The life of an estate saler....

I thought I'd share with you all a little behind-the-scenes action, since many times on the weekend I post pictures of my estate sale finds. I just wanted to show that the pretty pictures of my treasured finds definitely don't tell the whole story. When going to estate sales, you never know what you're going to find! It all starts mid-week. I usually scope out what sales I'd like to go to on Saturday from the Thursday classifieds. I also always check a local site online that posts pictures of their sales coming up. That way I can decide if I'm interested enough to trek on out and check out their sale. Saturday morning from 9-11 am is my sweet window of estate sale bliss!
This is a warehouse not too far from my house that has a sale most weekends. As you can see, today was a grey, rainy day. I have to admit, estate sales that take place in the owners home are more interesting. I like to see things in the environment in which it has "lived" for so many years. However, this warehouse usually has some fun stuff and many times have bag sales on the second day.
Here's just a few photos to show the tables of stuff you will find. Lots of old mixed with newer items. The sales today weren't all that great, but I did manage to find a few things.



Then sometimes you find sales that are just scary! This one was in a home with an older man still cleaning things out. There were dirty boxes of junk everywhere, nothing marked and I didn't even dare to dig. Look at the old cast that was in the basement. Ewwww..... I didn't stay long!

I gather all my treasures and go home and pretty much immediately decide where they will be displayed. I found these three cuties today and have them in my studio. At $1 each, I couldn't pass them up.

I especially like this one. If you like dollies like these, you MUST check out Jenny and Aaron's new line of paintings. Absolutely stunning! Must resist starting a new collection:)

This crown was a fun find.

Ahhhh...buttons!
Hope you enjoyed the little tour inside the estate saleing world of ArtsyMama!

P.S. I noticed that the Artful Blogger party post rolled off the end of this page. I added a permanent link to it on my sidebar to the right (blow my flickr box) so it's there to refer to in the future if you want to follow the wonderful links that people posted.

Life is art...

I have been quite busy lately making bunches and bunches of collages and dresses and lots of other goodies for my Junk Bonanza booth. It's just 3 weeks away! Many of you have asked about the adorable vintage looking wire hangers that I'm using for them. They can be found here at Character Constructions. Catherine has so much fabulous stuff. Definitely worth a peruse.

Last night at the library I found the book The Accidental Masterpiece : On the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman. I love discovering new books that seem to be just perfect for where my life is right now. This book seems to fit the bill. I read the first page and just started devouring it. I already have a slew of quotes that have me ruminating....
To live intensely is one of the basic human desires and an artistic necessity.

*****

A life lived with art in mind might itself be a kind of art.

*****

Art provides us with clues about how to live our lives more fully.

*****

Creating, collecting and even just appreciating art can make living a daily masterpiece.

Day two....

Can you believe that day two was even bigger and better than day one of this fabulous estate sale? That's because I found some real gems AND got it all for half price!! These boots were in the garage of the house. I have been looking for very old boots like these to use as witches boots at Halloween for display and I plan to put fresh flowers in them and have them at my Junk Bonanza booth. So cool! This gorgeous scale with led crystal dishes was $8. Woohoo!And these paper umbrellas!?! They were in a bag in the bottom of a work bench in the garage!! I got 5 of them. They will also be adorning my booth at Junk Bonanza. Right now they are on our kitchen ledge. Love them!
Finally a bunch of misc goodies. These plaques are a surprise gift for a special someone.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Finds of the day...

Spent the morning at a few estate sales and found some fun stuff. Costume jewelry and a pile of letters from the early 1900's. Aren't these wax seals just great?! Anyone have any tips on how to clean up old greasy skeleton keys?Got a pair of these cute little shadowboxes with velvet vintage millinery flowers in the most gorgeous fall colors.
This vintage bag was too much fun. Plus I needed to buy it to carry all my goodies home in!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Nice....

I bought this huge sunflower hand painted canvas for $3. It's so weird, it's almost cool. Something different. For $3, why not?!

