Around my house....my owl collection...part one!

I really don't know when my obsession with all things owly began, but slowly these little creatures have taken over my house. I actually don't even have room for many of them, so I have started rotating them around. My collection consists of figurines, huge 70's pendants, wade statues, suncatchers, stuffed animals, puppets, teeshirts, placemats, needlepoint, wallhangings, photographs, artwork, wood blocks, soapstone carvings, banks, plates, a wallet, a picnic basket, and more. I thought they would be cute to share on my blog so here are some of the little guys (and gals.)

Porcelain owl peeking into my camera.

Above, a copper owl bank with marbled eyes, and a chubby little barn owl made of hand painted stone.

 Above, I don't know what this is made of, but isn't he cute? I love his eyes sticking out over his head.

Above, this beautiful and funky suncatcher was only $5 at a local thrift shop. It's about 8 inches across. 

The owl on the right, above, is marked "Mexico" and I almost overlooked it at a flea market, not recognizing it as an owl! It's a very abstract and folky piece of art, about 6 inches tall..for only $3. Yes!

Above, the little guy on the left reminds me of a gremlin. The cute one. What was his name?

My owl wallet, which features 70's-style owl prints with little heart cutouts. Made by Bungalow 360.

Three little owls. The one in front is flat on the back and I thought of maybe turning it into a funky pendant by adding a bail, but I'm still debating. He's only about 2 inches tall.

Above: the basket in the back is an old picnic basket with a double opening top and cute little owl hand painted on the front. I found this in the Putnam, CT antiques district for $15 last summer. 

This mini needlepoint was only $0.50 and has its own frame and hanger! It's about 3 inches square. In back is an owl figurine that has a body like a whale and giant painted eyes. 

I really adore this guy, above, because his eyes are like twice the size of his body. Made of some type of glazed ceramic, I purchased him in Florida at a thrift shop for $3. 

So, that's part of my collection. I hope to share more of it soon. It's just hard to take all of these out of their little nooks and photograph them! I'm in the process of organizing my jewelry (the stuff I sell, mostly) so while I am at it, I'll put my owl stuff aside for a future post. I also have a lot of owls in my photo print shop. If you're into owls, too, take a look at my owl photos!  Enjoy...~Mary

Photo Cards & some new jewelry....

Just some fun things I've been working on lately! Let me know what you think...

 Above, this is a jasper stone bead that I wrapped with a gold filigree piece, added a bird charm and chain.

 Above. This was a tiny square frame to which I adhered a photo of a robin's nest and coated with glossy accents glaze.

 Above- Jesse the Barn Owl made into a necklace!

 Above- my photo "Breathe" printed to fit inside a necklace with a protective glaze and shell bead accent.

 Above, I made a bunch of photo note cards using prints of my photos adhered with acid-free 3m photo glue and using acid free, embossed cream colored cardstock. Each of them has matching envelope.

Above, one of the cards. This was my photo "Vintage Fair Ribbons" which made the front page of Etsy last week! Yippee! I sold three copies of the 8x10 and one 16x24 large format. I'm so thrilled other people see what I see when I look at this collection of old ribbons. I found it to be so pretty and interesting when I visited the Barnstable county fair last summer on Cape Cod.
I'll probably have lots more time to get crafty this week, as it is supposed to SNOW all week. :) Oh and P.S. - see my shop links on the right side of my blog for where you can purchase the above items!

More Daylight = Yay! My after-work adventure...

As I sat at work today pondering the fact that I haven't taken any new photos recently, it struck me that I had an extra hour of sun today. (and have since Sunday, but it was, in fact, sunny today.) And warm! So off I went, after work, to see what I could see with my last precious hour or so of good light. I headed south for about 20 minutes until I ended up near Misquamicut beach in Westerly. I looooved just being outside and soaking up the sunshine and fresh early Spring air. And the birds were out....so many, their songs and chirps all melted together in a cacophonous melody and I wasn't quite sure where to look first...

