Giveaway! *** NOW Closed***

Had a second winner of the night!  WTG Ellen!  This was fun, I'll be sure to do it again soon!  Thanks for playing!

Ding, Ding, Ding, I've all ready had one winner!  Congrats, Doodle!  I've moved the typewriter to a new listing, so keep on playing!  Please read all the rules!  Must post listing here when found!

Okay, some to get some positive mojo flowing!  I've decided to have a blog giveaway.  Let's have some fun!

Somewhere in one of my listings in my VintageStation shop, I've hidden the image below in with the other photos.  The first person to correctly post the listing in which you can find this image will win any ONE item of their choice from my either RunsWithScissors4 OR BusyBeading shops.

I think between those two shops, I should have something for everyone.  I hope so anyway!  If this works out, we'll do more, okay?

Get ready, get set, GO to http://www.vintagestation.etsy.com/ and find the vintage typewriter shown above.  Come back here and post the listing you found it in along with how I can contact you.  First person to do so wins!

WooHoo! Here is the important announcement for today!

Keep up the good work Etsy!  All this might be great if our pages could actual be seen!

Check it out!  http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6614738&page=1

FIX THE SEARCH

It's my blog and I'll vent if I want to!

I am super upset with Etsy these days.  I  WAS getting somewhere near 50 hits in an hour when I listed a new item, now I'm lucky to get 7 or 8 for days.  What is up with that?

Etsy has their priorities all screwed up.  It's more important to move the shopping cart to the right side because that's where other ecommerce sites put it.  It's more important to change to state abbreviations for shipping, because that's what other sites do.  Since when does Etsy want to look and do what other sites do?  Pretty soon, it will look just like eBay.  I came to Etsy because it was different and unique.  Because it didn't look like all the other sites.  ** added later**  I see that we can now sign in using our shop name or our email address!  Thank goodness, I was losing sleep over that.  I just kept forgetting my shop name so I needed a second way to sign in.  NOT. 

Most people in the forums seem to think the views dropped when they rolled out the new wider pages.  I have no idea if this is true or not, but I can see a huge decline in my views at that time, so it probably is the problem.  Google webcrawler is no longer picking up our pages.  This should be more important to Etsy than messing with things that aren't broken.

And speaking of forums, ever try to post your opinion when it isn't what the OP wants to hear?  You get nothing but snarky comments from the regular forum trolls.  It's okay for them to voice their opinions but not for someone else to do it.  There's more Etsy a** kissing going on in there, it's sickening.  Oh cool, state abbreviations, wonderful, tell me more.  Puke.  I knew if I went in there and said something about how UNimportant this is and fix the search problems, I'd just get snarked out of the thread.

Why bother telling us to flag someone when nothing is done about it anyway?  There's this one buyer that I've been watching for a long time.  She has 44 neutrals and 124 negative comments in her feedback.  Why is she allowed to continue?  Etsy must know about her, they are the ones that have to take care of the canceled sales, so what is their excuse this time?

I've lost my will to list.  I just want to take my paint by numbers and go elsewhere to play.  Or just not play at all.  I know my .20 cents will be sorely missed by Etsy.  HA.  Thing is, I don't even want to buy on Etsy either, that's just not like me.  But I have been watching auctions on eBay!

I'll get down off my soapbox now and return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Remembering the Good Old Days!

Photo album generated with Smilebox

Friday's Finds!

The photos just don't do this dinnerware justice! 

It's a beautiful creamy yellow color with blue monograms.

At first, I thought it was a simple art deco design but looking at it closer, I noticed it's initials.

It's marked Cavitt-Shaw with a product number and nothing else.  I can't find it anywhere or any information on the timeline of marks.  My thoughts are it's from the 1950's.

I was able to pick up four plates, four bowls, a gravy boat, oval platter, veggie bowl and that strange looking thing that might be a candleholder?  Is it possible they put out cigarettes in something like this?

Monogram:  ARB

I don't think it was for commercial use, it's way too delicate for that.  I'd like to think it was for some special socialite from the area!

Depression glass ashtray.  Has a place for a book of matches and extra cigaretters.

These are oh so retro!  Made of plastic by Homco.

They are both dated from the late 1970's.

Another wall plaque.

Remember orange Formica cabinet tops and dark brown cabinets?

These things are nicely made with some weight to them!

Troll dolls!

Most people know how much I LOVE troll dolls! I had a collection of them but sold my collection many years ago. I did keep a few and still stop to look at any I see when out antique shopping, but so far, I've resisted buying any more of them (except for a pair of pumpkin earrings I bought last year). Someone pointed out the Snuggie for trolls by Rebecca at beckynot on Etsy. I fell in love with it, way too funny!

Rebecca has a wonderful sense of humor and loves her girls. She provides them with anything they need. She sent me her photo album on Flickr, go look at what she has done for her girls and make sure you read the captions, you are in for a good laugh! http://www.flickr.com/photos/beckynot/sets/72157621567865860/ Also, stop by her shop for any provisions you want for your own dolls! Tell her I sent you! She's located at beckynot on Etsy.

Here's another one of Rebecca's listings, how can you NOT like someone who is this honest? LOLOL, it's a great listing, Rebecca!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/12950075/scary-ghost-felt-entity-overpriced

Trashed Cabinet

I saw this in the neighbor's trash pile and insisted my hubby go rescue it. That's right, I didn't have the nerve to do, so get him to do it! I thought it had potential, he thought it was junk. Finally got finished painting it! He had to do that, too! :o)
Now I need to find some really cool organizers for it. For now, I'm using Chinese take out containers! Works for me.

It's just what I needed for more storage!

Some fun things!