I was nominated for the Nice Matters blogger award by four very sweet ladies Dawn, Mary, Cheryl and Vickie. Wow, thanks so very much!! It was started by Ms Bella-Enchanted. You can read more about it here. After the amount of support and generosity I saw at the blog party here the other day all I can say is this community has no shortage of niceness. You all are amazing and extraordinarily generous!!In celebration I made a pom pom garland that says NICE completely inspired by Andrea's fabulous creations. Yea, I know...hers are way better, but I had fun with this one. Have a great weekend! I'm off to work on Junk Bonanza stuff again and hit a few estate sales:)

*winners*

Lina won the drawing for the party dress.

Lisa had the 100th party post.

What fun that party was! Wewh...I'm beat today. THANK YOU all for visiting and for such kind words. The tuorials and other posts were absolutely fabulous. The inspiration that we all share with one another is just amazing! I am so thankful for this blogging community.

It's party time!!!

Hello everyone! ArtsyMama here, your host for the Artful Blogger party to celebrate the wonderful publication put out by Somerset and also to applaud artful bloggers everywhere! It's Wednesday evening and the party is going strong all around the world! We reached the 100th party about 8:30 pm- so Lisa wins a cool prize. Wow, what a grand time everyone seems to be having! THANK YOU for all of your sweet comments and support. Lots of links and giveaways, so be sure and mingle with everyone. That means TONS of inspiration is being shared across blogland. The party will run all through the day Wednesday and into the evening. I am so very excited to share a piece of cake and a hug with all of you, my blogging friends. The key to having this all run smoothly is when you leave a comment on this post, please include your name, your blog url and where you live. I will be keeping up throughout the day and night and will post links to those participating in the blogging party (meaning you have an artsy post on your blog today and link here to my blog) so that you can all visit with everyone. If you have a post and left a comment, but do not see your link on the list at the end of this post, I need your blog url. Please email me at artsy_mama@hotmail.com
So, back to the party… I’m so glad you could make it! Please come in, and make yourself comfortable. If you’d like to take a look around first, visit my flickr site here for pictures of my latest creations that now adorn my home. Then sit down for some cake and punch.
Party hat above by Andrea.

At the end of the day Wednesday I will draw a name from all the participants and the winner will receive the party dress below that I made just for this occassion. Stephanie also donated paper from capturedelements.com for the giveaway. Wow, cool stuff!After you've mingled a bit, have a seat in my studio, aka dining room, and let me show you a very quick and easy craft. To make this adorable little rosette brooch you start with a piece of velvet or any type of ribbon you'd like and a piece of thread. Tie a knot in one end of the thread.
Do a running stitch along one edge of the ribbon.
When you pull on the thread gently (you don't want it to break!) it starts to form a circular shape.
Continue with the running stitch until you have the circle the size you would like when cinched. Sew the two ends of the circle together. I placed a vintage clip on earring in the middle of mine and hot glued the whole thing to a vintage millinery flower. I then glued a round piece of felt on the back and glued a pin. I also like how it looks displayed sitting in the little vintage tea cup.

Another idea for a really easy ribbon flower from the gorgeous book Ribbons and Trims is using wire edged ribbon, then you don't have to do the running stitch. Pull out 1/2 in. of wire from one edge of the ribbon and secure. Pull the other end of that wire, gathering the ribbon along one edge only to create a cicular shape. Roll the flower into shape.Now it's your turn to look to your fellow artsy bloggers for inspiration. Here is a list of creative happenings going on worldwide. Each one of these bloggers has their own unique style and talents. We're all lucky enough to share our creativity with one another through our blogs. Enjoy the tutorials and make sure to enter the giveaway drawings!

The ever-creative Lilli has a jar painting tutorial that is not to miss. Absolutely beautiful!

Fiona's party is well underway in Scotland. She shares a fun technique inspired by Karen Michel.

Jennifer in California posted a wonderful tutorial on creating a really cool mixed media ATC (artist trading card). Check it out!

eb and her mama got down and got crafty with a cigar box!

