gathering

I do love a treasure hunt. I think in my former life I was definitely a gatherer in the hunter/gatherer group. I like nothing more than going to a yard sale or thrift shop and digging though it all to find a gem. So, you can imagine my excitement at the prospect of attending a yard sale at the scrapbook/rubber stamp store where I teach. I wasn't able to attend the first sale last fall, but I did sell lots of goodies. This time I just went to shop with the big credit I had from the fall sale.

It snowed on Friday and my guys dug out my car for me. I got up bright and early Saturday morning, drove down the mountain, and picked Mom up on the way. We pulled into the parking lot of Collective Journey and parked right in front. The ladies in line got a good giggle out of our arrival with snow on the car. We went in with a plan. Mom knows my style and I told her things I was looking for...vintage, collage, nature stamps and anything with Ranger on it. I do love my ranger products. She started at one end and I started at the other end. We met in the middle with our arms and baskets full of treasure. These are the goodies I brought home. The only thing I bought that's not in the photo is a Ranger brayer.  I opened it up and put it away before I thought to take the photo.  The best part is that I didn't spend a dime, it was all purchased with the credit I had from the last sale.

Since the sale, I've been thinning the herd. You know taking out the stamps that need new homes. I've sold a few and plan to trade in the rest this weekend at the most wonderful little stamp store, GeeGee's. The wall of stamps has been rearranged and cleaned up. It's still a work in progress, but I'm getting there.  So, does anyone have any melting pot tips for me. I got it to use with UTEE and have dreams of using it for beeswax. I just don't have any beeswax yet. I will very soon, though! Don't you just love a great bargain?

another treasure hunt weekend

It's all about the yard sales this weekend. Kyle has decided he wants a GPS to do some geocaching, so he's holding a yard sale today with a bit of help from his Dad to keep it running smoothly. I dug out some things last night to add to his sale. It's so hot this weekend that I think his big seller will be the bottled water he's selling for $1. There are literally hundreds of yard sales on the mountain this weekend. Mom will soon be on her way up and we are headed out to hit a few sales this morning with chocolate donuts in hand.

I stopped by a few sales yesterday and picked up those fabulous keys. I've been trying to find old keys forever. They have been elusive, but yesterday I spied these in a wine glass just as I was about to leave the sale. Definitely a diamond in the rough. When I pulled up it looked like a guy yard sale with lots of electronic type stuff and the guy manning the sale was a bit suspect. So glad I stopped anyway and went on with the hunt. I'm certain that my ancestors were hunter/gatherers.

I am a pig

Truly in many senses of the word. I am a completely messy person at my very core. I married a man who is a bit of a neat freak. It doesn't have to be clean, but he doesn't like clutter. If I don't keep things picked up, he does. The exception is my craft room. It's truly my room except the family computer lives here. He has to come in here to use the computer, so occasionally I really look at the mess and feel bad for the guy. These photos were taken after about 30 minutes of clearing the left side of my stamping table. I spent over 2 hours on my mess yesterday and it's still not finished.

My family of origin completely gave up on me. Just shut the door they would say. I always had a pile of dirty laundry, books, and heaven knows what in my room as a kid. My mom tells the story of a half-eaten sandwich way past it's prime that she found in my sock drawer. I believe her. The funny thing is that I'm paying for all of my messiness. My almost teen son has inherited my messy nature. I occasionally sneak into his hovel when he is at school to remove science experiments and dirty dishes. Oh, what a mess. There were ants in his closet recently...ewww!

I am a pig in another sense. I can't pass up a fantastic yard sale or thrift shop bargain. I want it all! Today officially kicks off yard sale season here on the mountain. There will be a few pre-sales today. Tomorrow Mom will come up for the day for our annual yard sale mania. We start with chocolate donuts and the yard sale map and see what happens. The church in my neighborhood is having a sale starting at 8am tomorrow. That's where we will start.

I'll try to finish cleaning up all this mess today, so I have room for more stuff tomorrow! I surely don't need anything, but you can see I'm piggish, so I'm sure to find something. Here is the rest of my messy room: