Antique Show

Finally the day had come... I've been waiting for the first big antique show of the year with great anticipation and of course, a Wish List for my craft room.

It's been 15 years since daughter and I have attended these shows together. Back then, we hunted down toys for my Star Wars collection. Now I'm looking for antique treasures!

And treasures were found.

In fact, within the first hour of the doors opening, I had all but drained my pocket of the amount I budgeted myself to spend. Of course daughter was given her own money to search for vintage jewellery that she likes to find. And I had no trouble at all -- as you can see:

Some of the goodies I found include a silver framed photo album, three sets of salt and pepper shakers (for a display I will soon unveil), a primitive kitchen grater, oil tin, sifter and sad iron. I was thrilled to find a mini version of my old Wizard lantern and something off my Wish List: some antique glassheaded pins. Other smalls found were an old metal tape measure, an English brass and wood caliper, ceramic deer mug and more watch parts. Always looking under the tables instead of just ON them, I discovered a wonderful old wire oil can caddy and a vintage Coca Cola box with dividers. One of the weirdest items I brought home were four rusty railroad spikes. I have a picture of an 1880 locomotive I used to work on, so I am thinking of adding these spikes to some kind of railroad display... methinks I need to find my old railroad cap!

The best find was the very last. As we were preparing to head out for a nice breakfast we found an sweet old chap with a table full of war mementos from HIS father; uniforms, caps and the like. Now I don't collect those, but when I spied the Union Jack sitting beside them... I fell in love.He made me a really good deal on the 75 year old flag.

I couldn't wait to hang it in my craft room.

Yep, it was a GREAT day alright.

Tour of My Craftroom - Part 3

Today I am going to feature the right side of my craft room: my sewing / stamping area. As usual, click on the images for larger versions.

I got this desk from my aunt when she moved into a senior home a few years ago. I love the single large drawer with antique pulls. It's great to have the extra space to stamp or sew. I used to keep my sewing machine on it all the time, but recently placed the machine on the floor underneath until I need to use it.

The small table lamp was also my aunt's. For years my daughter had it in her bedroom, so we bought a new shade for it back then. Yesterday I used some of the lace I found at the thrift store and added it to the shade... I love the way it softened the look!

The two drawer cabinet is a recent eBay find... I was the only bidder and got it so cheap! I was amazed. It matches my watchmaker's cabinet on the main desk; with those white porcelain pulls - and holds my small inkpads perfectly!

I topped it off with a vintage handkerchief I found at a local antique shop; they had a basket full for $2 each. The Queen Elizabeth II commemorative teacup and saucer hold my collection of watches, watch faces and vintage keys. Come to think of it, the teacup also came from my aunt!

One of my favorite finds on eBay is that little squirrel pincushion. It was an estate find in Colorado; with a copper base and velvet cushion... I just HAD to have it!

The small shelf holding my Tim Holtz inkpads was found just last week for a couple of bucks at the thrift store. The other thriftstore finds on the desk are the candy dish (yes, it used to be on my main desk but I moved it yesterday -- I am always re-arranging things!) and the silver tray with bow. The final item from another aunt is the doily... a nice remembrance of her since she passed over 10 years ago now.

So that is my side desk. Above it are the shelves holding my antique typewriter, baskets of spools and supplies and mason jars with buttons and ribbons. That round brown metal item is an old film canister... a fun item again found at the thrift store (yes, I DO got there a lot to see what I can find!)

The top shelf displays some vintage books (a 1939 edition of Gone With The Wind is my treasure), some antique ink bottles and a pair of old spectacles.

I hope you've enjoyed this update. More will come soon!

Tour of My Craftroom - Part 2

As promised last time, here are the rest of the antiques I have on the main desk in my craftroom. As always, click on the images to biggify.

First, here are two thrift store finds - a glass and silver sugar bowl I use for candy (well, it HAS sugar in it, no??). I always have to have some kind of treat while I work....*ahem*.

I recently found this chafing dish, minus the actual dish however... for a couple of bucks, I thought why not use it paired with a glass bowl (another thrifty find) to hold stamps? I love the heavy, ornate design!

