Welcome, March!

I like to think of myself as a cold weather lover. I don't like being hot. I don't like sitting in the sun. My skin is just too fair for that nonsense. Even though I live in Minnesota and I am happy to see cold and snow most of the winter, it is about this time of year that I start to yearn for warmer weather. I want to throw open the windows and hear the birds (and the neighbor's obnoxious wind chimes). More importantly, I am ready for garage sale season! I am tired of thrift store prices and I want to barter! That being said, we still have about a month and a half left until garage sales start popping up. I still need to hit the thrift stores if I want to find anything.

On Tuesday Cora and I traveled to a different Goodwill and found a couple of things.

 

1) Dala Horse  - It is new because the sticker has a website on it, but I still love them!
2) Motawi tile - I think I will keep this one. It has a chunk out of the back and it probably won't sell for very much. It will look good on my wall. I had never heard of these tiles, but I looked them up and they are BEAUTIFUL!
3) Starburst shot (?) glasses - These little glasses are adorable and I think they will make great vases for single flowers.
4) Brass sailboats
5) Green glass candle holders. These are really interesting. They look like Iittala, but they aren't. They are good quality and a bit of mystery to me.

Then we hit the local GW and I found some fabulous Pyrex.

A couple of weeks ago I found the large yellow bowl and the green bowl that are in the primary mixing bowl set. Yesterday I found the green, red and blue, so now I have a complete set! (Plus an extra green)  I have a set for my personal use and I use them almost every day. I LOVE them. Now I have a set to sell. The red bowl is very beat up. Why do the red ones always get so scratched?

I also found this fun thermos. Are these desirable? Do people buy them? I thought the stripes were fun, so I bought it.

My last find is this gorgeous pink baking dish (#222) with the holder. I love it! I think brownies would be great in this pan!

I hope to have a productive weekend listing a lot of stuff in the Etsy shop. I am really hoping to get some time to work on some handmade items too. It really is rewarding when something that I made myself sells.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I'm linking up with:
Apron Thrift Girl,
The Cottage Market,
Sir Thrift A Lot,
Young Heart Old Soul
A Living Space

My Latest Finds

I thought I would do a quick post about what I found this week at the thrifts stores. I am really ready to get outside and start going to estate sales and garage sales again, but until the weather warms up (-16 degrees F this weekend!) I will need to settle for the thrift stores.

Some of the things (not everything) I found this week:

• 2+ yards of vintage barkcloth with fun tropical pattern
• Dansk candle holder
• Delft tile says, "Nederland" 
• 3 vintage scarves
• Black candle holders from Sweden
• Mystery tile 

Cora and I needed to get out of the house yesterday, so we (I) decided to go shopping and make a lunch stop at McDonalds (I know, I'm a bad mom). I spotted the coral scarf at with the triangles right away. I loved the design.  It had the name, "Salvatore Ferragamo" on it. I do not buy high end clothing and I had never heard of that name, but it said it was 100% silk and made in Italy, so I held on to it. I found the other two scarves which seemed to be of high quality as well, so I snatched them up too. As I was standing in line, I looked up the name "Salvatore Ferragamo" and I was pretty pleased with my find. All accessories were 50% off, so I really got them for a steal. I don't know if the other two scarves are as desirable, but that's ok.

I have some questions for anyone out there in blog land who is reading this...

 

Does anyone know anything about this tile? It think it is adorable, but I can't find anything about it. Is it Mexican? 

Another question I have is about the Swedish candle holders. I just can't tell if they are vintage. My gut tells me no. The bottoms are just too "new" looking.  They also seem to have some sort of weights on the bottom that make a rattling sound. I have a vintage red candle holder and the shapes vary slightly.

Can anyone help me out?

I've promised myself that I'm going to try to keep my blog posts short and simple so that I don't get blogger burn out.  I'm linking up to Apron Thrift Girl, The Cottage Market, Sir Thrift A Lot, Young Heart Old Soul and A Living Space for the first time. Welcome to any readers who found my blog though them!

Once Again, I'm Back

I seem to have this love hate relationship with blogging. I can do it for awhile and then I get tired of putting the time into it. I think I need to make it more simple. From now on I will be posting simple updates about what is going on around the house. I've said this before and I haven't followed through, so we will see how it goes this time.

