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!