Eureka Eureka--world beads and a bit of history

I don't make beaded jewelry, but after spending some time with Debby Arem and her Etsy shop, Eureka Eureka, I'm sorely tempted to begin. Debby's shop has several things I love: rocks, gems, and stories of far-off lands. With her husband, Joel Arem (who worked for the Smithsonian and authored seven books on gems and minerals), Debby traveled all over the world in search of the finest and most unusual beads.

The ones I'm showing here are her favorites: glass beads from West Germany. Some of these are from the 1950s, and as anyone who sells or loves vintage knows, they don't make 'em like they used to.

The rest of Debby's shop is equally fascinating, with beads from Pakistan, China, Japan, Italy, Czechoslovakia--you name it. To read more about her beads and her career as a jewelry designer, check out this interview on the Etsy Vintage Street Team blog.

Last Sale Day--Whew!

My week has been too busy--listing lots of new vintage items in my Etsy shop in honor of the vintage sale that's been going on all week. OK, today is the last day of the sale, and I've sold almost ten things through it so I'm happy. But I haven't blogged, haven't cleaned house, and haven't done much jewelry making all week.

So here's to the end of the sale! It goes till midnight tonight. The above treasury gives you a taste of what's available. To the right is something new I listed, a Fire King cottage cheese bowl. To see what else there is, go to Etsy and search for evstsale.

Vintage Sale Time!

The only thing better than buying vintage on Etsy is buying it on sale--and now's your chance. August 8 through 17 will mark the first annual Etsy Vintage Street Team $12 and Under Sale.

Participating shops will have a wide variety of vintage goodies for $12 or less. To find them using Etsy's pull down search menu, click on "All Items: Tags and Titles" and search for EVSTsale. The sale lasts for a good 10 days, so check back--new items will be added as it goes along.

I'm not ready for this yet, but here's a little preview of something I added for the sale.

Garage sales: August '08

The middle of the country has many drawbacks, including no oceans and teeny mountains (yes, the Ozarks are mountains). But one thing we have in abundance is great summer garage sales. Hot, humid, crowded, and full of good junk at great prices.

Last weekend I hit a bonanza with two older women (now defined as anyone older than me) who were closing down their antique shop. I practiced great restraint and left with three bags full of goodies, including six vintage hats that I'll be listing over the next several weeks in my Etsy shop. The picture above shows some of my other finds, including a Red Wing Lexington pitcher, Red Wing planter, Hull swan planter, hand-painted Japan pitcher, tin of buttons, and a couple of trays.

These were great, but what really got me excited was the hats. Once I started looking at them, one of the woman started hauling them out of the house. And kept hauling--more than 50 in all. Unfortunately, many were not in great shape, but I picked out a number of the best. Pictured to the right: a rabbit fur felt number from Saks Fifth Avenue, probably late 1950s to 1960s. So soft, and it matches my eyes (but sadly not my head size).