The Fabulous Tufted Antique Settee Project that is too long

I saw a picture of a re-done antique settee in a magazine and fell in love, but it's designer price tag was $8000.00

 Brought it home and though I had measured the front of the bay window to make sure it would fit, I had neglected to measure the back, and the sweep of it's curve is wonderfully long. It does not fit. My loss could be your gain.
 90 inches (7-1/2 feet) long by 32 inches deep. This is as long as a couch.
Four beautiful curved front legs and a nice carved center detail.
Any spots are shadows from not great photography, it was hard to photograph the yummy chocolate fabric color. You need to see to appreciate.

$1400.00 or close offer. Cash or credit card more pictures on FlickrSo I searched and found an antique settee and drove out of town to buy it. Had the frame painted in a wonderful teal blue and poly-ed. Ordered a new custom down topped cushion. Went seraching for the perfect heavy weight chocolate fabric with blue embroidered dots (17 yards- there's a piece left you can have if you fancy making a pillow or two), had it professionally reupholstered including some fabulous tufting work.

This week's vintage finds

This week's treasure hunting did not yield many things, but the ones I found are really nice. There's this vanilla-white cherub urn shaped ceramic vase and a heavy vintage metal mailbox (that could be used inside for a cute office organizer). They'll be in the store by Wednesday, if you're interested and they're also posted on etsy, along with the yummy pincushions and some other things not at the store.

Luscious velvet pincushion eye candy

As a lover and purveyor of vintage, many things cross my hands that I love and want to keep but I must say these made my heart skip a beat when I first spied these velvet pincushions. Luscious is the only word to describe this velvet; it is amazing in it's texture and depth of color.

While they would be the ultimate pincushion for a sewer of crafter, I see their true calling being as a display for a cherished brooch or pin. I can just see a fabulous cherished, antique bauble pinned on one of these and sitting on a silver or mirrored vanity tray.

They are the definition of eye candy.

Embalmed Crustacean...Mary's at it again

I wrote in a previous post about my friend Mary's ability to find great stuff. She is a wonderful gift giver and puts a lot of thought and effort to find the perfect gift.

For my birthday she presented me with this souvenir Crayfish in a glass jar with a cork bottom. This vintage goodie has a sticker that says Souvenir of Kure Beach Pier.

Kure Beach is my favorite beach ever and Mary knows how many fond memories I have from all the years of vacationing there.

I love the gesture and thoughtfulness, will admit to not being sure I love the item

Do you love greeting cards, I do

I know in this era of being green, some people think greeting cards are wasteful but I love them. For my birthday a few weeks ago I was the lucky recipient of quite a few wonderful ones, a variety of funny, sweet, and irreverent. Both the printed and written sentiments made me feel loved and reminded me of how lucky I am to have wonderful family and friends.

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

My friend, Mary, is the best treasure finder I have ever met. She puts me to shame, and I have found some pretty good stuff in my time. She and I have gone out only a couple of times junking together, including a memorable day last summer at a 5-mile long yard sale, but I hope to get her on a road trip to Wilmington when the weather warms up. Mary has the enviable ability to source lots of really good finds every time she goes looking. We share an affinity for vintage, she the more practical things like kitchen gadgets and me always the decorative pretties.

A couple of months ago she dropped by my office and handed me this fabulous metal gold crown. It's big (over 6 inches across) and heavy. From the back it looks like it was originally attached to something, but I can't guess as to what.

I love it! ...and have pondered the perfect place for it, but haven't come up with one yet. In the meantime it sits on my computer workspace at home and I often pick it up and reflect on the treasure of good friends. Mary is a wonderful friend to me (as is her sister,  Wanda, and although they are very different in personality, they share that enviable special bond of sisterhood and their talent of being wonderful shopkeepers). Mary has only been in my life for a couple of years, although we have had connections through other people for ages. Beautiful, complex, and a talented retailer- Mary is an enigma, but what I do know without a doubt is she is there for me. I can't wait to see what she'll find next. I love me some Mary!