Thursday, February 2, 2012

February? Already !!!

O.K., well, the goal of posting daily in 2012 hasn't gone well so far. One month down and only one post. Guess that's a "FAIL."

REVISED GOAL for the year: Post DAILY beginning with February 2, 2012. (I was going to make it the 1st but I fell asleep!)

Wish me luck, please!

Atlantic City boardwalk in the January sunshine!!

How we're already a whole month into the year just floors me!
Where did the time go? Usually, I get bogged down with the cold and dreary winter weather and the fact that I tend to hibernate rather than venture out during that time but this year has been different. At least, here, in the Mid-Atlantic, it's been unusually warm. We've had several 70 degree days and a lot of days when a coat wasn't necessary, just a sweater or sweatshirt. heck, we've even seen a lot of shorts and flip flops on the street and such.

The view of the ocean from our room at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.
(We had views of both the ocean and the bay from our room!!)

I didn't think we'd done much since the holidays but when I gave it deep thought, we've been fairly busy. We've had houseguests twice this month and squeezed in a mini-vacation ourselves. We spent a couple of nights in Atlantic City at Trump Plaza and, yes, it was warm enough to walk the boardwalk. We even spent time sitting on a bench watching the world go by. We've done a few day trips, too. One to Lancaster, PA and another to Cowtown in Woodstown, NJ (A huge marketplace that's only open on Tuesdays and Saturdays with at least 150 or so vendors in the winter. More in the summer.) We've been to the movies a couple of times and out to dinner often with friends. I squeezed in some major cooking days, too. You know, the kind that keep you in the kitchen for most of the day. (Good news is, that usually means some stock-piled meals in the freezer at the end of the day!) On top of that, business has been extremely good for January. This has been my best sales for January in about 2 decades (since I used to do mall craft shows). That's kept me busy as most of the orders were painted to order although a few were for some vintage pieces.

View of the bayside marshlands from our room at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.

I've worked up a bunch of new designs for the shop. Among them were a number of Valentine's Day onesies, and a whole cupcake line including onesies and crocheted toys. I've done some beautiful lamps although I'm having trouble keeping them in stock. the last one was listed for less than a half hour when it sold! Right now, I have several that I've base-coated but have not yet done the detail work on. Hopefully, I'll finish them up in the next day or two. Also, look for some beautiful painted glass vases soon, too.

This one lasted less than a half-hour.

Today's project has been doing some research for more vintage pieces I need to photograph and list. That can be quite time-consuming. The stumper today has been a pair of white porcelain doves.
For more detailed pics, use this link: http://on.fb.me/zPEd9q

DO ANY OF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THESE DOVES?
We know they are at least 30 years old. (They came with The Big Guy and the house. They were a package deal. LOL) I thought they were alabaster for many years but just today really began looking at their marks. They each measure approx. 3 1/2" x 5 1/2' and weigh about a pound each. They have small plastic plugs in the bottom like S & P shakers have. They are actually porcelain, filled with what appears to be white sand! At first, we thought it was salt but neither of us are brave enough to taste it so we've decided it is sand. It is quite grainy. There is a small gold sticker with red writing that states: "Our Own" (in script-like lettering) then, below that "Genuine Porcelain" is printed and then below that the word, "Imported" again, in script like lettering. "Our Own" actually appears to be a brand name. ANY IDEAS?


Well, I need to get busy doing some photos of this vintage stuff so I can get busy and start listing. I full well plan to chat with all of you again tomorrow. (Keep your fingers crossed.)

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