On to a new adventure

Hello dear readers.  As you have noticed, I have not been posting weekly these days.   The reason is I have been working towards a new adventure, a new direction and it is to be closer to the sea.  I have sold my home and my sweet Gynness and I will be moving to Florida.  We are both excited about the new possibilities of a new home and for me...new booth space.  I have been going through withdrawals, having closed my two spaces to prepare for this move but I have been visiting some of my favorite places for treasure before I left.  I will miss Vintage Village in Snellville.  I first found this marvelous place in July 2000 when I first moved to Atlanta from Flagstaff.  A lovely little place with amazing dealers and hands on owners.  I sold from Vintage Village for 7 years until my late husband had heart surgery and I pulled out of all selling for a year to provide nursing support.   I never stopped buying from Vintage Village as they always had  such marvelous finds.  

They moved to new digs a year ago and the shop has never looked better.  I will miss visiting it first hand, but Debbie keeps her facebook page active with lots of photos and I suspect I will be purchasing on line alot.  Here are a few photos I took with my last visit before I go south.

So many pretty item for holiday decorating.

Vintage Village will always be one of my favorite things.

What a sweet touch to use vintage baby booties as stocking garland.

Crazy about this small doctor's bag.

Always look up at the Village as treasure abounds from the floor to the ceiling.

Lovely vintage Christmas balls from favorite dealers, Paul and Jeanine.

One of my weakness', vintage oil lamps.

What a sweet face.

 A glass full of frozen Charlotte's, another dealer I adore, The Nesting Spot.

 Pretty skate against a vintage frame makes for a pretty door display.

One of the last treasures I took home from Vintage Village, and from one of my favorite dealers...My Vintage Heart, a delightful antique children's book titled, "The Three Emigrants".  Written in prose, it tells the story of three children from Europe who travel to America during the turn of the century.  I will bring this out each Christmas.

Thank you everyone from Vintage Village you have filled my home with lovely things and my heart with marvelous friendships.  I will carry each of you with me always.

Hit my local goodwill one more time as well and found these pretty items.

1940s Japanese evening bag.

I can never pass up a gorgeous sea shell, yes it is the seawitch in me, and this stunning Bull Mouth Helmet is a keeper.

Pretty little gravy boat is a late 1890s piece.  

And finally this lovely little Edwardian biscuit keeper.

One more stop before the weekend ended.  I had to say goodbye to Buford Queen of Hearts folks and interesting enough, one of the first pieces I ever purchased from the Queen was an EAPG goblet by King glass, fine blue diamond cut, circa 1890s.  Imagine my surprise when I discover the matching compote.

So the circle is complete and I carry this beauty with me to my new digs in Florida.

I will most likely be away from blogging until the new year as I locate a place to live and get settled in, so I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a gentle new year.  And always, wishing blessings to you and those you love.  SeaWitch.

Christmas Open Houses and an extraordinary gift

Tis the Season of Holiday/Christmas Open houses at many of my favorite antique stores. 

I had the opportunity to visit "Curious Possessions" in Snellville and it was filled with Christmas delights.

Christmas reds abound.

Nice vintage foil Santa.

Darling child's toy cash register.

Sweet little red longjohn's are an adorable item to decorate with.

Lovely punch bowl set is waiting for your holiday party.

 Delightful pair of Snowman candlesticks.

This dealer offered a stunning, complete set of Currier and Ives dinner ware and serving pieces.

Crazy about this beautiful print.

Boop boop be doop!

Lovely group of mid century vases.  These are hot collectibles right now.

Pretty purple decorative elements.

 Elvis loves a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas.

 Everything you need for your entertaining.

 This is such a warm display.

As I walked from booth space to booth space, something caught my eye on a shelf.  I have a passion for Victorian quadruple plate and I saw this pretty serving bowl had a sea shell theme.  Something I have never seen in my many years of collecting.  I made a fast bee-line to it, hoping that the many others in the shop had not seen it.   

I looked everywhere for the price tag and couldn't find it so I started emptying out the silver balls inside it.  I find a paper tag and instead of finding a price I see a message.  My heart skips a beat and then tears begin to fill my eyes. 

I'm reading the note but I still am in shock and carry this beautiful serving bowl with the note to the front desk for them to confirm what I am reading.  They see the tears in my eyes and after reading the note, they begin to shed a few tears as well.  My friend, Rose, whose spaces are known as Silver Glory, Pink Glory and Gray Glory always have such beautiful pieces and I have purchased many items over the years from her booths.  She had been saving this piece for me since the summer because she knows how much I love the sea and her lovely surprise will always be a Christmas memory for me.  This stunning bowl will be a centerpiece in my home in Florida and I will always think of Rose and smile when I see it. 

