...BEACH BRICKS!!

In keeping with our 'To-Do-Before-COLD-Weather' List, we have been in the Garage, using The Drill!

My latest obsession... BEACH BRICKS!!

The recent onslaught of Japanese Lanterns in the garden...and the harvest of, ...and the trimming of, ...and the sorting of, ...and the photographing of, ...and, ...and, ..and!

Has inspired me for a new Fall 2015 line...

I'm sure EVERY.ONE. of you know how once you get started on something, it is hard to stop...

The 'svelteSTUFF studio' is NO exception!!

Jack-o-Lanterns!

 cats!

 spiders!

 abstract pumpkins!

ghosts!

...OH! SO! FUN!

Yes, there are still a few designs rambling around in our heads... 

J: "How about moons?"

and Other designs need some 'tweaking' and 'reworking'...

So I foresee more additions to our 'NorthShore Fall2015' collection in the near future!!

THANK GOODNESS for this heat-spell that we are in right.now., so that I don't feel guilty being indoors, doing silly things like threading beads and naming pumpkins!! (We are open to ANY ideas!!)

'WILHEMINA' here got her name, as she kind of reminds me as much of a Whale (Free Willie), as she does an abstract-squashed-gord!!  BUT, she 'needed' a female version...

Yes, it's true.

I'm easily amused.

BUT

It's all good right?!

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN CHECKING OUT MORE OF OUR 'NAMESAKES' - MANY OF THEM ARE IN THE svelteSTUFFj ETSY SHOP ~

GO CHECK THEM OUT!!

I'M LINKING UP WITH:
Hey Mom, What's For Dinner FRIDAY FRENZY
Mrs. Olson SHARE YOUR CUP THURSDAY
TAKE A LOOK FOR LOADS OF GOOD READS!!!!

FOUR for 4

HAPPY FOURTH of JULY!!

Hope EVERYONE has been having a lovely weekend!

In an effort to clear a 'little' inventory,  we are having a 4x4 SALE in our ETSY shop - svelteSTUFFj....

Details: 40% off with code BLOG4

Dates: FOURth ~ FOURteenth of JULY (7/4-7/14)

no 'new' pics, but thought you might enjoy...

(didn't quite have enough candles for my Dad's recent 84th celebration ~ so we improvised with what we had!!)

ANYBODY know the name of these flowers???????

Stop by our etsy shop, and get the 'goods' before they are gone!!

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY!!

...the PLUNGE!

Soooo, Saturday as The Guys were out watching 'The DUKE Boys',  The Girls stayed in where it was 'warm' and did a 'Tea' ;-)

 I pulled ALL those silly pedestals out ~ loaded them with homemade wild berry muffins, green tomatoe bread, cupcakes... ~ figured we might as well get 'some' use out of them...  then I REALLY got inspired... 

I'm doing it.

after 1 FULL year of testing and scheming...

svelteSTUFFj ETSY shop now carries
UPSIDES DOWN pedestals under their 'ATTIC STUDIO' tab!

Hopefully we'll do as well as
SU did vs. Duke
(Syracuse
won!!)

...TMS BURNOUT! Any takers??

massive sale.
if you have EVER seen ANYTHING in our svelteSTUFFj ETSY store (or on this blog) that you just 'need' to have in your posession - make an offer, pay shipping and it will most likely arrive within a few days on your doorstep!

Too Much Stuff Burnout is the verdict on my recent lack of enthusiasm for saling.  Time to clear-out!  If ANYTHING at all has caught your eye just leave me a comment (or convo us) ~ IT'S GOTTA GO!! ~

...reality check...

... testing ... testing ... one ... two ... three ... testing...

Yep. This blog is still alive!

There is still life here in CNY - though barely... things are pretty much flat lining here. Even the weather! Though I'm not complaining about the fact that we have been dubbed 'THE BIGGEST LOSERS' over the fact that the storms missed our area, and all we got was a 'usual Winter's day' accumulation of about 3-4" w/ temps in the teens!(pair of coffee mugs by Guy Buffet)
Thrifting for the most part has been pretty non-existent ((yawn)). Estate and Rummage Sales ~ WHAT are those??

OH well, I've been trying to be productive catching up on a couple of years worth of scrapbooking (note 'trying' is the operative word here!!).

I have also been implementing a new 'Project Purge' for the Year 2011. In honor of the year, my goal is to purge '211' items each month. This can be in the form of selling, donating, tossing, consigning - whatever... just OUT OF THE HOUSE!! January was an easy success, let's see if I can continue!! It's kind of a Two-Part Goal that goes hand-in-hand. The second part of the goal, is to have a bag of 'stuff' in the Blazer for donation whenever I go out on a Thrifting adventure. No bag of stuff sorted and ready to go? Then I can't stop yet! (see, it kind of serves two - purposes!) WISH ME LUCK!! So far, so good...(Recent Thrift find - Stetson bowl)

With the lack of 'saling', I've been doing a LOT of de-stashing. This Stetson bowl purchase inspired me to pull out a bunch of plates and china that I've been procrastinating on. Similiar to the motivation that the purchase of the Pyrex was last week! So this week has been a LOT more listing!!

