Dumpster Diving

I go dumpster diving every week now. It's not the gross dirty ones behind stores but the Hope bins we have at the store. When other departments think something isn't worth selling or it's been on the shelf for too long, it will go into the bins. Really what I'm doing is getting things into boxes or trash bags as Hope requires. It makes it easier for the driver who picks up every week to load the truck. I also remove the things Hope won't take. Because of this, I see what's been tossed.  I find "good stuff" all the time. Most of the time items were priced too high and the volunteer in charge didn't want to change the price. Sometimes they don't know what they have and tossed it. This victorian vanity mirror was one of those things. Yes, the mirror isn't in perfect condition but it's interesting enough to resell. One of the unspoken rules when we dumpster dive is not to pull something out and tell that department we should try and sell it. There was a reason it got put into the bins. We get so many sets of fancy china (3 to 4 a week), we can't sell them fast enough. Everyone thinks they can be sold for top dollar but it's very rare for someone to buy a whole set. 

Being a crafty person when I saw the round tin with a clip in the bins, I knew it was an accessory to hold water for an artist palette. I was also surprised when I finally got the other tin open, it's a mini painting palette! I think it was originally designed to be an ash tray (Temu) but some company converted it to a traveling palette. Just another thing to add to my crafty "someday" collection. Maybe now I'll take the trip to the beach and paint. :) 

Mini fundraiser to support the arts - ICAF

On Tuesday I decided to do a domestic diva day. With all the craziness going around the country, I just needed a mental health day to focus on something positive and peaceful. 

Now that all my crafting supplies are in one place and free from storage boxes, it's been a whole lot more fun to play. I have several card kits from year's past classes that I can work on. Not sure what I will do with all the cards once they're done as they are rather alter art-ish. 

When I did the iris folding kimono classes I always ended up with the cut out part. Not wanting to throw them away, I just stocked piled them. I'm slowly turning them into card fronts.

 I'm thinking maybe I'll do a mini fundraiser for the  International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) fund which thanks to the felon in the White House lost their funding. I'll donated 100% of the sales to ICAF. 

Sandy Allnock (YouTube I follow) ask for us to make bookmarks but my style of art isn't what I think kids would like. I did give it a good try but my samples didn't look like something a 10 year old would like. 

International Child Art Foundation Challenge.

Sandy Allnock (one of my favorite YouTube artist) did a call out for people to make bookmarks. With the federal cuts in supporting the arts, one of the program is International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) Her challenge for us adults is to make bookmarks that will be handed out to the children attending one of the events. You would think with all the stamps I have I would be able to find something a 10 year old would like. Well, I found out I really don't. Sandy asked that some artistic effort go into making the bookmarks, nothing mass produced and to use our good stuff. I decided to make a collage of washi paper scraps and add an image on top. Haven't decided on the image but it will be Japanese. It's not really child-ish but I think reflect my artistic side. 
 

Learning new things

Isn't this cool? Vintage Mexican silver brooch with a hand painted bird image inside. When I first saw it, I thought maybe it was made with feathers but when I scoped it, it's just painted. I would also guess the bird was painted in brighter colors but has faded. I'm not a jewelry person but I think hanging out with the jewelry ladies at the store, I'm beginning so appreciate it a little more. It's always fun to learn about new things and discuss the more unusual pieces that come in.

I see this as a miniature painting and I don't think I will ever wear it as a brooch. 

Alton Brown's Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Alton Brown's Recipe

I'm really turning into a very cranky old woman. With all the things happening in our country I just can't sit by and not voice my opinion. When I talk to people I've known for years who thinks that the felon in the White House is doing a good job or that it's all Biden fault because he's ill now, I just lose it. 

 I'm boycotting stores the roll back their support for DEI. I'm thankful that Costco isn't one of them. I was at Costco on Thursday morning which is usually a very quiet time. It was packed like it was a Saturday. I was happy by doing the right thing, people are supporting the store. I've had a Costco pork tenderloin in the freezer for a while now. Not having an oven, wasn't sure when I would be able to cook it. Then I realized my BBQ is all set up and easy to get to. Problem solved! Alton Brown's BBQ recipe is my go to. 

I've been at my new place for a few months now but I'm still organizing things. I've learned over the years to live in the space for a while and slowly make changes on the layout over time. 

Added a cutie to my kitchen collection

Added this cute vintage cookie jar to my collection. Really it's more a vase to hold your kitchen utensils but it's listed as a cookie jar. It wasn't easy to find the sold comps for some reason. Since I couldn't price it myself, I had to show where I got the sold price from. Found $49 plus shipping on eBay. It's not that it's super rare, it's just confirming a sale that was hard. 

Thought it was funny and different. At some point I will sell it off but for now it's display on top of my hutch. Paid $24 which is higher than I would normal pay but I went for it. 
 

