Creatively not having it lately

So the flea market is done (for now) and the auction is tonight. I'm still going, since the owners of the flea market will hopefully be selling me a kicking metal detector (as long as they remember to bring it). I used to have one of those crappy Radio Shack ones that didn't even work...proof that it didn't work was scouring the soccer field in 1997 when I lost a sterling silver ring, and didn't find it...yet the ring turned up 2 months later completely unharmed, and was found on the soccer field.

Gahhh. Sold that sucker metal detector at the next yardsale. This one is going to be a bit more expensive but with metal detectors, you really do get what someone else initially paid for ;).

Anyway, I spent this week jumping through post office hoops. Because if my carpal tunnel/ulnar neuropathy history they sent me for a physical on my dime. More like 1,760 dimes. Since when did simple physicals get so expensive? I could go into the details of how lame the physical was considering what I paid, but the doctor was nice and I got my clearance that the postal nurse required.

But I'll keep jumping through those hoops because if I flub this, I'm not going to have very nice things to say about myself, and the next time I go digging for bottles I'd probably bury myself in a ditch. LOL.

Next hoop to jump through: 90-minute driving test tomorrow in New London at 9:30. I'll admit I'm pretty nervous about it, sure I consider myself a very good driver, but I'll be the first to admit my driving scares everyone in my car. Just because I know what I'm doing doesn't mean others have much faith in me ;). And so what if I hit the curb every now and then ;). I'm kidding but I'm still nervous...and now I'm sick to boot. Either allergies or a cold, but I can't taste anything or breathe through my nose.

Maybe I over-did the digging this week. There was one sunny day (Tuesday) where I checked out a possible maybe on a new place to dig, and dug for 4 hours at the place I was digging last week. I was sneezing and coughing up all kinds of dirt, so I'd imagine that's what started it. I had some finds but didn't really take many pictures... I still need to clean & photograph last week's digs & finds too.

Tuesday night we raided the neighbor's front lawn because they had a bunch of boxes of free stuff, like old 45's and toys and stuff. Mom and I tore into those 45's like no tomorrow and we scored some awesome finds, like the Safety Dance. And there was much screaming when I found my favorite 80's song (below)...a little warped, but still plays perfect!


And then once Mom and I were done sorting out the warped records, we broke into our own 45's that we probably haven't played in 8 years but it was still tons of fun :).

One day we went to the Mystic Aquarium :).





We had such a lovely day. My grandparents took me (they have a lifetime membership so we get to go for free) and the weather was perfect too. :)

Edit: I just realized the title of this post has nothing to do with it. Mainly I was going to gripe about how little I've been inspired to write or make jewelry lately but I don't feel like it. lol. I sat in the flea market from 9-4 and everything I wrote, I ended up crossing out. I have to make a zine or something. Or just catch up in my journal. I'm getting so wrapped up in the thrill of doing stuff that I'm forgetting to write it all down.

TERRORISTS OF THE BEACH

Scarborough Beach, again.
OMG TITANIC VICTIMS WASHED UP ON THE BEACH. I mean, these are college students. I totally want to do this one day, take a bunch of blankets to the beach in almost-winter and stick my bare feet out. lol


I went to Newport, too

Too bad Brenton Point was really cold, otherwise I would have stayed longer. Instead, I went to some other beach in Middletown (no idea, but there's a wildlife preserve out there and when you turn the car around there's a HUGE CHURCH that looms on the horizon that you have no idea you drove by lol.) And that's where these pictures were taken :)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

SO what did I find while hunting for sea glass, anyway?

153 pieces!

My first piece of RED sea glass! It's shaped like the United States LOL!

And an awesome piece of shipwreck pottery, but this isn't all that old-the back reads CHINA. IT'S STILL AWESOME!

And the following, because I feel zany.



Auction tonight! Leone's Auctions

Feeling lazy lol

Ok, maybe not so lazy, more like overwhelmed.

I have so much to do and today was a lovely beach day but...BUT...