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving and blessings to you and those you love. SeaWitch

Sabbatical over...so here's what's happening

I'm back.   The Sabbatical was exactly what I needed.  Spent the time looking at where I am and where I want to be and to paraphrase Mr. da Vinci, "if I wanna be somewhere else, I need to move on."  Apologies to Mr. da Vinci.

Still his words ring truth and I have decided to prepare for a move from Georgia to Florida.  I'm a few years to retirement and my present employer continues to go through reorganizations every year.  Sooner or later, my number is going to be called and I would rather be in Florida when they decide to call it.

So, I have closed both of my spaces in the Queen of Hearts, sigh, I miss it already.  I have emptied out my home into a POD unit and am now repainting the interior and have new carpets being installed next week in hopes of listing my home around Thanksgiving.  Home sales are still hot in my area so I am hoping it will sell before the end of the year.  Once that happens, I am off on a new adventure.

Of course, once I do finally relocate, I will first look for a place to live and then follow up with searching for a new place to sell my wares.  Anyone who has ever been in the antique biz knows you never really ever leave the business, you just find new digs.  So even though I may not have booth space right now, I am always looking for good inventory.

Marvelous silverplated mint julep cup.

Lovely EAPG green and gold vase is the "Band and Diamond Swirl" pattern made by the U.S. Glass Company. circa 1898.  Love this rich, dark green.

Lovely alexandrite and gold lustre vase changes from ruby red to ice blue in different light.  Mid century piece.  

Large Milk Glass Loganberry Vase by the Imperial Glass Co.  Produced from 1950-70s.  

Be still my heart, I am crazy for antique transferware and this pitcher is a honey.  I suspect this may go into my own display cabinet once I get it out of the POD unit.

Lovely hammered silverplated serving plate.  Circa 1930s. 

Pretty little bucket creamer and sugar bone china first looks like Belleek but it is not.  Royal Worchester made in England.  

In between my treasure hunting, I spent Halloween week with grandchildren in Virginia.  

 My grandson wanted to be Boba Fett this year and his twin sister fit into the Dorothy costume I made Kaitlyn three years ago.  Kaitlyn made her own costume this year and she went as the Mad Hatter.  I love that she tackled her first costume by pulling items from past costumes and repurposing them into a great Mad Hatter.

Conner is Boba Fett.

I had to put together this jetpack after I had put all my craft supplies into the POD.  It's true, duck tape and a little card board can make anything.

Kells Bells is Dorothy right down to the ruby slippers.

Look at those Mad Hatter eyes. LOL

So, there you have it, a new adventure awaits me and as each step unfolds, I will share it with you...because it's "just georgraphy" but ahh, the most intersting unknown beacons me and I desire to bring you along.  For now, it's time to turn the clock back one hour and wish blessings to you and those you love. SeaWitch

Short sabbatical.

Greetings blog readers.  I am a reader of signs.  I listen to their voice, their imagery and their consistency and it doesn't take me long to do a redirect or "reboot" in today's vernacular.   

Some might find this scary, but I have learned over the years that life's changes have always been a positive thing for me.    I will be going quiet for the next few months as I work through this reboot and then I will be back to share with you the magic of new beginnings.  

Was at a local auction on Saturday and they had tons and tons and tons of stuff.  Unfortunately, most of it was of no interest to me, although I did come home with a few nifty items.

Pretty little souvenir red transferware plate. These always sell well.

Heavy pair of weighted, sterling silver candlesticks.  These polished up beautifully and are always sought after for holiday tables.

And now, what I really, really wanted to win and "did" were these five, antique Alaskan Inuit, Yupik coiled baskets with knob top lids.  Dyed and undyed rye grass and some with embroidered native birds.  

Brilliant red and black dyes in the line design.

A pair that have natural dyed embroidered birds native to the region. 

It's so easy to identify the Canada goose on this one.

These pieces are tightly coiled and the lids hold tight.

The smallest of these knob baskets has pretty red butterflies around it.  They measure from 3 inches to about 7.5 inches in height and they appear to be from the early 20th century.

Lovely set of six cups and saucers and dessert plates of fine, bone china from one of europe's oldest pottery houses, Rorstrand, manufactured in Sweden since 1726. 

The early brown mark dates from 1890-1920s.

And finally, who expects to find a pair of Aquatalia black patent leather boots, never worn with the Nordstrom price tag of $450.00 at an auction? Not me but I got them for a song so they are now up on ebay for a great price as well and with free shipping.  Size 6 if anyone is interested.  

So it was a minimalist weekend of finds but still some great treasure. Now to tackle the "reboot" and a short goodbye to friends.  Know that I will be back to blogging in November and as always, blessings to you and those you love.  SeaWitch