Wednesday, May 30, 2012

On the Work Table Today...

I've been spending a lot of time in the garden lately, but I've still managed to make a little time for the studio. Well...lots of time! I've been getting ready for my next update...for Independence Day! I'm also doing a small series of bathing beauties...afterall, when I think of summer...I think red, white, blue and sand. :)

Stay tuned...I'll be announcing the update soon!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Work in Progress...

I always have lots of things that fall into that "work in progress" category at any one given time. But right now my main work in progress is the great outdoors! Or at least my little piece of the great outdoors.

We finally got the fence finished enough to plant the garden. When my dad was over with his big machinery he cut down some dead locust trees and cut them into posts. They are rot and bug resistant and can be used as fence posts for 50+ years! Other wood would rot within a few years and have to be replaced. My dad hammered the corner posts in with the bucket of his payloader, but I had to dig the rest by hand with a post hole digger. It went faster than I thought it would. And the timing for building this fence was perfect too. The farm was replacing the wire mesh that covers the outside of the milking barn with new wire. I grabbed the best pieces of the old wire...much of it still in good shape, and recycled it for the garden fence. I had to dig a trench to bury the wire at the base and cut the fencing with very awkward pliers. Phew! It was a lot of hard work on a very hot and sunny day. But I did it! I just need to secure the tops with a few more staples, clip the tops of the fencing where it's higher than the posts, and make gates so the animals can't get in. Phew!

And on Sunday Ben, my mom, and my sister Suzy and I planted the garden! These are brussel sprouts, which I've been obsessed with this year and can't WAIT until they are ready to pick! I'm planting another four flats in my mom's garden this weekend. Need some to freeze too!

It looks like I made my garden on top of a chipmunks house. Hmmmm...he was there first, but I think I might have to entice him to live elsewhere. I have a used have-a-heart animal trap...but I'm always afraid it's a mama with babies hidden underneath! I'll have to do some research about chipmunk breeding....

Tomatoes! I planted whole bunch of these to make Ben's amazing sauce and for salsa. I also planted the shriveled, growing potatoes that were in the kitchen cupboard and in a bucket in the basement. And sweet potatoes, onions, spinach, kale, turnips, parsnips, carrots, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, jalapeno peppers and cucumbers that I'm going to train to climb up the fence.

I have some mystery volunteer vines of some kind just on the other side of the fence on one side of the garden. I didn't throw any rotton vegetables out there and I couldn't imagine how they might have gotten there. Are they pumpkins? Gourds? Zucchini? Who the heck knows? But I do hope to find out!

This is the front of the garden. Quite messy looking at the moment (remember, work in progress, lol), but I'm working on a rock wall made from stones picked out of one of my dad's fields. I'll also be building stairs in the middle that lead up to the garden gate and hopefully will eventually build an arch with vines growing up. At the top of the wall and the sides will be flowers and trees.

These are double stacked at an angle in hopes that the wall will last a lifetime...just like in Ireland. We'll see!

And the different soil and water agencies in each of the counties around here have tree and shrub sales each spring. From Saratoga County I got some hazelnut bushes. The guy said to expect hazelnuts in 5 or so years. My fingers are crossed!

I pre-ordered at the Rensselaer County tree sale and got a double order of red bud trees. Unfortunately each tree was a hair thin single stick that you can barely see and to be honest I'm not even sure if they're alive. They have no leaves...only tiny buds that haven't changed since I planted them. We'll see I guess. I planted half of them in pots since they were so small and I didn't want to make the effort to mow around them for ten years before they got big enough to see with the naked eye. I also got 5 forsythia bushes, one of which was healthy and robust and even blossomed, one which was dry as a bone and completely dead, and three of which are clinging to life with one small bundle of leaves at the bottom. Urgh...I know where I won't be going for my shrubs from now on...

A few weeks ago I went to a plant sale at a woman's home. She had such a tiny backyard, but it was filled with beautiful blossoming perennials. I got a whole bunch of nice sized flowers for a little bit of money. They are still waiting patiently in their pots.

My step-father-in-law came to visit a few weeks ago. He's a big plant buff and I picked his brain about all sorts of things. He gifted me with this beautiful pink iris that just bloomed!

We have tons of wild phlox growing around the property. I LOVE these and one even stuck it's pretty little head up through a crack between the deck and the foundation of the house. Yay!

I bought two wisteria vines from a local nursery and just planted them last night near the porch. Fingers crossed that they'll make it up to the top and provide a leafy garland under the roofline!

Sophie looks out the window a bit jealous. I'd love for her to come outside, but between the song birds she'll surely hunt and the cars and ticks and foxes that will hunt her. Everyone is better off if she stays inside.

My dad bought a mantis tiller recently and I love that thing! I plowed up the tall weeds that were growing around the little fence near the deck and planted the lilies that my neighbor so thoughtfully gave me. The lawn next to it still needs to be planted. I'll plant some more here when I figure out what and where exactly.

That whole side hill with the bare dirt and then tall grass (weeds actually), will be dug up and I've got a stash of wildflower seeds I'll be planting. Eventually I want to cultivate the whole thing into a pretty perennial garden...but I figure the wild flowers will give me a good start.

And speaking of wild flowers...I feel lucky that so many are growing abundantly around our house. The yellow flowers are absolutely everywhere and are literally surrounding the house and in the woods. There are wild phlox patches here and there. The white flowers are usually rather grubby, growing through sidewalk cracked and other strange places...but to me they look so so pretty here. I call them cannon flowers because their seed pods look like miniature circus cannons. The wisteria-looking flowers sadly aren't on my property, but across the street in the pull off area. They are locust blooms. My locust trees are just sending their leaves out now and I'm hoping for blossom like these...but I'm not counting on it.

I love the great outdoors! :)

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Vintage Goodies!!

