Saturday Thrift Pillows

I didn't go to one single thrift store last week! Which is probably good cuz I do. not. need one single item more than I already have--unless it's wool sweaters. Those I can't turn down.

So, failing any new purchases, I thought I'd share some old ones with you. I love pillows, though I don't use 'em as much as I once did. This first one I bought in Port Townsend WA last spring. It was four bucks at an uptown antique store. I waffled on buying it, but my friend--gotta love her!--convinced me that it was worth the suitcase space. And it was, and it is. I had to remove all the old stuffing; it was yucky deteriorated foam, and I pulled off the yarn twisted cord; it had seen better days.

But look at the back. I think that worn velvet is cooler'n anything new would be. And the buttons on the corners? They're handmade, also from Port Townsend.

This 'un I made ages ago from a thrifted needlepoint. The fringe, well, I spent a nice penny on that from a cool warehouse in Dallas.

Another thrifted needlepoint turned into a pillow. On this one the fringe was a remnant, so it was cheapish anyway. It's too small to be much of a pillow and like an idjit I had a down pillow form made for it--also from that cool warehouse.

Mostly the pillows in my home are down--except for the Port Townsend ones. The brown needlepoint I used fiberfill, the two below I left as I found them.

These I got at a really neat thrift store in Port Townsend--yep, same trip, same suitcase coming home.

I think they're supposed to be sachets, at least the smaller, but I also think they look cool on my guest bed.


This one I made from a thrifted cross-stitch. Actually I stitched a sampler exactly like it back in the '70s as a gift for a friend. (The design I copied--yep, that's what I said; I copied it--from a $125 pillow I saw at Cowgirls and Lace in Dripping Springs.)

Copied this one too, though I actually stitched the sampler myself. (It was something I started in the early '90s and didn't finish until I saw the original pillow at C&L.)

I found the vintage linen dish towel this was made from at my fave thrift store in Ft. Worth--Thrift Town on Jacksboro Highway. The zipper is hidden on the side/bottom (depending on which way the stripes go).

This needlepoint came from a Plano thrift store, located at Av K and 18th St. (Sorry, can't remember the name.) This is probably from the '70s. I'm not sure how long the green, gold, orange color scheme lasted, but I remember doing bargello as late as '78. The needlepoint was a buck, and I used fabric I already had and a thrifted fringe to make it.

And then there's Raggedy Ann, also probably from the '70s. (I say this because of the orange welting.) It's currently listed in my Etsy shop here.



Raggedy Ann I got in a box lot at auction. Back in Dallas, my best friend from high school--nothing better than old friends--and I tried to visit Miles Autry Auctions weekly. Lots of stuff I coveted there, not much I could afford. But the chair in my office here I also got at Miles'.








This last one was an estate sale linen table runner I embellished with eBay fringe. Of all of these, it was probably the easiest to make (except the ones thrifted as is, of course).


That's all for now. Ta.

Check this out

My sis Daisy has posted a tutorial on her blog Little Sassy Sews for the cutest little matchbooks.


She also has them listed here on her Etsy shop as a PIF (pay it forward).

Check out some of her other items as well. I love this little dollhouse rug.


And how about this tissue cozy? (She even has it monogrammed with my initial. How cute is that?)

Didja ever...

Do something so stupid you feel that if you were in battle of wits you'd be unarmed? Sometimes it's as if I'm walking in a daze. I just listed a PIF on Etsy, or sorta kinda did.

Last fall, I signed up to buy something using the moniker TexNan. Then my sis decided we should both open shops each using a sassy name, ergo SumpnSassy. Okay, I'm doing fine here, right? So, well, I haven't used the TexNan shop since, haven't opened it, haven't done diddly with it. But yesterday I checked out some of the PIF listings and found these


They'll work great for a style of tassel I haven't made in quite some time, mainly because I didn't have an adornment for it. I've used turquoise earrings on ones I've made in the past, but had run out of those.

Okay, I actually got three sets of the earrings Briesboutique had listed and decided as payment I'd list a PIF. (I listed two in December but had done nothing since.) I've been playing around with paper lately and made some bookmarks and hangtags, which I think are pretty cool.




When I log onto Etsy my username and password are all filled in automatically. I just click Sign In and it takes me to my Etsy page. So I click Add a Listing and it asks me for payment options. I'm thinking, "Well, I haven't done any this year, so maybe it's a yearly thing?" and I do as it asks. And I go through the whole listing and it ends showing me with one item in my shop. Huh?

