The Hoarders Report

Fresh from the Hoarders Estate Sale I attended yesterday, here's what made the trip back home with me...

Oh, and I didn't snap any pics at the sale, I was there to shop, not shoot! The time spent setting up a shot could make the difference between you and another OPPORTUNISTIC SHOPPER (hehehe) grabbing a certain treasure, so it was all hands free and on deck to the task at hand.

One more bit of pertinent info before we begin...as it was Day 2 of the sale, everything was HALF PRICE, so I pretty much STOLE everything you see below!

 

  

Bust of child reading. Headed to my booth or Warrenton in the Spring.

 

Shabby, romantic floral.

 

Another Frozen Charlotte bisque doll (and parts) for my growing collection. She'll be incorporated into an art project.

 

A quintet of cheeky bisque babies.

Big love on these...old pocket watch parts, pretty much grabbed for a steal.

 

Lamp parts galore could be found at this sale....floor lamps, table lamps, hanging lamps...

Really unique little trinket cases, headed to my Etsy Shop.

 

  

A circa 1860 dictionary, destined to be incorporated into many an art project!

They had HUGE standing filing cabinets just CRAMMED with dozens if not hundreds of each style of greeting card. All completely amazing, and I surely grabbed more than my fair share!

 

  

  

Can't you just see all these in one art project after another ?!?!

 

 I was also really pleased to find a little reminder of why we were all there at the sale in the first place...

Meet Mrs. Provance ot Provance Antiques.

This was her store, and we were all guests in her home, rummaging through all her glorious, junky stuff!

 

Thank you Mrs. Provance, and thanks to all of you for patiently waiting for this post.

I'm still recuperating from my recent illness and foot injury, so I apologize for not being quicker on the draw when it comes to getting things posted. I crashed pretty much as soon as we got home last night and slept well into the late morning today.

Also, I want to extend an apology to all my wonderful bloggy friends for not being able to make it over to each of your blogs to say hello this past week. God willing, when I get back to normal (whatever THAT is) health-wise, I'll be able to drop by and say "hey" to each of you personally. I miss y'all!

Have a wonderful Sunday and see ya next week!

Just a little tease...

And it's only because I'm catatonic-tired and need a nap in the worst way.

But I promise you, the Hoarders Estate Sale did not disappoint.

I didn't buy a lot, but I got exactly what I needed. Mostly smalls, as I primarily buy for my Etsy Shop these days ( my poor, sad, neglected little booth! ). More pics will be posted tomorrow, but for now, say hello to one of my spectacular finds...the three lovely ladies gracing this gorgeous, heavy, BIG, Greco-Roman lamp, coming soon to the fields of Warrenton during 
Antique Week ( March 25-April 4 ).

Please head back over this way sometime tomorrow...I plan to combine my Silver Sunday post with the follow-up to this one, so bonus! You get a two-fer. 

And just a quick shout out to my brand new junkin' buddy that I met at the sale....

 

Say hi to Jan of The Polka Dot Barn!

I came across her purely by accident, she was not a reader of this blog, but is a regular at the same estate sales I frequent, so it's WEIRD that we hadn't met before.

Jan is a local mixed-media artist, and is just an all-around nice gal. Go sneak a peek at her Etsy Shop, she's super talented. 

And oh my gosh, she's like another Effie, my rockin' Bar W Buddy I'll be selling with in the Spring.

Jan and I plan on getting together next week for lunch and will surely be wreaking general mischief and mayhem in the weeks and months ahead.  ;-)

Off now to take a quick nap with my sweet husband, who accompanied me today and tirelessly carried all my crap as always, LOL!

See y'all tomorrow!

It's a HOARDERS Estate Sale!!!

I've been waiting WEEKS for this one!

This will be part two of a MASSIVE estate sale which is like a junker's dream come true.

These people owned an antique mall or were dealers, and last month when I attended part one of this sale, I was given a sneak peek of what would be offered this time.

Oh my gosh, these people were junkers and hoarders to the MAX!  Just like US!!!

Per the website...

Entire Contents of the home and Barns!

This is Part II

Scroll down for Preview Pictures.

This sale is the continuation of the largest sale we have ever tackled.  We are now in the bottom floor of the Workshop and Barn.  There is tons and ton and tons!

Antique Furniture, primitives, crocks, every piece of every kind of lamp, chandelier, oil lamp, hanging globes, brass parts, plugs, cord, etc.  There is at least 20 display cases from Antique Oak to Small Jewelry cases,  Painting supplies, tons of paint brushes and frames, canvases, paint, artist chemicals, GORGEOUS Oak Antique Watchmakers Bench~FULL of Antique Watch Parts and Tools~super rare piece, Pocket Watch Parts,Military Trunks full of papers, backpacks, misc. FABULOUS Set of Antique Brass and Cast Iron Parlor Stools, Cast Iron Fountain, Entire contents of a woodworking shop, Powertools~saws, drills, sanders, Lathe, Table Saw, Work Table, Large Vice, Wonderful Primitive Clamps and Wood Planes, Pottery, China, Paintings, Oak Desk, Kilns, Cast Iron Stove, China Blank & China Paints, Dress Forms, Milk Glass, Cookie Jars, At least 10 old trunks, Store Countertops, Vintage Child's Toys, Doll Parts, More Vintage Jewelry, Iron Beds, So many odd pieces of furniture from a crackled Red painted table to a 1890's Cabinet with the Wood Mill mark from Louisiana, and that's not to mention the items still in the main house from the first sale. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll be sure to report back with all the details.

Wish me luck!

Adding Insult to Injury....

Take a look at what I did late this afternoon...

Nooooo, I didn't glue candy hearts to my tootsies!

That's Photoshopped due to my fugly, non-pedicured foot.

