regularly, add that to the fact I lost one of my jobs that's probably about a mile in walking each night.
My favorite piece is the sugar bowl.
I want to join more swaps next year. A lot of the time, I'll join a swap and then back out because I waited until the last minute to make something. I hope that will get my creative juices flowing again.
I'm also planning on listing more stuff on Etsy again. With the amount of garage sales I went to last year, I did buy some stuff that I can list and hopefully sell on there.

I couldn't pass up the hair comb or the tiny teacup.
Here's an end of the year meme:
1. Will you be looking for a new job? Another job, for sure, hopefully something more permanent, I'm getting really sick of places closing that I work at.
2. Will you be looking for a new relationship? I'm hoping to make more friends.
3. New house? Maybe, I hope to not live in this apartment forever.
4. What will you do differently in 2011? Like I said above, spend less, walk more, think more about my purchases.
5. New Year's resolution? Same as above.
6. What will you not be doing in 2011? I don't know, hopefully not helping another store close.
7. Any trips planned? Not at the moment.
8. Wedding plans? No.
9. Major thing on your calendar? My birthday, but that's normal.
10. What can't you wait for? Warm weather, as always. Though so far, we've had a pretty good winter.
11. What would you like to see happen differently? I would like to spend more time with my boyfriend, but unless he gets a different job, that won't happen.
12. What about yourself will you be changing? Like I said, I hope to walk more.
13. What happend in 2010 that you didn't think would ever happen? Didn't think I'd lose another job to a store closing.
14. Will you be nicer to people you care about? I always try.
15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 2010? Probably not.
16. Will you better your relationship with your family? I think it's a lost cause. I try, and then they just treat me the same, so I don't know if it's worth it.
17. Will you do charity work? Not unless I have to
18. Will you go to bars? I don't like bars.
19. Will you be nice to people you don't know? It's kind of a requirement in my jobs.
20. Do you expect 2011 to be a good year for you? I hope so, I hope I make more money, so I'm not struggling as much, but that's normal.
Love the silver tray and the hankies. Though I believe the hankies were embroidered later in their life. I sent 2 of the pins to my stocking swap partner.
Speaking of spending less money. My friend, Loretta and I went shopping Tuesday, and I didn't spend that much. We started at Target, where I chose not to spend $10.00 on a season of Bones. I did buy a box of Christmas cookies, that I'm almost done with, shouldn't have done that. I didn't go down the car aisle, so I didn't buy any of those. I did buy a Mountain Dew, shouldn't have done that either.
Then we went to Sam's Club, where I didn't buy anything, even though I was hungry and tempted to buy sugary food.
Then we went to Ankeny to Micheal's, where I spent less than $5.00. I did buy another clear stamp, and a plastic block, I bought a stationery set and some cards. Most everything was on sale and I used a 50% off coupon on something that wasn't. I decided not to buy more buttons, and I didn't buy any of the Christmas decorations, even though I wanted to.
Love this sundae cup, especially for the price of free.
I also have a lot more money in my wallet than I usually do. A few of the shirts my mother got me for Christmas didn't fit, so I got cash back for those. And I still have cash from before Christmas, now if I could just hold off on spending it that would be great. Usually when I have cash in my wallet, it gets spent pretty quickly.
Another teacup.
That's all I have on my mind. I hope everyone had a good Christmas, and has a good and safe New Year's. Hopefully I'll post more next year, no promises. Enjoy the rest of the pictures.
This is a compact with 2 mirrors.
A silver bowl.
Another cute glass, this one is pink depression glass.
Some salt cellars. I love the unique items at garage sales.
Another creamer.
The first vintage handkerchief I bought. I sent it to my treasured tin partner.
Some more cute cups.
Wanted to show a couple of the pins I love: the embroidered rose, and the red rose.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