I'm listing these items later tonight on Etsy and I think I came up with some fun items! I know, what is it? It's a cup stacker! I have 6 cups stacked in it, isn't it neat? What a space saver!
This is a must have for the paint by number collector! A metal planter with a paint by number scene on it.

And finally, the much awaited inflatable terrarium footstool!

Fun, right?

Just in case . . .

You can't find me for a while, you know what I'll be busy doing! I've divided them into categories and now the fun starts! The research!
There's a total of 185 pins.

There's a lot of butterflies, hope people like them!

And a lot of dogs. Some super cute poodles and Scotties.

Should be fun!

How an Obession Begins...

It started for me with a trip to the thrift shop with a friend. I found this paint by number, picked it up, showed it to my friend and said "isn't this neat?!?", her response was "no, it's tacky and ugly". LOL, okay, we laughed and giggled about it.

A few days later, I returned to the thrift shop by myself and there it was, still sitting there. I felt it was an omen. It had my name on it.

The red barn came home with me. Everyone thought I was crazy. I was in love.

I can't start collecting anything else, really I can't. But one thing I love about having a vintage shop on Etsy is that I can enjoy items I like until they sell, so it went on Etsy.Next came this crazy looking thing! I love it, just look how big the pheasant is! It's as tall as the tree! I was hooked. I had to keep looking everywhere for these.

Covered bridge.Another one of my favorite ones, look at the face of the deer! OMG, it's a howl.This one is actually pretty!This is a dock scene.House in snow with mountain.Shows a white house and another one of my favorites.Seems to be part of the same series, white church.Barn with mountains.Old mill in snow.Old mill in the summer!Oriental scene.
Jesus and Mary. Set of two.

Cute kittens! This one is for sale in my shop, but I'm thinking about removing it and keeping it!

Then came this one. When I got it home and took it out of the frame, I realized it was dated 2002 so I couldn't sell it in my shop. Oh, what a shame! I framed it in a different frame and it's mine now.

When others get involved. My hubby found these next two at a thrift shop and I missed them! He's so darn proud of himself! This one I'm keeping, again, the look on the one bear is priceless.

My photo of this one isn't the best, it's in a beautiful yellow frame and appears washed out in this photo. When I look closely at the tablecloth, all the numbers are showing! I love it.

A few things I've learned as I've gone along:

1. Pass up items that are badly cracked, they won't last long.

2. Watch the colors closely, if you only want vintage PBN's, stay away from bright colors, those are newer ones.

3. You can also determine the age by the thickness of the cardboard/canvas, thicker is older.

4. Don't shy away from ones that might have unpainted numbers! They are fun and deserve a home, too!

Yep, I'm definitely collecting paint by numbers now! I'm sorry I sold so many of them, like the pheasant that bigger than the tree and the deer with the funny look on its face! I guess I'm just going to keep looking for more of them!

Thrifty!

I feel like it's been so long since I went thrift shopping! I had to run to the post office this morning and well, it's just a few rights and lefts to get to the thrift shop from there! Plus, I promised to drop off some newspapers, so I had to go, right?

I took my usual route through the shop. Jewelry, nothing. Games, toys, books, nothing, bummer. Linens, nothing. I'm starting to get really bummed out! Then, I spotted this on a shelf.

How funky cool is this? I love it, but wait, there's more! It's a hot pot!!!! Still has the plug, too! It's ceramic and from Japan. Non-polarized plug plus only marked JAPAN, not Made in Japan, so that should help date it.From there, I went downstairs. I found my second item but I can't share it with you at the moment, it's hiding in my car trunk until the hubby goes back to work. SSSSHH! Remind me Monday to show it to you! I never heard of this person before but thanks to my friend, Jennie at SoSoVintage, I knew it when I saw it this time! She had just done a blog post regarding it.

It's a glass tray with wooden handles. Unfortunately, one gold band is missing from the handle. It has an unusual shape to it and it's known as Sonata pattern by Georges Briard. I know this because it's signed!

When it rains, it pours! Morton Salt mug and sugar/creamer! The mug is dated 1968, so I'm assuming the set is the same period of time.

You might want to sit down about now, if you aren't all ready because the next one is BIG! I mean, HUGE!

Ugly box, so taped up I couldn't open it. I almost passed it by, but something made me decide to get this box open one way or another. Finally, I went back upstairs and to the cashier and asked her if I could open it. When she saw the tape, she got the trusty utility knife and cut open the tape. She layed down the box with the open side facing me and started to pull the casserole out. All of a sudden, she's laughing so hard and asking me if I was okay! Well, let's see it!

Yep, I was having a wheezer, I swear it. I couldn't breathe, my heart was pounding and I must have looked like I was about to faint! She's still laughing and still asking me if I was okay, but continued to pull it out of the box.

It's Canonsburg Pottery! And to make it even better, it's the Temporama pattern. OMG!

I know, if you aren't a vintage fan or don't know what this is, you just won't be excited about it, but my heart still races when I look at it.

It's a casserole with a warming rack. I looked it up and found a covered vegetable dish for $75.00! This is the same dish as far as I can tell, the box says it's a 2 quart casserole and I couldn't find it listed as such, so I'm assuming the veggie dish doubled as both.

Look at that handle!! How super cool is that?

Oh, I left everything at the register and went back downstairs. I found this lovely item and laughed when I walked back upstairs and the cashier says "is that all you found?" LOLOL! Well, yes, on my THIRD trip down to the basement it is!

It's marked Handpainted Nippon! Again, it can be dated by those words at about the late 1920's. I have no idea what the object is, do you? It's small. Too small to be a hatpin container, too small to be a sugar bowl. My next guess was a toothpick holder. It's the right size, however, no toothpick holder would have an attached underplate.

Prize to anyone that can guess what is still hiding in my trunk!