Notes from A Cottage Industry

The many faces of FaceBook, and my two cents.

It's twenty-eleven, and...Everyone is on FaceBook.

Gen-X-ers, thirty somethings, empty-nesters....heck, even my Mom has a FaceBook page. 

I have a personal FaceBook page and a Business FaceBook page. I originally created my personal page way, way back, when there was no such thing as a business "Fan Page" and I was going to use it to promote (hopefully) my budding blog and online business. Little by little, my "friends" grew. Most of them are people out here in blog land that know me from my blog.

When the Business Pages were available (or maybe I was just slow ot discover them...) I created one for my business, with the idea being to share things about my vintage furniture and antiques and any online items I might be selling.

Anyway.

I don't really get into the oodles and toodles of FaceBook games and contests...(Nope, no Farmville for me, and I tried Scrabble for a while and found out I am a lousy Scrabble player.) I pretty much use my personal page to share blog posts and keep up (very loosely) with old friends I have lost touch with, (it has been nice logging on to discover a message from a voice from the past now and then) but I do not check my page repeatedly throughout the day, nor do I have my settings set up to give me emails or whatever on who's doing what with who and where on my News Feed page. (or is that my Wall? I forget.)

Sometimes I get an email reminding me of friends birthdays, but for some reason I don't seem to get that particular email regularly.

Where am I going with this post, you ask? Stay with me here, and I'll tell you. A couple of weeks ago I received a very curt message from an online "friend" that I have "known" online for quite a number of years. (This being said, I would not call this person a close enough friend that I email her on a regular basis from my personal email address.) She was letting me know that she was unfriending me because (and I will quote her here now...) she "decided to retain only those "friends" who actually are -- people who interact and respond to posts, people who wish one another happy birthday and who cheer one another on. I just don't have the time the room the patience the inclination for a one-sided "friendship".

Oh, dear.

I felt my face turn red as I finished reading her message. I instantly clicked to her FaceBook page, and as I suspected, I had just a few days before, missed her birthday. Now, I have no idea if it was a milestone birthday, or if it may have simply been coincidence that she got irritated with me at this particular time, but I felt like she thought I had let her down terribly.

So........

I am sharing this story because I want you to know that, if you "friend " me on faceBook, or follow me on Twitter, I may (or may not) reply to a comment you leave on my wall (or home page or a tweet or whatever the proper name may be.) If you use these platforms for maintaining friendships, games, and whatever else, that's great. I primarily use FaceBook (and most recently Twitter) to share little updates about my business and blog, and I am thrilled that so many readers out there are following my page.

The plain and simple truth of the matter is that I am not the best at time managment and while I have the best of intentions, sometimes (often) time gets away from me. I sometimes lose track of emails to be replied to and, if you don't get an answer (or a "Happy Birthday" or a "Howdy, how are ya?") that should not be taken to mean that I am snubbing or ignoring you. I think we all need have our own reasons for using these great sites, and if my reasons are slightly different than yours, please don't hold it against me, or take it personally. I just think it's fabulous that we have these incredible tools that make the world a smaller, more informed, compassionate, friendlier place.

With this being said, if you would like to "like" A Cottage Industry on Facebook you may do so by clicking here. To "follow" me on Twitter, click here.

 

GoodWill hunting.

All those goodies that end up in my booth space are found on some form of hunting expedition.

Okay, I stole the title for my blog post from my weekly thrifting pal. (It was just so perfect that I had too.) Every Tuesday we meet up at our booth spaces at Camas Antiques and then share a car ride in an attempt to save a few pennies on gasoline as we hit our local GoodWill thrift stores. We save a few more pennies by skipping a pricey restaraunt lunch and instead, make a weekly run to the border for the two dollar "Meal Deal" that we eat while driving and chattering between bites of our burritos.

Anyway.

I was noticing yesterday as I unloaded my latest finds into my garage that I always seem to find things in groups, or collections. My latest stockpile, completely unintentionally, appears to be pedestal tables...
and lampshades....
and baskets.
I think it's funny how these collections just somehow morph from one item into an assortment of three, or six or nineteen, and I am wondering now what my next collection will be.