Of course, what I did was list my PIF in my TexNan shop, which, dang it, wasn't s'posed to be a shop. And with that listing there it'll draw no attention whatsoever to my 'nother shop. I don't even have policies or a banner or anything there.

Guess I'll go take it out of TexNan and move it over to SumpnSassy. Twenty cents it'll cost, but hey, I can afford it.

What I hate is how stupid I feel. (So why'm I sharing this with the whole wide world--or rather the part of it who've found their way to my blog? Beats me.)

Ta ta. y'all.

It's a party!

Saw this at Claudia's blog and had to join in. Bella Casa is throwing an Etsy party and giveaway. For those of you with shops, stop by and list your shop/blog, describe what you make and any other pertinent details. For the rest of you, check out the cool shops! Which is what I'm about to do--good thing Tom's making dinner tonight!

Monday Faves

I haven't spent much time on Etsy lately, but these are items I saved as favorites over the last few months. (If you didn't already know I like yellow kitties, you surely will now.)

This first is an ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals) I bought as a Christmas present for a friend: Mid-Century Orange Cat from bestiaryink, and she has another copy for sale now.



Next is a Hand-dyed Cat Ornament from twentypoundtabby. You gotta know I'd like her shop. (Wonder if she's got her twenty-pounder on a diet. BTW, Max lost a pound!)



Another ACEO--Cat in his Usual Position--from 5erg. Love the whimsy of this one. (I tend to be drawn toward the whimsical.)



Last is a handpainted domino from awesomebydesign.



That's all for now! Have a terrifical Monday.

Saturday Thrift

I actually made it to a thrift store last week. My sis Ginge, my SIL Sunny and I went into Austin, Sunny and I keeping Ginger company on her way to a gynie appointment. On the way back, we hit a Goodwill in Round Rock. And I mean we hit it! Ginger and Sunny aren't thrifty kinda gals, but they put up with a lot for me. They actually helped me look for wool sweaters to felt. I mean, when I was done and knew I had way overspent myself, they kept looking. And when I say overspent myself, I made it home with $3 in my pocket, and Ginge bought my lunch.

So, I came away with 4 sweaters--had to put an equal number back cuz I hadn't checked my available cash before I left the house and I never carry a checkbook and Goodwill doesn't take credit cards. But, along the way, I found this:

Isn't it cool? Two ninety-nine. Looks way more expensive, doesn't it. (I told you I have a vase obsession. And they don't all have to be McCoy or Bauer or California Pottery.) I'm sure this one is relatively new, though it appears hand-thrown to me. Either way, I like it, I like it, I really really like it.

And this one I unearthed when I dug out Christmas. I knew I'd stored some decorative items in the Christmas boxes several years ago and hadn't found them when I pulled out decorations the next few years. Scaling back, it's called. So this year I figured I'd drag out every box and winnow what I'll use from those I won't. In doing so, I found this vase, which I'd totally forgotten. Now I love it all over again.

While I'm on the subject of vases I've thrifted, I don't think I've shown this one before. I usually go for seafoam green/turquoise but I loved the glaze on this one. It and the one above are both McCoy.

Rejections and other trauma

Last fall I got another rejection on my completed mystery novel, but this time it was a good 'un. Honest, it was. The editor said my writing is "strong and clean," and the story is "close to being right." However, the changes he suggests will take a major rewrite.

I believe him when he says my focal character isn't driven enough, although I specifically built her that way because of the psychological trauma she's endured. And yes I know readers want focal characters who move the story rather than being moved by it. I envisioned this one as being isolated, avoiding conflict...and yes, passive. That's how I believe a person might become, reacting to the trauma my character lived through. But if the market dictates different, then darnit that's what I'll give 'em. Somehow I hope to be able to keep her true to her past but more what the market requires.

Anyway, all this to say that normally I'd have started rewriting immediately. This time I haven't. Of course, I have a good excuse. Many years ago I found a writing book that became my bible: Dwight Swain's Techniques of a Selling Writer. He boils down the pertinents of writing so succinctly and so readable and his techniques work so well that I've focused all my energies on following them.



My excuse? I lent my book to a friend a while back. Actually I think I gave it to him. So I decided that before I set my shoulder to re-writing I ought to buy another copy and remind myself of Swain's techniques. That's what I'm doing now.

I find the time to read a few pages before bed each evening. It's like opening a chest in the attic to find treasures you forgot you stored there.

I may not get this book rewritten in time for the editor to even remember his crit, but regardless I feel when I do start my revisions/rewriting, I'll be better prepared.