This chubby American Robin was chirping so loud I had to take his photo. He was totally posing for me, too. It's the same one in both shots. I just love their clownish faces and fat bellies. heh.

These two swans swam and dived around together for a while before swimming off into the sunset.

There were about a thousand red-winged blackbirds. Twittering and chirping and making noises that sounded like songs but not quite. They were in every treetrop as I looked back over the landscape, like little black inkblots sitting on the trees and branches. I caught this one in "mid-sing."

Reflections from an old building in the calm inlets off Misquamicut beach.

I really kind of wanted to jump into the water until I remembered it wasn't going to be nice enough for swimming until mid summer. Whoops! 

Objects in mirror may be larger than they appear...um, yes! Gigundo seaside mansions! Drool. :)

The sun went down and the tide went out....

And I thought the moon looked huge in the early dusk sky...and these eight foot- high reeds seemed to be almost touching the moon. 

Happy Friday! It is supposed to be beautiful here today, early summer weather...Enjoy!

Vintage Shopping Goodies!

In the winter I like to go vintage/ consignment shopping, since it's hard to get outside around here. I started really loving this when I opened my first Etsy shop and hunting for great old pendants for my shop and to create new jewelry with. But then I started seeing all kinds of things I wanted. For my house. For other people. I was addicted! 

I looove old postcards, especially the ones with funny babies. It seems like smiling ended after the age of 5 back then. I like to think the babies were being rebellious.

Postcard from 1922.

I think old stereos are so kitschy, even if they don't work (but this one did).

In the summer there are lots of flea markets around here, too, and those are usually less expensive (and require a little more hunting to find good buys.) We also have a ton of yard sales here in the late Spring, and I will slam on my brakes for those, too. Of course, I need spending money for all of this junk love, so every year my friends Joe, Alison and I have our own yard sale, full of goodies we just couldn't store anymore, and to make room for more..

I picked up this Yashica twin lens at a local consignment shop for $25. Unbelievable. 

 A gorgeously detailed filigree necklace I found languishing in a consignment shop...so unique! I sold this one last year, no wonder...I loved it.

I bought this old chipped watering can last year and put it in my kitchen window. It's only 5" tall and cost $6.

More old postcards- isn't this adorable?! I wonder what it means in German?

Old bottle tops and stoppers just look pretty when they're in a pile.

I found this shamrock vintage locket at a consignment shop in the Berkshires last fall...so cute! I just sold it from my jewelry shop on Etsy.  Perfect for Saint Patrick's day! :)

I feel like Going for Ice Cream. (and, the best place to go for Lobster Ice Cream.)

I don't know if this is a typical phrase in other places but when I was growing up, we lived within walking distance of the local outdoor Ice Cream stand, and it was always "Wanna go for ice cream? We're going for ice cream."  It's still there, that place, and in the summer you can't really even get a place to park, so lots of people walk there. Right across the street was another place, which was more a place you went inside and they had all those little buckets where you peered in the glass to see which one looked the best. That place went out of business when I was about 5, but I still remember it fondly...

There are tons of ice cream shops in Provincetown, Massachusetts..all ready to cater to hungry and tired families who have made the 3 hour trip from the "mainland" to the outer tip of Cape Cod.

I loved this kitschy Snowman signage at a carnival last summer. It was about 97 degrees that day...

Vintage Ice cream shop sign I saw at a local antiques mall.

More fun carnival signs!

Local sign down by the beach...I think this place is only open for about 2 months...but a fruitful 2 months.

And finally and old favorite....(really old- I think I took this with my old camera...don't judge) :)

Yes.....that says  "Lobster", as in, Lobster flavored ice cream...in another picture I see it is described as "real Maine lobster, cooked, picked, buttered, and folded into a buttery vanilla ice cream."  I really wish I had opted for a sample....maybe next time I go to Ben and Bill's in Bar Harbor....:)