1. I didn't finish my massive Etsy upload last night. Nor will it be finished before I take off for the AUCTION. It's ok, there's always tomorrow morning. lol.

2. I'm trying to catch up in my journal, but that's like pointless because I'm a month behind and can't remember like anything from before the accident.

3. I had a dr's appointment which tied up the morning. And auction in 1/2 hour. Besides, I've been to the beaches 3 times in the past week.

4. GAS IS $3.35. FAIL. $3.11 in Richmond, RI. STILL FAIL. I mean...5 years ago gas was what, $1.36 and we started whining about the price when it went over $1.59. In fact, the BP station in Sterling CLOSED when gas was $1.59 because it was too high and no one bought it. The sign is still by the road. (Click on pic for full size, I was lazy and didn't photoshop this at all because it was taken on November 29, 2006 on my way to the My Chemical Romance concert in Providence and I forgot I took it TILL THIS VERY MOMENT. lol)


So anyway I went to Salvation Army and picked up a watch to dissect as well as some different shaped wine glasses to store my sea glass in, especially pieces I don't plan on getting rid of. My collection is 300 pieces strong now, after my trips to RI this week.

So here's pictures from this week's trips to the beach!

MONDAY
I returned to Charlestown Town Beach and found this reminder of the Hurricane of 1938. This topic has been an obsession of mine for the past two weeks (especially pertaining to Napatree Point (read: last post where I found the two boats)). Finding sea glass and other remnant of houses brings this natural disaster into focus, even though the worst hurricane I remember was Hurricane Bob. It's been 70 years since the Hurricane of 1938 this September.

From Charlestown, I drove up to Galilee to some beach where I found two kite surfers, some guy with a metal detector, and two dueling sea gulls. Didn't find much there overall, and went to Scarborough Beach where we found the majority of the day's glass, as well as this little car.


And here's my total finds for Monday!

At first, I thought this piece was a rock...but something told me to pick it up.

And I'm very glad I did! lol

TUESDAY

Went to Misquamicut in hopes to find stuff similar to Watch Hill & Napatree. Barely found anything at all. Drove to Weekapaug, and didn't find anything there either.

Yet another return to Charlestown Beach...and only found THREE pieces of glass and a kitchen knife.

This payphone is rotted & corroded, amazing since it's obviously not very old.

Charlestown Breachway looks so desolate in the winter.

Lunatic Sophie Saab is a very good little car. Very good on gas, too!

So after dismal finds at Misquamicut, Weekapaug, Charlestown, & Jerusalem (East Matunuck), I went back to Scarborough, where I had all the luck the day before. Still not much found, except a Coke Bottle piece that says "Co" (yeah...rock!), and this barn, which I hadn't taken a picture of the day before.

After Scarborough I headed to Narragansett Beach where I had the best find of the day, a blue cat's eye marble!

The white marble was one of the three glass finds at Charlestown that day.

That is SO a Coke bottle.

All sea glass, sorted in the bottom drawer of an old jewelry box (today I put them in jars & wine glasses)

Other beach finds, like this murder weapon, piece of porcelain, some bricks and fishing garbage. Well whatever. lol

And now that I'm done with this post for now, I'm off to the AUCTION. Please pray that I don't buy another 25 boxes of stuff. LOL

It's a beautiful day!

And by beautiful I mean probably about 50°F (I almost guessed 11°C, close! 10°C), overcast but who cares!

I woke up this morning and the bedroom was really hot, so I got up and retrieved a bottle of diet Mountain Dew (I have this like what....once every two months?) from the Saab, and I just stood outside because it was so refreshing, and the birds were out...

I'm going to spend the day driving around and posting flyers in all the local post offices :). And of course, prep a massive Etsy listing upload. Maybe paint my secret beads. Or sort all the boxes of crap now in my "apartment." (Side note: my apartment is 2 rehabbed rooms in the basement, and we'll be rehabbing the 3rd as soon as we clean it out. I still share the kitchen/bathroom/most of the house with my mom.)