Charity in Alaska put together some very inspiring fall eye candy.

Tea Party Girl fills us in about the art of tea.

Karla has an amazing tutorial on painted furniture. Wow!

Michelle also has us getting down and dirty as she shows us her glorious fat book.

Lina has the cutest welcome sign for all of you party goers.

Sandy did a tutorial on digital collage with photoshop. So cool! She's also doing a giveaway for Somerset Home, in which she was published. Hop on over.

Maggie joined the fun with an amazing illustration in her fun, vintage style! So unique.

Andrea is here with an oh so fun vintage garland giveaway. This is spectacular!

Laura's been busy and what a fun watercolor background tutorial she has posted for us all.

Oh my goodness...check out the fabric orgami flower tutorial that miss*laurence posted. Love it!

My pal Bonnie from South Africa is here! She has a fabulous banner tutorial and a giveaway.

Laume is here with a book tutorial. As a librarian, I'm lovin' it!

The queen of foof, Teresa, is here with some orgami, Matthew Mead and a download. She's also giving away a copy of Artful Blogger. Loads of fun!

Cindy from Texas just posted a tutorial for a hankie card. This is absolutely fantastic, I must try this!

A button flower tutorial from Becky. How cute!

Some music and great inspiration from Sarah.

Dawn posted a tutorial on carving your own stamps. Another thing I've been meaning to try! Check out her Art2arT site for more inspiration!

Crafty sent us a postcard all the way from Italy!

Carol is here from Germany. She has some amazing Marie Antoinette eye candy and lovely pictures from her garden!

Speaking of flowers, Sandy is here to show us how to make flowers from vintage wallpaper. Wow! Also how to paint hydrangeas. What a crafty gal:)

Linda has some fab ideas for altered and stamped photo images.

Stephanie posted some amazing mail art inspiration and some links to fun tutorials.

Karla posted a gorgeous bow tutorial.

Bonnie Rose, my Minnesota blogger pal wrote wonderfully in her post today about the real art of blogging.

Here's a great packing tape transfer tutorial by Beth. Haven't tried this in awhile. It looks so neat!

Katydiddy's up early in California and has already made cake for all of us! So creative:)

Carol has some lovely charm inspiration.

Sharon shares with us her process for her gorgeous photo journal pages. Stunning!

Amy has a tutorial for an easy and cool transparency transfer technique.

Ginny is here all the way from England, she has some gorgeous art and art deco-inspired jewelry to inspire you.

Ellen has a tutorial for some ultra-embellished perfume bottles.

The glitter fairy has an adorable altered matchbox to share.

Gina wanted to make a shout out for her holiday cookbook art journal project. Check it out!

Jenna gave her mom an arty tea party for her birthday.

Wanna be a diva? You must check out Karen's amazing crown tutorial.

Dede has chimed in with a party hat tutorial. How fitting!

Ever wondered about how to make those fun crepe paper ruffles? Find out from Natasha. Lovely!

Lia has a tutorial on her little inchies...with a twist. Be sure and enter her giveaway!

Cheryl has a very cool altered puzzle tutorial. How unique!

Tamy has an easy and adorable coffee cozy tutorial.

Go check out Christi's cards here. Gorgeous!!

Love Charity's crafty kitchen apron.

Staci, part of the creative force behind this very publication has offered up a free copy of Artful Blogging for one lucky winner!

Jerusalem has a super fun party hat tutorial. Check out how fun the skirt is on it!!

I have always wanted to know how Julie does her gorgeous sewing on paper. She shared it with us on her blog today. Woohoo!

Laughing duck blog has a cute post-it note cover tutorial. You ladies think of everything!

Cecilia in Sweden wrote about what insipres her and wants to know what inspires YOU?

Michelle has a neat mini book tutorial.

Cindy's glittered sign is amazing!!! Check out how she altered one that she bought and glammed it up.

Liz has a very fun meditation for us all take a moment and get our creative juices flowing.

Heidi has some wonderful thoughts on artful blogging and a giveaway!

