Salvagenation

Mark Your Calendar and Meet Me in Dallas

2012-01-14T20:41:00.000-06:00

Salvagenation takes to the streets of Big D, Sunday, January 29th.
After following The Gypsy Wagon for a while and finding most everything they sell and do to be irresistible, it was only natural when they offered invitations to be a vendor at the Swap and Flea, I had to apply. Of course, I wasn't shy about it at all. I do believe my application began with the sentence, Oh pick me, pick me!

This isn't going to be your typical flea market, it's one filled with customers turned vendors and they are creating a shopping extravaganza for every bargain hunter we can lure to the treasures. The best part, because you know Salvagenation loves the snacks, Ruthie's Rolling Cafe AND Trailercakes ! Food trucks, oh they might as well be Barbie's Dream House on wheels for a country girl addicted to grilled cheese and cupcakes.

Get there early because food will only be served from 11:30 to 1:30. I'm already planning my request for some of Ruthie's artisan bread and a delicious spread. I'll just have to bring home a cupcake or two for the farmer.

Come hang out with Gypsy Wagon's Airstream, Gertie A-Go-Go, with all her bargains inside and outside the traveling boutique .

What should I bring, here's a look at a few of the items already packed and I've reserved two spots, so you know that little silver Ford Escape is going to be full to the brim. I just wonder if the Farmer will let me take the new Toyota Tundra into the city. (I'll have to work on that one)

Fantastic English Tobacco Tins

French WWII Storage Cans from a Soldier's Canteen

Several months ago, I acquired some French Flower Baskets, large enough to hold every toy in the toy room. I'm taking those for display but if you want one, I'll let it go home with you. What else is on the list, well,

Vintage Asian Kimonos
Vintage Aprons
Vintage Movie Reels and Canisters
Antique Journals : Altered Artist Alert, Fantastic Illustrations
Buttons Galore
Tags, Tags and More Metal Tags
Antique and Vintage Ephemera : Collage Artist, Scrap Bookers bring your change purse
Wood Letterpress
Lead Letterpress
Jewelry Making Supplies

and that is just the beginning.

Put it on your calendar now. Dallas/Ft. Worth Peeps, I want to see you there. Make sure you mention you are a Salvagenation Customer on Etsy for your gift bag surprise. Bring a friend, they get one too !

Here it is one more time : 11:00 to 5:00 : Six Hours of Funtastic Shopping

Free and Almost Free : What could be Better ?

2012-01-07T10:52:00.002-06:00

Let's Ring in 2012 with a little free stuff !

You can have a free set of gift tags from Salvagenation and you can even get one for your friend.
Here's how it works. Share this blogspot or my facebook page with a friend and you both get a free gift when they sign up. If you haven't signed up on facebook, do it and get another 20 tags ! These adorable little tags are great to use for your spring gift giving and they are made from vintage paper and postcards. You get 20 tags and your friend gets 20 tags. Just send your address to me with either your blogspot name or your facebook user name after you join here or click like on facebook. Send your info to SalvagenationVintage@gmail.com.

Find Me on Facebook : SalvagenationVintage

Once there are 100 likes on facebook, we are already at 60, then there will be a drawing for a cool vintage goodie basket that will be mailed to the winner.

Now the almost free is a coupon code for January. Use the coupon code : SmartCookie for a 20% discount on all purchases in January.

Some new information about paying for purchases. If you had rather not use paypal but want to use a credit card, no problem at all. I can personally process credit cards, it just takes a quick phone call and I can put your credit card through. At check out on Etsy choose Other as your payment option, then send me a conversation that you want to use your credit card and put in your phone number. I'll call and we can take care of it in 2 minutes.

Happy New Year and thanks again for being a part of Salvagenation.

Although It's Been Said Many Times, Many Ways

2011-12-24T16:14:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas

"I truly believe that if we keep telling the Christmas story, singing the Christmas songs, and living the Christmas spirit, we can bring joy and happiness and peace to this world."
[Norman Vincent Peale]

Salvagenation thanks you for taking time to read and comment. This is the most wonderful time of the year.

In the words of Tiny Tim : God Bless Us, Everyone.

Social Media Experiment 101

2011-12-22T17:12:00.000-06:00

After reading about SEO, social media, blogging, twitting, facebook pages, and the power of email, I've pretty much immersed myself in the whole communication scene.

I've a page on facebook : Vintage Bits and Pieces for Altered Art by Salvagenation
What ? you haven't hit like, you should, I do some cool promotional stuff and it's the first place to find out what is new !

I twitter : just follow Salvagenation and you have me.
And I blog : You are Here !

Now comes the fun part. A cyber only sale, because I promised a 50% off sale when I had 620 followers on twitter.

Coupon Code : Clearance and you get 50% off your entire purchase. Better hurry because it is only good until the morning of December 24th.

SALVAGENATION is having one heck of a sale, 50% off the entire shop and no prices were changed, nothing altered, it's all yours for 50% off if you use the coupon code : Clearance.

Now let's see how this social media announcment works.

Merry Christmas.

Reaching a Milestone Number 5,000

2011-11-22T14:37:00.001-06:00

Salvagenation reached 5,000 sales today and I was so busy running to the post office and cleaning out the refrigerator that I didn't even know it ! Yipee. It's been so much fun and I've met so many wonderful people through this online venue. Here is the first thing I ever sold on Etsy , a wonderful head vase complete with tag.

Every time I talk about my Etsy experience and success, I have to give major credit to my mentor.

Mu-Yin Jewelry or as I like to call her Mu-Yin Mollie .

I had been on ebay off and on for years and gave it up after the girls graduated from college. We had moved to the farm and I thought I was going to be out of the business forever. The junk bug bit me and I had to dive back in but I didn't want to sell on Ebay, anymore. Mollie had an article she had written on her blog about Etsy vs Ebay. When I did an internet search for that exact phrase, up popped her article. I read it and it was so well written and concise that I felt I knew her. I even sent an email and asked her a few questions and she quickly replied. I followed her advice to the letter and as they say, the rest is history.

There was even a blog article I wrote for not only here but several other websites that incorporate no only her advice, but what I've learned along the way.

My Etsy Success Story

What was item number 5,000 : Some really cool engineer's books from the 30's.

Plenty of excitement with the holidays and all the great shopping to do and cookies to eat.

Remember you can shop until the end of November with this coupon code : 2011HolidayShopping and get a 20% off discount.

Thank you to everyone for helping Salvagenation reach this milestone. I wonder where the road will take me next !?!!

Salvagenation Holiday Coupon Code 20% Off

2011-11-02T18:55:00.001-05:00

This Christmas season, Salvagenation has a 20% off coupon for all customers

Here's the Coupon Code you MUST use at check-out : 2011HolidayShopping : it's all one word, no spaces : 2011HolidayShopping
Use it as often as you like. It will become active on November 1 and will be active through the last day of November.

If you are unfamiliar with coupon codes on Etsy, here's a quick tutorial.
Go ahead and put all the items you wish to purchase in your shopping cart.
Once you've added an item to your cart, you can enter details about your order. Click Apply shop coupon code to open the field to enter the coupon code for your order.
Then enter the coupon code into the space provided and click the Apply button. The coupon discount will adjust your order total.
The discount doesn't apply to shipping. If you want more info on how to use coupon codes, just follow this link.

http://www.etsy.com/help/article/350

I appreciate all my customers, new and old and want this to be the best holiday shopping experience you have this season.
It is not feasible for me to honor the coupon code if you simply put the code into a conversation, you must put it into the shopping cart box for coupon codes.
Lots of instructions for a discount, but as a seller, we pay fees on the final sale price. There's not any way to recover a fee if you put in the purchase at full price
and then ask for a discount.

Now back to the fun stuff.
Every time you make a purchase from Salvagenation in November, you can use the code.

Free Gift Wrapping and Mailing Service to Different Addresses
In your message to seller, tell me to gift wrap your item and I will. What do you want on the card, I'm happy to create one for you.

Do you want it sent to a different address, I can do that too ! Should I put a Do Not Open 'Til Christmas on the box ?
The only stipulation here, is if you are sending several gifts, you will need to make each purchase separately. You know since
you have shopped with me before I combine shipping on all purchases. Sending packages to different addresses, I would need

each purchase done separately to insure we cover all the shipping costs.

Now if that isn't enough, I'm adding items daily, so make sure you stop by and see all the fun things in stock for the holidays.

Where Do You Find Your Stuff ?

2011-10-27T18:52:00.000-05:00

If you have sold vintage and antique items for any amount of time, people normally ask, Where Did you Find This ? I don't mind telling them at all. I don't think it's all a big secret or formula, it's just a great pair of tennis shoes and a tank of gas. This is a repeat of an article I wrote for Ebay about four years ago. It is still listed in the top 1,000 of the article reviews there. I don't sell on Ebay anymore, just have it all hanging out on Etsy.

I thought you might enjoy reading about some fun ways to add to your ephemera collections.

Selling on ebay began for me with a chest of drawers full of ephemera collected from ten different estates sales.
The purpose of this guide is to help you understand that not all items you purchase for re-sale have to be large and carry a hefty price tag. You can minimize your purchases and maximize your selling power with just a little practice and by learning about local ephemera.

Usually, because it is small, paper items, vintage ephemera and advertising items are kept near the estate sale collection desk, either in the same room or by the clerk. I have found this to be very helpful because it gives you the opportunity to visit with the people who have put together the sale. I usually ask about the owner of the estate, what special interest this owner had and even if there are some paper items they didn't put out because they didn't know how to price the items. From this curiosity, I have been given boxes full of paper to search for just pennies for the piece or even a box lot price. If I do a little work for the estate sale curators, they always seem to be very fair about pricing items in bulk.

Another place for paper items is often out in a storage shed or a garage. Usually at an estate sale, these items are put in as bag full or box full of items. Take a minute, sit down on a box or even out in the driveway if weather is permitting and search through your box. I don't recommend buying an entire box of paper if majority of it will later be thrown away. Searching through your box, look for letterheads, cancelled checks of banks no longer in business, programs from school programs, football programs, even ladies bridge tallies that are thrown into the box because of the writing. Make sure the items you like in the box will help you double or triple your purchase price, everything else just increases your sales profit. Take a few minutes and look at the pieces put into a "bagful of bargains" and make sure you will get at least one or two things in that sack that will let you double or triple your purchase price. Everything else in the box or bag is just gravy and we all love gravy !

Magazines should never be discounted because they are an off subject. While you may not have any interest in the arts and crafts projects of the 1950's, there is always a collector. Our booth in the antique mall is proof positive there should always be something for everyone in your booth or for you to sell . One of the most popular sales we make are on magazines containing vintage patterns for dolls and those wonderful sock monkeys every child had in the 50's. Often you can pick up a stack of magazines for less than $1.00 per magazine, sometimes at 10 cents a magazine. Once again, stop and think before you lug home 100 magazines, are there enough magazines of value in there to warrant the price and now the sweat involved in loading those items. Many people make the mistake of buying vintage magazines because they think they can earn money from the advertising. Make sure your advertising in those magazines are in color, or even still there. Black and white advertising is only good if it is from a magazine of the early 1900's and is a speciality. While everyone collects something, advertising collectors get pretty particular about their ads and how they are handled. We have found it better to just sell the magazine intact and let the ad collector find his treasure from our magazine.

Football programs, high school drama programs, programs from events, opera, broadway, shows any type of program has been extremely successful for us. If you list it online, put that program by the name of the town first and then the event. We are always in contact with people wanting some little something from their hometown. One lady was desperate for anything from her high school, she had been through a horrendous fire and she was trying to re-create her memory books. Remember we are a very mobile society and people are always needing one more little item for their collection.

Avoid dirty paper, no matter how cheap it is, you can't wash paper and once you have spent your money, all you have is dirty paper. Water is the kiss of death to any form of paper, except Victorian trade cards. Those can be put in warm water and soaked to get them off paper, but that is another article altogether ! Sometimes we have been given boxes of paper if we will just take them away from the sale and for the first few times we thought - hey, hey, what a deal. Then we learned we had a box of dirty paper and all we were doing if filling up our trash cans with free boxes of dirty paper. Paper that has little bugs will be paper with little bugs at your house. Basically, if you hold it and touch it and you get dirty, or it crumbles, all you have there is dirty paper.
Look for paper that still has a clean line, clean look and most of all is clean. Many estate sales will take the time to put paper in plastic bags, to keep them clean during the sale. This means care has been given but it doesn't necessarily mean a high price on the item. We have seen people pay way too much for paper items because they were in those nice plastic bags. You want the items to be clean but it doesn't mean they have to be inside a protective seal. We have found some wonderful paper, stacked neatly in a box and nothing was covered. Often mid-century teacher's supplies are some of the greatest finds because that era had bright colors, die-cut lines and a good cardstock as the printable service.

We haven't talked about paper at garage sales or trade fairs or even at large flea markets. Paper is everywhere, it last well past the usually life of many other antique or vintage items and its easily transportable. If you want to find a niche that seems to catch everyone's interest, look for the paper at estate sales, a little hidden treasure.

I just finished hauling home 3,000 card stock signs from the fifties. Great fun ! Click the word Paper and you can see everything inside Salvagenation right now.

Successful Week for the Ta-Tas and Sweet Treats for Me

2011-10-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

Hold on to your hats folks, because I am going to blow you away. As of this morning, our total for the

Bras for the Cause fundraiser is at $35,000.

Now that is pure sweetness ! We are going to be able to buy so many wigs, prosthesis and other medical needs with this money. It took some sweat, tears and a little blood (well, i did get a paper cut or two) but mostly pure manpower. If you want to read about some of our fun and shenanigans, then visit our facebook page. Just click the pink link below.

Bras for the Cause, Greenville, Texas

It isn't a secret in my family, that I like cookies. Nothing fancy, just a little cookie I can pop in my mouth and keep on moving. No one makes a batch of sugar cookies without preparing an extra batch just for me. It's sort of like the cardinal rule around here. After all the hard work last week and then of course, the sleepless nights, I needed cookies. I'm not a store bought cookie fan unless it is a Milano and I wasn't going to get out of my pajamas just for a Milano. I did what any lazy cookie lover would do, I went to the internet and found the easiest cookie recipe I could find. What I didn't want to have to do is pull down a ton of ingredients and mix the batch. I found it, the easiest cookie recipe on earth and it only took 20 minutes from beginning to end. The end being me popping a warm cookie full of chocolate chips and pecans into my mouth. It's basic enough and tasteful enough that you could fill it with all sorts of little extras.

Best and Easiest Cookie Recipe In the World

or how I managed to make myself slightly sick off of a cookie recipe !!!

Kiddies, don't try this at home, unless you are ready to gain a pound or two.

Remember : 20 minutes, beginning to end.

Reach over there and get the oven on 350 and let it start warming up.

Recipe :

One plain cake mix : I used yellow, but you can use any flavor at all. Today I'm grabbing a box of strawberry and devils food. I have to make a patch for my students.

Two Eggs

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil/Canola Oil/Peanut Oil : oil of your baking choice

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup pecans

(now remember you can throw anything in there, I'm going to do M&Ms in a white cake mix for a gift)

Put the cake mix in a bowl, add the eggs and stir it up. Now add the oil, keep stirring. Now put in the chocolate chips and pecans or whatever, keep stirring. Let it all blend nicely together.

Spray the cookie sheet with a little non-stick stuff or use a baking paper.

Drop the cookie dough onto the sheet. Make them the size of a walnut. I found the dough easy to just pick up and plop on.

Bake for 10 minutes.

cool for one minute.

Cookies !!!!! Yum, Yum.