For the past six months or more I have really been getting into thrifting. I just love finding treasures that have been discarded.  I have decided to reopen Whatever is Lovely and concentrate more on selling vintage items that I have found in my thrifting journeys. If I make more cards or other creations, they will definitely go in the store, but right now I'm going to concentrate on vintage. I have also been selling some thrifted items on eBay that don't fit the Etsy demographic, but I do feel that my true love is with Etsy.


I've had items in my store for about two weeks and I've already had two sales. I'm excited about that because I have only listed 28 items.

My first sale was a variety of vintage clothes pins. I found them at Goodwill and threw them in my cart on the way out of the store. 

.My second sale was purchased less than 24 hours after I listed it. I found this fun mid century nut server at an estate sale last Sunday after church. I saw it in the ad and I convinced Jeremy to go by the sale on our way home. Luckily it was still there. After I got in the car, I was looking at the listings on Etsy and realized that I had forgotten to pick up the wood bowls that went with the orb. After we picked up some lunch, Jeremy drove me back to the sale and I snatched up the bowls.  I might have priced it to low, but I guess I'll learn for next time. Plus, it was encouraging to get a couple of sales under my belt this week.

This post is supposed to be a short one, so I suppose I will end it here. Thanks for reading about my latest adventures. I hope to keep posting and keep up-to-date on what's going on in the shop and around the house.

Photo a Day May, part 2

From top to bottom, left to right, Something that makes you happy,  A smell you adore,  Mom, Kitchen, a word you love, Something you do everyday,  Someone Who Inspires You

Garage Sale Finds

 Since garage sale season is in full swing, and since going to garage sales is a huge part of what Cora do in the mornings, I thought I would post some of the fun things I found last weekend.  This isn't a complete documentation of what I got because some of it is already in the laundry.  My mom and I hit one sale where all of the clothes were .25! I spent $2.50 and got a bag full. That whole bag is now in the washer.

Long sleeve t-shirt, Cherokee .25
Tank and shorts outfit, Gymboree $1.00
New Gymboree tights .50
4 packs of new hair clips for crafting .50

Yellow dish .25

3 felt play boards, perfect for church! $1.00 each
Melissa and Doug activity puzzle $1.00

Short sleeve t-shirts, Cherokee .25 each
Pink/brown dress outfit, Wonderkids .25

 

Pink Red Wing Pottery vase, $1.00

I don't know if these kind of posts are totally boring or not. I kind of like reading about what other people find and I thought I would just post these for fun. I hope this week brings a lot more fun stuff!

Photo a Day - May

A couple of years ago I did Project 365. It really helped me learn how to use my camera and it is a lot of fun to look back and have a memory from each day.  I have been wanting to do it again, but I really didn't want to have to try to remember to take the picture for 365 straight days. Last month I came across the Photo a Day Challenge from Fat Mum Slim.  I thought it was a fun project that would only last a month (or more if I wanted to continue the challenge). 

I haven't decided if I like having the structure of a having a specific topic each day.  Sometimes if I can't think of a subject for my photo, it is nice to be able to fall back on the list. There have been a couple of times when I have wished I could deviate from the list and just post something cool I saw. (As Jeremy reminded me, I can always post whatever I want...)  Maybe after this month I will go off on my own again and just borrow from the list if I'm stumped on a subject.

I am going to be posting my daily photos from the last week on the blog. I'm hoping to get some interesting stuff in the next couple of weeks! I will post the photos from Instagram that were edited and then provide the links to Flickr where the photos were not edited.  1. Peace, 2. Skyline, 3. Something I Wore, 4. Fun, 5. Bird, 6. You

Sunday School Song Canvases

I have had these canvases done and in place for a long time, but I have never gotten around to posting about them.  I thought it was a fun project and I love the results, so I decided to share them.

Before Cora was born (2 years ago!) I saw a couple of canvases on Etsy that gave me inspiration. They were kind of like subway signs, but they had other sayings on them.  The one thing that I wanted with mine was color. I wanted them to match some of the colors in her room and not just be black and white. I was pretty sure I could create what I wanted myself using my Cricut, so I gave it a whirl.

I bought 2 16x20 inch gallery wrapped canvas from Michael's (with my coupons!)  I then painted the whole canvases with black acrylic paint and waited for them to dry.  I liked the weathered, worn look from the canvases that I saw on Etsy, so I aggressively sanded my canvases all over and especially concentrated on the edges.

