ANOTHER FIVE STAR ESTATE SALE .....oh.....my.............GOSH!!!

I know!! Two hoarder estate sales, one right after the other?? Who'da thought? I was floating like 9" off the ground as I stood in line waiting to get in yesterday. It felt a little like the Exorcist when I realized that I was floating above the sidewalk.
And as I stood in line, I must tell you that my mother said to me, after having attended last weekend's sale and fixin to attend this second hoarder sale, "You ought to have Fitch Estate Sales do an estate sale on your studio."
Oh, really, mother... 
The woman will never understand mixed media art.

These wonderful estate sales that I attend weekend after weekend are put on by Fitch Estate Sales. Rachel Fitch is the owner and we've come to like each other a lot - heck, I see her every weekend when I'm in town because I can't stay away from her estate sales.

The infamous Rachel Fitch with a gosh-awful hat on her head, striking a pose.

I DON'T THINK the "hat" sold.

I'm very excited that tomorrow, Sunday morning in case I don't get this finished until late Sunday or Monday, because her husband is going to be guest pastor while our pastor and his family are at Disney World. I'm so looking forward to it - maybe I'll be able to stay awake for the entire sermon for a change.
(Oh, hush, I'm just kidding)

And, before we get to the part you're dying for....the pics of my treasures, I simply must dedicate this post to my new estate sale, antique dealing, mixed media artist friend, Anne Lorys. She had to work and is relying on my finds to feed her hunger for all things found!
 The way Fitch Estate Sales operates is that the first day of the sale, usually a Friday, everything is full-price, and the second day is 1/2 price or less. So, you buy what you must have or die on the first day and go back on the second day and grab up everything you hid under the beds and buy it for half-price.

And, I have come to a new understanding of how emotional, how stressful, putting on an estate sale is for the family because I know the daughter of the woman whose estate was being sold this weekend. It's so hard on the family to have to go through their loved one's things, decide what to keep, what to part with...I have a greater realization now that I've had a friend have to go through that...
 So, on to this weekend's sale. . .

The house is older, absolutely darling and full of the most amazing light fixtures!

I was dyin' when I found all of these vintage baby shoes!

Dyin'!!

These two vintage baby dresses really touched my heart.

There were a lot of much loved teddy bears. I picked up these two - the one on the left for me and the one on the right is a surprise present for an artist friend.......

Oh, yeah, a vest made out of a gorgeous quilt which I plan on cutting up as needed for different projects. And, the price?

You wouldn't believe me if I told you!

This bunch of vintage lace is a BUNCH of vintage lace and I bought it the 2nd day.....a steal. I should be in jail.

I love it, I love it, I love it!

Believe me when I tell you that you cannot see ALL of the trims, all of the fabulous rick-rack, in this stack.

Add another year to my jail sentence.

My mother thought I was sick when I squeeled as I found these loose limbs and she's seen my "the creepier the doll the better" workroom.

I didn't get it.

Yet another pair of legs and a lady's head, heehee, a wonderful vintage collar and two hand appliqued arch-like pieces and a sequined bunny - so cool. Oh, and that plastic tube-like container is how they used to package zippers!

For my "the creepier the doll the better" workroom I bought a vintage doll body - no head. I love it and my mother is seriously concerned....I also got another pair of vintage children's shoes a small old coin purse and a small, very sturdy hat box.

Now, I've personally never seen a hat quite small enough to fit this "hat box" but whatever it is, it is fabulous.

Here's a close-up of the "hat box"-isn't it great?

The metal handle on the top-love it!

A tin FULL of the most wonderful vintage jewelry.

($2.50 for all of it on Day 2).

Another steal , another year in jail.

Oh, my gosh....Day 2 and that's a vintage hat covered with large pink velvet leaves which are covered with pink netting - somebody shoot me! And the precious cereal bowls...$1.00 each - Day 2. The vintage gold capped bead necklace - $1.00 on Day 2 *that was a real deal*, and a darling small, made in Germany *chipped* pitcher for my small white pitcher collection - Day 2, $1.00. WHOOP!!! 

Are you ready?? .....a long strand of pink mercury beads, a gold chain and vintage white cotton collar-do they have ice cream in jail??

A very interesting shaped Marie Antoinette embroidered piece with a fabulous edging. This is a very wonderful piece. WOO HOO!!