Cookies for Me.

Cookies for a Friend.

So the next time you need a little pick me up or even a plate of cookies as a thank you, you have it.

Have fun with these.

Bras for the Cause Raising Funds to Be a Breast Friend

2011-10-10T07:51:00.000-05:00

This week in Downtown Greenville, we will host Bras for the Cause. As one of the co-chairman of the event, it is something extremely dear to my heart. As a volunteer group we raise money that will fund the purchase of wigs, prosthesis, compression garments and other medical supplies for breast cancer patients unable to avoid these "luxuries" while going through treatment.

None of the money we raise is used to host the event. We rely solely on the local businesses and individuals donating not only their time, but their buildings and employees to make sure we have a night that is totally debt free.

Here's how it works. We ask anyone and everyone in the county to be a Bra Designer. Each person interprets a message they want to send about Breast Cancer Awareness through their design. It can be Punny, Serious , Simple or Fancy but the basis of the creation has to be a bra.

Sports Bra

For two days we collect the bras and begin the process of creating Bra Boards. Each of those boards are sponsored by a business or corporation. Once the boards are created we place them in the participating businesses up and down the main street of downtown.

On Thursday night, October 13, folks from all over the county converge and begin the voting process. For $1.00 per vote, people can choose their favorite bra and place a vote. They don't have to just vote on one bra, they can vote on as many bras as they want for $1.00 per vote. The bra in each category with the most votes for the evening is declared the winner for their division. Then we have an overall winner, the bra with the most votes. What do they get for winning ? Bragging rights and a certificate to frame and put on the wall.

Bras for the Cause 2010 earned $27,000. With that money we not only provided the medical supplies for breast cancer patients, but we also started our own room at the local hospital for private fittings and consultations. We paid for the staff training for prosthesis fittings and we stocked the room with all the supplies.

Bras for the Cause 2011 is well on its way to surpassing the 2010 amount. We have over 31 Bra Board Corporate sponsors and many private donations already made.

If you live anywhere near Greenville, Texas then join us on October 13 at 6:00 pm in Downtown Greenville for Bras for the Cause. Come find me, I'll be selling votes in front of Blue Armadillo Winery. If you don't live near us but would like more information about how we make all this work, send me a message and I'll get back to you.

As we say in bra speak : Do it for the Ta-Tas !

Hot Time in Texas and I Took to the Roads

2011-09-14T14:30:00.000-05:00

If it's too hot to be outside in the pasture and I can't stay cooped up all day, then most days, I go exploring.
One extremely hot weekend, I invited two of my friends from Austin to join me in East Texas for two days of junking, eating really bad food and filling up two trucks with enough stuff to keep us all busy cleaning and designing for months.
Four pastures, one junk yard, and an auction later, we had all the 106 degree weather we wanted but we sure had fun. Here's the truck headed back to Austin.

Just in case you can't tell, it's holding two work tables, four chairs, four stools, two flat files, four baskets, a sign or two and I believe at one point, the cat. Fortunately, the cat was soon discovered and returned to hiding in the garage.

Next road adventure, I took The Farmer and we headed to Beaumont, Texas. It was off to a fun library auction and before long I had a trailer full of 16mm movie reels and a wonderful ephemera collection from the historical Terrell Library. Our round trip was fun, but I have to admit, i got nervous when we figured we pulled home close to 4,000 pounds on our 3,500 pound limit cow trailer. But it was work it.

Fun stuff for media rooms and those canisters will be so neat for storage. I'm already sending 20 to Colorado for a Parisian market! I love my friends who always want a bit of the "booty" when it's brought home by the trailer load !

If you haven't stopped by Salvagenation lately, you need to come see all the fun letters being gathered for holiday decorating.

Summer Shopping and Summer Sales

2011-08-14T08:46:00.000-05:00

You thought I had forgotten you ? How can that be ? I have just been busy rounding up treasures all summer so we could have a fantastic Fall ! I'm cleaning and dusting and getting it all ready. Some of my fun discoveries are already in Salvagenation.

Look at these amazing foundry molds. From a long ago closed steel factory to your walls and mantles, these foundry molds are becoming the "It" decor, especially in the Industrial Salvage designs. Our molds are finding new homes from Alaska to New York. The are listed in the Man Cave Decor Section, just click : Here : and see them all. I even have one half price in the August Sale.


In the August Half Price Sale

August Sale !!!! Half Price Items Added Daily

Each Day I add four items to the half price sale, they are featured in the top row of the shop and even labeled half price sale. You can also find them in the August Sale Section .
In the item description you can learn what the original price was and then of course, you will know the half price amount. When a top row item sells, then I add another item. I've been added items daily, sometimes twice a day ! Take a peek.

Was $54.00 Now $27.00

One of the favorite items of Salvagenation Shoppers has gone into the history books, no more BOO for Halloween out of the vintage highway letters. The B supply is gone. Here's one more look at the fun letters. I'm working on a few that will be make from marquee letters and even adding another word or too.

In July, Etsy featured Salvagenation in a Sunday Etsy Finds. The READ group was a big hit and there are still several of these left. If you want to make sure your favorite teacher has a smile on her face as school starts, you might think about READ as a nice gift and a quick room decor for a busy teacher.

Find it Here : READ.

It has been a hot summer in Texas. We had over 30 consecutive days of 100 plus temperatures. One day even hit 107 and the wind even left town !

Button Bonanza

2011-05-27T10:31:00.000-05:00

When I say the factory, i mean it, we purchased the last of an old button factory inventory. First I had a barrel of buttons, then another, now I finally got to buy out the inventory. I had fun and now it's time to share the button bonanza. The best part is these buttons have never been used, so they are all clean and pretty. Nice shine to them. Each little box had little paper tissues inside to keep the buttons clean. Here's a look at the boxes.

Now the real fun begins with getting them photographed and into the Salvagenation inventory.
Uncovering finds like this is so much fun and it's how I got my name. If I'm not digging in a barn or building, I just feel lost !
If you want to place a button only order and get free shipping, just send me an email and let me know you want free button shipping, click the link to the right to do that. Another way to get free shipping on a button only order is to send me a convo, tell me you want free button shipping and I'll make the listing for you. Free shipping will only be offered to blog readers and my button email group.

I also have made arrangements with an upcycle designer to purchase buttons from vintage garments. While they use the garments to make all sorts of fun bags and totes, they don't need the buttons. This allows me to offer some really unique and hard to find vintage buttons at a great price. Here's a look at some of those great finds.

Whether for crafting or scrapbooking, vintage buttons add a unique style to your work. These buttons are in plastic, celluloid and metal. Some with fantastic rhinestones, others with fun design and detail. Add these to your knitting bag, sewing box or fill a jar with great finds.

Never thing the price is indicative of quality, I've always tried to make purchases so I can sell to my customers at a price that gives them the opportunity to add to their collection at a great value.

Dishing It Up with Salvagenation

2011-05-14T04:32:00.000-05:00

The first week of the email sale has moved rapidly and as we are headed into week two, I thought I should remind you to use the coupons. If you got an email blast, the coupon is at the bottom of the letter. If you are a blog subscriber, look over there to the left for the coupon code. Time to Save !

Look at these fun aprons added this week. I love wearing aprons. I am one of those kitchen mavens always washing my hands or wiping off my finger tips, an apron saves a good pair of jeans and a shirt every time. Also, I know my mom is proud of me for wearing an apron, something I refused to do when I was a teenager in her kitchen.

Coupon Week Click Here for More Aprons

Road Trip April 2011

2011-05-08T13:13:00.000-05:00

A recent road trip lead me to a cool Northeast Texas factory that had loads of old foundry molds. After some persuasion I was able to walk away with some of them and a cool slow construction sign.
If I have learned anything, an inquisitive conversation, a cooler full of soft drinks and beer and a smile, gets plenty of doors opened. Sometimes you even get to spend money ! Click on a picture for a look from all angles. See you soon and remember to look for the Blog Only Discounts.

You Say Caterpillar I Say Chenille

2011-02-10T17:44:00.000-06:00

"Chenille" is French for "caterpillar." It's an appropriate name, since chenille is a fuzzy fabric that had a metamorphic development. Three distinct "chenille" products emerged between 1754 and 1895 in France, Scotland and the United States Catherine Evans (later Catherine Evans Whitener) of Dalton, Ga., was 15 years old in 1895 when she invented a shortcut to the tufted appearance of candlewick embroidery. The rest is a wonderful history of a fantastic fabric and the unique bedspreads developed from Evans style.

Fast forward to 2011 and here I sit with a warehouse full of the beautiful fabric in about 1,500 lbs of chenille bedspreads. I've got them listed on Etsy and in my little shop and I'm having a blast learning all about the designs, textures and techniques of this wonderful fabric. Click here to see what is listed today, but be sure and come right back !

One cool thing is when a chenille bedspread is no longer bedroom worthy, wonderful magicians known as Etsy seamstresses come along and make really awesome items from the chenille.

Look at what SurelyChenille has created for Valentine's Day. My favorite one is the green heart because it will go right through March and St. Patrick's Day. We are all pretty lucky if we love !

Flowers and Hearts

Lucky in Love

Then I found another amazing collection of upcycled work when I met CatnapCottage.

Her love for vintage chenille is very evident in her shop, but look at these pillows. The history of flour and feed sacks being cherished and re-used isn't new to any of us. I have never seen them look prettier than in these pillows. I can't wait to see what she does with a few she picked up in the shop today. Robin Hood flour use to be milled in my hometown, so I love this pillow and look at the cowboy, any Texas girl would love this.

Ride 'Em Cowboy


A Man After My Heart

Salvagenation is loaded with chenille and flour sacks and all sorts of vintage wonders so you can get busy with your own creations. Or stop by SurelyChenille or CatNapCottage where they have already done all the work for you.

When you are shopping in Salvagenation be sure and use Coupon Code : LoyaltyPaysOff for your 10% discount from the blog. If you read closely in the shop announcement you can find an even greater discount for more savings.

Be sure and watch for your email coupons next week. Have a wonderful Valentine celebration, remember the immortal words of the Beatles : ..and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make !

Thanks for your time from The Farm 75135 !

Season of Love and Thank You

2011-01-26T20:15:00.000-06:00

It never escapes me how fortunate I am to be on this planet. I had a pretty shaky beginning, but anyone who follows this blogs knows my mom fought for me long and hard and here I am. A bit sewn together here and there, but I'm here. I really enjoy Valentine's Day, it's the most fun and it's the one time each year you can be all gooey and squishy with your sentiments and no one really minds. I get to even spoil the farmer and he doesn't complain, well, outloud !

So I've had so much fun making LOVE in Salvagenation. Here's some examples and they have gone all over the world.

These great big 18 inch tall letters went to a young couple making a unique video as an engagement announcement.
Then one of my extremely creative customers fell in Love with some fun letters.

So I get to make Love all over the world, pretty great for a farm girl in Texas.

Now after I make Love in the shop, I like to relax a little and spend my time thumbing threw old paper and seeing if there is anything special to make for a Valentine gift or two. This year I'm using vintage Valentines and Victorian calling cards and creating special little notes to slip in with them.
Old friends are special treasures and when I send them some of my treasures, they know the sentiment is exactly what I wanted to portray, the value of our friendship.

Hot New Trends

So I've been visiting with my buddy, Nate Berkus and (okay so he doesn't know me, but secretly one day he wants to visit me and we chat it up about trends) he is talking typography. I've known for two years it would be H.O.T. and so have you, but it's THE THING for 2011. I would like to think I'm a trendsetter, so if you need to see lots of typography, then head over to one of the shops, Salvagenation or MonikersIncorporated.
There is plenty to see.

Coupons and Newsletters
I've fallen behind in Super Sunday Sale notices, so I've resorted to newsletters. If you didn't get the last one, go over there, click on my email envelope and send me your email. The one sent out this last week, was a 20% off anything in either shop coupon. Do you want to use it, then go ahead, just when you check out fill in the coupon with the word Newsletter and you get 20% off all purchases. That coupon will only be good for until January 29th, so make sure you head on over and use it !

Today's Farm Story
"Hurry up, said the farmer, we have a mama cow and her baby in the neighbor's pasture and it's getting dark."
I'm putting on my shoes, the ones folks call mules and I'm headed out the door. We get that cow and calf home, but it's a physical struggle. I mostly stood there blocking a path and closing gates and making sure no other cows decided to use the escape route.
The farmer is busy calling the cow with his special voice he uses with them, hollering .. Hup Cow, here Cow and a few other words, I'm quite sure the cow didn't understand but I did. (forgive him Lord). The cow finally meandered through the gate with her calf and I shut it behind them. (I was feeling rather heroic). The farmer looks at me and says, " the next time someone complains about the high cost of beef, please just tell them to kiss your *****." Now my question is this, why does it have to be My ***, I mean can't someone else volunteer for that !

See you in the shop !

Salvagenation
Vanessa

Marketing Strategies to Benefit the Customer

2010-09-05T15:49:00.000-05:00

   Spending time in old warehouses and barns usually produces some amazing items which can offer my customers. It also yields items in quantity that I can't possible put all in the shop at one time.

     I'm very protective of my customer base and it's always my goal to give each and everyone, a personalize experience.

     It can take extra time to insure this type of service but I think it's worth it as it gives me a business relationship with my customers. Mutual respect is important in all types of business transaction.

Now, because I do work so hard to communicate with my customers on a personal level, I can also utilize marketing strategies, that not only work with my inventory but benefit the customers.

   Salvagenation Super Sunday Sales happen once a week and last forty-eight hours. These sales would be called destash sales in many other stores. I find it so time consuming to change prices and do re-listing work that I have been using the shop rearrange feature on Etsy and spending my time contacting former customers.

   Each Saturday evening, I look in my inventory and see what items have been setting the longest and just how many items I have left to offer. Then I decide what type of sale will serve best for not only the shop but for the customer. I'm not going to ever be on of those business people who acts as though having a cash flow from products is shameful. I think my customers are smart enough to know that I work to earn a living, nothing altruistic about my business as far as the consumable product. Now that isn't to say I don't donate to charities or do good deeds, it's just not something I announce through the shop.

   Buy One Get One Free Sales, clear out old stock very fast and gives me more time to be out looking for vintage items to show customers. I don't have to take new pictures or change prices. I simply ask the customers to go ahead and make the purchases and then wait for a revised invoice. I don't change prices, such as mark up items, in order to offer the sale. It's a true BOGO.

    Offering merchandise at a reduced price works best if you offer a per cent. Once again, it takes sending a revised invoice or refunding money, but it works great. I start at 25% off and sometimes offer more.

     What has this done for me ? It has cleared out inventory that was just setting, freeing up space for different items. It has cleared out a page or two in the shop so I can put up different stock.

    What has this done for the customer ? It gives them the opportunity to be the first to take advantage of a very unique sale. We all now that most people don't read shop announcements, so the casual shopper rarely sees what I have posted. I spend time contacting previous customers of a particular genre when the sale begins. On the average throughout the year, a customer might get one or two notifications of a sale. I love the thank you notes I get in return.

    Shopping on line can sometimes be a true needle in the haystack situation. Having someone you trust let you know when items are available is a plus for any serious shopper.

    If you would like to see some of my sale emails, let me know and I'll send you a copy. Just drop a line to vanessarpope@gmail.com and I'll send you samples.

Project Nursery to Elementary School Basic ABCs

2010-07-19T11:27:00.000-05:00

Over the past year, I've been asked many times to supply letters for a Project Nursery style wall.
Well, first take a look at the wall and then the rest of the story.

