Bodhisartva ..... Art/Spirit/Life

Return of the Blog

I've decided to resurrect my blog, after months and months of neglect.  A lot of changes have been going on in my life these past months and now it's time to forge a new road.  My intention going forward it to post at least once a week, post more of my art and share more and different things.

But, to kick it off, let's start with a flea market!  Because, hey.  

Pasadena City College Flea Market is so nearby, a very manageable size, good parking ($2) and free to attend.  Some of my favorite vendors are here.  It's held on the first Sunday of each month.  You can find information and a calendar here.

The weather was a blessed relief from last month, when it was scorching!  Yet, it wasn't that crowded because it's the weekend of the 4th of July.  Very nice not to have to jostle the crowds.

My tidy little collection ....

Don't you just love the fat file box?  I have two others, of totally different size and color and they look great together.  There is something about carpenter's pencils that gets me and I found two boxes.  Those notebooks are nestled in a divided drawer that someone made from an old cigar box.  

 

I've been collecting these old notebooks and the collection deserves it's own post.  But here are a few I found today.  One of my favorite vendors just came back from a trip to Minnesota and brought them back for me.

 

I'm not sure I'll ever get around to reading this particular one, but sometimes there are real treasures to be experienced by stepping back into someone else's life.

 

Here are today's "littles".  Adding to my collection of bullet pencils, little coin purses, clay marbles.  I collect those tiny gold pencils to turn into necklaces with some pretty chain and beads.  The background colors are pieces of leather and suede to use in my books.

 

Did you spot this small canvas roll in the earlier picture?  Here is the inside.

 

From the thread colors, I think this must have been military.  I'm going to replace the red fabric with new flannel and use this to carry my bookbinding needles to classes.  I can replace this thread with waxed linen and add a scissors that works and voila!

What was the last flea market you visited?  What did you find?

August Pasadena Flea

Some flea market adventures seem to have a theme, usually unplanned.  Apparently, the theme for the Pasadena City College Flea this month was "Things you can use in your art fair booth".

I LOVE this note taker thingy.  They even had an extra roll of paper and it is huge.  I've always wanted something like this for some reason.  And there it was!  Ah, fate.  It even opens up.

I'm thinking I can use this to collect a mailing list at art fairs and keep extra business cards in the box. What do you think?

I can use this to display necklaces and bracelets.  It is the most wonderful rusty/turquoise color.

Now what about this?  When I open it, I can line up some of my handmade books, or just use it as is to warm up the display.

But first, I'll have to empty it of THIS:

OK, so that falls under the category of "I have to have it but I have no idea what I'll do with it". Still - very cool and I will figure out some uses.  Oh, yes, I will.  

 

 

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Snapshots from first CWE Flea

June PCC - HOT

Since I'm heading to the Pasadena City College Flea Market tomorrow, I suppose I should post these items from last month.  I think I must have written it in my head and thought I had posted it for real.  Well.

 An assortment of fun items:

This handful of charms went to a certain horse person.

Lots of round thingies for embellishment.

Graceful implements which I hate to modify, but art must be done.

The oddest and most fun thing I found was this game, which I had never seen before.  

The box graphics are so colorful.  Did you ever play Madlibs?  This must have been an earlier version.  Instead of randomly picking words and plugging them into a story, the player picks cards like this.

I can only imagine how hilarious it would be.

But this is my favorite.

Just not sure where to go with that, but the mind boggles.

Another game came with these number cards.  Love numbers.

But these are the BEST.

Couldn't resist this little battered case.

Especially since it has a cool mirror.  I will use this for my jewelry display and a built in place for customers to admire themselves.

Anyone have ANY idea what this is  I haven't a clue.

And there you have it.  Since then, I have been to the Brooklyn Flea, where remarkably, I found another "Peter Coddle" game.  Odd.  And way too expensive.  

Littles from PCC Flea Market

Some days are just like that.  

This month, at the Pasadena City College Flea Market, everything I took home could have fit into one tiny bag.  

Speaking of small. Isn't this tiny clock hand sweet?  I love the crescent moon.