I feel stupid

I was washing dishes today, and one of my glasses broke, and this is the result: I have about 9 stitches to sew that flap back on, went to the ER about 4:30, the pain is just starting now. I was told to leave my bandage on til tomorrow night, not to soak it, to wrap it up if I thought I might bump it, and leave it in the air if I'm just hanging out in my apartment. Also, to come back in 11 days to get the stitches out.
I'm still paying off my medical bill from my kidney stone last year, I'm not looking forward to seeing this bill.
Any well wishes will be appreciated, and I need some new glasses. Kevin said I'm getting plastic glasses for Christmas.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Happy Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday everyone, I'm also linking up with the Junkin' Finds Party this week, here.
Now, I know I've already posted these individually, but I rearranged part of my living room the other day, and I think the groupings are pretty cute. Also, most of my pieces were bought at garage sales over the summer.
Above is the top of a bookcase my parents gave me, I found out it's the perfect space to put my DVD collection, so you can see tops of some of them. On top of it, I put a piece of lace that was used to wrap up a teacup I bought at a garage sale. I thought it was way better than tissue paper. On top of that starting left to right: a pink creamer dish, a blue saucer, on top of the saucer a white bowl I bought at an art fair, and on the other side a clear creamer dish of the same style as the other one.
Here is my radiator, yes I live in a 100+ yr old house and we have radiators for heating. I do have a piece of particle board on top of the radiator, so everything is sitting level. The particle board is covered with a scarf I bought at a garage sale for $1.00. On top of the scarf starting left to right is: 3 salt cellars with their spoons I got those for $3.00, $1 a piece. A green depression glass cup(?), I picked up everything else for $1.00 each at garage sales. There's also an etched pink depression glass cup, and then an etched I have no idea what glass container, it sits on 3 legs and has a handle on each side. In front next to the salt cellars is a scallop shell compact, a silver tray with a glass jar filled with mica flakes, a lamp finial that I'm planning on painting white, a tiny clay bird, a silver hinged box with velvet lining and a little bear all dressed up for Thanksgiving. At the end I have my digital clock radio sitting on a tin box for heighth. The box is covered with a white lacy handkerchief. The radio is covered with a handkerchief that is embroidered with yellow roses. On top of the radio is a fabric heart pin, a wooden heart pin, an old time sailboat pin, an cross stitch heart pin, and a black haired troll.
Here I have a marble topped table that my mother got from a friend when I moved into my first apartment. The bottom is 3 metal legs with a circle, and the marble just sits on top of the circle, it's pretty heavy, but thankfully 2 pieces so somewhat easy to move. For the lacy trim, I just added some double stick tape to the edges. On top of the table I have 3 doilys: a pink one with a white teacup with blue flowers, a white one with a blue teacup, and a green one with the cup that matches the saucer on top of the bookshelf.
And here is another bookshelf in the corner of my living room. On the left, you can see the sloping ceiling, I live on the third floor underneath the eaves of the roof. Below are some close-ups of the top of the bookshelf. You can also see some of my collection of true crime books which are stored on this bookshelf.
OK, starting on the right side. I have numerouse handkerchiefs hanging off the front of the bookshelf, those were acquired throughout the summer at a number of garage sales as was everything else found on this shelf. Most everything was $1.00 or less.
On the right is a pair of child's lacy gloves. In the back you can see the shell of a glass turtle that I was given when my grandparents died, the shell comes off and it's a box. Next to that you can see a frosted blue glass candle holder, beside that is an etched glass cup, and then the sugar bowl that matches the clear glass creamer on my bookshelf above, I got those together as a set for $2.00, the sugar bowl holds some buttons I picked up over the summer.
You can also see some small bottles, a clear one with pink flowers and a green one.
In the next row I have the first tiny teacup I picked up this summer, it came with the saucer and cost $3.00, I never shelled out that much for another one. Then there's a (I'm guessing) Asian cup with painting on the outside, it has no handles and houses a needle felted hamster I made. Next there's a white teacup and then a souveneir teacup that sits on 3 feet on it's saucer.
In the front row, is a tinier teacup that was white, but someone glued pieces of pink shells on it. Next to that is a gold hair comb, the pink blob, is a crocheted? pink cross. Also laying on the handkerchiefs is a silver leaf charm, a daisy clip earring, and a daisy lapel pin.
The handkerchiefs have pansies, roses, and colored daisies on them.
OK, there's a little overlap in my pictures. Once again the sugar dish with buttons, sitting on top of the buttons is a plastic turtle I bought at an art fair, next to that is a couple smaller bottles, and then a bigger clear bottle, a milk glass toothpick holder and another small blue bottle. Next the 3 footed cup, there is a tinier Christmas teacup glued to a saucer, a silver Paul Revere bowl and another teacup. In front we have an owl pin, a pair of cherries pin which looks sort of like stained glass and a tiny gold pill box. The handkerchiefs have white flowers and a pink and green flower. There is also a silk pink handkerchief.
And the end of my bookshelf, with more overlap. You can see a clear glass sundae dish filled with more buttons. In front of that is a white teacup with pansies painted on it and another Paul Revere silver bowl, this one tarnished. The handkerchiefs have lace and a little bit of embroidery on them.
I hope the pictures aren't too blurry or dark. They always look so clear on my camera, and then when I upload them onto my computer, they're not quite as clear. I do try to brighten them up in Picasa, so I hope that worked.
Once again, it's Pink Saturday (early), if you'd like to see more pink things, go over to Beverly's. I'm also linking up with Linda's Junkin' Finds party here, and don't forget to scroll down to my next post and comment on the gloves if you would like to win them.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Hello all,
I'm not in the best of moods today, if you don't want to read my rant, you can look at the pictures of things I found at a holiday fair this weekend.
One of my morning routines is to get online and go to my email accounts, look at comics, read blogs, and check my facebook page. Today, I went to log into my facebook page and was informed it had been disabled. I went to the disabled FAQ page, read the reasons and I didn't do any of those things, to my knowledge, so I emailed them, and went through the processes to get myself back in. Now I'm waiting.
I know this shouldn't bother me as much as it does, but I keep up with my friends and family on facebook. That's the huge reason, I'd never know what was going on if I didn't have a facebook page.
I also like letting my friends and family know what's going on with me, even if it's very boring.