Fun wall for a nursery or a child's room, isn't it. With all the letters in my two shops, I've stayed very busy helping people create their own inspirations.

Next step, was to create my own wall and offer the entire alphabet for sale. Needless to say, you have to have a blank wall, so out to the garage I went armed with tacks, hammer and all the letters of the alphabet.

Okay, so the dollar sign isn't a letter, but it was so much fun to use it in place of the S. I even got a little artsy with some of the photos.

And then I listed it in the letters and numbers shop on Etsy, MonikersIncorporated.

Now my little creation is headed to an elementary school in Spring, Texas. Now won't that be fun for the principal's office ? It is really going to be unique and so much fun for the kids.

It's going to be one of a kind, because I am completely out of the S and the dollar sign.

Middle of July and no one wants to start thinking about Back to School, but one sharp eye principal is going to be ready with a very unique conversation piece !

Economics 101 Packaging Material for Your Online Business

2010-07-04T21:21:00.001-05:00

Those hidden expenses can really take away from any form of profit you may be anticipating with an online business. If you actually work this, just like any other product you may sell, eventually you will see a difference in your economics.
Recycled packing materials don't have to be a part of a dumpster dive and purchasing new materials can end up costing you nothing with just a little effort.
Here's some steps to save you money, help the environment and put the jingle back in the change box.
1. Networking : Yes, you have to make some friends and not necessarily those from social media. Make a little handout to give to your doctor, dentist, beautician, any place you visit or any business that you are constantly going past on a daily driving route. Put your name, your phone number and your wants on the flyer and make them small enough to tack on a bulletin board, the side of a cpu or some place an office manager keeps notes.
Just make sure you spend a few minutes telling someone what type of materials you are looking for and even provide a box they can put somewhere for you to stop by and empty. I've yet to be turned down as everyone wants to recycle. Make sure you put a note on the box, too. Be sure and insert the time of day you will be dropping by.

I gave these to four businesses on my route to the post office. It takes about 15 minutes to make the four stops.

2. Recycle Ink Cartridges
My local Staples gives $2.00 in store credit for every ink cartridge recycled. I can recycle up to 10 per month so that is $20 in store credit I have each month. I purchase the absolute best packing tape that $20 will buy and on a good month, there is a coupon or a sale. How do I get ten cartridges, well, remember those businesses, they just hand them off to me, also.

Here's a hint, people want to recycle, they just don't have the time to leave their office, don't want to make the time or will be willing to do it if someone else puts out the effort.

3. Bubble Wrap and Plastic Foam Sheets
I live in an industrial area and several of those industries packaged hundreds of boxes a day. They also recieve hundreds of boxes a day and they don't re-use what was sent to them. I stop by and pick up two sacks of packing material each week. Sometimes its blocks of foam, sometimes it packing peanuts and sometimes it that cool long white foam sheets.

4. Padded Envelopes Galore
I stopped by the Navy Recuriter's Office to pick up a package for a friend. There was a box of bubble padded envelopes. Of course, I asked and now once a month, i stop by and get all of those I need. All three recruiter offices save those for me know. I just have to peel off labels or actually stick one over the old ones.

5. Newsprint - Yuck, no way do I use the printed stuff, but I use virgin newsprint.
Here is how Newsprint goes on the press :

and once the paper is printed, here is what is left

and it sits in the backroom of the newspaper office collecting dust, unless you stop by and as for the end of the roll newsprint. It can't be used once it gets down to a certain size. Wonderful stuff and it wraps so nicely and its on a roll, too !

6. Be a Packaging Artist
Take one plastic shopping bag you brought home from your shopping trip. Now stuff it with that virgin newsprint or some tissue paper or anything else that will fluff within the sack. Okay, now fold the top over and tape it down. You should have something that looks like a plastic pillow. You have now made some nice clean packing material. You can make it to the size you need to fit your box and give your merchandise a nice ride to its new home.

A word of advice : stay out of dumpsters. You will bring home bugs, you will get into all sorts of trash and I don't care how clean you think it is, an outside dumpster will carry the remains of the little bugs and animals who gave it a good look.

So you don't have to spend a fortune on packaging, you just have to think outside the box !! LOL.

Stop by and visit with me on Etsy, I have two shops now.
Salvagenation and MonikersIncorporated.

All Who Wander Are Not Lost

2010-05-09T18:42:00.000-05:00

With each day, I become more enamored by jewelry created from vintage findings. I can't help but wonder what someone is making when vintage tags or small whimsies are ordered from the shop. With a little help from some of the creative artist shopping with me, I can share how fantastic these small oddities look once they become a work of art.
Here's Talula's interpretations of two very unique pieces. She took dog tags and small locks and came up with some vintage style jewelry that actually made me think I had stepped into a Victorian ladies wardrobe and found her day jewelry.

Visit with Talula for All Sorts of Great Finds

Way Back Yonder may be a place where you can remember a time that life moved just a bit slower and everyone waved when you passed by. She has a unique eye and folks from all over wear her jewelry. She doesn't sell on line. She has her shops in Colorado and then does private orders. When she and her husband come to Texas, we have a blast. If I ever do get to Colorado, she may very well miss the mannequin, isn't it cool, too.

KellyLoveDesigns explains her work best in her shop announcement :

vintage reimagined in earthly inspired designs...recycling little bits of our past to incorporate in one of a kind designs for today. Don't you just love the word, reimagined !
These are from some door plates I found on a trip to the Bayou, they are now bracelets. Amazing what a creative eye can do with a piece of vintage brass.

Recently I blogged about the great work of LemonGrove on etsy and now she has a second shop.
She is taking wood letterpress , creating molds and making candles. She has caught the eye of many people with her beeandbirdcandles.etsy.com , even becoming the cover girl for a special Etsy section.

I appreciate these wonderful artist shopping with me on Etsy. I'm always looking for something that can be reused, put into redux or even upcycled. It's a wonderful trend working right now and so many unique items are being created. If you don't find what you need with Salvagenation.etsy.com, then stop by another shop.

This shop was one of the first places I admired when I started selling on Etsy. I like the style of the shop and the variety. Stop by sushipotparts.etsy.com and have some fun !

With summer fast approaching , it would be a great time to start a redux project of your own. I am trying to finish painting letters for customers wanting unique Father's Day displays. I had used a set in an exhibit and listed them on Etsy. Now everyone is coming up with their own unique way to honor dear old dad !

So browse through the shop and find a special trinket you like or visit one of these shops and let them make you something special. It's fun to browse and wander through the pages of the many shops on Etsy, because All Who Wander Are Not Lost.

GHS Robowranglers

2010-03-19T16:20:00.000-05:00

Governor Rick Perry visited the Dallas FIRST regional competition on Friday, March 19th. Escorting Perry are GHS Robowranglers, Katie Kroncke and Rae Arnold, senior members of the team. The governor spoke to the audience about the Texas Robotics initiative and his commitment to math and science education and engineering careers. The GHS Robowranglers were the Dallas FRC champions in 2009 and at the close of the first day of competition, Friday, are seeded in first place. Over 50 teams from seven states and two countries are competing this weekend on the SMU campus, Moody Coliseum. The Robowranglers are sponsored by Greenville corporate sponsors , L-3 Communications and Innovation First Internationa

Love and Salvagenation

2010-02-11T20:23:00.001-06:00

Basically, I need to thank some very nice people for mentioning the etsy shop in their blogs. I wanted to share some of the ways people are using items from Salvagenation and show you some great pictures.

First of all, some great looking cupcakes with their Valentine toppers. I think I can taste the sweet crunch coconut, just by looking at the picture. Click and say : Happy Valentine's Day !

On a cute blog, Pencil Shavings, there were plastic marquee letters from the shop. Wow , these look super.

Sweet Figments gave me a proper shout out when she wrote about getting a jump on Valentine's Day shopping. From her shop, you can just feel the LOVE ! Thanks for showing off the highway letters.

And one of my favorite customers, The GardenMerm has begun a blog about her favorite places to shop and let me write an article. Now one thing you should know is that she is the queen of creativity and if you are ever in Salt Lake City, Utah, find her shop, Abode. Here is a little bit more about how I got into this crazy junque business. Click the word JUNQUE and have some fun.

Thanks from the bottom and top of my heart to all these nice blogs for mentioning the shop. It's fun to see how far the items travel and where they end up. I love getting these pictures and mentions.

If you have something you want to show from your creations, make sure you let me know and I'll get them on the blog.

Beauty Lies in the Eye of the Beholder but Art Lies Within

2010-01-04T15:12:00.002-06:00

Shiny objects automatically draw me close, it doesn't matter if its a dime on the Walmart parking lot or a rhinestone clip in a little girl's curls. If it shines, it makes me smile. Something about a "sparkly" appeals to my inner self and reaffirms my true belief that there is beauty in the most simple of things, each day. I thought I was the only one in the world who could stop for a dime, literally but then I found the jewelry art of SavageSalvage and I think we are kindred spirits.
SavageSalvage, Stephanie Moreau, has the most wonderful jewelry shop on Etsy. She has become a customer and I had to go look and see if she had put anything vintage into her creations. What I didn't expect to find was a shop designed basically with my heart in mind. It's the best of both worlds, salvage items and jewelry. It's like a Spelunker's dream come true.

Here is the item from Salvagenation (oh notice how we even have similar names)

Now look what it has become at SavageSalvage

Change Over

A gorgeously aged and distressed, vintage, brass plate has been hammered to form a slight curve. The brass identification plate was salvaged from a supply freighter instrument panel before it was sent to the scrap yard. So cool! I have attached it to a lightweight, flexible, darkly oxidized copper cuff bracelet made from scrap metal. The two pieces are held together with sterling silver, reclaimed scrap-metal rivets

Pretty impressive and seriously necessary for anyone enjoying cuff bracelets. The handwork alone is so precise but to think its from two pieces of salvaged metal makes it astonishing.

What I like best is the piece isn't labeled , Steampunk not that steampunk is bad, but all the handpieces using salvage don't really need that label. They are art. They are jewelry.

Here's is one that reminds me of being in the eighth grade. I didn't have a boyfriend , so I took a piece of metal from my dad's tool bench , bent it around a coke bottle, tied a string on it and wore it like an ID bracelet. You know all the cool guys gave them to their girls. My mysterious man lived in another town and he made mine for me. ! I wish I had known Stephanie in the 60's , she would have been a great asset to my dream date.

Here is how it started

Pretty cool metamorphis :

The Off Switch - Unisex Industrial Brass Placard and Recycled Copper Chain Bracelet

A gorgeously aged and distressed, vintage brass placard has been hammered to form a slight curve. The plate was salvaged from a supply freighter instrument panel before it was sent to the scrap yard. So cool! I have attached it to segments of upcycled vintage darkly oxidized copper chain. Connectors and a hand forged clasp made from reclaimed scrap metal (brass) hold it all together. The whole piece has a gauntlet, mechanical, roughly aged look to it.

SavageSalvage also has some amazing pieces with the look of ice right on your body. It's a unique serious of jewelry with the beauty of crystals and the expertise of handforged work.

Permafrost Redux

Basically the lesson from Stephanie's fantastic shop is that beauty does like in the eye of the beholder, but when you put anything into the hands of a master craftsman, the beauty is found and shared.

Here's just a bit about this talented artist from her profile.

I'm a collector of "treasures". I can't pass up a glittery pebble on the sidewalk, or a perfect pine cone buried under leaves. Flea markets make my knees go rubbery! This jewelry collection is my way of putting all of those beautiful objects to good use.My designs are all eco-conscious in that they incorporate recycled, reclaimed, repurposed, and found parts. I use a lot of rusted or naturally patinated antique bits in my designs; so if you have sensitive skin or contact allergies, please convo me before purchase to discuss options. I coat all "questionable" parts with a clear sealant, but additional precautions can be taken.

If you stop today and look around, I bet you will see a shiny object just waiting for you to appreciate its beauty. I've so much more to share with you in 2010, but I have to go now. I just looked out the back window and there is a small square object glimmering under the bird feeder, I must go investigate.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2009-12-06T16:29:00.000-06:00

Can't decide if I love December because we finally get a little winter in our part of Texas or there is just so much activity that everyone seems to be so alive and happy.
Here's a glimpse of life in small town Texas and how much fun you can have just enjoying those folks who are in your life everyday.

Our front yard may be dying out for winter, but it's full of life by the front door. Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus are welcoming you to The Farm and all the elves are busy laughing at how much work there is still to do inside. !

The momma cows are busy getting their young 'uns fed and keeping them warm. These little bulls were born a week apart but have already bonded and are playing most days. Just like any baby they are curious and full of life. We love to watch them run and run, then just completely flop down and nap.

Nothing like a Christmas parade, complete with the high school navy color guard and lots of band music, antique cars and tractors.

Our granddaugher will be a snowflake in the presentation of the Nutcracker. Some of her fellow dancers were brave and rode a float in the parade. It was so very cold, but they really warmed us all with their cheer and dancing and beautiful faces.

And to top off all the joy, my letterpress was featured in a gift guide on Etsy. It's been fun seeing the response to this item and the shop.

So, if you are having a tough time right now, stop and find some joy. Go stand outside Walmart and listen to the Salvation Army bell ringers and just make up a song to go with that jangle. Go sit in the lobby of your local hospital and thank God, you are not a patient there or you aren't the one waiting for "the news" . Go stand outside without your coat when the temperature drops below 60 degrees and thank the Lord you have a coat.

We are blessed, each day and sometimes we don't even realize that blessing. I'm so proud to be able to say I have enough. I hope this holiday season, I can help someone say that, too !

See you on Etsy, see you in town, see you in school and see you soon.

Something Old is Something New and Just so Christmas Right for You

2009-11-17T09:19:00.002-06:00

Vintage items are beginning to find new life in some amazing art forms by not only altered artist but also jewelry artist, using vintage findings to create masterpieces.
There is a small statue at the State Fair of Texas and it is made from nothing but old pieces of jewelry. I stand and stare at it for hours.
Over the past few months, I've met a talented young jewelry artist specializing in beadwork. Her shop on etsy is LemonGrove. Just the sound of the shop name brings about an image of something fresh and full of life.
Here is a brief introduction to Alison from her shop profile.

I am 25 years old and I have been making jewelry for about five years but I have always been pretty artistic. I have worked with many different mediums of creating jewelry including lampworking, metalsmithing and precious metal clay. I try to incorporate all of my skills into my work but I stuck mainly with beading because of the variety of materials readily available and the wide range of techniques for jewelry I can use. I also like the instant gratification of beads so I can decide immediately if I like what I am making. I love to create styles of jewelry that I havn't seen before so keep your eyes peeled for my new creations.

I wanted you to meet her but I also want to show off her intricate designs. Of course, I'm going to show you two pieces she has made that incorporate vintage letters she purchased from Salvagenation.
Without knowing, she made brooches which use the initials of my daughters, Emily and Amelia. Please look at all the pictures of the pieces when you visit the shop. I love how these look on the blazers and shirts. They are for evening or day wear and just the perfect size.
Here is E is for Elephant, a beautiful study in purple and A is for Apple, a fun golden brooch .

Needless to say, I feel like the proud mom when I see vintage items from the shop in such fantastic pieces of art. I can imagine the face of the lucky girl getting to open this on Christmas Day. Now, I know for a fact that Alison has the ability to make you a custom brooch from the letter of your choice !

These letters were originally purchased in England, so they have a little history. They are initials used to make cuff links in the 60's. Their patina really adds to the creative look of the beaded brooches.

Now LEMONGROVE isn't all about brooches, she has amazing necklaces and bracelets she has designed. Each one is unique and one of a kind. Here is one of my personal favorites.