(Mid-Century Yugoslavia Enamel Paella Pans coming soon to an ETSY shop near you!)

With all of the listing I've been doing the last couple of weeks, it's made me take a hard look at selling vintage on e-bay and etsy... A 'Reality Check' of sorts...

• weekend~early hours&hours to get the 'good stuff'
• #miles~$gas
• insane people~crazy work conditions (weather, animal remnants, decay bldg)
• clean~research
• write-up~photo
• store~pack/box~collect $$~ship

ALL of this for how much return on your investment? As a college graduate, I think about how much I used to make an hour, sitting at a cushy desk job with full benefits - and how I MUST be out of my mind now - when I get excited over a $12 ETSY sale! Then, I remember how I used to hate getting up in the morning...

('Sic Kay The Other Mug...' ever hear of these??)

Hoping everyone is safe and warm, and has a BIG MUG of Hot Cocoa with their favorite addition - Peach Schnapps? Bailey's? Mini Marshmallows!?

OH! Almost forgot - did find a few 'goodies' for ME the other day at the Thrift!! Three leather belts (Levi brown, Italy black & No-name sage-green) - I've been in a serious 'belt' mode lately with all of my sweaters - and at .50¢ each for leather I couldn't go wrong! LOVE the great buckle on the Italian!! You can't really see it, but I also grabbed a black wool 'wrap'. It's like a H*U*G*E* fitted sweater~shawl. I have a plum one that I bought at VanHeusen a couple of years ago, and love wearing in the Fall. I found it in the 'scarf' bin for another .50¢!!

...we Have 'ARRIVED'

We made it into the ETSY TREASURY!!

...just the motivation I needed!

On a chance stop at a neighboring town thrift I scored another box of 70's era horse-show ribbons. They look like they must have been part of the box lot that I purchased about a year ago and somehow got seperated. They have spurred me to re-open the ETSY Shop, lets hope they are still desireable!!

...svelteSTUFFj is LIVE!!!

After about a month of 'behind the scenes' work - our ETSY shop is live again - YIPPEE!! Now, I didn't say it was 'stocked' yet, ...just 'live'.

This time around it is a joint venture with DH - left brain and right brain are uniting ... so to speak 8-) . My sense of 'hunting & gathering' and his sense of 'purging & divesting' should mesh nicely.

One thing is for sure - his photography (banner & avatar) makes mine look REALLY bad... wonder how I can get HIM to do all of the photography... we'll have to work on this one...

USELESS TRIVIA TIDBIT for the day: I just learned that I could put an ETSY tab on my FACEBOOK page - similar to the widget on a blog - cool, huh?!

...the best laid plans go a-GEIGER

As saling season came to an abrupt end in the NE (with a relapse, but then a quick return to 'nothingness'), my resolve to purge and clear-out became s-t-r-o-n-g!

During a 'needed fix' to a Thrift, scanning the jam-packed racks, I came across an unfamiliar name - GEIGER, AUSTRIA. I bought two pieces, brought them home to do a little research - my 'designer' knowledge extends about as far as ...VERA... yep, that's it!. It is beautiful 'stuff', and by the retail prices, I'd say HIGH QUALITY!

"With its timeless style, natural fibers and eco-friendly processes, which translate new trends into unique Walk creations, GEIGER has found admirers around the globe. No wonder, since GEIGER fashion connects the highest levels of creativity, natural fibers and high technology with stewardship for a healthy environment and a deep respect for the human rights of its workers.."

I also learned that Austrian size 36 converts to approximately US size 6 - NOT! I tried them on E-bay, they did okay. Knew that I had seen another piece with the same name, so a couple of weeks later, when I stopped by the same thrift, I checked to see if it was still there. It was. And it had multiplied! And the prices were so cheap I had to bring a bunch home - I was GOOD, I didn't buy ALL that they had, but I was still feeling mightly guilty! Our guest closet 'hanging rod' that had previously been empty now looks like this... In an effort to 'hopefully' pass them along quicker, I am putting them in my ETSY shop as fast as I can - Company is going to need that closet for the Holidays!!! If you are a size 6 -8-10 (variety of sizes) go take a peak!! Even if you aren't, go take a look and give me some advice on clothing!! GEIGER is new to me. ETSY is new to me. Selling clothing is new to me. I will gladly take all of the info and advice I can get!!

To ease my guilt 'a bit', I did clean out TWO large bags O'stuff from my own closet, which I took to donate on Friday - in exchange, I only came home with these two itty-bitty sweater clips 8-)!!

...test run

I guess it is 'up'... maybe?

Get your minds out of the gutter - I'm refering to svelteSTUFF Etsy!

I'm just testing the waters, and have only listed one item - would Really Appreciate any feedback, tips, suggestions, etc. that any of you 'Pros' would be willing to give a 'newbie'!! Link on sidebar (I hope!!)

~WE NOW RETURN TO THE REGULAR SCHEDULE OF FALL FUN!!~