Here is a photo I took today of my pen cup, stapler and tape dispenser. I use small mason jars for the brushes, a Shawnee planter (with a cute deer!) for my scissors and other tools. A copper Scout stapler replaced my old plastic one; and I even found the proper staples on eBay, so it still works! The silver tape dispenser is another eBay find as my old black plastic one really didn't fit in ;)

One of the first antique desk accessories I purchased last fall was this Achilles stamp holder. I just LOVE it to hold my old stampers. Many of these I have replaced the rubber mount with a strip of velcro to hold felt pads for inking projects (aka a homemade version of the Tim Holtz blenders).

Here is my antique paper cutter. I had been looking for one of these for awhile, but some were very large and expensive. Then I came across this small 9" model at a very reasonable cost on eBay. This type of tool was used in grocer or butcher shops to hold and tear brown paper wrapping. I use it to hold my paper towels. I added the string spool on top and used the hook on the side to hang a metal ruler.

That scoop behind it I found for $4 tucked away at a local antique shop... right now it is hanging off the side of my other desk. The other item you may note behind the cutter is an 1880s wire letter rack. It holds a few pages torn from an old children's book (which was ruined by a child's scribbles all over it, so I didn't feel bad tearing out the good pages) that I'll probably use to illustrate cards with.

This pencil sharpener we've had for years; call it a "found in our garage" item :)  It's kinda scary to realize something we've used is now considered an antique....

Well, I think that now covers most of the antiques on my main desk... until I find more, that is!

I will close off this segment with something NOT on my desk, but a very recent acquisition: my Valentine's gift from hubby this year:

I found this Drake Whistler decoy at a local antique store and mentioned it to hubby... what a perfect addition to my craftroom! I added the bow and he now adorns a cedar chest I use for a coffee table. Of course, I named him "Drake"!

Well, that's the tour for today. I promise not to keep you waiting nearly a month for Part 3... I'll be posting it in the next few days.

Tour of My Craftroom - Part 1

As promised a few weeks ago, I'm starting a series of posts to go into more detail about my newly-decorated (well, to be honest, it's more like CONTINUING-TO-BE-decorated because I still am collecting items for it) craftroom.

When I moved my craft space downstairs, I decided it needed a theme. When perusing the internet for ideas, I fell in love with the many vintage / antique rooms I found. I had already picked up a few antiques, so I began visiting antique shops, thrift stores, and of course, eBay to outfit my space.

Today's post will highlight probably the most important part: my workspace.

I placed my six foot table on the long wall opposite the door to the room. Over it I attached two vintage printers drawers that store my rubber wooden stamps. As in my old room, I ran a long curtain rod above those to keep my ribbon in view and at hand.

On the table are my pens, pencils and Copic markers as well as some other antiques. But I'll begin today with my favorite piece: that wooden watchmaker's cabinet in the center. I used to have a plastic and metal hardware box to hold my small embellishments; but in order to have a truly antique look, the plastic had to go. I waited, watched and finally bid on a piece that was within my budget. These cabinets can go for many hundreds of dollars; luckily I won this one on eBay for a reasonable price as it is missing a drawer; but not a problem for me, as I needed a cubby to hold some Copic pens... this fit the bill PERFECTLY! Here's a closer look:

On top of the cabinet sits an antique glass pen and ink holder, an old tin tart tray (to hold shavings when sharpening pencils), a great heavy lion head - a recent find that I think may have been a furniture decoration.

The other three antique pieces above the cabinet are two Victorian items: a cast iron metal clip and a cast iron note hook.

The small card on the clip is from 1905; a Player's cigarette card from the UK all about "The Dominion of Canada" (depicting the Canadian crest and flag at the time). The chalkboard is a child's item from a local antique shop; they are very hard to find with real slate.

As always, click on the images for larger views. The next post will feature the other vintage items on my desk.

Craft Room 2012

For the past few months, I've been redecorating my craft room in the basement. Ever since I moved all my stuff down here, I've been really enjoying the ability to create in a larger space with a TV all my own! While researching craft rooms online for organizational ideas, I fell in love with the many vintage / antique styled rooms. So, here finally are some images of how mine looks so far with the pieces I've acquired since the Fall.

I'll be doing separate posts to detail some of the more interesting items, but for now, here's a slideshow for an overall visit:

Happy New Year!

My Craftoom: 2011

When I first started scrapbooking back about 2006, I had ALL my supplies in three containers strapped to a cart I would wheel out from a closet to spread out on our dining room table whenever I felt the need to get creative. I used two tackle boxes for the smaller stuff and a small Cropper Hopper for my paper. Wow... how far I have come in five years.

