Are you still looking for your Valentine?

Girl on Foil Hat (on box) - 32 ~ Petunia with a Present (on heart box) - SOLD ~ Joined at the Hip - SOLD

Are you still in search of a Valentine? These cuties are too! They've been hanging around my studio for a while but are now in my Etsy shop and are hoping for a Valentine of their own this year. Email me at vintagebycrystal@yahoo.com if you want to claim one, or just go to Etsy. :)

And I want to thank everyone for two wonderful Valentine's Day updates. I am so glad so many of you enjoy my silly figures as much as I do!

Puppy Love (on box) - 48
This cute young couple are also hoping for a change in scenery and have a nice new price as well.

Miss Victorian Proper - SOLD ~ Miss Big Bunny - SOLD ~ A Mini Girl and Her Mini Bunny - SOLD ~ Easter Blue - SOLD

And while I was at it, I decided to list this handful of Easter cuties to Etsy too! They too have been hanging around the studio for a while and would love to find a sunny window sill somewhere wonderful. :)

Valentine's Day Update!

Fishing for Hearts - SOLD
Polly Princess - SOLD
Miss Heart Juggler - SOLD

Just a handful of little guys and gals to warm your heart on this chilly, rainy, winter day in the Northeast. :) Happy Valentine's Day!

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 in 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!

Miss Love Bird - SOLD
My Heart is Yours Bunny -SOLD
Queen of Hearts - SOLD

Red Skunk in Love - SOLD
Sweet Elephant -SOLD

Miss Heavy Heart - SOLD
Happy Haddie (on box) -SOLD
Angel in Love - SOLD

The Fair Flapper Girl - SOLD
Philla on a Pheasant -SOLD

Sweetie the Pink Owl - SOLD
Harmony the Red Owl - SOLD

A Little Sneak Peek!

A little peek-a-boo at what's in store for tomorrow...11am eastern time sharp! :)

"See" you tomorrow!

Valentine's Day Update Announcement!

I wasn't sure if I would do one or two Valentine's Day Updates this year...but after the characters from the first one flew away quickly (thank you everyone!), I decided to make a few more pieces for the day of love and still with plenty of time to spare. I've got some all new characters, including a girl who's fishing for hearts, a red striped skunk in love, a spunky Queen of Hearts, and more! They've already captured my heart and I hope they do the same to yours! :)

Blog readers get first dibs on new pieces 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.

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

Friday, January 27th. Here, the blog. 11:00 am EST.

See you here on Friday! :)

Things in Progress

I have several projects in the works at once right now. One that I'm especially excited about. Ben and I finally started building the floor to ceiling entertainment center/built-in shelves in our living room! It will have a similar look and feel to the shelves I built in the dining room, but this one has a cabinet base instead of straight up shelving from the floor. It was/is a bit more of a challenge in that respect, but so far so good!


I spent a good chunk of Saturday sitting down to figure out the design, configuration and materials list before heading to the lumber yard. The guy at the lumber yard was patient with me luckily. Really...the hardest part of this whole thing is figuring out ahead of time how many feet of what type and size wood we needed. I think I got it pretty accurate so far, knock on wood we won't run into any shortages (although we could always make another lumber yard trip). There are more sketches where this came from!

And just a little while ago I started working on more mushrooms! This morning I forgot to preheat my studio after the cold weekend, so while I was waiting for the baseboard heating to do it's job upstairs, and spent some time downstairs in the kitchen watching Will and Grace reruns and sculpting mushrooms on the counter. Now it's time to work on some custom orders.... There's lots in progress here! :)

Mom and Me Snow Ball People Collaboration

A couple of times a year, my mom and I get together and combine our work into one. Last year we did some fabulous Easter pieces and this season we did an amazing series of Snowball people. As usual, she sculpted and I decorated.

Mom can't resist using moms and babies in her work. The mom and baby piece is really something...The way the baby is clinging to her back and the way she is reaching her snow arms back to hold him/her. And the faces are great!! I added 100% wool felt hats (hand sewn, I'm so proud!) and a scarf for mom and a cape for baby.

This cute snowball was originally made as prototype for Dept. 56 before they restructured. The face is so detailed...I added the white holly leaves and mica. It looks lovely hanging in my window and matches the outdoor scenery!

I just listed Little "Jamie" the snowball and Snow Mom and Snow Baby in my Etsy shop. Also feel free to just email me if you'd like to purchase one or both. :)

This funny little pair really gave everyone a good chuckle. I hope she makes a pair like this again! Could you imagine, snowchildren having a snowball fight! They found a home at the SOWA show last month and I just barely got a photo of them before they took off.

Same with this baby and her newborn...complete with acorn cap. So sweet!!

Mom and I are hoping to do another Easter collaboration within the next few months....stay tuned for that! :)

A few Tidbits from Christmas Past

I've been saving these photos to post ever since Christmas, wanting to take a few more photos of gifts and things before I shared them....but what the heck...why wait any longer. :)

The pretty and very old bird on the mantel is one of my two gifts from Ben. He always knows just what to get me! Last year it was scanner...lol. He also got me a cloth Mother Goose book that's over 100 years old. It's one of those books that were made for babies and toddlers so they couldn't rip the pages and the graphics and softness of the pages are amazing. Thanks Ben!