It's called Chain Letter Necklace. How in the world she made the design is just beyond my wildest imagination. It speaks volumes for her talent.

It's starting to get busy in all the Etsy shops, so start making your list now. Of course, I will want to see you and help out with your vintage selections, but make sure you stop by and get some wonderful work from the artists on etsy and their one of a kind work.

Inventory Reduction and Enhancement Sale

2009-10-18T20:28:00.004-05:00

It’s no secret that I’m a box lot junkie ! Everyone knows I can’t resist buying the entire box full when I go to auctions and estate sales. It’s how I got my name. My husband thinks at some point in life, I’ll bring home the North American continent in my car in the form of antiques and collectibles.

The only problem with this, my office becomes one big storage closet and I can’t get all my goodies organized and listed because the boxes just get in the way.

In order to become better organized, I’m having a Sale. Now, not just a 10% off everything sale, but a good, old fashion, inventory reduction sale. Prices in the sale section of the shop are being marked down 30 to 50% ! Some of the items you may not have even seen in the regular list of shop pieces.

I am very serious about cleaning and organizing. I’ve been matching, stacking, packing until I’m just about to be at the bottom of the boxes.

Please stop by SALVAGENATION and look at all the items in the sales section.

Always let me know if I can find something vintage for you. You might be surprised at all the things I don’t have listed but have in inventory. Living on a farm, there is a barn, a shed and an attic to keep all my goodies stored.

In addition to the discounts on the sale items or for any item in the shop, just let me know in advance through the conversation system what you would like and I’ll take off another 10%. Just make sure you mention you found me on the blog.

For those new to the shop, I don’t do this type of sale very often. The last one was over a year ago and things when quite quickly.

Thanks again : Salvagenation
I'm Number 25 in the top 100 Vintage Sellers on Etsy : Thanks everyone !

It All Started With a Pair of Sandals and A Smiling Face

2009-08-03T13:26:00.006-05:00

Sometimes meeting people at an antique show can turn into a series of events that go beyond explanation but somehow it proves how small of a world we live in, really !

Kork Ease sandals, were my favorites in the 70's and now the Sundance Catalouge has them featured, with sentiments about the era of my youth. I would show you a picture but the online cataloge has the photo blocked, can't download it. Oh, here, follow this link but don't get lost in the cataloge, be sure and return. Just click :
Nostalgic Moment with Salvagenation

Yes, they are pure comfort. So anyway, I'm sitting in my booth at an antique fair and in walks a lovely red headed woman, just about my age and she is wearing a pair of Kork Ease. At that time I didn't know the company was still around. I said, "did you save those from college?" She said , "no I ordered them from Sundance." We laughed and she explained how she found them and that they were still being made.

She also told me there was a real vintage resurgence in catalouges and that my booth was like taking a trip through Sundance and Anthropologie. I was flattered. I also realized I had some homework to do and catch up on what was being featured.

I came home and started doing some online searches for products. I typed in Sundance and got all the regular web pages. I typed in the words Sundance and vintage and up popped this website for an artist : New Dominion Blues . I started reading her first article and there was a mention of my etsy shop and she featured some items from Salvagenation.

Imagine my surprise, complete and total. I left a note of thanks and didn't think anymore about it. Then I got a sweet note from the owner of New Dominion Blues, so I just had to go and see her shop.

Well, talk about great taste : Look at her shop (remember to come back, always more)

New Dominion Blues

I've already marked a few things I want for Christmas. Her work in tile and pottery are just amazing. Her look goes well with everything but really compliments my farm house and my vintage items.

The moral of the story is, always speak to those you meet, strike up a conversation and before you know it, you will realize how small a world we do live in at times.

Victorian Memory Albums Being Placed on Etsy

2009-07-16T14:27:00.000-05:00

Through a wonderful series of events, I have been able to acquire the memory and autograph albums of a young Victorian woman. I will have these listed on etsy very soon ! If you love Victorian, you will be fascinated by this collection. See you at Salvagenation.

Mobile Alerts from Any Web Site : You Can Do It !

2009-06-08T23:53:00.002-05:00

If there is a work around, I'm going to find it, because well, let's face it - I'm not going to spend money if I don't have to spend money.

Here's the back story. I am not going to get an iphone, I'm a Sprint customer and I don't want to change to AT&T, for many reasons. Now that being said, I have been wanting some mobile web browsing and I really wanted to be able to get email alerts about things on several websites.
Many websites have email alerts they will send you for free, and they have mobile text alerts (usual text charges may apply, is the disclaimer). I haven't found any that I use that charge for the email alerts, so I sat down and figured out a little work around so I could get those alerts on my phone.

It was time to update the phone, so I got one that had mobile web browsing, unlimited time and also would let you get email sent to your phone. On sprint it runs $15.00 a month for a basic data plan that will do that work. I already have a family talk plan that I've had for so long, they don't offer it anymore to new customers. My bill for the family talk plan and the data plan now comes to $90 a month and we have three phones. Only one phone on the data plan.. mine !

Okay, now I got the cute little Sanyo 2700, finally I have a qwerty keyboard. I will be a texting fool, but I digress. I've had a gmail account forever and never used it because I rely on my Outlook Express and just love it. Now we are going to have some fun. I'm taking you through this step by step.

Please note : i'm using gmail, but you can use yahoo, msn, aol, .. also. I'm using google as that is what I have and can talk from experience.

A. Get a gmail account, sign up, its free. Just go to google.com and hit gmail, sign up and now you have a gmail email account.
B. These instructions are for Outlook Express and getting my ebay and etsy messages on my phone. Open up our Outlook Express account and Click on a message from either of those websites, for instructions, i'm using etsy.
C. While you have that messages highlighted or open, go to the word Message up there in the tool bar. Choose create rule from this message and a pop up box will come out.

Here we go :
Under Select Conditions choose the box next to : Where the From Line Contains People
Select Actions for Your Rule : Forward it to People

Now look at that third little box, it can get tricky, but take it slow :
Here is what it will read
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the From line contains 'transactions@etsy.com'
Forward it to people : now people will be blue and underlined.. click it .. and when you do fill in your google gmail account address.

Next you name your rule and click ok.

Believe it or not, you have just done all the hard work as far as getting the messages to your phone. Now remember, you email message will stay in your desktop computers inbox but it will also forward to your gmail account.

Now go to your cell phone and set up the email accounts. On my phone all I had to do was from the main screen : Messages, then from there Email, add an account. Next it was a matter of filling in the stuff for google, my email address and password.

Now, I get mobile alerts for free about purchases from my ebay and etsy shops. When a sale comes in , I always get an email. I set it to forward to gmail and I can check gmail on the phone.

Now, that is just for the ebay and etsy shops. I can't wait to get some set up for websites where I shop, airlines, and even some of those fun places that post a joke a day !

It's a little bit of work, it saves you tons of money over time and face it, it's fun being a tech savvy granny !

Google Cached Pages Can Lead to Several Work Arounds

2009-05-10T10:53:00.004-05:00

If you have a shop on etsy, you know that the expired listings can be a slight nightmare. Once an item is no long active, you can not work with it in the expired folder.

I have taken to not re-listing anything that has expired, simply because if after four months on etsy, it hasn't sold, I need to look at some other market. I am putting those items either on ebay or artfire.

The drawback, you can't copy and paste from the expired listing because the item can't be opened. AHHH HAA until now, I figured out a work around this morning and I've already tested it and it works great.

I've put a tiny bit of this information in the forum, but since etsy discourages links to other sites, I thought it would be best to put all the information here and show the examples here.

Step by Step : How to Utilize all the Information from an Expired Listing

1. Create a folder on your desktop for the photos : just in case you didn't save your photos, this will be a place to put the photos you are needing. I call mine : Moving Photos.
2. I made a list of the titles of the expired listings I wanted to work from by cutting and pasting the titles onto a word document.
3. Open Google Home and in the search line type the entire title of your listing and add your shop name. Here is what I used for one
Flowers and Cherries Luncheon Size Vintage Tablecloth All Cotton Great Motif

In these next steps, be sure and come back after you do the Click Here to get all the information on this blog.

4. Here is what was returned to my on Google : Click Here

5. Here's the Trick : Don't click the URL that has the listing number, it will come back as invalid. Click on the word : Cached

6. Here is what you will get : Click Here to see what was returned

7. Now you have the complete listing at hand and you can cut and paste until you have exactly what you need for transfer. You can re-do the listing before you put it back on etsy or you can cut and paste the items and start new listings other places.

Here is what I have done :

I saved all the pictures in the folder I created in step one.
Then i opened two tabs, one for the cached page and one for the artfire shop.

I would just cut and paste from the cached listing to the new listing.

It took about three minutes to do everything.

Here's a look at the artfire listing : Click Here

It's exactly the listing that has expired on etsy.

While the expired listing folder drives me slightly crazy because I can't delete what I will never list again, it can serve a purpose. I'm a bit OCD about keeping this stuff organized and in a listing somewhere, so this will help when I can't find saved pictures or I don't get the listing moved before it expires .

Hope this helps.

Join me on etsy and artfire : Salvagenation

Digital World Meet Retail World : A Perfect Union

2009-04-08T13:17:00.006-05:00

It is quite difficult to completely explain what you do for a living when your shop is online and your merchandise can only be seen when someone signs on to their computer. It's one thing to say, I make the coolest jewelry, create one of a kind baby blankets, sell vintage collectibles and another to show interested people what you actually have on-line.
But if you spend $20 and maybe one hour of your time, you can have your inventory at your fingertips and easily show anyone your online shop. If you want to know how, then keep reading !

Here is the only tool you will need :

This digital key chain can open new doors for your shop and introduce scores of new customers to your merchandise.
Having a website or a shop on a website means you have to create many digital images in order to put pictures in place with your item description. If you are like me I have a folder on my computer holding literally thousands of images. I'm afraid if I purge those pictures, I'll need them for reference. Actually I store my on a 4G USB external drive but I'm still holding onto them.

Now if you take that little digital key chain, load it with those images of your merchandise, then you are a walking catalog for your store. When you hand someone your business card if they say , oh I would love to see your stuff, ask them do you have a minute and hand them the key chain. Explain they can scroll through and see your items. Now don't be a control freak, let them do the scrolling and let them hand it back to you when they are ready. I always say, take your time but when you have seen enough, just hand it back. Normally they look at about ten or fifteen pictures and get the idea.

These little key chains will hold up to sixty pictures. Be creative don't just have a picture of the item, put your shop name on some of the photos, but your prices.

If you do craft shows, flea markets, antique shows, bazaars, any form of booth set up. Invest just a little more and purchase a large digital frame. These frames can hold up 120 pictures, even more. Set that frame on your table or shelf and let all your customers see your merchandise. I can not tell you how many people will not spend the time walking through the booth looking for things, but will watch that screen and then say, " Oh , show me that or do you have that !!" I know where my merchandise is and I can put my hand right on it.

If I don't have room to take all my merchandise to a show the large frame is very handy as it shows all the items in my etsy shop or items I might have left at home. Since I go home every night, its very easy to tell them, I will bring this back for you tomorrow. If they hesitate because of an entry fee or distance, then I have two solutions.

a. I go to the front and ask the show manager to give them a ticket so they can enter the next day for free to pick up merchandise.
b. I tell them I'll make a special listing for them on etsy and they can purchase through there. If they aren't an etsy customer, they quickly become one !

No one really likes to stand and go through photo albums and rarely will they, its meeting the shopping impulse that requires fast thinking from the business person.

You can use many programs to add text to your photos. I am a beginner for Photoshop and that is what I used for this example.
I'm more comfortable with powerpoint and here is a quick explanation. You can always read the help guide, too.
You can do it in Powerpoint, simply add your picture and text to your frame.
Then click select all and all the little parts will be selected, now right click in the middle of the picture, choose group items and it will group the picture and text. Right click once again and click, Save Image. Then save the image as a jpeg.

All these frames come with programs for loading. You just have to have your images in a jpeg format and then you can upload what you want.

I know Walgreens has the digital key chain on sale this week for $12.00. That is an $8.00 savings, but a search on the web and you will find them in all shapes and sizes. The same for the larger frames, check your local Walmart for prices or look on the web. These frames can be pricey so you may want to decide which one you want and then watch for a sale.

I would love to hear your success stories about this little marketing tip.

See you on etsy and artfire : Salvagenation !

She Has My Heart

2009-03-28T13:01:00.009-05:00

Once upon a time, in 1953, a baby girl was born with what was considered an irreparable heart condition. Right there in the middle of her heart was a hole and no surgery had been perfected to repair the damage.
"Take her home and love her until she dies," is what one doctor told the parents. They didn't believe that was to be their destiny nor the destiny of the child.
"Bring her to Houston, let me look at her," were the words of Denton Cooley, a young heart surgeon fresh from the studies of John Hopkins University.
He looked and he studied and he measured and weighed, he took x-rays, did a heart cath and eventually gave his prognosis.
" Take her home and love her and when she weighs 30 lbs, I'll save her life, " were his words of wisdom.
In 1956, I weighed 30 lbs on August 1st and very soon after that the surgery was performed and I've had a very full life. It has had its medical ups and downs, but it has been a full and wonderful life. I defied all odds over and over again. Now I'm a 56 years old woman and thankful for each day.
Just a few days ago a wonderful artist purchased several medical illustrations from the shop. She is a wonderful ATC artist. She sent me a picture of her creation. You can not imagine how much kinship I felt toward this piece of work. I love San Francisco and then there was the medical display of the heart. It is only fitting I use her work to illustrate today's blog. If you want to see more of her work visit her shop on etsy at : Snizzers and Gwoo . If you want to see even more of her ATC work, just send her a conversation and she will point you to her flickr pool. She does fantastic work.
My mother wanted to name me Elizabeth, after her sister who had just died, my father was horrified and said, No. My mother said, well, we don't want to name her after anyone living in the family, in case she dies, because then they will have the burden all their life of when we say their name, we will think of a dead child. Okay, that was a bit morbid, even for my Army father, so he picked up a magazine in order to ignore my mother. It looked like I would go home without a name, just Baby Girl Last Name. That was pretty common in the 50's from what I understand and often babies didn't get names until they were christened. Suddenly my father called for the nurse, threw the magazine on my mother's bed and said, we will call her Vanessa. There on the cover of the magazine was a young starlet : Vanessa Brown and I would be given that name. I have hunted and hunted for a picture of her and never found one except on line. This past weekend I bought a large bundle of vintage magazines and who was in the bundle, but Vanessa Brown. In a 1949 Movie Album Pulp Magazine. It's been a wonderful week of coincidences . I leave you with a picture of Vanessa Brown !

Just Something I Made

2009-03-19T12:26:00.007-05:00

I have been introduced through the etsy forums to one of the most creative artist, Cathe Holden. She is fearless and she is self-less. What is most amazing about Cathe is she not only offers advice and tips on how to create the most amazing blogs, she shares her graphic designs.
You can visit her blogspot by Just Clicking HERE and you will probably spend the rest of your day just reading her blog and starting a To Do List from all of her wonderful projects.

Creating a vintage sign from her instructions is the first on my list. She gives step by step instructions and the most wonderful pictures with those instructions. It doesn't matter what project she posts, you get instructions. Look for the March 6 blog post to get the instructions on making a vintage sign.

She has two shops on etsy , one for her handmade items and one for vintage items.
Look at this darling bracelet from Cathe Holden : just click the picture and go to her handmade shop. This would make a great reward bracelet for a little girl mastering the 1st grade !

Click on this banner and you will go to her vintage shop.