I went to the flea market yesterday to move those 20 boxes of crap--they're in the Jeep. Some boxes (5 or 6) are going to be donated but we haven't decided where. I was thinking Salvation Army, but maybe a local school would have a better use for them? I have about three boxes of Family Circle and Woman's Day (World? forgot) magazines and some boxes of children's books. I got a load of Berenstein Bears books, but I'm keeping those for my future kids.

There are a LOT of crafting magazines (3, 4 boxes?). I actually do plan on flipping through each and every one looking for ideas and whatever I don't use either I'll sell or donate.

There are 5 boxes of COOK BOOKS at the flea market. Whoever collected them was out of her mind.

Anyway. I have a lot to do today. Ideas welcome on the mags since I don't really want to inundate Salvation Army with them.

Ew, ew ew ew.

I've thrown up 6 times this morning, so far. I've been up since 5:15 because I couldn't sleep and I was in a lot of pain when I woke up, like a pins & needles feeling in my stomach with a really bad headache. I threw up 3 times at 6:45 and 3 times again about 10 minutes ago.

I really want to just go back to bed, but I'm staying at the computer because it's 20 feet from the porcelain shrine and my bed is down a flight of stairs and across the house.

Before you ask. I highly doubt I'm pregnant. lol. I think it was something I ate yesterday because in the madness that was running around and doing errands, I only ate one "meal" which was egg salad, and some combos I found on top of the fridge. The bag wasn't open, but it wasn't expired either...still, I don't really know how old it was. I thought it was left over snacks from November, but the more I think about it, it could have been left over snacks from my 23rd birthday party/sleepover at Tucker's. I'm 24 now. lol.

And then I didn't eat anything before running off to the auction, where I dropped $15 on 25 boxes of books and magazines. I thought there were supposed to be some craft supplies in there somewhere, but when I was poking around I couldn't find any. (I bought it sight unseen, basically). I'll be lucky if I can make my $15 back. lol

I bought a couple other things, a lamp that needs fixing for $3, a marble plant stand that I'm going to sell, and some other crap. We'll see what I can do with it, but there were about 115 people at the auction and deals went fast. I missed many of the good ones, but there's always good deals there so better luck next time, right?

I was supposed to head to the area's first and largest yardsale this morning, but I'm not going anywhere. Besides, we had a snow storm last night and it's still snowing now, so I don't think there is a yardsale. And I really, really feel like hell.

Theme for LEAP DAY!

Name of the car: Lunatic Sophie. That way it's still Sophie Saab but now Luna's name is incorporated into it, thanks to Torann, who left the first comment on this blog!

Today is Leap Day. I'm so excited! I'm going to the auction in Jewett City tonight, I know it's supposed to snow but maybe that means less people will show up and I can get some great bargains! I had my biggest sale ever on Etsy last night, which has me wicked pumped and makes me think that I'm going in the right direction by finding & buying rare vintage fabrics and supplies. The fabric sat on Etsy for about two weeks, but then one person came and bought almost all of it. I knew it was a good idea! Now I just have to keep plugging away!

I love to find things and bring them to others. Flo, who is the woman I bought the fabric from, has had the fabric sitting in her flea market booth for about 20 years. Little old ladies come and buy from flo, but they're looking for plain fabrics and not something that's so obviously out-dated. There's a niche market for vintage fabrics, and if I learned anything from Justin, it's that niche markets do so well on the internet--that's exactly what he said to me during my second interview before I started working there two years ago tomorrow. I mean, Yankee Retail IS a successful company. There are reasons for that. Hard to believe it's been two years since I got that job, and over nine months since I left it. If Jeff wanted to hire me back tomorrow, I'd reconsider at least part time because work is work. Ocean State Job Lot might hire me part time till summer, then full time. That's exciting, because I do half of my grocery shopping there (dry & canned goods) and I could use an employee discount. The economy is bad. Ocean State is cheaper than Walmart. (Yes, really.)

