I collect stuff...

I'm a typical American woman -- I enjoy shopping, collecting, and displaying.  However, now I'm reflecting on how much is too much?  

My collections include:  Royalty memorabilia, pheasants (not real or stuffed), Porcelain bisque in the color ivory, Deer figurines, Madonna figurines (holy, not the Superstar), and plenty of other quirky vintage stuff.  I've collected for a lot of years.  For example, in my teens, I had saved all my issues of Seventeen Magazine in my closet and until there were so many stacks that my mom thought they were going to collapse the floor and fall into the basement...so she got rid of them. I do wish I had the first Seventeen Magazines where Whitney Houston was the cover model, though.

The television show, "Hoarders" is both fascinating and horrifying to watch. Those people have too much junk and trash and their homes are uninhabitable.  My brother-in-law (jokingly, I hope) calls me a hoarder.  But I think my stuff is organized and there is no trash laying around anywhere!

Having said that, I know I can get rid of some of this accumulation. I've held a lot of great tag sales (I was once told that "Garage sales are keeping the earth in balance because the junk keeps getting moved around from home to home").  I donate goods several times a year to Goodwill or other charity shops, and donate books and magazines to the library.  

In the past I had a booth at a local antiques mall and I've sold over the years on eBay (also known as "Fee Bay" because of all the fees the seller incurs). Today I'm selling books on amazon.com and recently opened a store on etsy!  I really love etsy and have purchased a lot of stuff over the years; I've featured some of my favorite purchases on this blog. I have bought original artwork prints, postcards, stationery and books on etsy. The aspect of supporting artists is important to me. I am not one of the talented artists, but I have some quirky vintage goods to unload.

Here is my etsy storefront:  GueraMart

I have already sold three items, and one of the items in my store was featured this week in an etsy Treasury:  Vintage Cruise

So...my plan is to minimize purchases at estate sales, tag sales and thrift shops. Limit my etsy purchasing obsession. Declutter and recycle.  Keep selling and donating.  

Reminder to check your breasts

Lotsa postcards

I haven't shared any mail art for quite some time, so here are a few postcards I made:

Just in time for Valentine's Day, this is going to a Postcrosser in Poland.  I love the washi tape!

This is going to Finland for Swap-Bot Chunk O' Cardboard (she's a seamstress and knitter).  I used vintage images and patterns. The black and white sideways sweater information is in Russian.

This was a thank you postcard for Jennie, who sent me some of her artist-stamps.  She's in San Francisco and I figured a sports theme was appropriate since it's Super Bowl week.  I found the Playboy playing cards at an estate sale a long time ago and the cards feature Playboy Bunny pinups from the 1950's - 1980's (very cool indeed).  Oh, and that's not a REAL Superbowl Game ticket; I think I got this replica in a box of cereal.

These are some other "Chunks O' Cardboard" that I'm sending out for Swap-Bot. Starting from clockwise top left, I used a piece of a cardboard mailing box received from Japan. It's covered in postage stamps. The Agave Wheat is a 6-pack beer carton and I love the Dia de Los Muertos logo. The checkerboard is the packaging from Philosophy's "Cookbook" shower gel set. And the last one is packaging from a cake box from Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey. Chef Buddy is on the reality TV show, "Cake Boss." I don't know how they ship cakes from New Jersey across the USA into my local supermarket, but I saw it and had to buy the cake. It was very good!

Josh's Lazy Scambled Eggs | Beekman1802.com

Josh's Lazy Scambled Eggs | Beekman1802.com

Send Good Mail, Get Good Mail

Hello again! Thought I would post some mail related photos.  First, I would like this "Princess Grace" fountain pen in my Christmas stocking, Santa. Please. (Only 72 sleeps till Christmas).

I received a letter in the mail this week from Pamela, who wrote four pages and tucked each page into an origami-folded wallet. The origami paper was a restaurant menu.  She is so clever!

I did a postcard swap with a gal from Finland, and she made her envelope from a shopping bag! What kind of paper are you using to make envelopes? I've used calendar pages, record album covers, thick scrapbook paper and turned security envelopes inside out so the printed design is on the outside.
She sent me a postcard of dancer Cyd Charisse and my favorite Sophia Loren.

 One of my all-time favorite postcards received is from Graphic Artist, Postcard Jim:

 

And one more favorite for ya: 

Chunk O' Cardboard Swap

I've been participating in the Chunk O' Cardboard swap on Swap-Bot for several months now.  Basically, you can use any scrap of cardboard and make it into a postcard.  I've been saving interesting packaging boxes like beer 6-pack cartons, cereal boxes, cake mixes, etc. and I try to personalize it as much as possible.  Here are some I'm sending out this month:

Round cardboard with retro theme that went to Minnesota.

This is the side for address and correspondence; It is a calendar page which I covered in origami paper.  The other side is an Arizona sunset.  Going to Maine.

T

Blue theme with glitter added, going to the Netherlands.

Probably my favorite outgoing is retro packaging from pantyhose.  I can't even remember the last time I wore pantyhose!  Check out the model's hairdo and false eyelashes.  So mod!

Hitched!

July 01, 2012 

Maui, Hawaii