I have been consistently posting all sorts of cool vintage goodies in my Vintage from Crystal Etsy shop.  Take a peek and see if there's something you could use or can't resist!  :)

Monday, May 14, 2012

Yard Sale!

  This past weekend Ben and I set up shop in front of our house and sold most of the junk that had been clogging basement.

What a sweet relief is was to not have to deal with THIS anymore!  lol

As Ben and I have been fixing up each of the rooms in our house, we are figuring out what we need to keep and what we need to get rid of.  All last fall and winter long I've been adding stuff to a great pile in the middle of our basement.  Like a hoarders stash.  I've been adding to it and it's been getting bigger and bigger and spreading out.  Finally, when the basement was about to burst, we dragged it all out onto the lawn and thank goodness didn't have to drag much back in!  The rest will go to auction soon.  

We replaced all the hangers in our closet with those nice velvet ones...the old hangers were bought for almost nothing by a church lady wanting them for her thrift store.  The bird cage in the bottom corner I gave away for free because the cats knocked down and broke the whole bottom plastic piece.  Plus I built the birds a big aviary (I'll have to share photos of it soon!), so they certainly didn't need it anymore.  

Our old dining room table that served us well but blinded me with it's awful orange wood color went on to bigger and better places.  All of those vintage dishes I had collected for our wedding.  Some sold but most will be going to the auction.  

Same with the glasses from our wedding...sooooo many glasses!

Junky Christmas stuff and a pile of neon stuff animals.  The skate board was my backup board when I was in college (I always skated to class) and the little girl who bought it for a buck was soooo elated to find it.  Her mom said she'd wanted one for years but they were always too expensive in the stores.  She rode up and down the driveway sitting on it while her mama shopped.  If I had known she'd get to much joy from it so quickly, I wouldn't have taken her quarters! 

I had bought these masks for Ben at a Boston yard sale years ago.  Luckily he didn't love them that much and we sold them for a tiny profit.  

I love yard sales!  Both going and giving!

And thank you so much to everyone who found something endearing at last weeks update.  It was so much fun and I can't wait for the next one!  Patriotic this time...

Friday, May 11, 2012

Every Day Update!

Miss Shooting Star - SOLD
Miss Gilded Tea Party - SOLD
Viola - SOLD

It's finally time for an update featuring nothing but pieces you can display all day every day all year long! Well...plus a few birthday bits. Sometimes you can pick out a piece from a Christmas or Easter update that works for anytime...but this time around I made these characters specifically for displaying all the time...or at least whenever you feel like it. I hope you like them! :)

As usual, blog readers get first dibs on my new spun cotton one-of-kind figures. Click on photos to enlarge. If you see something(s) you love, just email me at vintagebycrystal@yahoo.com and I'll let you know if they're still available. First come first served! I'll update item statuses in this post as often as I can to make it easier for you to know what's available. Items often get scooped up quickly, so make your selection as swiftly as you can, you can always add available pieces to your order later.
Also feel free to include second choices in case your first choice is unavailable, but make sure you label them "second choice".

Shipping is $3.50 for one item and $1 per additional item up to $6.50, then additional pieces are free. All paid orders will ship out immediately and should arrive within a few days. I send Paypal invoices via email unless you specify that you'd rather pay via check. And of course email me if you have any questions! Happy Shopping!


Juggling Angel - 28
Miss Swan - SOLD
Miss Park Ave and her Pup - SOLD


Miss Tabitha Wadsworth - SOLD
The Owl Tamer -
SOLD
The Musician - SOLD

Birthday Bunny - SOLD
Jolly Birthday Girl -
SOLD

The Bathing Beauties:
Roxy - SOLD
Tilly - SOLD

Stella - SOLD

Miss Cupcake - SOLD
The Birthday Princess -
SOLD
The Birthday Fairy - SOLD

Miss Sing me a Birthday Song - SOLD
The Birthday Angel -
SOLD
Miss Pink Balloon - 28
Nelly Butterfly - SOLD
Tessa Butterfly - SOLD


The Blue Butterfly - SOLD
The Cobblers Angel -
SOLD
Miss Georgina Gem - SOLD

Miss Let's Play! - 28
Miss Posie -
SOLD
Miss Day Glo Dream - SOLD

The Fishing Cat Lady - SOLD
The Fishing Cat Man - SOLD


The Shopper - SOLD
Miss Ride Away - SOLD

Tinker Pink - SOLD

Miss Duet - 28
Mr Duet -
28

The Painted Lady - SOLD
The Nectar Fairy - SOLD

Miss No Worries - SOLD

Miss Strawberry Shortcake - SOLD
Miss Toadstool - 36

Thursday, May 10, 2012

A Sneak Peek


Sweet things will be available tomorrow (Friday) at 11 am EST. Click to see bigger...

Monday, May 7, 2012

First Ever Everyday Update Announcement!

With a couple of months between now and the Fourth of July, and me, mostly caught up on orders...for the first time ever I've been able to put together an "Everyday Update"!  These will be pieces that aren't associated with any particular holiday...but that celebrate everyday as a holiday!  I will however, have a bundle of birthday pieces, and depending on how many people you know...someone is bound to have a birthday around the corner...or you can hang on to it until that time comes.  For everyday cheer, I've got juggling angels, fishing pussy cats, elegant dames and musical instrument playing children.  I'll be working on even more all this week!

Blog readers get first dibs as usual and if you'd like to be notified about upcoming blog updates and special events, just sign up for my mailing list on the right side of my blog, or leave a comment with your email address.

I'll post a preview of the pieces sometime before the update so you can pick out your favorites ahead of time. :)

New one-of-a-kind pieces will be available for purchase on:

Friday, May 11th - Here, the blog - 11:00 am EST

See you here on Friday! :)