Doing a little recon work

MacBeth Depression Glass $2.50

It'a been years since I've shopped at the Home Consignment store. Thought I would stop in and see what they had. The store was so packed with furniture you couldn't even get to most of it. Not sure how they pass a fire inspection. Back in the day it was a good mix of used furniture, from different people. Now most of it is new stuff and it all looks the same. The prices were way over the top IMO but I've not shopped for furniture in a long time.

Since I was out I thought I would check out a Goodwill store I haven't been to in over a year. Every Tuesday is senior discount day and the Willow Glen store was close by. I think GW has lowered their prices. The shelves were a little empty and they didn't have much I was interested in. I did pick a few things (all under $2.50) but nothing super special.

Pyrex - Avocado Green $2.50

Up cycled insulators

It's been an interesting auction week. One item that I was following to see if it would stay in my price range was removed from the auction site. It was an asian-ish style console table. It wasn't getting any bids but I know the heavy hitters would come in at the last minute. I can only guess the seller got nervous it wasn't going to sell for what they think it's worth.  

On Maxsold I did bid on this insulators because I thought they would make interesting plant stands. Back in the day you could get $30 for them, now they're worth nothing. I got these three for just $1. There were more in the auction but I wasn't going to pay any more. I didn't know if they would be level enough for my plants for wasn't going risk it.   If you google them, the prices are very high but around here they're worth nothing. It wasn't really worth me making the short drive over to the warehouse but it's worth chatting and gossiping with the other resellers.  I found out one of the estate liquidator is retiring so whatever she has in storage will be coming up for auction. Overall most resellers are friendly and happy to share information, even if we're bidding on the same things. 

When art speaks to you

Today at the store the gate was left opened. Some repairs were being made so had workers running around outside. A few  donations were dropped off because of that. Since I was there to process anyways, I took the donations. One was from an estate and it was packaged with what I can only guess was stuffing from several pillows. It was a hot mess and filled two garbage bags. There was a lot to process so I didn't really look at the Santa too closely but knew it was a reproduction. It just spoke to me. Wasn't until I got home did I realize that this was a Paul Bollinger Santa! I have several of his originals before he started to mass produce his work. I even had some of the factory samples before they went into production. Would I love to have the original, yes I would but I'm sure it's now out of my price range. Still this was a great find!

When Google or AI doesn't work

Doesn't look big but it is. 

It was interesting today at the store when another volunteer who is very dependent on looking up everything on her phone. She forgot it at home but couldn't go home to get it as she lives up in the hills. The highway (only way to get to her house) was basically closed for maintenance. She had hours to kill but really without her phone couldn't do much. I had always cautioned getting too dependent on using AI or eBay to look up things. You have to be able to sort out the trashy stuff from the good stuff without looking everything up. Yes some things need extra time to get the comps but for the amount of donations the store gets you just have to make the call without your using your phone. 

This leaf sculpture came in (guessing the art department) and it's not something you can easily find online. It was priced at $20 because I'm guessing they couldn't find it online. Because I do auctions, when these  sculptures come up, they sell for $150+. Those are actually sold comps in the real world. I used my store voucher so only paid $10.00. Now I have to decided do I keep for a while or flip it quickly. 

Overcast Mornings are the Best

I love it when it's overcast in the morning. Makes me think I'm down at the beach house. :)  I know at some point the sun will come out so never worry about seasonal depression. Just like I know no matter how hot it gets, once the sun goes down it will cool off. 

The yard gets a lot of bird active which is also very nice. I'm setting up a little bird feeder. Nothing fancy as I don't want to attract any rodents. I was going to set it up for my crows but they haven't been around lately. I would but out the dried worms in hopes they find it but worried about the squirrels finding it first. 

I'm babysitting Posey this week and she really likes her new schedule. 

4:30 Breakfast 

Nap time

7:30 Cardio work at the park for 15 minutes

Nap time

11:30 Dog walker

Nap time

4:00 dinner

6:00 Sniff walk unless no other dogs are at the park.

8:30 Bedtime. 

 

All comfy on the sofa

This is Posey, the resident chocolate lab at my new place. This is her sofa and yes it smells like dog all the time. I made the choice to keep her sofa in my place because it would be the most comfortable for her. Plus my sofa was white which wouldn't work with a dog around. She had major back surgery last year, which most dogs if they survive, aren't able to walk afterwards. It's been a slow process to get her muscles tone back. We joke on getting back her big butt. I take her a very short walks to help strength her back legs and sniff around. In her mind she's still an active 2 year old and wants to run like a crazy dog. If she gets too much exercise she's very sore the next day. On her last vet visit she hasn't lost any weight but her back legs are much stronger and she looks leaner so we take that as a win.