And this was my gift to Ben. Rubber boots since we live in the country now. I packed them with socks (which he actually asked for), a headlight, a little old bicycle picture frame and some other goodies. I tried to stash the boots behind the tree before he opened everything, but he spotted them immediately! lol

I made this pie for Christmas, but had to put it in the oven to bake at my parent's house on Christmas Eve since we were spending the evening there. My Dad didn't let me save it for the next day unscathed. The apples were really ripe which made it watery...but the flavor was amazing!

Little molassas spice cookies for Grandma. The recipe is here. They were really good and I ate a bunch of them before I packed them up for her!

This was the gift I gave my sister, Suzy. She is 14 and was desperate for a vanity for her room. I bought this one over the summer at the auction for $17. I wish I had taken a before shot, but I didn't think ahead. It was a dark blue and had some missing knobs and some of the drawers were stuck a bit. I painted it fresh white and added some new old knobs and sanded the drawers so they pulled out more smoothly.

I even lined the light blue drawers with beautiful foil wrapping paper. I love how it turned out and she was thrilled to get it. However I have to get a little better at keeping surprises. Before everyone arrived, I covered it with a huge quilt and put it in a separate room, but she spotted it through the window when she came in and claims she knew what it was (and luckily was excited). lol

I had this queen bow from Silver Bella and knew she would be the perfect person to get it!

We didn't take as many people photos as I had wanted to, but my sweet sister Sara is modestly thrilled at her gift from mom...

While Suzy is relaxing after a hard morning of opening presents.

It was a Merry Christmas! I'll share more of my cool gifts as soon as I'm organized enough to photograph them! :)

Valentine's Day Update!

Little Bobby Balloons - SOLD
Love Kitty - SOLD
Key to Your Heart Angel - SOLD

Love love love! The cold days of winter are instantly warmed when you add some splashes of red and pink! An addition of course to the fragrance of fresh flowers from a loved one, and the indulgence of chocolate...it's ok when it's Valentine's Day. It's not a huge holiday like Christmas or Halloween...but at this time of year, it's just right. Hopefully these guys and gals will help bring some Valentine's cotton-goodness into your home!

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 in 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!

Charley Cherubim - SOLD
Bundled up Beatrice - SOLD

Little Hattie Heart - SOLD
Bunny Blossom - SOLD
Georgiana - SOLD

Miss Avril - SOLD
Miss Candy Apple - SOLD
Pink Heart Angel - SOLD

Darla and her Doll - SOLD
Petunia with a Present (on heart box) - 32
Ballerina Bunny - SOLD

Lock and Key Bunny - SOLD
Red Pheasant Rider - SOLD
The Girl Who is Loved - SOLD

Red Blossom Girl - SOLD
Pink Blossom Girl - SOLD

Polmina and Pip the Pup - SOLD
Miss Lovesalot - SOLD
Mom and Babe - SOLD

Lilly - SOLD
Lionel - SOLD

Rolland Red Owl - SOLD
Katie Pink Owl - SOLD
Wally White Owl - SOLD

Little Sneak Peek

A little Valentine's Day looky loo for you.
Click to see bigger and hopefully I'll "see" you here tomorrow! :)

Valentine's Day Update!

Love is in the air! How do I know? I got a spam email the other day saying "The Pressure of Valentine's Day is upon you". I laughed a little at it's presumptuousness. Ben isn't a huge fan of Valentine's Day and therefore puts no pressure on me to produce a gift for him. But I think it's a fun and colorful holiday for when the gray days of winter might be getting a little drab and it's a good excuse to get myself a little gift instead. There's no pressure in our house on Valentine's Day, but I still can't help but deck out my little white feather tree with heart ornaments and scatter lovey dovey figures, both crafted and vintage, all about. And so I've been creating a whole bunch of red and pink characters that can add some color to your drab winter, or if you are feeling the pressure of Valentine's Day, hopefully help relieve it (I've been told that mothers, sisters, and aunts go gaga over some red and pink cotton!).

Blog readers get first dibs on new pieces 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.

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

Wednesday, January 18th. Here, the blog. 11:00 am EST.

See you here on Wednesday! :)

Look at what I got!

It came! It came! My new camera finally came in the mail! The mailman and his truck almost got stuck in the snow on the lawn delivering it, but it was worth it! Ben the tech whiz with the advice of his photographer cousin basically picked this Canon G12 for me to record all of my creative pursuits from here on out. What camera did I have before?

This HP beauty that I'm pretty sure my mom bought on a black Friday sale for $75 ten years ago. Yes, that's a rubber band that's keeping the 4 AA batteries from falling out. And yes, it has three, count them, three settings: flash; zoom; and good, better, best pixel quality. Ugh....now it's just a paper weight! Yippee!!

The new camera has a semi-wide angle lens that let's me capture more of the mess that lingers in my studio...

It captures every little speck...I don't think I even noticed all that dust on my tiny blue bins with my bare eyes!

Color is great...

Did you realize that they made those foil covered Christmas ornaments with Japanese newspaper paper mache? After looking at this photo I know now!

Photos capture the personality of inanimate objects...

I've always loved that blurry, clear, blurry kind of photo...check!

Uncle Sam is looking crisp and clear!

It even takes great photos in darker areas!

And near windows!

Good depth...

Even boring stuff looks interesting!

I love love love my new camera and the best part? It will help in keeping one of my main New Year's resolutions...being a better blogger! Stay tuned for more crisp and clear photos! :)