Treasures

The weekend's over. Here in the US, we have the Veteran's Day observance on Monday, but my office is open and we're all working. No mail service. The courts are closed. But we're working. So sad! Aren't you sorry for me?

I'd be really sorry for me except that this has been a really nice weekend. Why? Well, I'm not quite sure. With all the cleaning and organizing I did on Saturday, you'd think I'd feel I needed another day off, but I don't. By the time I went to bed Saturday night, I felt like I had accomplished a lot, and it felt really good. I even managed to hook up my printer.

On Sunday, a good friend and I went out to the local flea market/farmers' market, hunting for treasures. I wrote a week or so ago about the Somerset Home magazine I had found at the bookstore; since then, I've gotten a couple more of their publications, and I'm terribly fascinated by some of these "altered art" techniques. In fact, over the past week, I've been shopping and collecting all kinds of "art" stuff, like scrapbook papers and various other miscellaneous items. We took the trip to the flea market today to see what I could find that might be interesting to incorporate into some of the projects I'd like to work on.

It rained all day Saturday and we were afraid we might get rained on. The clouds were threatening when we first started out (photo at the top), but the sky soon cleared and the day was pretty nice. Our local flea market is huge, and many of the vendors have permanent booths, selling cheap, plastic, imported junk. There is a section of day vendors though--people who come to sell at the flea market instead of having a garage sale at home. Then there are a few vendors who fall somewhere in between--they don't have the commercial, cheap "junk" but they do have a nicer quality of used "treasures," and those are the ones we headed for, although we did browse a few "garage sale" booths.

Here are some of the "treasures" I brought home.

I think those flasks will look pretty neat covered with decorative paper and images and "stuff." And who could resist the Mona Lisa? Especially when she was only $1? I don't know what I'll do with her, but I like the strong graphics. There are several projects I've seen that use plated flatware, so I picked up a few items. Then there's a little metal tray and sitting on that is a perfume bottle--something I also thought would look pretty neat if it was decorated.

We found one booth that had all sorts of little things--coins, keys, pins, dice, nails, etc. I bought several things from that guy--these can all be added to creations such as journals and random "art" projects. The metal stars are new items that I purchased from another vendor.

Then the books. The same guy who had the coins and things had this dues book from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America dated from the mid 40s. My friend talked him down to $2 for the book--a piece of history that may well turn up in a project one day. We moved on, and at another booth, for another couple dollars I got a McGuffey "Third Eclectic Reader." There's no publishing date on it, but I know they were used in schools when my parents were kids and even before. It's pretty tattered and beat up, but the pages will make a great background for a few projects. At a large used book booth, I found a song book and two art history books, all of which can be incorporated into whatever I make.

Finally, before we left, we visited the farmers' market located on the other side of the flea market grounds. I was surprised at how many fruits and vegetables are still available as we're approaching the winter months.

Good prices too! We both left with several bags of produce. We had a little mishap, though, when my friend dropped her bag of avocados. Actually, she dropped them twice! I sure hope she made a batch of guacamole, 'cause those babies are going to be mush!

We ended our trip by going out to lunch and having salads and sandwiches. Oh, and did I mention we started out at Starbucks before the flea market? But you probably figured that out, right? In my world, every adventure starts at Starbucks!

After I returned home, the rest of the day was spent making a big pot of homemade chicken and veggie soup and working on that tree skirt I didn't get to on Saturday. I've finished piecing the top but I still need to add some applique.

Now it's bed time and the weekend's over, but I've enjoyed it. I think that facing the work week isn't quite so bad when you've had a nice weekend, don't you? I hope you've enjoyed yours!