I AM Still Alive!!

Wow! My last post was from 2013! Pretty sad, huh? I've mentioned before that I'm just not all that thrilled with this blogging format. I have been researching moving to Wordpress. I'm very close to doing that. In the meantime, you can find me at all sorts of places where I'm more active.

Here's a list:

• Instagram: @staysewcreative or https://instagram.com/staysewcreative/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/staysewcreative
• Twitter: @StaySewCreative or https://twitter.com/StaySewCreative
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/staysewcreative/

Hope you can follow along with me!

I'm currently looking forward to the weather getting a little warmer so that I can work in my garage. I have lots of projects lined up. At this rate it might go from winter to summer and skip right over spring.

We've Got Space!

Hey, that's not too bad - one blog post every 9 or 10 months! I'm starting to think that this is the story of my life! Other things just take priority over blogging. That's fine with me. I'm not going to go crazy trying to get stuff up on here.

But today, the spirit moved me so here I am writing my little heart out! There's news for Stay Sew Creative. My mother and I recently rented space at Village Green Antiques in Barre, MA. We have about four shelves packed with awesome stuff.

Hood Milk can turned lamp

Our space at Village Green Antiques

There's lots of goodies there, so if you're in the area, then stop by and check it out. The address is: Village Green Antiques 699 West St. (Rt. 122) Barre, MA 01005.

More goodies

On the estate sale front, there's been steady action. As usual, I haven't posted here about the sales. Hopefully, I can change that in the future. We don't have any definite sales scheduled, but have a couple potential ones in the works. You can check out our Facebook Page and like us. I'm pretty good about posting info about sales there. 

I may have some other exciting news for Stay Sew Creative, so stay tuned. 

Have a great day!

Brother Festival 471 Manual

Brother Festival 471 Manual

Well, I finally did it! I listed the Brother Festival 471 manual on ebay. It's a copy of the manual on a CD. It's something I've been meaning to do for a long time, but just never seemed to be able to get to it. I've had a few people ask about the manual, so that's why I decided to do it. This is the manual that goes with the pink sewing machine that I fell in love with. If you're interested, you can click on the ebay widget to the right, or just click here.

So Much To Do

In between estate sales, I've been finding ways to keep busy. Of course, there's the regular everyday stuff that needs to get done. Unfortunately, that mountain of laundry that either needs to be washed or folded hardly ever seems to shrink, so, there's always that. Our five dogs love attention, so when I have some free time, I try to lavish some extra attention upon them.

I've been listing stuff on ebay pretty regularly. I've got about thirteen items up now, and I try to keep adding to the list. I've got a pile of things that can go up; it's just making the time to get them there that is difficult.

The room sprays have been steady. I'd love to have the sales increase a little, though. I sell them in my mother's shop, and through my facebook contacts. I listed them here, too, on their own special page, but haven't gotten any orders through the blog yet. I've been debating whether or not to list some on ebay or etsy, but I still go back and forth. Any thoughts?

I've got a couple of sewing machines that I need to service, and I'd really like to get that done before Christmas. I'm sure my customers would appreciate that!

No, I'm not done Christmas shopping yet. I'm way behind this year. Every year I tell myself that I'll start and finish early, then have the weeks before Christmas to relax and enjoy, but it never seems to happen. Maybe next year!

And, I've still got baking to do! I'm not even really sure what I'll be baking this year. Probably the old standbys - pumpkin bread at least.

Well, lots and lots to do. It will get done - it always does. Here's hoping that your holiday season is stress free and full of happiness. That's what I'm aiming for.

I Can't Get Used To It

The "new" format for Blogger has been around for awhile now, right? I haven't posted since they changed the  format. I just can't get used to it! I think that I might just have to close my eyes and go for it, though. It's been awful. Every time I feel like posting, I hold back because the new format is so uncomfortable and unfamiliar. I wish they hadn't changed it!

I've been keeping busy, though. Last week we had an estate sale after a long break. I also took a long break from ebay. I just posted a bunch of things today, and have more to post. You can see some of them on the widget to the right. Hopefully, I can get to posting more items this week. The room sprays have been doing well, too. I ordered some more supplies, so I'll be cranking out the room sprays to stock up for Christmas.

I'll leave you with a picture that I took a couple of months ago. It's totally unrelated to anything, but I want to put a picture here, and I like it. It's from a gate to a cemetery. I like the different textures.

Auburn, MA Estate Sale

We've been very busy for the last two weeks getting ready for our next estate sale. This time it's in Auburn, MA. The home is a two bedroom, beautifully decorated condo. The items in the home were lovingly cared for and treasured. The style is just so tasteful and will appeal to a wide range of folks.