 

Hi, my name is Tracey, and I am a blog-slacker.

Hello!

Hello?

Helloooooooooo...

Are you still there, checking to see if I am still a blogger?

Where does the time go?! I desperately want to write new posts, but the past week has been rediculously busy. (I know. I keep saying that, week after week, but it's true.) Just trust me on this- there is a reason I call it my not-so-ordinary life. Here is a lil' bit of what all I have been doing lately:

 For starters, my blog redesign is very, very close to being completed and I am so excited I can barely stand myself. I'm rebranding my entire look and I think you're going to like it.

A lot.

I'm prepping and planning to be featured in Camas Antiques big beautiful front window at the end of April, (yippeeeeeee!) and that is inspiring me to a point that last night I couldn't even fall asleep for hours...and causing me to make a ginormous mess in my garage. (add to that pile in the garage the many large pieces I am stock piling for Barn House in July, and you have a pretty scary visual.)

I'm baking like a crazy woman, and I have a fabulous cucpake order coming up on April 10th that I simply cannot wait to share with you. The theme is "Spring" and I am thinking these may possibly be my cutest-most-over-the-top cupcakes to date. (Mmm hmm, just you wait and see!!!!)

I have several new kits in the works for my etsy shop, due to be added next week for sure...Spring time and Easter and Birthday stuff..so cute!

I have so much to share- news and ideas and just lots of little chit chatty stuff. (Seriously, it's gonna take me an entire morning just to get you caught up here.) I am still working on that "Balance" thing, and so far this month, it's not working...but I am optimistic about April!

Before and after....70's maple night stands get new life in 2011.

Oh, the wonders a girl can work with a little creativity and a splash of paint.

I found two matching 70's maple night tables at a thrift store a few weeks ago.
They were in great working condition, but they looked out dated and the tops were scratched. I removed the pulls, then primed the drawers and body.
Two coats of paint (because I was doing a charcoal black shade, mainly.)Viola'!
Reborn with a basic Pottery Barn look...all set to re-invent someone's bedroom, and it cost less than $25 to do both night tables, start to finish, including my purchase price of $12 per night table. You just can't beat that.

Out of Africa, continued.

..ehem...Yes, I slipped a blatant Gramma Brag Photo into this post....but now I will get back to the details of the party!

So, in my last post I shared the buffet table for the party and today I'd like to share with you a peek at the rest of the party.

Let me begin at the beginning. The purpose of the party was a combination "Baby shower", announcing the upcoming arrival of the newest member to Carter's family, and fund-raising event for UjimaCare Foundation, a non profit organization committed to helping improve lives in Ghana- most currently by building an orphanage.

The e-vites went out to family and friends, and guests were asked, in lieu of gifts, to please bring a silent auction item to help raise funds. The party theme was vintage travel, and so all the decorations reflected this, with old suitcases, maps, globes, and...well, you get the point.

When guests arrived, they were directed into the home office to drop off their silent auction items...
...and get their "Boarding Pass". Carter's Mama made them to look like plane tickets (she found the template online, but you may recall, when Carter's parents were engaged, I made something very similar for the Save-the-Date cards.) Each boarding pass had a seat assignment, which served as the guest's bidding number for the auction.
The auction items were all creative and fabulous! Items ranged from a homemade apple pie, complete with pie dish and recipe (priceless!) to a financial revue package, wine baskets, dog walking or dog sitting, (donated by one of the children of a guest!) to tea for four at a wonderful garden setting tea room. It was really a lot of fun!

Throughout the party, there were ways to earn "Baggage Claim Tickets"...by donating an auction item, winning an item, registering for the UjimaCare on-line Newsletter, etc. There was even a "Baby Pool" to put in each guest's best guess at the number of babies being adopted by Carter's family, the sex, birth year and birth month. The winners of the pool were given additional baggage claim tickets.

Later, a baggage claim number was called and a pretty nice raffle prize was given to the winner.
We all watched a video Carter's Mama had created from her recent trip to Ghana, and heard more about what good things UjimaCare does. (and at the end of the video, everyone got to meet the newest little family member!!)