The best part of Cathe Holden is she is sharing her work with others. I love all her blog buttons and you can tell, I've dressed up my blog just a bit with her work.

It's always fun to share with you the artists who are so willing to share their work. If you use her buttons, let her know. She is always interested in seeing how everything fits together.

Lent 2009 Celebrating and Observation with a Twist

2009-02-24T13:19:00.000-06:00

I really have always wanted a group of my friends to get together once a month and we do sneak attacks good deeds. It's never really panned out, so I've just decided to take it upon myself to get this started during Lent. Lent is all about sacrifice and making a commitment to God in order to thank him for the goodness he has bestowed upon each of us. Its also a time to remember the days leading to the Crucifixion and the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for each of us. Now most of you know I'm not a religious zealot, just a spiritual girl who loves the people of this earth and the individuality each person brings. I haven't done well in organized "goodwill" groups, too many folks want to be the boss, fundraising gets in the way and good deeds become minimal. I use to say if I ever win a million dollars, the first thing I will do is start a soup kitchen. Lately, I've realized you don't need a million dollars and you don't have to have an entire kitchen. We each can make a difference in the world one bowl of soup at a time, one phone call at a time and one day at a time. So here is my search for goodness in each of us during Lent.

First of all, most protestants don't observe the 40 days of Lent by "giving up" something but once I started doing that a few years ago, I realized how much insight those 40 days give you. I remember one day a student and I were at a contest and we had both given up caffeine for Lent. I still laugh because Nick Combs looked at me and said : "what were we thinking" and I knew then that if in the heat of competition if I could give up caffeine and that jolt of confidence, I could do almost anything with just prayer and goodwill. I just love that young man, I don't know where he is in the world, but I know the world is a better place because Nick Combs is in it !

So each day, I'm going to keep a journal about my Lent Journey. I'm not going to make any personal purchases for the 40 days and the money I don't spend on those little needless got to haves, I'll put into my good deed fund. Each day, I'm also going to do something that I think will make a difference in the life of one person, maybe it will be 40 people or maybe it will be 40 deeds that compound. If you want to read about my journey, just click on my notes, if you don't then of course, ignore my notes.

Here's my wish list for my friends as we head to Easter

a. may you find joy and happiness in your life by being true to who you are
b. may you increase your circle of friends so it grows through joy and celebration
c. may you find peace through our God and his infinite mercy
d. may you make a difference in this world through simple deeds and kindness
e. may you find a way to smile when your troubles seem unsurmountable

My prayer is this :

Dear Lord :
I ask that you take mercy on me and forgive my sins of thoughtlessness and worry. I ask that you give me guidance through my unique journey. I ask you to watch over my family as you know our trials right now and I ask that you find a way to heal the sick we love.
If I have hurt others, find a path for healing, if I have not shared enough of my life, find me a way to open those doors.
It is through your wisdom that I find strength and it is through your love that I find a place in this world.
Thank you for giving us a time to reflect on how important sacrifice is in our daily walk.

with my sincerest desire to complete my Lent walk in a different place thnt where I begin :

Amen.

Oh, The Places You Will Go

2009-02-19T10:30:00.005-06:00

Due to some very bad experiences, I don't often trade items from my etsy shop for another person's merchandise. When I do, I spend quite a bit of time looking for just the perfect trade item. I was contacted by a Texas artist to do a trade between shops and when I looked in her shop, I just knew I had to have a few things. Hummingbird Eyes is a great shop with a unique blend of vintage items. Here is her shop welcome :

Welcome to Hummingbird Eyes, your online sanctuary for an eclectic array of mixed media assemblages, lovingly scavenged vintage artifacts and oddities, exotic appliques, Catholica, and sweet dollhouse miniatures.

From our trade, she has created a unique piece of artwork. She had some marbles I wanted for my Texas collection and I had some religious scapulars she wanted for her mixed media art. From that trade, here is the creation

If you want to see more of her work, then visit HummingbirdEyes , its a fun place to shop on etsy.
In every package I send out I try to ask the buyer to please send me pictures if they use my items for creations. I love putting the work on the blog. It's fun showing off my "children" and how they become citizens of the world.

Texas is starting to show the first signs of spring and that means I'm outside more digging in the flower bed or putting in the vegetable garden. In this first year of retirement, I've already made a note that I will need to have more winter projects, as being inside is not my favorite place to be!

I've started to doing antique markets again and I've had so much fun reuniting with old friends. I throughly enjoy the weekends at Fair Park in Dallas as we all fill up the automobile building. I have plans to be there in March but also want to be at a robotics competition. I'm keeping the dates as TBA on the blog until I make a final decision.

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what was on my mind this week. If you want to see the goodies in the shop just go to Salvagenation .

Seems to Be Working so I'll Share

2009-02-01T13:41:00.007-06:00

Thirteen months into selling vintage items on etsy, I have reached my first sales goal and even surpassed it. I have set another goal for a shorter time period, it's lofty but it's a goal. I sold on ebay for ten years and recently took a break from that venue. The financial gain it gave us was great and really helped defray college and wedding costs for our two girls. I wouldn't pick one site over the other, I just can't seem to manage to on-line shops at once.

I get emails from people I meet at shows or people who shop with me and they want to know what works to make an on-line shop successful. I don't think there is a magic formula, except hard work + determination = success. I do know that there are many elements that to into the hard work and I'm a determined person, so it is all fitting together.

In this entry its going to be long and without many pictures, but I will share what has worked for me on etsy and ebay and hopefully, it will work for you. Now I may not share where I shop or some of my HTML secrets, but I don't mind giving up the business formula. It's a better marketplace when its filled with happy and successful people.

I work hard at the shop and keeping it stocked and trying extremely hard to have my own "look".

When i first started I had handmade, vintage and supplies in my shop. I embroidery market totes and those went fast ! To be quite honest, I've been lazy and just haven't put more in and I really need to get some more finished. Many people don't like to mix the items in the shop, but I think, the more the merrier. It gives a "something for everyone kind of feel". I really love lace and buttons not just for collectors but for the artists to use in their work, also.

I never care about market price, I care about my bottom line. I don't want to under price anyone but I'm not going to price my items based on anyone's shop. I think a profit margin that makes life comfortable for you is how you need to price your items. I rarely refer to a reference book to set a price, but I have been known to do quite a bit of research on an item if I think it is a rarity. I have found those rare items sell fast and most people looking for them will pair a fair market value.

I've tried to keep most items in my shop under $50 and that has been a drawing point to many of my customers.

I learned shipping backwards and forwards so I could ship domestic and international. I bought a little scale, ordered supplies from the post office, and rummaged through old business offices and got their envelopes, etc. I can not tell you how many people come back simply because I stay spot on with my mailing costs. People understand when they shop on-line there will be costs involved for shipping, but they don't have to be overcharged. I don't add handling costs and I don't add a material costs. Material costs such as purchasing envelopes, tape, etc, can be an expense with the IRS business costs at the end of the year.

I send everyone who buys something a little thank you conversation, i tell them when the package ships and I ship fast. I make sure they get their item in their hand before they have time to think about it not being there.

I've studied the Niche market. I watch the trends. I am not about to try and start a new trend. We are currently in a market of upcycling, recycling, going green and of course the three r's , reduce, reuse and recycle. This is a perfect market for a vintage shop. I use vintage items in my home and that helps with my knowledge of how items will hold up and where they can be used. My measuring cup is 40 years old and I know it can not withstand the dishwasher if I want the red lettering to stay on it. The market is also swinging toward the ladies of the 60's with their hats and gloves and the feminine appeal of being a woman. Men are collecting things of their childhood which at one time seemed so expendable.

I will tell you this, stick with what you know. I don't know anything about furniture, glass or high end jewelry. I couldn't tell you one maker from the other. I got my start in this business 20 years ago selling vintage silverplate, sterling and linens. I plan to go back to that but right now I'm having fun with all my artists and keeping them in cool stuff.

I think google is your on line shop friend. I have studied keywords, search techniques, etc. None of my titles are cutesy, they are all stating what the item is and as a matter of fact, i tweek them about once a week. I don't try to get creative, well, because I'm not ! when it comes to cutesy.

I will help you anytime, I had lots of help when I started and to this day I go to those people to get help. You just send me a conversation through etsy or leave a comment here and I'll get back to you when I check the blog.

I am going to do shows in Dallas, once a month or at least that is the plan for now. If I can't do them every month, then every two months. I promote the heck out of my shop when I am there. Every one of my price tags has my shop address on it. I hand out little swag bags with not only my cards but cards and samples from anyone who will send them to me. Send me your cards, I'll get them in the bag.

I have this blog and I have my twitter set up to once a day post new items from my shop and post a link to my new blogs when I write them. For the life of me I can't remember where I went to set that up. I learned it from reading Timothy Adams blog and picked up that tip from him.

I have a facebook page, personal and the free business page : find me on facebook : Salvagenation. I use etsy's feature and at least once a week I post to facebook. I have been getting quite a bit of traffic from facebook from the personal and the business page,join my group. When I get 100 followers on facebook, I'm having a raffle for a box of vintage goodness.
Now when you join my group, my little page shows up on your page and your friends see it and they go look, too. So when you set up your business page, I'll do the same and so on and so on.

I have a journalism/public relations degree and I'm a marketing minor, so I try to rely on those college courses when I hit the bottom and can't think of anything new to do.

Keep quite a bit in your shop, give everyone something to find.. price range has to vary, so do the items. Buy a few things, get some feedback going. I bought birthday presents and some soap and a few things I would normally go to the boutiques to buy.

Make sure you tagline in your shop reads as to exactly what you sell as that gets into the search engines, also.

A wise woman told me to make sure that each email I sends ends with my shop address as the signature.

Visit me online
Salvagenation

Pictures in focus and items well defined in those pictures are great selling points too. Use Picasa from Google, its free and its easy.

Just about at the end and I'm sure there are many things I have forgotten. Will you try some of my suggestions and let me know how it goes for you. I would love to hear from you.

I Had It But Now Its Gone

2009-01-28T22:07:00.006-06:00

I was going to write about the most fantastic children's book I just acquired and how much I love the book. Well, I'm still going to write about it but I just don't have it anymore because someone has already purchased the book.
Here Let me show you a page :

It's from a 1950 pop up book called Jolly Jump Ups that I found over the weekend. I could not believe it when I picked it up. It has to be one of the prettiest pop up books I have ever seen. I wanted to keep it so very much, but its just not the time for me to hang on to everything I treasure. This book has the most brilliant color. My favorite pages are the Ten Little Indians.

Over the past three days I now I've set for at least four hours just looking at each page and looking at all the intricate detail. The page three has the greatest scene of children playing hide and seek. You have to bend the book open just a bit more than usual and then everyone comes out of their hiding places

The best part of being a vintage and collectibles dealer is that I get to see some wonderful items. I'm very happy this is going to the home of a collector. I wasn't going to sell it at first because I didn't want anyone taking it apart for the art in it. It's going to someone who will cherish it for its wonderful art and it will stay in tact.

It's always fun to see these unique items leave the shop and get to hear the story of why they were purchased. Its been a week of buttons and books, so stop by and visit me at http://www.salvagenation.etsy.com and take a look around.

Vintage.. You Say ! It Just Doesn't Seem That Old

2009-01-14T14:05:00.004-06:00

Many people are use to calling older items, antiques and collectibles, and setting their value based on age and condition, all sorts of factors.
With the internet and its wide variety of outlets for selling antiques and collectibles, the use of the word vintage began to creep into listings and descriptions.
What may have been in your closet as a toy when you were a child will suddenly become a hot collectible before you are even willing to stop playing with it and move on to something more intense, mature or even interesting. Now, people are assigning a dollar value to something that is way beyond what you originally paid. Its your decision as to what something is worth, whether you appreciate the money more than the item. Point being, what you are enjoying has suddenly become a collectibles commodity.
It is all about supply and demand and what the antique and collectibles market will bring from that equation.
There is a term, old school, that slowly worked its way into our adjectives and descriptors. When it became part of the vernacular to describe an attitude about concrete objects, the word vintage began to be tossed around, too. Vintage rock band t-shirts, vintage this and retro that, and a new genre began to find its way into the antique and collectibles world. Now vintage has always been a word used, but it really was a descriptor of condition or another word for antique.
If you notice in my etsy shop: SalvageNation , I use that descriptor quite a bit. Etsy.com in itself has assigned the word vintage to any collectible 20 years old or more. Yes, some of you my friends are now vintage ! Vintage has become a buzz word and is certainly hot among search engines.
Those who have internet shops for antiques and collectibles must constantly work to be found by search engines. Where I might have once described something as collectible, its now more common for it to be called vintage.
On the US market, antiques usually are 50 years or more in age and use, the international market, 75 years or older and in some countries 100 years or more. With America being a young country, our antiques are as varied as our populations.
So while you look around the shop and you begin to wonder why you see the word vintage so much, remember, its whatever is the keyword of the generation.
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to begin a series of articles for an artist's website. Those articles will appear twice a month and will be about vintage and collectibles, how people use them in their homes, what people collect and how people alter them for art. Once the articles begin to be posted, I'll send you the link and you can read " all about it".
If you ever have a question about something in the antiques or collectibles field and I can help you find the answer, just send me a message.

Featuring the Work of Pottery Artist : Almapottery

2009-01-07T14:08:00.005-06:00

One of the greatest joys I have in owning a collectibles business is finding out what becomes of the treasures once they leave my shop. I always ask people to share pictures of their creations or where the collection ends up in the house. I enjoy seeing where life leads and how are connected because we all treasure the same type of items.
Recently pottery artist : Almapottery on etsy purchased some vintage letterpress from me. She used that letterpress to create some very unique designs. I love the work and I can't wait to get her to make me a serving platter for my birthday. Look at the detail of the pottery, it shows the depth of the numbers and gives such a great design.
You need to go to her shop and see more of her work. You will find her work at : almapottery. In the meantime, enjoy this picture.

Make sure you stop by the shop to see everything I've added this week :
SalvageNationand with some of the new web tools I've added there will be even more fun in the shop.

Little Pretties in the Shop

2009-01-05T18:23:00.001-06:00

With the freezing weather and the cold rain in Texas, I started dreaming of spring picnics and found some of my vintage tablecloths. I had been waiting to add these to the shop, but everyone needs some sunshine right now. I'm going to go ahead and list these vintage pretties in the shop. Visit me at http://www.salvagenation.etsy.com for all the little tablecloths I've added.

Ringing in a New Year with Me in Mind !!

2008-12-30T18:56:00.003-06:00

New Years Resolutions 2009
I will seriously attempt to keep at least 50% of these and the ones I don't keep, well at least I thought about it.

1. I resolve to keep some form of a daily schedule, even if it doesn't start until 10 am and I wear my pajamas most of the day (working from home is so fantastic)
2. I resolve never to buy anything from Home Shopping Network or QVC, because once I start I know I will not stop.
3. I resolve to re-learn French, I have two primers and I'm just itching to start over. After all I CLEPped two years of it in college. Bonjour !!
4. I resolve to put less pressure on myself to be a pleaser. I mean there are just some people you can not please no matter how hard you try. If someone gets unhappy with me, then I know I have succeeded in the resolution, Cant please everyone !
5. I resolve to spend more time with the Golden Girls and plan at least one adventure for us each three months.
6. I resolve to buy a cd player for the kitchen so I can dance while I cook.
7. I resolve to give up on the idea that I will ever be a gourmet cook.
8. I resolve to open doors for others, let people go in front of me at the check-out and to not use my handicap parking pass so much.
9. I resolve to say yes when there is an offer for dinner on the table and not worry what time of night it is when I have to drive. (however you may want to ask for my itinerary so you can avoid that part of the road - night blindness sucks)
10. I resolve to be eternally grateful for my life, the life of my husband, the lives of my children and grandchildren. And to always be thankful that Denton Cooley went to college and became a heart surgeon.
11. I resolve to not worry what others may think about some of the things i say and do and constantly hear this song in my head "I Got to Be Me, I Got to Be Free."
12. I resolve to encourage an entire generation of young people to use manners and realize yes mam(sir) and no mam(sir) get your further in life than any form of education!
13. I resolve to find a much smaller version of myself and do it my way not how others Think I should do it.
14. I resolve to buy a basketball goal and play HORSE, until my arms fall off, because I love that game so much.
15. I resolve to be the person who uses the words, babe, sugar, sweetie and any other term of endearment I can, because there just aren't enough nice folks around and we all need to hear kind things.