Clayton Marcus 

Charming Deacons Bench

Beautiful Secretary by Jasper Cabinet Company

The sale will be held on Saturday, May 5th from 9-3. It's a one day sale only, so there will be deep discounts given after 1:00pm. Hope to see you there!

If you're interested in coming to the sale, you can find directions, information and more pictures here http://www.estatesales.net/estate-sales/283245.aspx

Estate Sale This Weekend In Dudley

We've got another great estate sale this weekend. Lots and lots of vintage and retro items. SO much enamelware it's amazing. The living room set is so retro. I can't forget about the fabrics. There's a huge amount of vintage fabric. I'd love to get my hands on some of it! The weather looks good, so I'm expecting it'll be a great sale and a lot of fun. You can follow this link for more info and pictures. The address will be posted there on Friday.

Sweet hamper

Ahh...fabric...

Huge amount of enamelware.

eBay Mania!

I’ve been listing things like crazy on eBay this week. Often times after an estate sale is over, there can be a lot of good stuff left. Rather than seeing the owners trash the leftovers, we’ve been offering to list some things on Craigslist and eBay. It gives the owners another chance to clean out some of the things leftover and to make some money.
It’s been a long time since I’ve sold on eBay. I’ve forgotten how time consuming it is. I photograph the item, upload the photos to my computer, put them into a template, then create the listing. For me, the most difficult thing about listing an item is configuring the shipping costs. Although, I’ve listed about fifteen things so far, and it has gotten a little bit easier. I’m hoping that as time goes on I’ll get faster at it.
I’ve got some interesting things up on eBay right now. There are a couple of vintage Girl Scout Uniforms, some Great Bay Pottery, a Boston Bruins yearbook from 1976-1977, and some other cool things. You can click the link in my sidebar to take you to the items that are up for auction.



 Have you had any success selling on eBay?

This Week's Estate Sale - Worcester, MA

This week we'll be putting the final touches on the estate sale for this weekend in Worcester, MA. Most everything is pulled out of boxes and displayed nicely. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate, and we'll have a great turnout. I'll be publishing the address later in the week. Lots of interesting things at this sale. There are lots of vintage linens, a dining room set, living room furniture, kitchen stuff, glassware, beautiful bedroom sets, and some interesting books, including a box of about 30 Nancy Drew books.
Here are a few pictures:

Sofa in pristine condition.

Nice corner china cabinet.

An Evening In Paris

Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery Set



Perfect brand sewing cabinet



Pillowcases!!!

Today's moving sale was affected by the snowy weather. It snowed all day, so we didn't get the numbers of people we were hoping for. There were a few brave souls that came out, but nothing near what we would expect on a normal day. Tomorrow, however, there isn't any snow in the forecast, so, I hope we can make up for what didn't happen today. There will be LOTS of bargains, so if you're in the area, come check it out. Follow this link for the where and when of the sale.

Keeping Busy

Things have been very busy around here. I've been helping out my mother with running estate sales. We have two this month a week apart. We are still learning, so at this point, it's an incredible amount of work. It's fun, though, to organize the items in an estate sale to their best advantage. It's also fun coming across things that I've never seen before, and doing the research to find out as much as I can about them. Here's a link to the moving sale we'll be hosting this weekend. Stop by and see us!

Getting Back Into The Swing of Things

Wow. It's been a long time since I've posted ANYTHING. We've been through a lot since the summer. Not all of it has been good. The construction that I first posted about here is coming to an and. Look for a future post. There's just a few little things that need to be finished up. I am so grateful to have been able to take on a project of this magnitude, but boy, it was so disruptive and stressful (as well as exciting). Thankfully, it was summer, and we had a grill to cook on for our meals, and it was warm enough to eat outside. I missed having a kitchen like you wouldn't believe.

Now, onto the not so good part of the summer. Four years ago, Shannon, my only sister, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Over time, the cancer spread, especially into her bones and liver. Then, at the end of August, my sister wasn't feeling right and was admitted to the hospital. When I realized that she probably wouldn't be coming home, I spent every night I could with her at the hospital. My amazing husband gave up working his night shifts so that he could stay home with the kids while I was a the hospital with Shannon. She was there for about a month. She passed away at the age of 38. I miss her like crazy, and can't believe how short a time we had with her. She was an amazing human being; this short paragraph and one picture can't convey what she was like. A future post perhaps?

My beautiful sister Shannon.

A couple of weeks after my sister died, we lost our 11 year old foster dog, Riley. She was diagnosed with kidney disease about a year ago, and her health declined steadily since then. She has an amazing, crazy story behind her that deserves its own post. Look for it some time in the future.