And, last but not least, a suitcase to add to the ones next to the chair in the LR on top of which I'll set the lamp you're drooling over (or maybe not so much) and this really neat heavy iron lid-to-something that will be in my fern bed making me smile whenever I see it.

As you well know, junking can be exhausting so mom and I ate a most delicious lunch at my favorite mexican restuarant in Kerrville, Los Altos de Jalisco no.4.

Oh, baby, it was a great way to end Day 2 of a most wonderful estate sale.

As always, thank you to all of my readers. You make my day with your uplifting comments and I love you all!

Jan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME AND PRESENTS FOR YOU!

I'll be 56 on September 1st. Or, you can think like I do - my 24th birthday is September 1st because I look just like Barbie. Either way, I'M HAVING A BIRTHDAY!

And, what could be better than to gift y'all??!! So, keep reading and you'll see just how you can be the one to receive gifts on MY birthday! This is just so much stinkin' fun!

Oh, my gosh, I almost forgot! The reason you're getting two gifts is because I'm also celebrating the fact that I have OVER 100 FOLLOWERS! I feel like a celebrity. One hundred followers is, to me, a really big deal. I'll probably keel over if I ever get over 200 - that would be rad!

The first lovely gift is a very cool vintage brooch that I bought at an estate sale. In the photo it looks about as big as my bum, but it's really just regular size - about 2 1/2 inches across, I think. It's simply gorgeous - not a stone missing. Just think of what you could use this on!

AND, you will also receive the gift of a vintage evening purse! It's made of black velvet and has intricate designs sewn on both sides with seed beads. It's absolutely fabulous! I bought it at an estate sale, also. I bought both the vintage brooch and the vintage evening bag especially for this giftaway. I wanted two very special gifts for you.
See how it opens? Very cool. It opens with some kind of spring thingy that bends in the middle so it's really easy to get into. The lining of the evening bag is black satin. It's just beautiful!
Now, this giftaway is not only for having over 100 followers, it's for my birthday so that I can gift you, my readers.

And, I'll be adding a lot of extras to this giftaway to make it REALLY special!!

I've given so much thought as to how I wanted to do this.....did I want to just take comments as entries since these are being specially gifted to you? Or did I want to have the odds tilt towards the faithful readers that have stuck with me over time?

Let's see what I decided as you read...

rules of the giftaway:

1. Leave a glowing (LOL) comment = ONE ENTRY

2. If you are already a follower of my blog = TWO MORE ENTRIES

That's right - you get two more entries if you're already a follower of my blog.

3. If you sign up TODAY to follow my blog (see the right column of my blog) = ONE

MORE ENTRY

4. If you already follow me on Facebook = TWO MORE ENTRIES

That's right - you get two more entries if you're already a follower of me on fb.

5. If you sign up TODAY to follow me on Facebook (see the right column of my

blog) = ONE MORE ENTRY

6. If you leave an enticing post on YOUR blog about this giftaway = TWO MORE

ENTRIES.

That's right, sweet ones, two more entries.

(BE SURE AND LEAVE YOUR BLOG ADDRESS SO I CAN VISIT IT AND SEE YOUR
ENTICING POST:)

.

7. If you send me a very nice birthday present you automatically win. hahaha

(JUST KIDDING!!)

Okay, that's it, girls! I hope you have as much fun reaching for the gifts as I have had creating this giftaway!

REMEMBER TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU QUALIFY FOR WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR COMMENT.

AND, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!

Thanks so much everyone for entering! You know what I always say, the more the merrier - that's what makes a great birthday party!!

XOXO, Jan

MARIE ANTOINETTE, FLAMINGOS AND GOODIE SACKS IN THREE MINUTES!