I Will not :
a. wear anything velour
b. own a dog
c. grow my hair long
d. wear heels or pantyhose ( not even if its a funeral or wedding)
e. buy any more clothes that have the symbol X in the label
f. be a substitute teacher
g. ignore my health
h. take my mother seriously

Happy New Year 2009 !!

What are your plans ?

Independent Toy Makers Need Our Support

2008-12-26T09:17:00.006-06:00

THIS NEW Consumer Produce Safety Information Act (CPSIA) WILL AFFECT anyone selling ANY products that can be consider for children.
If it is made for someone 12 & under to use it will be subject to the certified testing. Even HAND-ME-DOWNS as resales or vintage items will be subject to the testing.

The brief is 67 pages long and does require you to spend quiet time reading to understand but it is well worth the scrutiny.
Here is a link to the brief :

http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

There is also a FAQ section :

http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/faq.html#educational

As a vintage shop owner, I can no longer offer a vintage child's toy for sale if it was originally intended for a child under the age of twelve years old. I can not leave it out at a antique market on in a mall.

The expense of testing has been quoted numerous times at $4,000 per product. There isn't anyway I can have my vintage items tested.

As a vintage shop owner, I will be taking those toys and packing them away until we have a remedy or a solution. I am currently contacting all my elected officials to ask for their help in this situation.

Currently there are people working on an exceptions list and that may help some of us. The law doesn't become effective until February 2009. It may be soon but there is still time to act and time to get people to listen.

An Ode to the Different Shops on Etsy

2008-12-14T19:19:00.002-06:00

An Ode to the Variety We Find on Etsy

Here is a website called Etsy
for Shopping and Selling, no auctions allowed.
Mary Catherine, Joanne and Betsy,
all diverse but part of the shopping crowd.

Mary Catherine loves all things handmade
Earrings, totes and fingerless gloves
She soon found, made a purchase and paid.
This Etsy she dearly loved.

Joanne was a crafter and looked for supplies
Beads, Baubles, and Journaling Tags
Amazed at the variety, she can't believe her eyes
From Etsy I have the best, just listen to her brags.

Betsy was a retro girl, dressing in vintage
looking for clothing and home decor.
She got so excited when she found even Baggage.
Etsy was just the market for her.

Three different shoppers with very different taste
Stay busy each day with search, click and pay.
Quick Service from Sellers, no time to waste.
A purchase from Etsy made all three of their days.

No where can three woman with such different likes
Find a place to go together and spend their allowance.
It seems like on Etsy, their spirits do spike.
With three kind of venues, and quality assurance.

The next time this we vs. them theme appears,
Remind them of Mary Catherine, Joanne and Betsy.
Each of them happy and all with accounts here,
There is no place for shopping like our dear old Etsy.

Labels for Jelly Just in Time for Christmas

2008-12-13T14:47:00.007-06:00

I grow plums on a half acre plot out beside the house. I would have all twenty acres of the farm planted in something if it weren't for the cows. Cows have the ability to eat most any fruit or vegetable I plant so anything I want has to be on the "other" side of the fence. I once could say I grew plums, pears and peaches. I've lost the pear crop for the last two years due to hail storms in the spring. The plums have survived quite nicely. We lost all the peach trees this spring due to a late freeze. So now, I can only say, I grow plums.

From those plums I make jelly, lots and lots of jelly. I enter my jelly in the county fair and if you look way down in June, there is a picture of my county ribbons.

This year I had to have my peach jelly so I drove out to Canton, Texas and bought from the best roadside stand in Texas. Two men have fifteen acres planted in peaches and once those peaches are ripe they stay busy. They are retired bankers and they do this as their hobby. No one else works for them and they are a hoot. They pick all the peaches by hand and sell just as many peaches that day as they picked and then they stop. If a peach has a bad spot, got bit by a bird , or some other calamity, that peach goes into the ice cream basket. What peaches don't get sold get made into homemade ice cream. So for thirty dollars I had a car full of peaches and a quart of homemade ice cream.

If you can't have fun getting your fruit, then why bother at all !

Rowdy Payne owns our local grocery store in the big town of 800 people. He is the best grocer I've ever met in my life. He is kind and greets each of us by name. He helps us shop and he always has a story to tell. He is always planning something fun for everyone in town to do, too! He gets me by blueberries every year. He calls me and tells me he has me a case on the truck. They are deep blue and come from the trees in deep East Texas. Blueberries are so much fun to make into jelly but they are even better to eat like M&Ms. I didn't get too many jars of blueberry jam this year. It was a better year for snacking. I froze some, also.

Then there is my Raspberry Jelly. It's new to the cupboard, but I love making it. The house smells like Raspberries for days and days after I make the Jam. It taste simply like the next door neighbor to heaven. I get my Raspberries from Sam's. Yes, Sams ! They have the best raspberries I have ever found and they are so reasonable. They come in nice flat containers and I can just slip the container inside a freezer bag until I'm ready to make the jelly.

Strawberries from the local farmer's market make the best deep red jelly. Most of the strawberries are grown locally and I have to go about once a week for a few weeks to get enough. What I don't eat on the way home, goes into the freezer until its time to make jelly !

Finally if you get a jelly basket from me for Christmas, you are going to find a small jar of pepper jelly. It just wouldn't be Texas without pepper jelly. It takes bell peppers, onions and jalapenos and it has a kick that makes you want to eat the entire jar. We put out a block of cream cheese and let it soften, then we pour pepper jelly all over it and let it set for about ten minutes. Break out the crackers, smear down with cream cheese and pepper jelly and it will make you want to kiss your ugly Uncle George !

If you make jelly and need some labels, I've put this years labels on the web for you. Just right click and save. I have them as a jpg so you should be able to work with them without a problem. I haven't made the blueberry labels because I'm not giving it out this year - i'm being selfish.

Thanks for visiting with me today. I've got all sorts of fun surprises in the shop so stop by http://www.salvagenation.etsy.com and see what is in store for you !

Getting Fit for the Holidays

2008-12-10T10:56:00.001-06:00

I just couldn't resist sharing these 1929 images from the magazine Physical Culture. I'm selling a group of the images in the shop, but I had to share these with you. They make me giggle. The magazine is very cool and has some really great articles. Everyone was just so very serious !

2008-12-09T15:36:00.005-06:00

Stranger things have happened in life but for some reason, Google thinks I'm in Spain and everything I get is in Spanish ! I keep resetting my preferences and still, I'm in Spain. If I am in Spain, would someone please point me to the nearest leather shop, I want a new bag !

I've had a strange month, first there was that emergency surgery thing. Oh yeah, I'm okay just on the recovery road, then there is the grandbaby. I haven't been able to travel to see her so I am just counting the days to get there. Everyone has sent picture, but you know as The Grandmother, I need to go and touch that baby !!! Soon, very soon.

I'm adding all kinds of irresistible goodies to the shop. December is always a busy vintage month and I'm adding all sorts of wonderful items that will look great under the tree, in the stocking or even decorating for Christmas.

Today I'm featuring a very rare find. These are 1920's educational materials produced by Milton Bradley. A rare book website is selling each set for $275. so I think my $55 is quite reasonable.

And of course, you know I have to add some buttons. It just wouldn't be my shop without a new group of antique buttons.

So as we say in Google Land, where I now live in Spain : Asta La Vista : Baby !!

2008-11-12T21:42:00.000-06:00

Suddenly Granny got the Etsy bug and now she wants
to clean out her stash and make sure she has some mad money
Here are a few things she has decided to let me put in the shop.
This is going to be so much fun.
Darling Baby Book from 50's
Hey, I was born in the 50's and the book is empty and I don't have a baby book ! Mom !!! Did you
forget that I was a baby, being the second child is no fun. I knew you like Jackson better, I knew it all along.

Grandma's Day Gloves from the 60's
No one went downtown without their gloves, especially on Saturday morning. I know people now think
it is so Jackie O, but it was so everyone in my little southern town. All leather and wrapped around a steering wheel, ready to go
to Perkins Department Store.

Grandma's Day Jewelry Stash from the 60's and 70's
You weren't going anywhere without a brooch, a string of beads, a hair barette and some little ear clips.
No lady would leave the house without jewelry.

It's all going in the shop with a few more of Grandma's treasures. See you on etsy.
Salvagenation.etsy.com

Vintage Map Collection Recently Uncovered

2008-11-08T19:51:00.001-06:00

I'm quite proud of these maps as they are from a wonderful social science teachers classroom. In the late 60's the school where he taught caught on fire. The fire happened in the evening so the teachers went to school the next day to work, they were on clean up patrol. He walked into his room and it was destroyed except for his big metal desk that everyone made fun of all the time. Nestled inside his file drawer of that desk were these maps, all nice and wet , but they were there. He took them home, spread them out in the sun and let them dry. He said when he finally got to go back into his new school and teach, he no longer needed these maps. Someone had discovered pull down maps and even bought him ones from the current decade. He said he just folded up his maps and put them away at home. About ten years ago, he sold me these maps and asked me to wait before I sold them. He said I would know when it was time. It's time.

Texas Festivals and Fairs in November

2008-11-05T07:25:00.006-06:00

While other folks may be busy at the mall shopping for one more whatzit or thingy, why don't you enjoy some of the festivals and fairs Texas has to offer. Antiques and arts are two extremely cherished gifts during the holidays.

Here's a list and a few pictures of some of the stuff you can be doing in November in Texas. You may want to Google search the event for locations and contact numbers.

November 5 -9
San Antonio New World Wine & Food Festival
Riverwalk, San Antonio, Texas

11/06 to 11/08 2008 Deck The Halls Christmas Market Back Bay Bed & Breakfast - Seabrook, TX

11/06 to 11/08 2008 Cinnamon Bear 4300 Sam Bass Road - Round Rock, TX

11/07 to 11/08 2008 Sugar Plum Market Stafford Centre Performing Arts & Conv - Stafford, TX

11/07 to 11/08 2008 Christmas Wonderland Champion Forest Baptist Church - Houston, TX

11/07 to 11/09 2008 Stephenville Arts and Crafts Show Recreation Center - Stephenville, TX

11/07 to 11/09 2008 Merry Marketplace Ector Coliseum - Odessa, TX

11/07 to 11/09 2008 The Peddler Show/ Corpus Christi Richard M.Borchard Regional Fairgrounds - Robstown, TX

11/08 to 11/08 2008 Heritage Syrup Festival Downtown & Depot Museum - Henderson, TX

11/08 to 11/08 2008 Rockin' Around the Holidays Bazaar Clay Madsen Recreation Center - Round Rock, TX

11/08 to 11/08 2008 Waxahachie High School Pre-Christmas Craft Show Waxahachie High School - Waxahachie, TX

11/08 to 11/08 2008 Summit Craft Fest Summit High School - Arlington, TX

11/08 to 11/08 2008 Saint Timothys UMW Arts and Crafts Fair St Timothy's United Methodist Church - Houston, TX

11/08 to 11/08 2008 Stonebrook Arts & Craft Show 300 S. Stagecoach Trail - San Marcos, TX

11/08 to 11/09 2008 LC FFA Booster Club Fall Craft Show 11206 Telge Road - Cypress, TX

11/08 to 11/09 2008 A Sami Show Marketplace Bell County Expo Center - Belton, TX

11/08 to 11/09 2008 Canton in the City Holiday Gifts & More Show Colleyville Center - Colleyville, TX

11/13 to 11/15 2008 Mistletoe and Magic Harvey Convention Center - Tyler, TX

11/13 to 11/16 2008 Nutcracker Market Reliant Center - Houston, TX

11/14 to 11/16 2008 Arlington Holiday Magic Convention Center - Arlington, TX

11/14 to 11/16 2008 Bull Fest 2008 JK Northway - Kingsville, TX

11/14 to 11/16 2008 Heart of Texas Holiday Show Civic Center - Waxahachie, TX Web Site: http://www.HeartOfTexasShow.com

11/14 to 11/16 2008 World United Music Festival Behind San Marcos Outlets - San Marcos, TX

11/15 to 11/15 2008 Lightning Dancers Fall Gift & Craft Show Central High School - Keller, TX

11/15 to 11/15 2008 Arts & Crafts Show Dekaney High School - Houston, TX

11/15 to 11/15 2008 Parmley Craft Fair Parmley Elementary School - Willis, TX

11/15 to 11/16 2008 Bell County Antique & Collectible Fair Bell County Expo Center - Belton, TX

11/15 to 11/16 2008 Fort Hood Officer's Wives Club Holiday Bazaar Killeen Civic and Conference Center - Killeen, TX

11/15 to 11/16 2008 FUMC Craft Fair First United Methodist Church - Plano, TX Web Site: http://www.firstmethodistplano.org

11/15 to 11/16 2008 International Wine Competition Reliant Center - Houston, TX

11/15 to 12/13 2008 Nine Flags Festival Downtown - Nacogdoches, TX

11/16 to 11/16 2008 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon & 1/2 Marathon various locations - San Antonio, TX

11/20 to 11/22 2008 Chi Omega Christmas Market Dallas Convention Center - Dallas, TX

11/20 to 11/23 2008 South Texas Wildlife and Birding Festival Various Sites - Kingsville, TX

11/21 to 11/22 2008 Deck the Halls Christmas Extravaganza Mount Pleasant Civic Center - Mount Pleasant, TX

11/21 to 11/23 2008 The Peddler Show/Arlington Arlington Convention Center - Arlington, TX

11/22 to 11/22 2008 First Fall Festival at Becky's Country Kiddie Barn Becky's Country Kiddie Barn - Argyle, TX

11/22 to 11/22 2008 Annual Craft Show 5301 Alta Mesa Boulevard - Fort Worth, TX

11/22 to 11/23 2008 A Sami Show Marketplace Dell Diamond - Round Rock, TX

11/22 to 11/23 2008 San Antonio Christmas Showcase Freeman Coliseum - San Antonio, TX

11/22 to 11/23 2008 Via Colori Street Painting Festival Sam Houston Park - Houston, TX

11/22 to 11/23 2008 Santa's Helpers Pearland Bowling Center Parking lot - Pearland, TX 11/22/08 Jingle Bash Etsy Dallas 40 artists http://etsydallas.blogspot.com/

11/24 to 11/30 2008 Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza Municipal Auditorium - San Antonio, TX

11/27 to 11/30 2008 First Monday Trade Days First Monday Trade Days Park - Canton, TX

11/28 to 11/29 2008 Thanksgiving Invitational Art Show Market Platz - Fredericksburg, TX

11/28 to 11/30 2008 A Sami Show Marketplace Bell County Expo Center - Belton, TX

11/28 to 11/30 2008 The Peddler Show/ Fredericksburg Gillespie County Fairgrounds - Fredericksburg, TX

11/28 to 12/31 2008 Starry Starry Nights Badu Park - Llano, TX

11/29 to 11/29 2008 Festival of Lights Market Days Courthouse Square - Hallettsville, TX

11/29 to 11/29 2008 Christmas in Olde Ballinger Courthouse Lawn - Ballinger, TX

11/29 to 11/29 2008 Christmas in Comfort Downtown - Comfort, TX

11/29 to 11/29 2008 Town Christmas Lighting & Chili Cookoff Town Square - Coldspring, TX

11/29 to 11/30 2008 New Braunfels Christmas Showcase New Braunfels Civic Center - New Braunfels, TX

11/29 to 11/30 2008 Austin City-Wide Garage Sale Palmer Events Center - Austin, TX

11/29 to 11/30 2008 Canton in the City Holiday Gifts & More show Grapevine Convention Center - Grapevine, TX

11/29 to 11/30 2008 'tis Christmas Holiday Bazaar Ector Co. Coliseum Bldg G - Odessa, TX

11/30 to 11/30 2008 Holiday Market Northwest Forest Conference Center - Cypress, TX

Stardate : October 27, 2008

2008-10-27T22:32:00.003-05:00

I have a website !!! Now mind you it isn't going to be finished for a while, but I have a website. Go look and then come back and I'll tell you my goals. Visit

salvagenationcollectibles.com

and you will see it.