The most difficult part about the project was getting the sizes of the letters just right.  I first sketched out the canvas and placed the words in lines how I wanted them to appear.  I then experimented cutting out different sizes of letters using white printer paper.  I actually cut out all of the letters in white just so that I could lay them all out on the canvas and get the right size before I made my final cuts. I free-hand cut the sun (it is a little bit rough) and I used a couple of different cartridges for the flowers, beanstalk, bird and butterfly.

I'm very pleased with the way they turned out! More than once when I was singing Cora to sleep and I ran out of songs, I would just glance up and use these two.  We have all had those long nights, right?  She now really enjoys singing and these are two of her favorite songs.

If anyone needs to know the exact cartridges I used, let me know.  It has been a long time, but I can figure it out.

I was featured!






Link Parties:

Saturday: Tatertos and Jello, Family Ever After,   Young and Crafty, Be Different...Act Normal,  Funky Junk Interiors, To Sew With Love, Bubbly Nature Creations, Serenity You, A Vision to Remember, Craft Envy, 
Sunday: Under the Table Dreaming, I Heart Nap Time, The Girl Creative,  Petite Hermine, Nifty Thrifty Things, Randee's Organized Chaos, A Rosie Sweet Home
Monday: Polly Want a Crafter? Skip to my Lou, C.R.A.F.T., Polish the Stars, Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across My Face, DIY Home Sweet Home, Sew Can Do, Marvelously Messy, Sew Chatty , Singing Three Little Birds,  An Original Belle,  Bringing Beauty, Making the World Cuter, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,  Embellishing Life Everyday, Its So Very Cheri,  So Very Creative,  Colours Dekor, Be Colorful, Kampen Lane Designs, Our Delightful Home
Tuesday: Mommy By Day Crafter By Night,  How to Craft - Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,  A Bowl Full of Lemons, Cherished Bliss, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Chef In Training, Type A Decorating, Me and My Boys, Not Just a Housewife, Ladybug Blessings, New Nostalgia, I'm Topsy Turvy  
Wednesday: Sugar and Dots, Some Day Crafts, Sew Much Ado, Creations by Kara, DIY By Design, My Girlish Whims, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Junk In Their Trunk, The Shady Porch, Jaqs Studio, Tales of a Trophy Wife, Ginger Snap Crafts,  The Sasse Life, Passionately Artistic, Southern Lovely, The DIY Dreamer,  

Written With Love Card

I have decided that I need to start using all of the hoarded scrapbooking/cardmaking supplies that I have collected over the last several years.  I have kind of neglected my love for making cards since Cora has been born and the last couple of weeks I have really been getting the itch to get back into it.  I am going to try to do at least one paper project a week. Last night I was searching the internet for some inspiration and I came across the Saturday Card Sketch Challenge on Two Peas.  I actually first spotted the challenge on Kimber McGray's blog and I figured that since I have an account at Two Peas, I would post my card.

My friend Karin and I went to the October Afternoon warehouse sale a few months ago and I have had the stack of goodies that I purchased sitting on the counter in my craft room just waiting to be used.  I really do love their products and I think they really fit my style of cards.  Almost all of the supplies used on this card are October Afternoon, except for the letter stickers. They are from EK Success.

I love making cards because it is so satisfying to be able to sit down and be done with a project in a short period of time. I hope to have more cards made to post soon.

This project was featured:






Link Parties:
Monday: Polly Want a Crafter? Skip to my Lou, C.R.A.F.T., Polish the Stars, Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across My Face, DIY Home Sweet Home, Everything Under the Moon, Sew Can Do, Marvelously Messy, Sew Chatty , Singing Three Little Birds,  An Original Belle,  Bringing Beauty, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,  Embellishing Life Everyday, Its So Very Cheri,  So Very Creative,  Colours Dekor, Be Colorful,
Tuesday: Mommy By Day Crafter By Night,  How to Craft - Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,  A Bowl Full of Lemons, Cherished Bliss, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Chef In Training, Type A Decorating, Me and My Boys, Not Just a Housewife, Ladybug Blessings, New Nostalgia, I'm Topsy Turvy  
Wednesday: Sugar and Dots, Some Day Crafts, Sew Much Ado, Creations by Kara, DIY By Design, My Girlish Whims, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Junk In Their Trunk, The Shady Porch, Jaqs Studio, The Stuff of Success, Tales of a Trophy Wife, Ginger Snap Crafts,  The Sasse Life, Passionately Artistic, Southern Lovely, Free Pretty Things for You, Let Birds Fly, Mushki Loves,  The DIY Dreamer,