Riley

So you see, between the construction and upheaval on the house, my sister's passing, then Riley following her, and many other crazy obstacles along the way, I haven't been posting like I used to. My energies were channeled elsewhere.

I'm just starting to feel like starting up with the blog again. I thought the blog needed a fresher look, so that's why you see the changes. Hopefully this will signify a fresh start all around. 

Adventures At Brimfield

I went to Brimfield last week for the first time in a few years. I had a great time. I went there knowing that the majority of the prices would be out of my range, and I was ok with that. I'm used to yard sale and estate sale prices. Anyway, I went with the attitude of just enjoying the day. In past years, it was my goal to see as much as I could in one day. I'd end up sore, exhausted, and frustrated at the end of the day.

My Mother and I went together. It was fun! I had made arrangements for getting the kids off of the bus, so I didn't have to worry, or rush back home. We took our time and really enjoyed the atmosphere. Looking at all of the unique stuff and people watching. Brimfield is a great place to people watch. We packed a lunch and had a picnic in the field where we parked. The weather was just right; cooler and sunny. Here are some pictures of some of things that caught my eye. Enjoy!

This was probably my favorite find of the day. It's a small folk art basket made from the caps of bottles of Guinness. I love it! At $45 it wasn't a bad deal, but it wasn't something that I really needed, so I left it there. 

Here are some more photos from Brimfield:



Lanterns

Flower frogs galore



These metal spheres were all over Brimfield this year.



A wax figure

Need a traffic light??



Love this yard art made from a shovel



Here's another, but a bit bigger.

A Griswold step stool. I didn't know that they made step stools.

This falls under the category of "Why??" This was not the only booth that had these creepy doll things, either.



Another figure. Not sure what he's made of.



This would be great on a wall in a kitchen. At $185 though, you could get the same look by buying your letters at the craft store.

A really cute hutch/cupboard. $395, not bad.



Not antique, but funny.

So, overall, we had a great time. I didn't come home with anything, but that's ok. If anything, it made me want to hit the yard and estate sales with more enthusiasm. If you went to Brimfield, did you come home with anything?

Long Time, No See

I haven't done any posts in a while. Things have been crazy around here. We are starting an addition to the house, plus I've had kids home sick from school. I've hardly even been on the computer, which is a rarity for me.

Here are a couple of "before" pictures of where the addition will be going:

Our addition will be 20x30 feet with a garage and a family room above it, which will connect with the current kitchen. Our kitchen will get a major makeover, too, which is long overdue. We had to tear down our screened porch to make way for the addition, but we will be adding a new one which will be larger than the previous screened porch. We are planning to put a fireplace on the screened porch, too. I'm really excited about that. We have used our porch so much over the years. I'm missing it right now, with the May flies out in full force, but I'm looking forward to the better version of it to come. So far, the site has been excavated, and the foundation has been poured, and the area back filled. We are just waiting on delivery of the I beams, and then the framing can begin!

This is what it looks like now:

Also, this week, I'm planning to head to Brimfield (Massachusetts) for the Brimfield Fair, a huge antiques and collectibles fair in the town of Brimfield, MA. It's held three times a year; for a few days during May, July and September. If you are looking for something, chances are you'll find it at Brimfield. I've been going to Brimfield since I was a baby pushed in a stroller. I've missed the last couple of years, but this year I've coordinated with my husband to take over the kid duties for me on that day. I'll try to take lots of pictures, so look for a future post on my adventures at Brimfield.

Wooden Peg People?

Peg People with just a base coat.

I recently helped my sister Shannon paint some wooden peg people. I had never heard of them before. They are reminiscent of the old Playskool "Little People". Her friend Abby sent her about 24 plain, unpainted wooden figures to paint and decorate. They will be used in Abby's wedding on the tables and around the reception site.

Shannon did such a great job on them. I'll admit, I was spent after painting about five of them. It was taking us about forty five minutes to an hour to paint each one. You wouldn't think that they take so long - they're not that big. Shannon is such a perfectionist, that she'd repaint the ones that she wasn't happy with. They came out great, though, and she did such a good job that when Abby saw them, she gave Shannon even more to paint. Wow, what a good friend Shannon is. I would have run the other way!

Here's some peg people eye candy for you:

All decked out in their finest!

Pretty lady in purple.

Everyone looks so happy.

This guy's getting some orange hair.

Aww, so pretty!

Hey! All eyes on the camera, please!

Is it time to go to the wedding yet?

Note: I've had a few people ask about the source for peg people. They came from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/goosegreaseundone.