Okay, now that you are back, here are the goals.

Short term :
One place that list all three websites where you can find my goodies.
Bragging Rights : I have a website. (please sing that in a little kid na-nah voice)

Long Term :
Directs to the shops I have on the three websites and also showcases some of my extremely cool collectibles. I don't want to sell from it, but I do want to showcase.
Allows other people to advertise their shops and links to their shops.
Blog Spot for my business activities, i want to have sections such as Latest Finds, Unique Items, Upcoming Sales.
A dozen other things I've been thinking about but for right now, I have a website !!

Showers of Blessings and Bangles and Baubles

2008-10-16T22:18:00.002-05:00

It's not been the best start of school for my buddies. It's been tough with lots of changes and lots of setbacks, sometimes education is like that. I've never told any of them about my blogspot, so they won't be reading this. I want to do something very special for them and give them some good cheer. I know one thing about the folks at the school, majority of them will do their Christmas shopping on-line. We use to get together after school and compare notes and websites and bargains.
I want to make 110 goodie bags, I don't care how big a bag I have to buy, I want each person to get a great big bag of good wishes and all sorts of things to just touch and have. I've seen lots of people on etsy asking shop owners to send cards, samples, etc. I don't really want to give out all the information on the fora or in chat so I'm pointing everyone to my blog.
If you want to participate, send me as much or as little as you want to and I'll put it in the bag. If you just send a business card, that is great, but will you put a little quote or something on the back about the value of a good teacher or the wisdom of a teacher. You catch the drift.
I'm going to ask everyone to get it to me by November 7th and that will give me a couple of weeks to get everything organized and together. I think it will be so great for them. I'm even going to have a Secret Santa Helper hand deliver each of the bags. I'm going to have a note on there wishing them a much deserved holiday and explaining about etsy and all the people who wanted to wish them the same.
If you want to be a participant, just send me a convo at salvagenation.etsy.com and I'll send you my mailing address ! This is going to be great !
I'm not going to bury this blog with anything else until after the deadline. It will be right here at the top of my blog.
I'm going to be giving each of them a little pinback that has Texas art on it. I bought out the inventory of a Texas pinback group, i've got armadillos, the word Texas, oilwells, all sorts of kitschy stuff that will make them laugh.
Join me in the fun and advertise to a really nice group of people who will enjoy knowing where to turn to for a great product for their Christmas shopping.

Flickr Account Open for Fabric Folks and Their Creations

2008-10-10T14:47:00.002-05:00

I finally fill comfortable enough to open up my group on flickr to like minded people.
I have a Fabric Fanatics group and I'm encouraging etsians with shops that feature, fabric and textiles, supplies and creations to join the group. If you interested go look : http://www.flickr.com/groups/fabricfanatics

At the farm we are gearing up for a great big yard sale. The neighbors got the ball rolling and now several of us are going to be cleaning out the barns, sheds, closets and every place we have our stuff hidden away.

I'm going to take advantage of this time and sell so many things I thought I would sell on etsy, but their weight makes shipping too costly for people. Of course, I've got a ton of little sacks fulls of things to put out on the tables.

This weekend I have to put my nose to the grindstone. My list of things to accomplish is getting far too large.

It's fall weather and its beautiful outside, how can I stay in at the computer.

We took one of the grandchildren to the State Fair of Texas this week. That was an absolute blast. It's been a long time since I've seen the fair through the eyes of a four year old. Let me tell you what is important, the dancing water fountains, the tram, Big Tex (aka knows as Big Texas to the granddaughter), cotton candy, not getting lost, taking off your shoes and walking in the fountain and asking one thousand times, Do all these people know me ? It was a great day at the fair.

October Already

2008-10-01T11:14:00.003-05:00

With October comes slightly cooler weather and I'm already enjoying a soft fall morning in Texas. I found a large bucket of vintage linen I've been waiting to photograph. I have the photos all ready and now its time to get these beautiful vintage linens on etsy. It's so much fun loving what you do and enjoying the items you sell.

My discovery today, Picasso, the photo program available for free from Google. I have been struggling with photoshop and now I ask myself, Why? I've been able to crop, correct and save 75 photos in a matter of ten minutes. I even amaze myself sometime in what is so easy to acquire off the web.

Here's one of my favorite tablecloths. I'll see you on etsy, come find me at
http://www.salvagenation.etsy.com

Talk Like a Pirate Day The Girls Found My Booty

2008-09-21T13:20:00.004-05:00

Friday, September 19th was National Pirate Day. I honored it by talking like a pirate, changing my avatar to a wench and even hiding treasure in my shop.
Two estisians found me booty ! I've sent them surprises in the mail.

Here's a look at the two shops from the winners. They both have such neat things I may have to pillage their stores!

A Pretty Girl is Like a .....

2008-09-01T12:42:00.008-05:00

I was so nervous about starting an etsy shop. Here I was a vintage dealer entering the realm of the handmade. I had always sold majority of my items to artisians and collectors so I thought it would be a great forum for my business. Sure enough, it was a good decision. One of my first customers was JimmyPickles, even if she didn't correspond with me on a regular basis, I would remember that shop name. I love it, it just rolls right off my tongue. Anway, she purchased a head vase from me and was so kind to send me a picture of how pretty it sets among other collectibles. This head vase came from the home of someone I knew and know its in the home of someone I respect, such a fitting circle. JimmyPickles told me I would be fine on etsy and I have been. Look how cute :

I'll be sending a little thank you for letting me put this in my blog.

Please be sure and stop by her shop on etsy too, jimmypickles.etsy.com
here's a peek :

What have I been up to lately.
There is the second shop : anothermanstreasures.etsy.com and I've been putting lots of scrapbook and embellishing supplies in there. I have so much stuff from the craft buyout that I have to start sorting. I thought the holiday season approaching would be a good time for people to start looking for supplies.

My dear husband purchased me a tractor, it is so awesome. I have a 1950 8N Ford tractor and its now my favorite mode of transportation. I look for a reason to take a ride around the pasture. Now, as of this morning I have a trailer bar and hook on it, so there will not be any stopping me now ! I'm going to be clearing the fence line and doing some pasture work. His tractors are just too big for me, but this one fits me perfectly. I love it. The picture isn't my tractor but one very similar.

Trench Art is Such a Unique Find

2008-08-15T12:36:00.002-05:00

I know exactly where I was when I found the two large artillery shells that had been made into trench art. I stood and looked at them for such a long time, the detail in each of them was just amazing. My dad had spent so much time in a trench in WWII that i even visualized him sitting there making something like this. With just the tools in their pockets the men would sit and make vases from the shells. They weren't to leave their posts and sometimes they sat for days. I found this beautiful pair of vases and they stayed in my home for a long, long time. One day my step-father asked me if i would be offended if those were removed when he came to visit. He said they are beautiful but it's such a painful memory, he too had spent time in the trench and the artwork that others did on those shells were just memories he needed to put away.
So my shells went to my etsy store and they were there just a little while until a wonderful collector came along and purchased them. I didn't realize how much I would miss them until I no longer owned them. Then just the other day a wonderful picture arrived and there were the vases in their new home. They look so beautiful, I'm glad they are in just the right spot.
I wanted to spotlight the picture sent to me by eclectichick and the new home for the WWII Trench Art. The coat of arms on each one really makes them so unique. I'll be sending her a vintage postcard for her collection, to thank her for being such a wonderful customer and sharing her pictures.

Creative Customers Make Me Smile

2008-08-06T16:53:00.003-05:00

I'm asking all the faithful and loyal customers of Salvagenation.etsy.com to send me photos of how they use what they purchase from me. I can't help it, I'm curious and I want to see all their hard work and how things turn out. I'm going to write about one of them each week (or so) and send them a thank you gift. The gift will hopefully be something they can use to create something else or to add to a collection.

My first really great customer to be features is one2beeluved. Now look at this pillow, it is so vintage. She purchased the tablecloth from me, had a big hole in it so it went as part of a group. Then the lace was from an earlier purchase. Hey, look at those stitched tags, I made those ! I'm practically a supply institution for one2beeluved. Visit her at : one2beeluved.etsy.com. and look at all her wonderful work, she is a fantastic artist. Look at her little travel play mats, I'm getting one custom made from my grandson, its going to look just like our farm.

Drum roll : what will one2beeluved be getting ? A box full of vintage patterns that she can now sell in her supplyfascination shop. I don't know the first thing about patterns and she sells them from time to time so I'm sending her the box that was given to me. Pay It Forward !

It's Wednesday, I hope you are looking forward to a fantastic weekend. I know I am and I hope it doesn't get close to 100 degrees, but I think that is wishful thinking.

Come back next week and see who is the featured customer, it might be you. Just put your pictures into my conversations at salvagenation.etsy.com.

Cheers : Salvagenation

Texas Heat and Farm Work Equals Road Trip

2008-08-01T20:06:00.003-05:00

It is just too hot to even think about being outdoors and yet, there I stand in the middle of the pasture with two teenage boys and fly powder in both hands. Yes, it is Friday and I'm very glad the weekend has arrived. I have put out a no work weekend warning and it better stick ! Today we hauled limbs, cut grass, killed weeds, watered trees, dusted the cows, cleaned the feed pen and for fun, we drug off a big ole tree to the hill. Don't you wish you lived on a farm? I will tell you this, there is never a dull moment.

I have to dedicate all of Saturday to lace and trim. What a transition from cows to lace but I have a new box of lace and trim and I can't wait to get it in the shop.
Here's some really nice trim !

I actually had this trim on a green nehru collared dress in the seventies ! You know you live long enough and everyone wants your stuff !

I'm going picking for things on Sunday and then later in the week, I'm taking a junquers road trip. Lots of Gatorade and a cooler with some peanut butter crackers and I'm all set to hunt down some great fabrics and anything else someone stuck in a barn.

If you are into browsing stop by the shop : salvagenation.etsy.com and has some fun !

Hey go by the shop of a really cool dealer. I love her work. This quilt ( of course its a quilt, you know what I love) is made from paper ( yes, my second love). If I could figure where it could go in the farm house, it would so be on my wall. You know the minute I get it either one of the kids, grandkids or an animal would have it torn up. So far now I just want you to see it and enjoy it, too. Visit her shop at http://www.waterrose.etsy.com.. there is a link to her other shop and that is where the quilt is at this time !

July 24th Already !!

2008-07-24T10:59:00.003-05:00

How did it get to be the end of July so quickly. It's been a busy month and I've seen a lot of the pasture but it just seems each day is speeding past me. I'm glad I'm not going back to the classroom and I can actually finish a few projects. We got the little shed in the barn cleaned out and then we hauled off 2200 pounds of steel before the hay was delivered. I'm glad I didn't have to help with the hay project.

It's been a great month on etsy and last night I discovered I was in a treasury. It is always such a pleasant surprise and it is such a compliment. Here's a look at the treasury. The second one on the list is the sheet music from the shop, salvagenation.etsy.com.

What is even more of a compliment is that this is a buyer's treasury. I appreciate the inclusion with all the nice colors and products.

I've been making buttons for parties, bags for jewelry, it seems like lots of special requests lately. I'm working on ring bearer pillows, primitive pillows and lots of little bags out of all this material I have. I like the light sewing jobs, it gives me lots of time for quilts.

Off to do some shower shopping and just have some fun scrounging around town today. Hot days in Texas lead to much browsing !

2008-07-07T19:43:00.002-05:00

A Treasury Inclusion from LeavesofGlass

2008-07-07T19:41:00.002-05:00

I was just strolling through the treasury today and I found I had been included in a beautiful treasury by leavesofglass. What an amazing shop this artist has and I was quite honored to be in her treasury. She chose my hymnal letterpress page to put in her treasury. Here is my favorite bracelet from her shop.

Such a unique use of vintage materials and each of her pieces have soft lines for a very feminine feel. Visit the shop : leavesofglass.etsy.com

Here's a look at the treasury page with its mustard and dill accents. I'm glad the letterpress looks so nice among all these fantastic shops. Well, its just a tiny look because apparently I didn't do such a great job in the paint program.

Visit VintageVixens

A Treasury Inclusion from One2beeluved

2008-06-29T12:42:00.002-05:00

I've made some really good friends on etsy through either the forums or chat rooms. We buy, sale and trade with each other. We laugh, cry and joke with each other, also. Its a fun way to spend a few minutes when you need a break from listing, packing and creating. Etsy truly has the feel of a community. It's too bad we only get to spend time with each other on-line. I think maybe one day soon we should just have Etsy day at the farm !

Here is the treasury One2beeluved made and included my wedding ring quilt.
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=53167
She has such a great eye for beauty and her shop is very classy with all sorts of great photography work and fantastic handmade pillows.
http://www.one2beeluved.esty.com
visit her shop and see her hard work. She has another shop for supplies and you will find that link in her shop, also.

It's a busy time for vintage and supplie shop owners on etsy as we have been given a four month extension on all our listings that are up by tomorrow. This was a promise made by etsy when they changed the search engine. I am quite happy about the extension. I am just listing away today, so I'll just have to do a better blog update tomorrow. I'll show all the new things I added before the deadline.

Relax and be nice to one another. If you are going to change the world, you have to do it one step at a time. The word of the day, nice.

Etsy Alchemy Bid Was Fun To Do

2008-06-22T19:15:00.004-05:00

This is a screenshot of my winning alchemy bid on etsy for Texas pocket mirrors. It was fund doing these but I think I was more excited when my work showed up on the Alchemy page. I have been putting in all sorts of Alchemy bids lately, so far I've had three of them accepted. I try to watch and see who won the other bids I put in on so I can compare work and know how I need to improve. It is always a learning process. The University of Texas pocket mirror is cute but I really like the bluebonnet pocket mirror. I am going to make one with just the bluebonnets for my mom's birthday present. She always has to have a little mirror.

It should be a very busy week, I'm working my way through 500 pounds of linens. I found the most unusual collection of scarves, too, so I have those to fold and seperate and pack. I have a few on etsy already but I want to take these to a collectibles show for fun and to make my booth look really, really nice.

It's been a nice weekend, I can't wait to see what the week brings.

Fun is the word of the day.