Anyway. Flo. She's the one with the treasure trove, not me. I help her find her register keys and that ever-so-elusive-ribbon that she cut 2 hours ago and lost as soon as she put it down. She thinks my name is Monica or Nicole, but that's ok. Ten years ago, my cat's name was Monica and my neighbor's name was Nicole, so she's close. I can't really make much of a profit from the vintage buttons she sells, but I do pick through and buy the unique ones.

As for the flea market, I bought this awesome Arabian puppet thing. I wish I had pictures because it's so neat. I love doing the designing for the booth because it's bright, colorful, cool, and people have to stop and look when they walk by. It's so cool, I get compliments every week and sometimes even a little cash! lol. I'm thinking of putting together a photobook of the pictures I've taken in there over the past 3 years, because I've taken so many and I really think the vendors would enjoy possibly seeing items they've sold years ago brought back to them in this format. Takes up less space.

Here's a quick look at pictures taken in there (whatever I already had in my photobucket account, lol)

Glassware, February 13, 2005

Me, Josh, Nick, and Leash, February 13, 2005And this mirror is STILL for sale, 3 years later!

Mannequin, January 7, 2007

This was the day I bought my mannequin head, the inspiration for Mannequin Reject (the zine!). February 20, 2005.

LOL Ho Trains. December 17 (?), 2006.

It's so strange looking through these pictures. At the time I never thought I'd become part of this tight-knit flea market community. Really, some people have had booths in here for months or weeks and never become a part of it, but I've had the booth almost three months and no one wants me to ever leave. I look forward to every Sunday. I just feel so good about it. :)

Auction tonight. I haven't gone in over a month and I just miss seeing that same community! (Really, all the same people go to the auction who have booths in the flea market...) I have an empty, spacious, clean car to fill. (Not much money to fill it...)

I found out yesterday that I haven't written in my paper journal since Jan.31. I haven't had a gap like this since Uncle Larry died, and that was only a 20 day gap that I spent 5 hours typing to catch up. I just can't believe that I spent so much time this month on paperwork and all that process that goes with it to take care of the accident and the Grand Am, not to mention making over 30 pairs of earrings and working so hard to promote my etsy shop. I really thought floating around the forums was beginning to become a waste of time until I saw that fabric order. I think I really stopped breathing for a moment. lol

To do list for today, or the future:
-Mail fabric to customer.
-Stop at Ocean State and bug manager for job, again.
-Write in paper journal (finish, only 16 pages left!)

-AUCTION
-Paint secret beads that I made a few days ago and am dying to put on Etsy.
-TAXES.
-Clean extra stuff from car to mail back to former owner, like his flip flops.
-Price spark plugs & wires and call mechanic about tune up (the only thing that car needs! sweet).
-Call insurance company to find out if the lien holder on the Grand Am is cooperating with them yet (don't even get me started! This has been such a fiasco that I'll never finance through Sovereign Bank ever again! Geico is willing to pay, aren't they happy they'll be getting the FULL amount I owed on the car?!?!?!?!?!!?! Especially in a time when everyone and their uncle is defaulting on loans? saflkdjshlfkjasdhf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
-Domesticky thingies, like dishes and laundry.

-sigh- I. want. paperwork. over. with. I don't even have the car anymore, geico took it the same day I got the Saab. And there's a mini-fiasco with the DMV and the Saab because silly me forgot there's this thing called a TITLE, that all cars newer than 1981 need in order to be registered (in this state). I wanted to mail this guy's plates back to him yesterday so there's no question about who this car really belongs to if, God forbid, I get pulled over.

Busy busy busy.

Can't you see me darting from one yardsale to another in THIS?

And I drove it 96 miles home. :D

Still no final verdict on the name though. Since Saabs are from Sweden and I once knew a girl from Sweden named Luna, I was going to name it after her twin sister Sophia, or Sophie for short. I kind of like it. Sophie the Saab. And Sophie is the name of Drew Barrymore's character in Music & Lyrics.

