Monday, June 30, 2008

My First Successful Show

I had lots of goodies to sell, the weather was fine, people were out and about...what a great show! The Boston Handmade Marketplace was a complete success, thanks to Jessica Burko, our devoted team leader and I'm inspired to sell at more local shows because of her! This was technically my third show...but the first one was a bust and the second was rained out. The Marketplace took place in Union Square in Somerville and the turnout was fabulous! Both a diverse selection of artists and a good crowd came to participate in the excitement. We even had some local musicians play to set an even artsier ambiance.

I was initially a bit hesitate to do shows because of the cost of booth fees, all of the work of hauling everything to the location, setting it up, sitting there all day, taking it down and then hauling it back. But I have to say that the booth fee was reasonable, hauling the stuff was certainly a pain, but setting it up was fun and interacting with people was fabulous! I loved explaining my creative time line to curious ears and telling the stories behind each piece. My bunny and cat figures and animal ornaments were quite popular as always and having an audience and getting positive feedback was a real boost to my creative esteem!

I plan on doing more shows in the future...and whenever and wherever they may be, I hope to see you there!

Friday, June 27, 2008

What to do with these....

So I got these two little cuties at a flea market recently for 50 cents each. I'm not quite sure what to do with them... I'm thinking maybe finding a cool background for them and putting them in cute vintage frames... But I've got pretty limited wall space. I could decoupage them onto a blanket chest my friend's dad gave me a million years ago that I finally decided to paint white... I could incorporate them into my next collage... Oh the possibilities! They are just too cute, I don't want to waste them on something silly! They're meant to be somewhere! I'll let you know when I figure it out. :)

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

New Work!

I've just finished a gang of white spun cotton bats, bunnies and cats (my most popular species to date). I did one set a few weeks ago and got such a great response and requests to make more that I decided to make several sets at once. Each figure is a little different. They're all individuals and like a mom I love them all equally... Two sets are going to Mariclare, a fabulous lady in New York. After everyone has found new homes, I'll still be making them to order, so if you're interested in owning one yourself, just send me a message!

The bunnies have attitude, the cats are shy and the bats are carefree. I normally created the bunnies for Easter and the bats for Halloween...but with their creamy color and silver glitter, they can be displayed all year round or in the cold months for a winter wonderland effect. It's up to you! I wish I could keep them all together here on my cabinet...but I have to make room for more kitties and bats! :) I'll be posting photos of my new patriotic figures soon, so check back in!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The History of Websites...

It only took about five years and five different tries, but I finally have a website that I feel proud of. It's not perfect, but it's pretty, it's simple and hopefully it's easy for people to find their way around.

The first website I had was pretty cool. I created it in Flash so it had all sorts of neat animations and intros and fade ins and this and that. The only problem? It was way too much work to update. Every new item I added was a major production. That's the problem with websites that are all flash....super flashy but not too practical unless you don't plan to update it regularly. With that idea trumped, I thought I'd create a website that was only partially flash, but that got too complicated too. I then started another website but before I was half finished I was already sick of the design. After that I created a nice simple website, but it was a little inconsistent and lacked some identity. FINALLY...(the fifth time's the charm!), I created a website that had some personally but still was really simple and to the point. I omitted all the unnecessary clutter and kept all of the pretty stuff. So here it is! It's purpose? To showcase my work of course! I've also got a shopping system with paypal buttons if anyone wants to buy anything. I try to update it with new items as often as I can (in fact it really needs an update now...I've got tons of new stuff!). Take a look and maybe you'll get some ideas for your own website! :) www.vintagebycrystal.com


Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The White Cabinet...

I'm so excited! Last night I finally had a little bit of time to fill up my pretty new dining room cabinet with odds and ends. Isn't it pretty? Me and the cabinet were meant to be...seriously. It'll be a little long-winded, but I'll tell you the story....

