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Vintage: Discovering an Incredible Shop

February 1, 2014 at 9:20 am by Claudia

Yesterday was an errand day for Don and me: bank, drop off donations at Salvation Army, and shop for groceries as there seemed to be nothing left in our larder. Routine stuff that is always more fun if we do it together, especially grocery shopping, something neither of us like to do.

On the way to the bank from the Salvation Army I saw an antique shop that I have been meaning to explore for years. It’s on a busy street and I’m usually driving past this establishment on my way to our mechanic or the aforementioned Salvation Army or some other errand. This time, I suggested we stop and explore.

Oh my goodness! It’s in an old house. There are two floors packed with everything under the sun. I mean, it’s so filled with all things vintage and antique that there was absolutely no way I could take it all in. Display cases filled with little treasures, prints, framed art, furniture, pottery, smalls of all kinds…I went nuts in there. It’s been there for four years and this was the first time I’d ever stopped in. I can’t believe what I was missing. Don went crazy too. Apparently, the owner is an elderly man who is a Collector with a capital C and he decided to start selling some of his stuff and oh my goodness, aren’t we lucky?

We were on a parking meter, so we kept watching the time. Today we’re going to go back and park somewhere without a meter so we can really take our time. This is now my favorite shop. I’m afraid it may have spoiled me for any others.

minipottery3

I did come home with two little finds. You know I have a modest collection of miniature pottery, which was sparked by a fellow blogger’s collection of Shawnee miniature pottery that I fell in love with. Some of the pieces you see in my shadow box shelf are Shawnee, some are not. Every time I go into an antique shop I have my eye out for some Shawnee. I’ve never found any. Until now.

shawneemini

Amidst the masses of tiny little treasures in several display cabinets, I saw this. It sure looked like Shawnee to me but I asked to see it and, sure enough, it was. Isn’t it thrilling when your eye lands on something sort of hidden away, as if it was guided there, and you want to shout out but you don’t, because you have to ask to unlock the cabinet first, and then you must look at it closely to make sure? And then you discover it is indeed what you were hoping it was?

I know you understand.

I also spotted this charming and very old little framed flower print. It’s small in size. Can you tell I like small things? I love the frame and the flowers and the wooden backing that is oh so carefully nailed into the frame. It’s hanging on the wall right next to my desk. I love it.

A very affordable little haul. A new shop I couldn’t stop thinking about yesterday. And today, it seems.

I’ll try to take some pictures next time I go. It’s crammed with treasures, all of them fascinating. I could spend hours in there.

Happy Saturday.

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Framed

January 31, 2014 at 9:04 am by Claudia

montywithprint

I’ve been moving a few things around, due, I’m sure, to being stuck in my own particular mattress vortex. There’s a whole heck of a lot I can’t do until that mattress is delivered and the old mattress is taken away. Which will be on Tuesday, by the way.

Since things are in a state of flux here, I have to give myself little projects to complete or I would go mad. The other day I painted some dollar store frames that I’m going to use in my studio. The studio that is to be rethought and decluttered, when I can get to it. Which will be after the mattress is delivered. Do you see how it all works? I also painted the mantel shelf that goes in the studio a paler aqua. I wanted to tone things down a bit.

Yesterday I cleaned out the closet in our spare bedroom that is, for want of a better word, my craft closet. Wait. Why not a better word? How about my All Things Creative Closet? I like that much better. Anyway, I sorted everything out, filled a trash bag with things I didn’t need and put a pile together to take to the Salvation Army.

Very satisfying.

Remember our trip the other day (which resulted in the red shoes) to Michael’s for some frames? Here’s what we framed:

costumerendering

This is a costume rendering done for a play Don did at the Old Globe many years ago. The costume designer, a wonderful guy who is sadly no longer with us, gave it to Don on opening night. It was in a plastic slip case and Don decided it should be framed because he wanted to honor it, as well as see it right here in the den every day. We really love it. Now it’s sitting on the music cabinet in the den, which is why that print in the top photo has moved to its new position behind Monty.

And we also found this shadow box frame for my vintage program for the Broadway play, Claudia.

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Excuse the glare. This program was sitting on the shelf in my studio and, foolishly, I didn’t do anything to protect it from the sun streaming through the skylight. The color had faded quite a bit. Don’s the one who found the shadow box, which works well with the thickness of the program. I stuck the bride and groom cake topper in there on a whim. This might go back in the studio. Or it might stay downstairs. I’m not sure yet.