Oh. And ♥ the car. It could benefit from a tune up, but that's all it needs! And it's CLEAN! No more dog hairs stuck under the cruise control buttons like in the Grand Am. No cruise control, actually. lol And can we talk about the gas milage? I DROVE FROM BOSTON TO HOME AND ONLY USED 1/4 TANK OF GAS. That's like nothing compared to what the Grand Am or the Pontiac 6000 would use. And what they would use is nothing like the Jeep used. Holy hell. Jeep...to Boston & back= $50. Saab, from Boston to home= not even $10.

I need to make a new car CD mix. teehee. Yes, it has a CD player (A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++)

So, there's an auction tomorrow night and a HUGE yardsale to kick off the season in Mansfield. I got some cute camel statues off ebay.

I put up 8 new pairs of Clock Hand earrings on ETSY. Check them out!

Etsians: IF YOU BUY ANYTHING FROM ME and send me pictures to show me how you rock it, I will feature you in this blog! Even supplies--if you show me what you make with them!

http://mannequinreject.etsy.com

-sigh-

My car was totaled in an accident last Saturday night.



But this means 3 things:
1. I don't have a car.
2. I don't deliver newspapers anymore. (see above)
3. I can't afford to keep the booth in the flea market. This Sunday will be my last Sunday unless business picks up. But if I don't make the rent, I need to call it quits until I get some money.

-sigh-

It was a good, almost 3 month run...but no one has any money. God knows I don't. Hell I don't have money to get a car, even a crappy one. I don't even have enough money to pay next month's bills. Still job hunting. Still have the Jeep, except it's going through coolant like crazy and I don't have the money to fix it. And because it was going through $35 a day in gas and a bottle of coolant every night I had to deliver the paper, I had to leave the Bulletin because I couldn't afford the gas (I wasn't going to have enough money to make it to my next paycheck) and I can't afford to wreck my only car, nevermind repair it. I mean...I stopped delivering Tuesday night because between Sunday morning and Tuesday night it had gone through $140 in gas ALONE. $140.

I didn't go to the auction tonight either. Why tempt myself or resist temptation and go home empty-handed? Besides, don't have a car to get to J.C. I spent the night posting supplies and a few pieces of jewelry on Etsy and combed the basement for spare change...1993 style. I remember I did that on January 1, 1993, which kicked off coin collecting because I found a nickel from 1938 and had never seen a Jefferson nickel so old before...so...an obsession was born. But now I'm searching the house for old purses & wallets that I abandoned full of change when I was working at ITema because when I was working at ITema, money didn't really mean much. So far all I found in the basement were a bunch of wheat pennies and Big Y coins and tokens from the Connecticut Toll.

I need money. Right now. I mean, I almost contemplated going back to The Resident and working for Alexis EXCEPT I forgot the biggie--my camera is a tad broken. And she requires you to take your own pics for the story. Oy.....broken camera, broken car...

AT LEAST my credit card is not maxed out. But my bank account is empty. Most of the time I'm actually okay with it but right now I have PMS and don't feel like eating anything in the house.

Anyway.

I spent a lovely day walking around what's left of the antiques district in Putnam. This is what I observed.

1. I don't care, the SIMPSONS is not old enough to be considered antique, or even vintage.
2. Even though I haven't visited that huge 4 story antique store on the corner since 1994, that 1869 map of Sterling is STILL there. Whattttt. That's 14 years of sitting there collecting dust and probably the only person who might want it in this entire state is me. LOL
3. More than 50% of the antique stores that were there when Mom and I were going to the Dark Forest are now gone, and their storefronts remain empty.
4. That being said, is Putnam still considered to be one of the leading antiques districts?