Before I say, "goodnight", I simply must show you what I've been up to these last couple of weeks.
One thing, and it was covered in the last post, is that my sister, Joan, is here visiting from Indiana.
Oh, have we had fun. And, as usual, it doesn't take much for me to make myself laugh so hard I PIMP and when I'm with Joan, I'm often the only one laughing. She's says I'm not funny, I'm stupid.
Oh, how wrong she is!!
Anyway, I've been frantically getting ready for the Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat that I leave for this Wednesday. I say "frantically" because Satan has been trying to have his way with me by doing mean things to keep me from accomplishing all that I need to do......like crashing my new computer, having T-Mobile continue to be T-Moron - oh, I will be blogging about them after this retreat - and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember.
See??? He's even messing with my memory! I'm down to one brain cell! YIKES!!
So, here I am trying to get ready for the retreat at which I'll be teaching, am heading up a 22 participant ATC swap and am participating in Vendor's Night.
It's 10:30 here and I'm so tired all I want to do is go to bed! But, first, let me show you -

I did a run-through of the class I'm teaching just to brush up since it's been a while since I painted and that's what I'm teaching. (Don't tell my students!) For my practice canvas I did a very simple Marie Antoinette collage painting.
This is a close-up of Marie herself and some of the most amazing vintage lace that I added!

This is a close-up of the chandelier. It's really cool as it's a napkin and looks all old and cracked.

This here's a close-up of the vintage lace that I cut off of a larger, wider piece and a vintage drawer pull. Oh, so cool, I think.

I wish my camera took better pictures. These pictures don't do the canvas justice. But, never fear, I'm saving my money to buy a new camera so sometime in the next couple of years.......hahaha!

Oh, these are great.......tonight I "glittered" these flamingos and they're in my flower bed drying! I'm going to put a pink bandana around their necks and sell every one of them at Vendor's Night!

You can't see the glitter well at all in this picture, but trust me, they're "glittered" and look smashing!

And, I think I'm safe showing you the goodies that will be in my student's sacks that I've made. I doubt any of them have time to read my blog this week! I made them the most precious sacks and wrote them letters on these amazing tags that I made and am filling their sacks with all you see below! Won't they be surprised??? Don't you just love really cool surprises? I'm so excited for them to get their goodie sacks!

Okay, that took just a few more minutes than three, but it was a really fast post! I felt like I had been ignoring you and wanted to show you what I've been up to so now you know as much as I do! LOL

I won't get a chance to post again until I get back from Paper Cowgirl, but I'll have lots to show you then! Also, since I've been such a mess this month and didn't get a giveaway done, in July I'll have two fabulous giveaways! I hope that's good with y'all!

I've got the best readers in the world and I thank God for you!!

XOXO, Jan

SO MUCH TO TELL YOU, SO MUCH TO SHOW YOU, TOO LITTLE TIME!

Okay, I gotta be honest with you - I am so sick of being on the computer that it is only my love for you that keeps me on it. I've been taking pictures of finished pieces, fixing the pieces with my software, uploading the pictures to my lollishop and describing, pricing, proofreading...it's enough to make one want to set themself on fire.

So, this post is going to cover a multitude of pieces that I've finished and are now for sale (I am nothing if I'm not subtle) in my lollishop and I can't help but throw in a couple of pictures of another one of my boys (Blake was in the last post).

This picture is of my oldest son, Craig, ummmm, let's see, he's 24, and his girlfriend, Janna. He's a policeman - he loves it; I don't talk about it - and his squeeze is a doll!

No, it's not a model - it's Craig.

I know, I know, it's confusing, but it's true. . . . . .

Is it a crime to describe your son as "a hunk"?

The rest of these pictures are of pieces I told you I've just listed in my lollishop.

They're self explanatory so I'll just let you browse through them and I'll go to bed.

Sounds like a plan!

Who doesn't love Marie Antoinette???

A set of almost funny tags:

A set of summertime tags:

A set perfect for that special friend:

The tag slides into this sleeve...

Oh, I have to tell you - the brown spot on the envelope below is a shadow from the fabric it's laying on - it looks like I laid my cigar too close to it, but really it's just a shadow.

This is a cute little tag (it has an envelope, but blogger just ate the picture of it. Stupid blogger):

Ahhhh, another delightful set:

Next precious (LOL) set:

Okay, that's it. I don't know how blogger is going to interrupt my spacing of pictures and font sizing, but you know what?? Tonight I'm too tired to care and I really need to get this posted.

.......Don't let their spill on my posting ruin the eye candy you've just enjoyed. ROTFPIMP!

Love my readers,

all the time!

XOXO, Jan Oh, good grief. Look what I just found way down at the bottom of this screen.

Well, here it stays. Like I said, I WANNA GO TO BED!