Hunt County Fair 2008 Blue Ribbons

2008-06-20T14:06:00.002-05:00

Another successful season at the Hunt County Fair and the junior livestock show as extremely successful. This fair is so very dear to me because as a teenager I would sit out in the BP&W booth with my mom and her friends and we would sell food. When the fair first started only the local clubs and organizations could sell food and drinks, we were a cake booth, that was a yummy-tastic way to spend a summer night.
Then when my girls were young, they entered all sorts of contests and we would always make sure we were there on bracelet ride night so we could get on the merry-go-round at least a thousand times.
Don't even get me talking about the 25 cent chance games, because yes, I have an addiction to putting my quarter on a color and hoping I win. I don't ever get anything for a quarter but I don't leave until I win. It's just once a year.
Up there, that jelly and applesauce are my entries for this year's creative arts division. Yup, three blue ribbons for blueberry, apply jelly and applesauce. Of course, I had to take a picture.
For the second year in a row, the weather has taken a toll on our plum crop so I'll be going to the farmer's market to get my crates of fruit. I have big plans to enter the State Fair of Texas.
It's been a good week at the farm, so much has been accomplished and lots of happy times. We had a fantastic Father's Day weekend, loads of food and company. Then I got all the "honey do" jobs out of the way. Now, I am getting down to the wire of getting more stuff on etsy.
Visit my endeavor at http://www.salvagenation.etsy.com
See you around.

June 16, 2008 : Salvagenation Goes Full Time

2008-06-17T20:46:00.002-05:00

While I will not set any new business records, selling on-line has become my new job. I am going to have to figure out business hours and not let myself get distracted. It's a typical school teacher summer, trying to catch up on everything I neglected for ten months ( no such thing as a nine-month school year anymore). I have to keep reminding myself I have the rest of my life to get it all done, but somethings are just urgent. There is dust on the baseboards and the vents, nothing is organized, etc, etc. You know how clutter can make you crazy, well, I'm nuts.

The workroom is finished and it is very cool. I am so proud of it.
Go to flickr and you can see it too : just follow the link :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23862030@N02/?saved=1

I'm setting up a photo area, working on ten little projects and getting everything listed, listed and even more listing. You have to love the internet but wow, it is more work than you can ever imagine.

Thanks for dropping by , I'll post some favorite vendors tomorrow.

Living the Life and Starting Today

2008-06-08T11:01:00.004-05:00

June 8, 2008

I am adding all sorts of vintage buttons and lace and other sewing items to the shop today. Stop by Salvagenation.etsy.com and see what is in the store.

Tomorrow everyone arrives to help me create my workroom and hopefully by June 16th, I will have a full time at home business in working order. How fitting that date will be, its the birthday for my oldest daughter. The first time I gave birth and the first day of a new adventure, that is really nice.

My blog will serve as a way to communicate with my friends and family about everything I'm doing on both etsy and ebay. I plan to always let you know when new items are added and when I have sales. Also, the store newsletter begins this month and I'll post it in the blog, also.

I want to also feature my etsy friends in my blog and helpful hints I learn along the way about having a successful e-store. With gas at $5.00 a gallon by Christmas, I think we will revert to the lives of our grandparents. They wouldn't drive ten miles to town but they would use the catalouge. I want to be an on-line catalouge for vintage shoppers.

When you vist my shop on etsy or ebay, make sure you send me a conversation before making your purcase. If you found my shop through this blog, I'll give you a ten per cent discount. I need to adjust the price before you make the purchase. Please don't make the purchase and then ask for the discount. Remember we have to pay fees on etsy and ebay based on final selling price, I would prefer it be based on the price after the discount.

June 6, 2008 : Elvis will leave the building

2008-05-23T23:20:00.001-05:00

June 6, 2008 : last day I'll be teaching at Greenville ISD/ GHS : time to hit the retirement trail.
I am so excited, I have no mis-givings and no what-ifs. Becton and I have worked hard and planned for this day for a long time. We made the decision during the Christmas holidays and all we have to do is count down to June 6th.

If I were to ask the seniors they could tell me the exact hour !

The last few weeks have been wonderful, everyone has been so kind. Let's see if I can get the order of things.

First : The robotics team won the world championships in Atlanta, Georgia. We became rock stars at that point and we have been very busy. We went to Dallas and were on television, we were thrown a party at chick-fil-al, we were the guests of Daybreak Rotary, honored by the City Council with a proclamation, given a heroes welcome by our school board and we even got a police escort into town when we arrived ! Now that was just the beginning of the most amazing six weeks.

Second : the faculty and staff of Greenville High School voted me teacher of the year ! How amazing and humbling is that, I really can not wipe the smile off my face. It was such an honor. Now I'm in a "contest" with all the other teachers in the district who were name teacher of the year. Two of us will go onto to compete at the regional and hopefully state level for Texas Teacher of the Year. See, what I mean by humbling. I can't even begin to imagine how this will turn out.

Third : An amazing goodbye party from the robotics team. We had our end of the year celebration and when I walked in the door, there were not only current team members but at least twenty alumni ! I had to just sit down and take it all in. It was so precious and dear to me to think they would come for a good bye wish. I love all those kids so much, man , we have really had some tough times together and yet, we survived. One group came in from Denton and final exams and another young man, came all the way from Houston ! Once again, i was very humbled and quite touched. Several came over from Dallas and Arlington, and a couple delayed returning to summer school until we could have our party .
The team gave me a beautiful piece of jewelry, a weekend away in Grapevine and lots and lots of spending money.

Well, you would think that would be about it ! Nope, our principal Mr. Jefferies took me to City Council PTA and I was named the district Guardian Angel of the Year. Then what I thought was a trip to talk about the robot became a lunch at Noon Rotary and the Teacher of the Month Award from them.

Phew, this retirment thing can take a toll on you.

I'm busy packing the rooms up and working to leave it in some kind of order for another teacher. Twenty -five years of stuff is almost tooooo overwhelming to try and pack. I think I might just open up the door and shove it out the back of the school.

Now, we are going to end all this with a bang. I'm actually going to call the names of the Class of 2008 as they go across the stage ! I'm working very hard on pronunciations ! I didn't realize we had such a wide variety of students at GHS.. and believe me, they all want their name said properly. I don't know how it befell me but I'm going to use my "radio" voice and give it my best shot.

I told Becton I needed to go buy a lottery ticket, 2008 has been an amazing year and it is just June.

On a personal note, we had grandchild #3 , Sadie Coe born on January 3rd. Okay, on the ag front, one of our cows had twins, again ! (you know that is a good luck omen). Amelia calls us and she is pregnant and going to have a baby December 4th ( most of you know how long she has waited for that to be Her news)

Robotics did the season with one gold medal in St. Louis, one silver medal in New Orleans, A gold divisional medal in Atlanta and then the championship medal !! Wooooo Hoooo !!! oh and two mechanical trophies and one our engineers was named the recipient of an extremely prestigious award, its called the Woodie Flowers Award.

Then of course, the aforementioned honors. Do you think I should but a lottery ticket ? I do !!!

So if you are looking for me after June 6, just call the house. I'm going to be here and try to get settled into being a housewife, grandma on call and anything else I need to do. Of course, I plan to run up and down the road to Waco to visit with mom and Richard and have some good times there. It will be fun to make day trips and have some shopping fun with mom.

Thanks for sharing in all this good news with me.

Regrets - none, I went to work each day hoping to be a part of at least one child's life and hoping to impart some practical knowledge. I had a blast and my students were super !! There were days I wanted to trade it all in but then again, who doesn't.

As a family, we are going to celebrate my retirement on Father's Day weekend. Amelia and Jerrod and Justin will be in, it will be Amelia's birthday and well, it just seems like we need to party !

So, that's my news. What is going on with you ?

Visit these Blogs for Some Really Great Etsy Shops

2008-04-03T21:53:00.006-05:00

Very dedicated etsy sellers have created special blogs so etsy shop owners can post their mini-shops. It requires quite a bit of work to keep these blogs going but they are so useful. The categories are there for easy search and find and the lay-out works great. If you are wondering what is so special about etsy, just follows these links.

Of course, my buddy Retrocycle pointed me in the right direction, so its only appropriate that I give her a little recognition today. Naturally, I have to chose this monkey, he makes me laugh so much , but he was made in 1971, the year I graduated high school.

When I was in New Orleans last week, we took the students to Hard Rock. Let me tell you, that is one special restaurant when it comes to service. We called an hour in advance and asked if they could seat 30 people, they said no problem. We explained it was students and they would want their own cheques, once again, no problem. We got there, waited ten minutes and were seated together in one section. The food came so fast and it was so good. I was just so happy that everything went well for the students, we had the head waiter, Mike and he worked great with the kids. It was a perfect evening for them. If you are in New Orleans, go to Hard Rock and enjoy the food, fun and all the stufff !! Of course, I bought everyone a t-shirt because you know you just can't go to Hard Rock and not get a shirt. I couldn't find one for Sadie so my friend Cindy has a shop on etsy, Twinkletoesmarket, and she made a onesie for Sadie that goes right with the other shirts. Well, here take a look for yourself.

Tooooo Sweet !! Sadie is going to rock this onesie for sure.

Okay, what is new in the shop for Salvagenation. Springtime buttons and Chinese Letterpress, some more vintage paper and a few little items that keep everyone interested.

Here's a peek :

Okay : stop by : http://www.salvagenation.etsy.com/ and see what else is new.

Button, Button Who Has the Button : I Do !!

2008-03-18T08:58:00.002-05:00

Did you play that game as a child , letting the button slip from one hand to the other until you went around the circle and then everyone had to guess where you dropped the button ? If you were in my group of friends, you knew I had either dropped in Becky's or Jenny's hands. I love those two girls, amazing how we never even talk anymore. I bet they remember me leaving the button with them, though !

Oh well, there is a point to this. I bought out a button store, pretty amazing isn't it. When I left the lady didn't have anymore buttons in her studio. She also didn't have any resin, brass findings, ceramic ornaments and on and on the list goes. I have some to share, many to use, some to sale and some to just hoard until I quite loving everything that was loaded into my car.

I can't just buy one, it is just impossible. I was faced with a decision and the decision was all those buttons needed to be my buttons. I fell in love with the semi-stone hand painted buttons. They have flat backs so they can become so many wonderful items. I'm starting with some hand made cards and moving onto to scrapbook pages, accents for the market bags, pillow embellishments and of course, some crazy jewelry.

Do you want some of my booty - arrgghhh.. there are even some pirate embellishiments ! I've started putting things into http://www.salvagenation.com so just come visit.

Oh and then I dropped by the design district and picked up 50 pounds of material. I was in absolute shabby chic heaven picking out piece after piece of one of a kind fabric. You know I was thinking, market totes and aprons, placemats and gifts. Then of course, I knew there would be some etsy artist just itching for me to put some in the shop. The design house was kind, they even gave me som freebies to help pay for my gas expense of having to go over twice.

It's been a good first day of spring break. Today its Texas storms and inside work. Wait a few hours and then head over to see what new items i've put into the shop.

Keep creating and using vintage items because remember - without you it's just trash!

It's Almost Spring Break and I'm Counting the Hours

2008-03-13T18:09:00.003-05:00

In exactly 24 hours, it will be spring break ! I can not wait, my students can not wait and I think the school building actually shuddered today in anticipation. The weather forecast looks to be a sunny week. I'm going to clean out the office, sew and crochet, go shopping for all kinds of little wonderful goodies and oh yes, load some more merchandise onto etsy.

I got some soap in the mail yesterday and I put the collection in a bowl in the guest bathroom. She was so kind and sent me a soap stack along with my order. I left the soap on the kitchen counter. Today I walked in and my house smells like heaven. I immediately sat down and ordered some items. There are many, many soap makers on etsy but this young lady knows what she is doing. Stop by : http://www.aquadoo.etsy.com/ and see her wonderful work. I love her candles in the mason jar.

Aquadoo's soap stack : mmmhhhh.. smells great.

Thursday night - Must be button night. I don't know why but I spend most Thursday nights adding buttons to my shop. I've got hundreds of carded buttons waiting to go to the shop. I even have a call into a lady to buy out her entire collection. Stay tuned buttons fans because I should have some amazing buttons going into the inventory. Right now, you can ooohhh and ahh over the ones there now. http://www.salvagenation.etsy.com

I'm going to figure out how to get a pedicure with a broken foot. I think i'll just soak one and let the lady work on the other one. It has to be better than no pedicure at all. I love spring break, its just a week of treat myself to the pleasures of adulthood. Oh and then we have Easter weekend with all the grandbabies.. Life is good.

Wednesday Escape to Big D

2008-03-12T18:39:00.005-05:00

Starting off slow today, I took my buddy some cinnamon coffee to work and we just sat and planned our afternoon escape. We were headed to the design district in Dallas to snatch up a couple yards of material here and there. It went a little sour, when we arrived to find a note on the door, Closed Due to Illness ! Of all days, we make an escape from the classroom and the big red door on Ambassador Row was slammed in our face. Okay, we were determined to leave some money in Dalls, so I headed over to the Bling Bling Stores, of course, neither one of us had our tax numbers with us, so we had to be a regular folk and pay retail but it was still fun. We are going to try making some really cute bookmarks, she is going to put them in her Etsy shop and I'm going to make them for Mother's Day gifts.

I just love her shop, http://www.twinkletoesmarket.etsy.com/ , she is so talented and her love of crafts show. I want these so much. I'm going to have to just get them and clear out a little inventory.
After quick jaunt through silver stores, we both only had one thing on our minds. We headed to our favorite craft store and we spent the next hour feeding our fetish. I touched all the material and ribbons, she was off and running for stamps and bags and little goodies for a craft weekend.
In the 25 years I've taught school, I've never had a friend like this one, I'm going to miss seeing her on a daily basis when I retire, but I'll see her enough to have fun and laugh and do our crafty escapades.

My etsy shop is growing and so is my audience, that is so much fun. Visit me : http://www.salvagenation.etsy.com/ and see my latest endeavors. I've finally got brave enough to put in one of my upcycled children's dresses and its been given many views. I wish I could wear a 3T because I love the dress and I would so wear that dress.

I have made some new friends on etsy and I love their shops. You have to see the cool lunch boxes at : http://www.glueandglitter.com/ , when I go to Atlanta next month, I'm going to go see her group in the health food shop. If I can't wait that long, I'll just order one, I noticed last night that some of her items have free shipping.

If you love vintage, like I love vintage, then go see : http://www.retrocycle.com and explore her shop. She is doing some cool things with her photography.

It's been a busy Wednesday and I'm going to package a few handtowels that just sold and then work on a little taggie quilt. If i rest, I'll rust, so got to keep moving.

Salvagenation on Etsy

2008-03-04T15:02:00.002-06:00

Celebrating with A Sale

2008-03-04T14:31:00.002-06:00

I first started on etsy as a buyer and purchased several items for gifts. I became intrigued by its vintage group and soon began to list items I had stored after closing my collectibles business. From the day I began until now, two months later, the sales on etsy have been very encouraging. I'm celebrating my first two months as an etsy seller with a 20% off sale to my previous customers. Anyone shopping with me in the first two months will get that discount and then I'm giving free shipping as my gift. All anyone has to do is send me a private conversation on etsy and I will set up their sale item for them. If you haven't shopped with me before, I will still give you free shipping during this celebration sale. The sale will last until Saturday, March 8 at noon central time. After that time, its back to adding new listings and continue on this fantastic adventure on etsy. I'll be retiring from 25 years of teaching in June and I want to do full time work through etsy. I've started a unique line of market totes and those have all sold on etsy, as well as all but a few of my pincushions. Stay tuned for what will happen next. I hope you will always find something fun happening in my shop : salvagenation.etsy.com or here on the blog.