See the middle toe? The pretty shades of red and gray?

Yep, I broke it. Either that or a really bad fracture.

It hurts like the dickens, and is still swelling up and getting darker by the hour. Smashed it into the corner of one of our armoires on my way to the closet.

Gads, I must really like you people to plaster a pic of my reptilian foot up there for the world to see!  ;-)

Shiny, Shiny, Shiny...or, My ADHD Predicament

Okay, I know y'all have been thinking it, so I'm just gonna come right out and say it.

I have a wee touch of ADHD when it comes to knowing just which direction I want to take my business.

And I say business like it's the only thing on my plate, my main source of income and livelihood.
Au contraire...

Oh no, I have a real-life, full-time gig as a respiratory therapist, a job which I've had for a coon's age and pretty much can't imagine ever working anywhere else. I think I'm good at what I do, I love the people I work with, and the patients make it all worthwhile.

But then there's all this other stuff.

You know, the stuff I started prattling on (and on and on and ON) about when I started up this here blog back in August '09.

There's my antique mall booth.

There was (briefly) my forays into furniture refinishing.

There's my writing aspirations.

There's my Etsy Shop.

There's my photography aspirations.

There's selling in Warrenton as a dealer.

There's the mixed-media, collage stuff.

Have I left anything out?

In the past 6 months, you've seen me ping from one thing to the next, like a seriously distracted 3 year old cut loose in Toys-R-Us. Or, as my husband likes to call it, my "Shiny, Shiny, Shiny" moments.

 

My lovely husband and me on our honeymoon in '07. Notice how I'm way too cool to wear the requisite, life-saving, fanny pack apparatus. At least for photo-op's, anyway.  ;-)

You know, you'll be walking along, talking about something else, when all of sudden something totally unrelated catches your eye...."Ooooo, shiny, pretty! Oh...what were you saying?"

Or as Deb calls it, SQUIRREL!!!

Man, she sure has ME figured out!!!

I mean, just look at all the permutations my logo, my brand, my whatever has gone through as I search for an identity. Something about blind pigs and truffles comes to mind. Sorry, inside joke.

So where am I headed?

Right now? The bathroom, but I'm speaking on a larger scale.

Better to do one thing well than a dozen half-ass, right?

Bigger question: Where does my heart lie?

Right now, I'm thisssss close to heeding the advice of a most wise FRIEND and giving up the booth in favor of focusing on my Etsy Shop and doing shows like Canton and Warrenton, albeit locally.

I love the antique mall folk, but honestly, it's a glorified storage space for the amount of money I'm making there. Etsy on the other hand, has proven itself to be both creatively and financially rewarding.

( Vintage Perpetual Calendar, available via my Etsy Shop )

So, no-brainer, right?

Still, I hold out hope that I'll have a boffo sales month at the booth, that I'll land that first floor space, that I'll win the lottery.....

Am I the only one who's unfocused and undecided about the direction they want to take?

Sure feels like it sometimes.

Sorry that this post doesn't end on a resolved note. I vowed to be nothing if not honest with y'all about who I am and what I'm going through in my life when I started this blog, so I'm just keeping true to my promise.

Time will likely answer all these questions for me.

I'm thinking that come Spring, I will have de-cluttered my mind a bit, and my focus and energies will be directed more narrowly.

But until then.....

Thank y'all for bearing with me and all my shiny-ness.

XOXO

Want Goose Bumps?

 Just listen to THIS...

From the recently televised Hope for Haiti Telethon.

To my mind, NOTHING beats the late Jeff Buckley's version, which I've posted below, but JT's sure does come close.

This is far and away my favorite song ever, mostly for the hauntingly sublime lyrics.

Well I heard there was a secret chord 
That David played and it pleased the Lord 
But you don't really care for music do you

Well it goes like this
The fourth, the fifth 
The minor fall and the major lift 
The baffled king composing hallelujah 

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah 

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof 
You saw her bathing on the roof 
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you 

And she tied you to her kitchen chair 
And she broke your throne and she cut your hair 
And from your lips you drew the hallelujah 

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah 

Well baby I've been here before 
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
You know I used to live alone before I knew you

And I've seen your flag on the marble arch 
And love is not a victory march 
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah 

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah 

Well there was a time when you let me know 
What's really going on below 
But now you never show that to me do you

But remember when I moved in you 
And the Holy Dove was moving too 
And every breath we drew was hallelujah 

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah 

Maybe there is a God above 
But all I've ever learned from love 
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you 

And it's not a cry that you hear at night 
It's not somebody who's seen the light 
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah 

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah 

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah 

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah 
Hallelujah

( Leonard Cohen) 

To find out how you can help, click HERE.

A Silver Valentine...

 I almost titled this posted "Silver Sunday Apologies", as what I had originally planned didn't pan out, due mostly to having a setback health-wise.

Yep, I started feeling crummier and crummier as the day progressed, until even the mere thought of staging and photographing and editing my silver was making my head explode.

Luckily, I'm off work until next Thursday, so God willing, I'll be back up to snuff by then. If you don't see or hear as much from me in the meantime, now you'll know why.

One more thing before I bid y'all adieu....

Many thanks to the wonderful Donna at Brynwood Needleworks for the truly kind words of praise and encouragement as she passed along the "Knock Your Socks Off" Award on to me.

I'm sorry if I got the title of that award wrong, it's fun getting punchy on sinus medicine, lemme tell ya.

Donna is a genuinely lovely person, and I think everyone needs to head right on over to her blog and reaffirm what I just said. Show her some bloggy love!

After you've said howdy to Donna, make haste over to Beth at

Gypsy Fish Journal

for links to ALL the Silver Sunday participants!