Donna posted and amazing water transfer technique. I must try this one out ASAP!

Beth shared a tutorial on making felt notecard holders.

Erin shows us an adorable crib bumper she made and her two-cute-to-boot sons!

Maggie fills us all in about digital papers.

TheMomintheFamily joined in with some wonderful projects.

Kagedfish is having an "unusual" artsy party.

She'sSewPretty has a fun graphics link for us.

Kerri has some fantastic easy backgrounds. Definitely going to try these!

Awesome vintage button bracelet tutorial from Heather.

Linda shows us how to alter a cd.

Barbara has joined us with some fun goodies to share.

Carolyn shows us all about altering a plastic plate.

Tricia even has a child friendly tutorial of making collage boxes with kids. How fun!

Rebecca has a faux finish background technique that looks fantastic!

Tricia shows us her photos from her trip to Curious Sofa. What an inspiring place to visit.

Here's to Valerie's new blog and her adorable little crepe paper bloom tutorial.

Kira shared a canva word charm tutorial. I'm going to have to make one of these. Lots of places to hang them from!

Corina has a puzzle collage card tutorial.

Nicol Sayre is in the house with a **gorgeous** paper cone, folded stars and medallion tutorial.

Lesley shows us her "paper curtains" and other lovely things.

Kim is here from Canada with some very artful home decor.

Lovin' the piece babsarella shared.

Beth has a cool collage and an idea to share.

Contessa has a cool collage inchies tutorial.

Jessica has some cool crafting goodies and a giveaway.

Hope we can cheer Dawn up on a difficult day. Love the shirt!

Jeanne has arrived! Now the party can really begin. Hehe! She shows us how to use alcohol inks to make a really unique necklace. Never tried that!

Jodi talks about what inspires her.

Gina is here to celebrate.

Kimberly made an adorable doll bed and shows us how.

Angelina has a giveaway! Put your name in for some gorgeous cards.

Kimla Kay is here and there's plenty of cake left, don't worry. She posted a fabulous tutorial for making a absolutely glittery gorgeous frame inspired by one she posted awhile back. I love this!

Chia posted a darling paper kimono tutorial.

Hurry on over, Angela is having a drawing for a wallpaper packet.

Becca decided to come out of lurkdom and share some of her fabulous art. So glad she did!

ArtTeaLife is here showing us some totally gorgeous, one-of-a-kind mail art. Woohoo!

Sid is here with an embossed penants and plaques tutorial. So cool!

Stacy has a fantastic looking mystery package to give to one lucky winner.

Zorana posted a very ingenious atc holder tutorial.

Oooohhh Amy posted a tutorial for a way too cool art doll hat. Fun!!

Another Amy posted a tutorial for making super fun and funky twirly ribbons that could be used on just about anything.

Bessilu showed us some gorgeous hanging picture pockets that she's been making lately.

Carlene showed up with a very creative 30 min. shadowbox frame tutorial.

Another Minnesota blogger, Renee stopped over to do a giveaway.

**100th party!!!***Take a look at this totally unique take on making a jewelry hanger tutorial that Lisa did.

Jess posted about her super cool shirt designs *and* she's giving one away. Really spectacular!

The wonderful Rosalyn-Sue is here to show us how we can use our craftiness to support our troops.

Connie has tons to celebrate. It's her birthday and her first blog entry ever!!

The queen of stencils herself, Michelle Ward has joined us and shared a tutorial about making a stencil and mask. Too cool!

Cathy has a tutorial on super cute refridgerator magnets. I'm definitely going to do this.

Lani has a gorgeous blog and a wonderful art giveaway!

Melanie has some fun ideas for creative stamps.

Patsy has been a busy, busy girl. See the wonderful art she's been creating.

Jenny and Aaron closed out the party in style. They have a fab giveaway that's not to be missed!

Thanks so much for visiting. Wewh, that was a lot of posts to keep up with. Oodles and oodles of inspiration out there. I'm totally overwhelmed...in a good way! Hope you all had a great day! I'm off to bed soon, but you all keep on partyin'...