I now use daughter's old bedroom (after she moved downstairs); it's small but cozy - a great place to create and relax with the dog at my feet and three cats ever present to keep me company. Other than a single picture of when I repainted and first set up the room a few years back, I don't think I've ever added phots of my entire craftroom here. Be warned however; there are quite a few photos! So if you have the time, grab a cuppa and click on the images to biggify for closer looksees.

First, here is my main workspace. My favorite things about this space are the wooden stamp storage trays (one is a vintage printer's drawer) on the walls, the 6 foot curtain rod for ribbon and the way nearly everything is within arm's reach when I am sitting there. Over  the table I have one long shelf to hold tools such as a Cuttlebug, Xyrons, Cropadile, embossing tools and the like.

Here's a closer look of my workspace. My Copics are in homemade storage containers (wooden doll's dressers sans the drawers with chipboard dividers inserted and everything painted black).

I have been slowly adding antiques to the room; here you'll see my antique glass pen and ink holder, a vintage expandable carpenter's ruler and a little Occupied Japanese ceramic deer I just couldn't resist getting before Christmas.

The metal tool box is great for small embellies from tiny brads to a variety of Wild Orchid flowers. I also scored a free acrylic display box that holds my Copic refills perfectly... can you believe it's a lipstick display? A local drugstore was revamping the cosmetics section and they GAVE me two displays I thought I could put to good use.

To the right of this main table are two smaller desks. The first is an old desk from my aunt that has a wonderful huge single drawer to store all kinds of "stuff" ;) On top I have a few organizers to hold some stamping supplies as well as an antique scale, jar for candies (of course!) and an antique rubber stamp stand. I have a few Sizzix dies and Cuttlebug folders stored here too.

The desk next to that is for my laptop and printer which also has a few antiques... below it is my newest find: a gallon creamer from the early 1900s. I have to figure out what the heck I'll store in it though; when I saw it on eBay I had planned to use it for my paintbrushes, but this sucker is large and heavy! I LOVE it! On the desk is a small ceramic US military jar holding some vintage tools. Beside that is my vintage copper stapler and original Slinky!

Above the printer is my brand new Making Memories Embellishment Center.  I have wanted one of these for a long time; I finally broke down, used a coupon and got it for half price at Michael's. After painting it black I filled it up with my Stickles, alcohol inks, Martha Stewart glitter, ink pads, glosses and some holiday ribbons. On top is antique brass photographer's bird I picked up in Texas last fall. It is from 1907 and was used to get children's attention by chirping and moving it's beak and tail via a tube and ball the photographer would squeeze.

On the wall opposite to my main work table is my shelving unit, paper display and storage cart hubby built for me. The large shelving unit has a few antiques too; a vintage metal Pepsi "basket" holds my Prima flower jars perfectly! The old postal scale is one of my favorite finds from a local antique shop. The two wooden boxes are from trips to Minnesota. I painted and stacked into steps blocks of wood so I could easily see my Martha Stewart punches. Below those are my other punches, paints, binders and scrapbooks. I keep all my unmounted stamps in these binders, along with my Spellbinders dies, stickers and miscellaneous information sheets and pamphlets. To see how I store my Magnolia stamps, take a look at a previous post HERE.

The paper display I bought from our local scrapbook store when it closed. Boy, THAT was fun to repaint (NOT!) , but I love having my 12 X 12 papers sorted this way. Beside this is a wooden cart hubby built for me; I added the drawers and quickly filled them will all kinds of supplies. On top is a display unit daughter pulled out of the trash at work! It's a great find and rotates to store lots of goodies!

The final side of the room houses my sewing machine... so great to have it always set up and ready to use on cards (or, if needed, the odd REAL sewing job! :)  ) I also have a magazine rack I got from a craft store closure, that of course, I had to paint black too.

On the hutch you'll see a few more antiques; a 100+ year old cast iron letter holder, some ink bottles, a cast iron floral "frog" from California, vintage Minnesota cheese boxes and my old pencil sharpener that I have yet to mount somewhere. Oh and if you look closely behind the antique office chair (which, I painted black, natch), you'll see my old 1960's Spirograph sitting on the keyboard drawer under the sewing machine.

So there you have it. A mix of old and new all crammed into my small craftroom; my favorite room in the house!