A couple of weeks ago I got out of work at the same time I normally do. As usual I walk down to the subway station. But not so usually, there are a gajillion people down there on the platform. After waiting for forever for no train (apparently there was a fire at another station and they shut the trains down) everyone went outside to wait for a shuttle bus. There were no buses to be seen and I was last in line. I was getting impatient after waiting for so long already and I knew it would take forever to get a bus and standing around for longer than I already had was the last thing I wanted to do. So I decided to just started walking in the direction of home. It would have taken me three hours to walk the entire way, so I called Ben for a ride. He was busy preparing dinner and told me I'd have to wait until he was done to come pick me up. Walking was better than standing, so just kept walking towards home. It wouldn't have been too bad...it was pretty warm out...but it also happened to be really windy AND raining. When there's a windy rain on the ocean, you can forget about trying to use an umbrella. So I was pretty wet pretty fast. After a half hour of trudging down the street, past big buildings, over bridges, etc. etc., I came upon a sign that said something like "Antique Treasures This Way". Was I dreaming? Was I delusional? Was I in the black forest on my way to the Land of Oz? I followed the sign a little ways and low and behold! An antique store! Open at 6:30 on a weekday! Of course I went in and started browsing. There was a lot of junk, but there were some good deals too! I found an awesome old shabby mirror with etch glass for $20 (I'll have to show you a photo sometime) and an antique box for $8 that I plan to cover with shells...AND I found this beautiful white doll cabinet. It had beautiful molding and glass doors in front and glass panels on the sides. It wasn't old, but it was a little banged up and it's shelves were missing. The tag on it said $50. I had to have it! I promptly paid the lady and of course it wouldn't fit in our car so I had to leave it there for a week and a half until Ben could pick it up in his work van (he's so sweet). After I got it home it took me a while to get over to home depot to pick up wood and molding for the shelves. But last Sunday I made the shelves and cleaned it up and last night I put a whole bunch of goodies inside (including my infamous froggie pitcher that I can't stop talking about)! Isn't it dreamy?

Another side note...I got into a bit of a painting frenzy when I was painting the shelves and grabbed the closest item to my right and started painting that too. It happened to be a little wicker plant stand I picked up at a garage sale for nearly nothing. It's was an ugly wood color and with it's fresh white paint and embellishment of brown velvet ribbon and vintage millinery flowers, it now looks so good I could eat it up! Take a look at the photo and see for yourself! :)


Monday, June 16, 2008

Double Red Robins

When I was in New York City, our friend Elena brought me to this adorable little shop on the way back home. The store, called "Orange Marmalade," was quite endearing. It had unique arts and crafts, stationary and vintage goodies (I got my awesome froggie pitcher there). As many cute little qualities it did have...what captured my attention the most was the paper bag the owner gave me to carry froggie home in. It had the most beautiful robins printed on both sides. The bag did me well...I carted it all over the city, through Chinatown and on the bus. When I got home I emptied the goodies out and was left with the empty bag. Usually I stuff my paper bags into a drawer in my pantry and use them for recycling. But this bag couldn't possibly suffer that same fate...it was much too pretty! But what was I going to do with a pretty paper bag? Suddenly it came to me. I'll frame it! I had these framed prints that Ben's mom gave us when she cleaned out her basement. They were watercolors of Italy or some place I've never been to and they weren't exactly my favorite...but the frames and matting were nice...so I hung them up anyway and they've been hanging near the front door for almost three years. Finally it was time to replace those run of the mill prints with something more interesting! I placed both sides of the paper bag into the already matted frames and added some scalloped vintage sheet music and millinery flowers for accent and to hide the white space where the print stopped. I did the exact same thing for each one and hung them right next to each other by the front door. Don't they look fabulous! They may have a modest origin, but I'm so happy with my pretty new works of art!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Time to Share...

Here I go! Ready to jump into the big ocean of blogging! I finally decided to take the plunge when about two weeks ago I was getting really giddy about a majolica frog pitcher, a vintage paper weight with a hand painted sailor dude, and a whole mess of vintage millinery flowers I’d just purchased. I had everything all spread out on my dining room table and I called my truly very loving better half, Ben, over to check out my loot with me. He gave my precious treasures a quick once over and grunted with recognition before swiftly turning around and leaving the room. At that moment I realized that I needed to share my enthusiasm for vintage, unique and creative things with people who really appreciate it. I know these people are out there. I’ve read their blogs and enjoyed looking at their fabulous new vintage loot. I also realized the best way to reach them was to create a blog of my own. A place where I can proudly display everything that makes my heart flutter. Hopefully I’ll be able to inspire others the same way others have inspired me.

To start off with, I’ll show you that loot from two weeks ago. That beautiful frog pitcher that perfectly matches my frog salt and pepper shakers (what a deal I got on it too!). Those generous bunches of vintage millinery flowers that I plan on using in my creations and sharing with others. And that awesome paper weight. I got these items on our most recent trip to New York City. I went to the tail end of an awesome flea market where I found the paper weight and met an English antique dealer who had an Australian accent. I went to the sweetest little boutique in Brooklyn where I couldn’t resist the frog pitcher and also got a cute postcard for my friend in Germany. And then I finally got to go to the fabulous Tinsel Trading Company in Manhattan where I bought the millinery flowers. A great trip that reaped some fabulous rewards!


Me in awe at the Tinsel Trading Company...