WiseArts

Due to my Superbowl party yesterday, I slacked off on the first day of Thing-a-day, but I made two things today to make up for it!

Thing 1: A crystal ball made from seed beads and Swarovski crystal beads (4mm size). I’ll probably make another one of these on another day, so I can make a pair of earrings.

Thing 2: My husband is off on a business trip for a few days and I miss him a helluva lot. He’s a hardcore retro gamer, so I thought I’d do a little pixely cross stitchery in his honor.

Itsa me Mario! With fire power!

Cross posted at Thing-a-day

Wow! For some reason Thing-a-day just happened to pop into my head today, the last day to sign up! I did it last year and had a great time, so I thought I’d give it a go again this year. I’ll post my things here, as well as on the thing-a-day site.

What is Thing-a-day, you ask?
Basically, it is a group of a few hundred artists and crafters who have signed on and committed to making one “thing” every day in the month of February. The results of everyone’s efforts are documented on the website in blog form: http://www.thing-a-day.com The “things” can be any art or craft. Last year, there was jewelry, drawing, musical instruments, electronics, videos, design, sewing, 3d modeling, music, writing and poetry, photography… It’s pretty much wide open, and most importantly, whatever you decide to do each day should only take 20-40 minutes. You don’t need to make an amazing work of art each day, just something.

Last year was my first year, and definitely a challenge for me. I think I missed 2-3 days, but persevered on through the entire month. The most helpful thing for me was simply to stay on top of my schedule. If I knew that I was going to be busy in the evening, I had to complete my thing during the day. Procrastination always seems to result in failure on a project like this.

We had so much fun thrifting yesterday, that we decided to get in a little more today. We went to a few more out-of-the-way stores, that my husband and I had never been to before. I found waaaay too much stuff.

Here’s the lowdown!

Books: “Every Man A King; or Might In Mind Mastery” by Orison Swett Marden, 1st ed. 1906 – purchased for  $4.25
“Our Animal Friends” by Virginia Hunter – a Rand McNally Elf Book, 1956 – purchased for $1.75
“Walt Disney’s Bambi” – A Mickey Mouse Club Book, 1948 – purchased for $2.75
“Lassie and the Kittens” – Tell a Tale Books 1956 – purchased for $2.00

“Shirley Temple Tells the Enchanting Story of Walt Disney’s Bambi” – mini storybook and 2 (yellow!) records – RCA Victor, 1949 – purchased for $4.25
“Music From the Original Motion Picture Sound Track of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Someday My Prince Will Come” – Walt Disney Little Gem Record – Purchased for $1.25

Japanese tea towel – $3.25

Vintage linens – $4.25, $3.00, 50 cents

Strawberry fabric – 25 cents
Sheer dots fabric – $2.00
Vintage floral hankie – $1.00

Latch Hook Cats – 50 cents each

Care Bear Cousins and Popple stuffie fabrics! Great additions to my collection! $1.50 each. We have: Lotsa Heart Elephant, Light Heart Raccoon, Treat Heart Pig, and Cozy Heart Penguin. The Popple is unnamed. The Care Bears all have their fronts and backs stitched together already (thus are inside-out).

Wooden Miniature Birds – 25 cents. These have some paint coming off, but I think they’re sort of charming that way. Not sure what I’ll do with them yet.

Van Brode International Dancer Figures – These are cereal premiums from the 1950s. $2.00 for the lot. Left to right they are labeled: Hungarian, China, Italy, West Indies.

Doll Heads! 50 – 25 cents. Someone PLEEEEASE cut me off. I have a whole friggin’ crate full of doll heads and parts. I have made zero dolls. Why am I so intrigued by these?

Along with the doll heads, I found these great books about dolls and stuffies you can make with doll heads!! Novel concept! Maybe I’ll do that sometime. “Darice Darlings” – 50 cents. “Loveable Stuffables” and “Stuffable Playmates” – 1.50 each.

You know you’re obsessed with Care Bears when you buy Care Bears Baby stuff and you don’t even have a baby. This little hat and booties was only $1.50. I’ll have someone to put it on eventually. Just not planning on that quite yet! Gimme a few years folks.