As guests departed the party they were given a custom made CD of music made by Carter's Auntie to have as a memento.
Everyone seemed to have a great time, and I am sure UjimaCare will be able to make some tremendous progress with the donations!

 

 

Out of Africa.

Okay, they are actually out of my oven, but I am spreading a little Africa love all the same. You see, Saturday Carter's Mama and Daddy hosted a wonderful party...to introduce pictures of the newest lil' family member with family and friends (They passed their court appointment just this past Thursday, so hopefully they will be going back to Africa soon for one final trip to pick up their precious cargo!)...and the party was also a fundraiser for UimaCare's latest project of building an orphanage in Ghana. (For more information, click here.)

I was thrilled to be making cookies and cupcakes for the dessert bar. In case you are wondering, Carter's Mama had a real challenge finding an Africa shaped cookie cutter, and finally located one on etsy! The lil' heart on the cookie represents Ghana...how sweet is that?!

As you can see, I did color coordinated cupcakes as well...
and there was a chocolate fountain to round things out, dessert wise (along with pinwheel sandwhiches from Costco)

We went with a vintage travel theme. So easy, cheap, and fun! We used old vintage suitcases we already had, along with a globe, some maps and a banner we made on map paper...

and a sign in a vintage sign holder that I whipped up on the computer...

Well, now hopefully you can see and understand why I have been MIA for a few days (Dear God, was it a week?!) from blogging...I have been one busy Gramma!

More party pictures coming up next post!

Does anybody know what time it is?

This springing forward thing has messed up my internal clock. It's only 8:00 in the morning as I write this, and yet I am aready feeling behind, 'coz I feel like it still should be 7:00. I'm always saying I could get caught up if only I had four more hours in each day, and now I feel I need five.

Anyway.

The other thing about the time change twice a year is the fact that i love clocks and now I will spend a good portion of my day today (because I didn't get around to it yesterday...) wandering around my Barbie Condo changing the time on about a gajillion clocks. Then, tomorrow I will notice several clocks I missed and the process will continue. Don't even mention the clock in my car, as I never can remember how to change the time on it, and will have to wait for my Rock n' Roll buddy to do that for me. (in five seconds flat, as he can remember how to do this kind of thing) Until then, I will look at the clock on the dashboard each time I get in the car and be reminded that it is not the correct time.

Tomorrows post will be far more interesting thatn today's, I promise, but for now, I'm off and running (behind) to get my week started!

 

Party on.

Such a fun time! A line of shoppers waited for Camas Antiques to open yesterday for the big Birthday Bash. (Of course I forgot to have my camera out at that point...) There were lil' favors, and music, and lots of oohs and aaahs heard round the store. Oh, and my favorite shopper came by, which made my day even better...
I must admit he was more into looking at the choo-choo train up high in my best buddy at Camas Antiques booth, and in eating his Cheerios snack than actually shopping for vintage treasures, but he was such a good sport...
The birthday celebration continues all weekend at Camas Antiques, and Friday when I was helping out I snapped a few more shots of some of eye candy for you. There are so many great looking booth spaces that I thought you'd enjoy taking a peek at....Billie's booth is always a favorite... and there are some new booths in the basement that are absolutely wonderful!!!

 

My Best Buddy from Camas Antiques was masquerading as a salesperson while stealing pieces of cake working with me, and so my day was pretty near perfect. (He was the icing on the cake so to speak)
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Birthday Party.

Camas Antiques is celebrating another birthday this weekend with a huge sale! All day today, Saturday and Sunday, you'll find nearly every booth with discounted prices and lil' treats for shoppers at the register as you shop. I have everything in my booth 15% off, and that includes the items in my booth that are already marked down!

If you come by the store today, look for me. I get to go and play with my friends at Camas Antiques today, helping out with crowd control and working the floor! Come by and say hello!

The little chair I can't seem to part with.

Oh. My.

