Having a Sale....Again...Any Takers???

You know I had a 40% off sale in my Etsy shop a few weekends back...not one person took me up on the offer!  No one!  Zero!  I Tweeted, Facebooked, blogged, and announced in my shop...40% off everything.  With free shipping on most things to the US...some of the stuff was a real steal.  *sigh* So, I'm trying it again today:  40% off (no minimums even!) everything in my store.  It's a one day sale...to see if anyone is paying attention.  Just wanting to move some goodies along to a good home.  Check out my SHOP if you are interested and enter "summer40" to receive the discount upon checkout.

Pretty Dishes for a Song

I found these two dishes this past Friday at a thrift shop.  I've been looking around for a pretty serving dish (like for mashed potatoes) but haven't wanted to spend much.  Well, these two dishes were only around $3.50--for both of them--so they were definitely worth the money.  The shapes, gold accents, cut work, and floral patterns are beautiful.   Hope you like them too!

 

The Lamp....Again

I really was content with the lamp I found at the thrift store a few weeks back.  I truly was content.  THEN...we went to a thrift/charity shop yesterday, and I found the **perfect** lamp for a song. 

It is the exact style I was looking for, only I think this is prettier than I imagined.  The glass shade looks like a flower.  The brushed brass goes with our living room rug.  It is the right size--small but with a good, strong light.  I'm thrilled!!

On the way out of the store with lamp in hand, and a few other ladies were commenting on it wishing they had seen it first!  Yes, I'm very pleased and feel like I will be doing my needlework in the evenings in style.

Also, this tin was at the same store.  I have a few of these (in red, blue, and green), only not in this color (brown) nor large size.  It's about 6" tall.  It was only 25 cents.  What a deal!

"New" Lamp

We have one corner of our living room that can be dark--especially at night.  It is in the corner by two windows which during the day is wonderful.  However, at night it just needed more light...especially since I have decided to do some stitching there in the evenings.  Because of where it was, it needed to be somewhat small and discrete yet give off good light.  The *perfect* lamp was spotted at the local antique mall, but I just couldn't summon the courage (nor the money!) to spend $149 for it.  So, thankfully the thrift store came through with a $5 baby.  The lampshade was wonky and stunk.  What to do about a lampshade?  Well, this lampshade that I beaded years ago and never sold, has now been put into use!  True, the beads, though beautiful, are not the right colors for my living room. I had taken a plain lampshade and stitched pretty glass beads randomly all over it.  I love how glass beads look with light coming through--so vibrant and colorful.  I'll change the beads eventually.  However, I was quite pleased with the result, and now I can stitch away in the evenings and actually see what I'm doing. 

Handmade Artists' Shop Selling Venue

Well, several years ago I was a member of Lollishops.  Remember that?  It was a very sweet and fun selling venue.  I met some wonderful people through it....sold some things.  Their advertising and networking ideas were great, and with co-op ads I was able to have my site link in a number of big magazines.  Unfortunately Lollishops closed after just a short time.  I've been selling through Etsy for quite awhile now, and it has gone well.  However, I thought I'd branch out a little and try another selling venue again just for a few of my things.  It had to be economical.  I love the idea of Make Mine Pink and Shabby Shops and others, but I just can't afford their monthly prices.  

Then I read about the Handmade Artists' Shop though an Etsy forum.  They don't take any fees other than $5 per month, and all the products on there have to be hand made.  I like the attitude of the owners....so I'm giving it a try with my hand stitched felt things.  I may keep a few felt things on Etsy...haven't decided on that though.  Check out my SHOP if you'd like as well as some of the OTHER SHOPS there.  It's a small but growing community and could use other vendors if you want to join.  No sales yet...but I've only been there a week.  What do you think?

Much Loved Tea Kettle

Found this tea kettle at the thrift store this past weekend.  It has been re-soldered and was certainly used, but it "spoke to me" instantly.  I love the brass color and all of the detail.  Thought the picture needed to be taken by our old chest...looks almost like an old painting by a Dutch Master.  Enjoy!