I had Chai tea at Victoria Station, even though I really can't afford $3.30 lattes. I've been kind of spoiling myself this week because Wednesday was my birthday and naturally Thursday was Valentine's Day...but I couldn't celebrate my birthday Wednesday because I had the post office exam in Hartford...so I used the entire rest of the week to do it. I don't care that my car is wrecked, really. I didn't care Saturday and I don't care now, not when being alive is what's important. You can always buy a new car (well....not right now...lol) but you can't buy a new life, no matter how much Everclear says you can. lol

must....resist....temptation

I went to two sites tonight and filled up a shopping cart with like $100 worth of stuff.....

...and left the sites before ordering. hahaha

I really wanted to buy some cool stuff for the flea market but the economy is so bad that all the vendors at the flea market are complaining that the weeks since Christmas have been some of the worst weeks ever. I mean...I only made $8 last weekend and rent is $26. Instead I found value in the day by helping Flo (the fabric booth across from me) find the keys for her cash register, put up more papyrus, and take pictures.

I was exhausted from lack of sleep too. This newspaper thing is not forever, I keep telling myself. But I dread ever returning to an office job, unless it's the post office.

Anyway, I didn't buy anything new for the flea market. I really wanted to go all out and get some cheap mood rings and some pimp hats and some silly keychains from Rhode Island Novelty....but $50 once again means something to me. I need to sell more stuff before I can buy more stuff to sell.

I went to Danny's Auction out on Rt. 6 in Foster, RI yesterday (this was the previously mentioned Monday night auction I wrote about back when I still had my day job). Let me tell you...it was like that scene in The Blues Brothers where they're at Bob's Country Bunker and they ask what kind of music they have in there and the bar maid replies, "oh, we have both kinds. Country AND Western!"

Still, it was nice to see some of the flea market regulars like Bob with the mad awesome furniture and Frank the golf ball guy. I like Bob Leone's auction every other Friday much, much better.

Off to make some jewelry or paint and be artsy or something. Or cook or something.

As blood trickles down my thumb, I wonder

Why do I keep buying junk broken watches at auction to take apart rather than just buying all the separate pieces online?

I've successfully dissected three old watches. The first watch I bought from Salvation Army and in the process of taking it apart, I stabbed myself with an exacto knife, a thumbtack, and a screwdriver went under my fingernail. I gave up at that point and came back to it a few days later, where it seemed to fall apart like magic.

Last night I picked up two matching old broken watches at the auction. (AND 60 SKELETON KEYS! OMGGGGGGG)...but in taking those apart I got the exacto blade down my cuticle. And of course, this was about 15 minutes after I finished cleaning rust off the previously mentioned 60 skeleton keys. Do I need a tetanus shot? Well if my thumb falls off, I guess that would be a yes. Anyway. At this point I just smashed both watches with a hammer, and they fell apart quite nicely. Actually...they didn't, I had to cut the un-interesting faces off ( trust me if they looked like normal watches, I wouldn't have), and access the gears of the watch, and then pry the sections apart by ripping off that knob thing you use to change the time. When all was said and done, I was pleasantly surprised that a--these weren't battery operated and b--they had a lot more nicely shaped gears than the last watch.

But I smashed them with a hammer! There has got to be a more efficient way.

And vinegar to clean rust is a decent solution, but it really wrecks your hands in the morning. Off to make more jewelry, I'm pretty far behind on my 10-a-week goal but then again I had a pretty busy week.

I started incorporating coins into my work as well. weeeeee!

I have a package waiting for me at the post office!

Sooooooooo on Saturday when I got back from raiding Salvation Army looking for broken clocks and watches I found a little card waiting for me in my mail box. I have a package waiting for me at the post office...and I can't wait to go pick it up to see what on earth it could be. I'm currently waiting for about 6 packages coming in from all over the US, which is wicked exciting except that I was expecting half of them last week, and so I feel delayed, just a tad.

But that's ok. My styrofoam heads came in finally and I set to work on those (new project!) HOWEVER...I didn't realize that SPRAYPAINT EATS STYROFOAM. So don't do it. So I'll try to save the heads and if I'm lucky, I'll be able to sell the finished product. If not...well..I'll do it right, try again, and if that screams FAIL, then I'll continue making jewelry.