Last week out thrifting with my thriting friend, I got an incredible deal. It was supposed to go straight to my booth space, but...instead...it has now bcome my newest favorite prop for taking photos.

Vintage.

Aqua.(Turquoise?)

Lil' chippied white Queen Anne legs.

Too perfect.

She thought so too, so yesterday we did a photo shoot right here in my Barbie Condo's Backyard.

 

Now, do you see why I can't seem to let this sweet chair go to my booth space?

 

When life gives you lemonade, make a really cool vase.

Have you seen the pretty shaped bottles of lemonade they sell at a lot of grocery stores these days? My daughter had them at the baby shower she hosted last month, so I snagged a couple of them, and I was glad I did.

They have such a pretty shape,and there was an indention for the label, which made it so easy to trace by pressing a piece of vintage sheet music over the area, and tracing it. I then cut it out and glued it in place with a simple glue stick.

I added a vintage skeleton key and some ribbon around the top of the bottle neck and it was done. Perfect for serving water at a meal, or using as a fabulously charming bud vase, don'tcha think?

And...best of all, it was a totally free craft project.

Goin' back to rock the house at Birkenfeld Country Store.

Ya baby. Tonight my Rock n' Roll buddy has another gig at the fabulous Birkenfeld Country Store. Remember this place? I told about it here. Gawd, I love this place.)

Last week I convinced my Rock n Roll buddy to let me design some marketing pieces for his band. (Partially because I was feeling the overwhelming need to be creative, and I had had an idea in my head for a few months that I was dying to try out, but mainly 'coz, I was looking for a way to avoid cleaning out my office.) I dragged him around his neighborhood, having him pose for some background shots. I had to laugh...For someone that wasn't all the way on board in the beginning, he actually turned out to be a teensy bit of a diva in the end, deciding on his own poses, what backdrops he liked, and even which fonts looked best to him. The finished product was pretty cool...anyway I think so.

Anyway.

If you're anywhere near the eensy weensy towns of Mist, or Birkenfeld, you've just gotta to pop over there tonight, and maybe have one of the Birkenfeld Country Store's amazing burgers. The music, the food, and the company won't disappoint.

 

Another trip to my booth space at Camas Antiques.

I've been busy thrifting as I shared with you earlier this week, and now I've got my booth re-fluffed and foofi-fied for the weekend. (It's First Friday here in Camas and the store will be open until 9:00 tonight!)

Lots of new-to-the-booth items and some great lil accessories....

I'll be re-vamping again next Tuesday, after a weekend of creating and thrifting!

Thrift store dreams come true..times two.

Monday and Tuesday were some of my best thrifting days, dollar for dollar...evah. And, to make things even better, I got to thrift with some fabulous thrifting partners. Monday was spent at the thrift stores with my daughter, who was on the prowl for things to add some homey touches to her boyfriend's kitchen, (That's her rooster up there in the picture..oh! And did I mention it was half off day at Salvation Army's Thrift Store here in Vancouver, Washington? Ya, baby. That's the kind of day I'm talkin' about.) and Tuesday's excursion was with a fellow booth mate from Camas Antiques, my friend Christa, from the oh-so-fabulous Chloe Rose . (...and just you wait until you see the charming vintage fan back chair I got while out and about with Christa!)

The reason I am sharing that I had amazing two days in a row of thrifting is that, with gas prices teetering around $3.50 a gallon here, driving to several thrift stores around the area needs to be a fruitful excursion, now more than ever before. A ten or twenty mile round trip that ends with no purchases is a pretty pricey little car ride. Not only that, but time spent driving all around town thrifting is time away from painting, pricing and booth fluffiing, so if it's a bust, it's kind of devastating. (to me at least)

Anyway.

Like I said, two days in a row...I experienced unprecidented success at the thrift stores.(Which, in case you didn't know it, is unheard of in my world.) My shopping partners were wildly successful as well, which made the days perfect. I returned home as happy as a kid with a new bike at Christmas, and dove into my bags of new-to-me vintage treasures and began pricing and cleaning.

It might sound goofy, but this is the kind of thing I live for these days, people. (That, and new episodes of Modern Family.)