Cheers!

The ultimate inspiration...

Word seems to be traveling around blogland about tomorrow's Artful Blogger party right here on my blog! It's going to be so much fun:) I will be starting the party late tonight (Central Daylight time) so that those around the world have a chance to join in. We will party all day tomorrow and into the evening. So no matter what time zone you're in, stop by any time. Here are all the details.As we all try to find some inspiration on what to post for the party tomorrow, I am dedicating this entire post to the my swap partner extraordinaire Michelle (Hold Dear). Michelle and I have been blog pals for quite awhile now. I am very excited to finally meet her in person at Silver Bella in November. She is such a dear and knows my tastes, so I was truly spoiled here. We were partners for the Silver Bella inspiration swap. She posted on her blog what I gave her and I'm here to share the enormous amount of treasures I received. We were to send our partner three things that inspire us, three things that we thought would inspire them, three things in our stash that we haven't used in awhile, and then something handmade just for our partner.
Here is just a portion of the treasure trove this swap diva sent to me!
Everything was packaged up gorgeously in vintage pattern tissue, flowers, bows and handwritten tags. So creative!
This cigar box was chock full of inspiring goodies: buttons, tickets, chenille stems, trim, costume jewelry, stickers, ornaments, way to much to mention. Just this would have been plenty, Michelle!
She didn't stop there. Michelle sent rolls of gorgeous gift wrap, a bound book of her favorite vintage wallpaper (what a fabulous idea!), the Marie Antoinette soundtrack. Loved the movie, but never had thought about buying the soundtrack. I love it! Then she made this adorable ArtsyMama stand with scrabble tiles. She sent a bag full of tiles along with it for me to make more little sayings on a whim.
I'm not even close to the bottom of the box yet. THEN Michelle was sweet enough to send me the current issue of Marie Claire idees magazine. I love this magazine and had not seen this issue yet. She also gave me a baggie of the most gorgeous ribbon and millinery flowers. Can't wait to use these!
A "bonus" box had a moleskine journal, pen and a Starbucks gift certificate. I know, I know, she went WAY above and beyond!
At the bottom of the box was Michelle's bag of things from her studio that she hasn't used in awhile, but thought I may find some use for. Here is *part* of it below all laid out. It basically was an entire scrapbook store piled into a grocery bag.
Can you believe all of that!? So many new goodies to create with. That was the ultimate inspiration swap. Wow Michelle, I'm speechless!! Thank you!

Now that we've all had some eye candy, get some rest (you're going to need it). We'll see you in the morning!

It's almost party time...

I'm really excited about the Artful Blogger party coming up this Wednesday, August 8th here on my blog. The tea party I had here in March was a big part of my article in the Artful Blogging magazine, so I thought I'd have another party to celebrate all the amazing creative blogs out there. So I'm looking for the participation of all of you!! To participate all you have to do it have some sort of an "artsy" post on your blog this coming Wednesday. I originally thought it would be fabulous for everyone to post some sort of tutorial, so we can all go blog hopping and learn a bunch of new, fun techniques. I would still strongly suggest this. It can be absolutely anything that you think your creative blogging friends might have fun learning. It can even be scans of instructions from a magazine or web site. It certainly doesn't have to be anything complicated. I'm going to post a very simple tutorial on making these fun foofy flowers above that I'm going to sell at JunkMarket in cute little vintage tea cups. If you're not in the mood to do a tutorial you could do just about anything. You could post pictures of how you display your own art or vingettes of art you've received from others. Anything goes... whatever artful blogging means to you. Have fun!
Once you've posted on your own blog, leave a comment on my blog post that day...Wednesday...and I will then add your blog link to the post. By the end of the day we should have dozens of fellow artful bloggers to go mingle with, inspire each other and maybe even learn a thing or two. I will be updating my post with links all throughout the day. Who's on board??Talk about inspiring, I got a hold of a copy of the new Somerset Home magazine this weekend. What wonderfully creative projects and ideas inside. Fun stuff!