Oh. I'll be posting stuff on Etsy fairly soon, and when I do I'll be sure to make a big deal about it.

So auction update!: Friday night I went to the auction house...which is just in another section of the same old textile mill that the flea market is in, and had a lovely night. I didn't bid on much until a rotating jewelry display full of earrings went up. And I got it for a good price, not to mention that it came with 50 pairs of earrings.

I also bought a box lot of stuff which turned out to be a little disappointing, the auctioneer said paper goods and the last box lot that was paper goods was all cool stuff from the 50's. My "paper goods" lot was a bunch of unused calendars from 1981 and a book that's entirely in Hebrew. Maybe I'll ebay it because someone's always looking for cheap wholesale lots on there. There was an old jewelry box in the lot as well, but it's broken and the cloth inside is stained something fierce. There was some stuff in it but not much for mention, and I could still get more than what I paid for it on ebay. I'll throw in some junk plastic jewelry and call it a day.

I bought a Victorian dresser, complete with mirror, for $10 . It's a beauty. Unfortunately, when I got it home, I discovered it's too tall for the future bedroom, which only has a 6'5" ceiling...and the dresser is about 6'6". It's ok, I won't be living there forever.

Speaking of auctions, there's another one tonight that I haven't admittedly heard much about but I want to give it a shot because I heard there are wholesale lots...which are good if you have a flea market booth.

And speaking of flea markets: Sunday was better than my worst day, but I didn't make the rent. It seems to me that my booth is slowly gaining ground because I didn't miss the rent by much, and I'm seeing the same people over and over. These things take time to build and I am somewhat patient!

Hopefully all of you are still patient, because I still haven't posted pics of the jewelry I made. I now have 11 pieces and growing, and I work on this project in every spare moment. But this project is a huge one with many, many facets.

Note: I got over my 3 week EBAY obsession without spending too much money! Three of the most expensive things I bid on, I lost. Which is also good, because it just allowed me to step back and breathe and learn that YES, I can say no to increasing my maximum bid and let that thing get away. Especially if I'm going to make myself stick to a budget. Last week I really did blow $200 on beads, but it's ok. I still have my day job.

Mannequin Reject

In addition to my other two blogs, The Indie Historian and Is This Your License Plate? I decided to start a blog about my booth at the College Mart Flea Market in Jewett City, CT.

But it's not just about the booth, it's about my artwork and crafts and things I'm working on at the moment.

Which until New Year's Eve, "Things I'm working on" was usually NOTHING. This was something that bothered me greatly ever since I finished high school. I mean...I went to college and did some things around 2003, finished my last novel in 2004, and wrote my zine, Mannequin Reject in 2005...and then became employed full time and all my artsy dreams vaporized.

I just realized this blog entry has the potential to become extremely long and not-internet-typical-ADD-reader-friendly. lol

So my latest mission is making jewelry.  Since New Year's Eve I've probably purchased about $200 worth of beads (went to a different store every day...Michaels....Walmart...A.C. Moore...Michael's again...ordered some online from beadworld.com)...and made 1 brooch, 1 straight pin, 7 pairs of earrings, and 2 necklaces.

The auction that's every other week (http://www.leonesauctions.com) is tonight and while I completely blew my entire auction budget on beads/jewelry/ebay, I am still going to go at least for a couple hours. I mean, I'm always looking for cheap antique furniture and auctions are the way to go.

I mean, I picked up a 1930's white velvet chair for $5 at the last auction. And a side table for the same amount.

Looking for pics? Check out the Mannequin Reject/ Egyptian Emporium myspace page. I'll get around to posting some here, when I go off on some rant about how artsy I feel. www.myspace.com/mannequinreject

So...WHY was my 2005 zine called Mannequin Reject? To be honest, I don't remember. It has something to do with the mannequin head I bought from the same flea market I now have a booth in. :)