I went to a church holiday fair this weekend, where they have have bake shop, a "grandma's attic", a "boutique" and a place to eat food at that moment.
I bought some muffins, cookies and bread at the bake shop. I have already eaten the muffins and cookies, I stuck the bread in the freezer for Thanksgiving.
In the Grandma's Attic (basically a garage sale for members of the church), I found these gloves:
They would go up to someone's elbows, I believe. I got them for 50 cents, so I couldn't pass them up. When I got home and looked at them more, I realized I didn't have a place to put them. So, here's an opportunity for my readers:
Answer this question: What would you do with them?
You have until December 16th, that's one month, to answer on this post. I will pick my favorite answer, and send the gloves to you. I might include a few other things I have found at garage sales this year as well.
I picked up these items at the Boutique:
The green shamrock pin was 50 cents, the rose pin was $1.00, and the angel was 50 cents. I figure the shamrock pin I can wear on St. Patty's day, or use in artwork. I thought the rose pin, I could flatten out and use in artwork. The angel has already been wrapped up as a Christmas present for my mother.

Speaking of Christmas, I have wrapped all the presents I've bought so far. That would be 6 items for my mother, 2 for my brother, 1 for my father, and 3 and a box of 9 for my boyfriend. I've decided I need a few small things for my brother and father and something for a friend, but other than that I'm done shopping. I've never been done shopping this early in the year. But, I do have a tendency to buy things throughout the year. One of my mother's things I bought in January. Plus, my mother and boyfriend are easy to shop for, my mother collects Santas, and I can just buy my boyfriend Hot Wheels cars and I'm good.

How far along are you all on Christmas shopping?

These items I picked up in Grandma's attic as well. The bowl is carnival glass, it's got a very subtle sheen to it, was $3.00. The glass has an engraving on it, which of course I couldn't get in a picture, it was 50 cents, and the milk glass toothpick holder was also 50 cents.
I usually try to pick up things that are under $1.00, but I saw the bowl, and thought it was extremely cute, so I had to have it.
I've taken a liking to single glasses lately, and love it when they have engravings on them, so couldn't pass that up either. I recently rearranged my living room with items I picked up this summer at garage sales, I'll get those pictures up this week.
And the milk glass, I have always wanted a piece of milk glass, so just seeing the toothpick holder seemed like a great place to start a collection, especially for that price.

I'm very bummed that sales are winding down, actually I think they're done, there were no garage sales listed for Ames in the paper this past week. I am holding out for the craft fair that happens as city hall each year, sometime in November. Of course I can never remember when, but I find out about it some how.
Enjoy your week everyone, and thanks for reading.

Saturday, November 06, 2010

Happy Pink Saturday

Today, I'm going to show you a couple things I got when my grandmother passed away.
The first one is this glass piece, it measures about 7" tall by about 6" wide. It's clear and red glass with some gold. It has a lid as well. I don't know what year it's from, or what exactly it is, but I thought it was pretty neat and picked it out of my grandma's stuff.
Here's a view from the top, you can see the gold better in this picture.
Here's a view of the inside with a necklace I also picked up:
Here's the necklace, it's all the same pinkish colored rock, I believe it's rose quartz, but I don't know.
I hope you enjoyed my pink today, check out Beverly's blog for more pink items.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Happy Pink Saturday

This week, Beverly said we could post pictures in fall colors, so I kinda fudged and have posted some of my favorite pictures in red, yellow and orange. I know I don't have any of these pictures in pink, and I wanted you all to see something else I'm interested, another one of my hobbies.
I do have a pink picture, for everyone who needs pink.
This weekend's post is also about interests my boyfriend and I have. The first picture is a stuffed caterpillar, that's probably about 4 feet long, that he gave me for Valentine's day in 2009.
Next, here are my fudged pictures, not your normal fall colors pictures, but I hope you enjoy them, if not, I won't be offended, I love them.
My boyfriend and I are both huge fans of vintage cars, I love muscle cars. These pictures are some of my favorites from the Good Guys car show at the Iowa State Fairgrounds from July 2007.
First up, are the red pictures:
This one's a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, year unknown.
Next is an Oldsmobile 442, year also unknown.
A Ford Cobra Torino, year unknown.
A Chevrolet El Camino, year unknown.
and a Dodge Coronet, year unknown.
Next up, yellow:
First a 1967 Chevrolet Camino
A Ford Torino, year unknown.
A Ford Mustang Boss 302, year unknown. I had to take a picture of this one, as I have this car in a 1/18 scale model, I LOVE this car.
A Ford Pickup on a Chevrolet Chassis
and a 1969 Yenko Camaro
And lastly, orange:
A 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle
A 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda
A Chevrolet Malibu, year unknown
A Ford Mustang, year unknown
And last, but not least, a Plymouth Roadrunner, year unknown
So those are my fall colors for Pink Saturday, if you want to see more, most likely not cars, head on over to Beverly's.
I hope you enjoyed my pictures, and I love hearing your thoughts.