By the way, the framing process for the costume rendering was a bit of a saga. We wanted an inexpensive frame, so we ended up buying one that already had a matted black and white photo in it, thinking we would simply change out the print for the rendering.

Not quite.

The back had been sealed and stapled and it took forever to pry up the little doohickeys that held the matted print inside the frame. I used a screwdriver. I used a knife. I used pliers. Then we had to get the print out of the frame, which wasn’t easy. When we finally got it out, we realized we had nothing left to serve as the backing for the rendering. I thought of the foam board that I use sometimes for Etsy photos (and since I don’t have anything in my Etsy shop I figured I could cut it up) and brought it downstairs. Then I grabbed my exacto knife and cut and cut and cut – a long and tedious process – until we finally got the foam board to fit the frame. I also have to add a hanger, which is why it’s propped against the wall in the photo.

Though I do like that look. I try to have at least one framed piece propped against a wall in each room. It adds a sort of casual look that I’m really drawn to.

Lest we forget, here’s the view into the den from the living room:

mattressintheden

As you can see, I can’t even see the framed rendering, which is on that cabinet to the right, when I’m sitting in my chair. The danged mattress is blocking it.

Happy Friday.

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Having Fun Saving With Target’s New Cartwheel App

January 30, 2014 at 9:07 am by Claudia

Like many of you, I love to shop at Target. In fact, I just bought the headboard for my new California King bed, as well as sheets for that bed at Target.com. So when BlogHer asked me if I would try out Target’s new Cartwheel App, I immediately said yes.

Cartwheel is an app that you can use on your desktop, tablet, mobile web, iPhone or Droid. Cartwheel lists over 700 offers, or coupons, at any given time, with new offers every day. You choose items you are interested in purchasing, add them to your Cartwheel, present your personal barcode to the cashier and your savings are added at checkout.

How easy is it to use? Very. You can sign up through Facebook or through your email account. Since I already had an account at Target.com, I used my sign in information to access Cartwheel. Then I proceeded to look at all the available offers and checked the ones I wanted to add to my cart. I printed out my list from my computer, which also included my personal barcode.

I also downloaded the Cartwheel App for my iPhone. You can do the same thing I did online on your phone or tablet, using the barcode on your phone or tablet app at checkout. You can also use your phone app to scan any barcode in the store to see if there is a Cartwheel offer for that item. Pretty neat.

cartwheellist

After printing out my list, I headed to my local Target. See how the list includes a picture of the item, the discount and when that discount expires? Some items are limited to a quantity of 4 per offer, while other can be used as many times as you wish until the offer expires. If there are limits, you will see that information on your list. You can’t see it but just to the right at the top of the Cartwheel List is my barcode.

You can also use your Cartwheel with any other Target discounts or coupons, manufacturer’s coupons and your REDcard discount. So the savings can really add up.

I grabbed a cart, looked for the items on the list, decided what I wanted to buy and headed toward the checkout.

cartwheelcart

What did I buy? Floor cloths, trash bags, bleach, cotton balls and a 5 lb. box of Clementine oranges. (Mmmm! I love Clementines!) I had to add the Peet’s French Roast Coffee, though it wasn’t on the Cartwheel list. Peet’s is my favorite and Target carries it. That makes me happy.

I trotted off to the checkout and the cashier scanned my barcode. Instant savings.

It couldn’t have been easier. There weren’t any big ticket items in my cart, but I easily saved a couple of dollars on these five household basics. But the list of Cartwheel offers covers every department in the store. Today there were savings on televisions, clothing, bedding, furniture, you name it. I’m thinking that this new app will come in very handy. It’s so easy to access Cartwheel, check out the daily or weekly deals, and then head to the store with your barcode and list.

I am someone who never remembers to clip coupons, try as I might. So this app is made for me. It makes it very easy for me to seek out savings on essentials.

By the way, Cartwheel also has something called Badges. When you start out on Cartwheel you have 10 spots available on your list. As you earn savings with Cartwheel, you can earn badges that reward you with more spots, increasing the amount of items you can have on your list. I earned another spot just by using Cartwheel for the first time at my local Target.

I’m sold on it. It’s simple, easily accessible and it saves me money. A win-win.

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Vintage: Discovering an Incredible Shop

Framed

Having Fun Saving With Target’s New Cartwheel App

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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