 These hands are from a much larger clock, but aren't they yummy?

I'll bet that brother Rob can tell me more about them.

Three of these little buttons are actually glass. The acorn is metal though and you know how I feel about acorns!

A small collection. Check out that bone folder.

I'm gathering a little collection of these advertising pencils.  This Coke version can't be that old.

Now for something different.  Can you guess what this is?  It is actually quite large and very heavy.  Got it from a delightful old character who cleans up old tools for sale.  I love his booth.Might be a little prize involved here, depending on the interests of the winning guess.

April at the Long Beach Flea

A gorgeous day.  Easter Sunday.  I felt like a heathen, but still I went.  And glad I did. Great day, wandering around all by myself.  One can do a lot of damage when nothing else is on the agenda.

 

I met the nicest couple from Fresno, who sold me that big sign and the story that went with it.  It marked the parking entrance to the the Patterson Building, built in 1928, in Fresno.  Being converted to condos as we speak.  It's huge.  I have no idea where I will put it, but I couldn't leave it behind!

To go in the completely opposite direction...this is a tiny salt shaker, just big enough to go on a necklace.  I bought it because - and I realize you can't see it all - around the bottom it says, "Minnesota Prison Industries".  There is a story there....

Can't resist drawers...

This is a very worn but sweet coin purse.  Is that a four-leaf clover and a horseshoe?  

 

On the inside of the cover is the label from Costello and Wood.  

   

They were the proprietors of the Hotel Windsor, on the corner of First and Mrytle Streets, in Mount Vernon, Washington.  Seems like a pretty fancy hotel, with "Modern furnishings with the best beds we can get combine with Cleanliness to make this a comfortable stop."  Wonderful what you can find on the internet, isn't it?

"Disaster struck the successful Windsor Hotel on the morning of March 23, 1926, when a fire in the elevator shaft in the basement broke out and leaped out of control. Mount Vernon’s only “skyscraper” was in ruins."  It's now low income housing.  How the mighty have fallen.  That was, by the way, the very first elevator in the town.

I can't seem to resist these wooden carriers and this one has been well loved.  I collect those round sifters and this is the smallest I have seen.  I use my biggest one to sift the compost.  This one will go on the kitchen wall with it's sisters.

An old scale will probably end up in the same room.

As will these graters.

But this.....

How cool is this?  I just got nothin' to say.

And what the heck are these?  well, I know what they are, but I'm still thinking of ways to use them.  That round sparkplug gauge should be good for something, yes?

Am I too weird?

 

Bonus Flea Market!

If it's the 5th Sunday of the month, then it's time for an extra flea market at Long Beach.  It's like an unexpected gift. Well, except that you know it's coming if you actually look at a calendar.  In any case, it's a treat.

I know you think I have too many old rubber stamp sets.

But really. This one is actually....

I mean, look how BIG these numbers are...As if that "Special" stamp was not enough.

 

One always needs a $3 tin and a few cool rulers.

 

I will definitely mount this dispenser in the studio so I can have easy access to waxed paper.  I use it constantly and this one is cool.  The vendor was so excited to tell me that it has the "original" roll.  Yeah, whatever.

 

I blame Sara May for this rusty old counter.  You push the handle to count...whatever.  I now have several, but the first came from Sara, so that I can count my blessings, of which there are many.

 

I can't get enough of these old red silverware trays from the 30's.  I use them to hold jewelry projects in process.  

 

A valuable document case, with heavy envelopes, filled with, well, valuable documents, of course.

It's always fascinating to take a peek into the lives of others, long gone.  I see this gentleman buried his wife and bought a double plot at the time.

 He lived for 20 years more. What was his life before and after?  He moved from a house to an apartment in a different town. Was he lonely?  We'll never know.

 

I also don't know what grade Ms. Lotty Mae got for this report on Da Vinci in 1911.

I do know, however, that she had really, really lovely handwriting and made this stitched booklet using excellent paper.

Now that I have shared everything, I'm off to try out those fabulous number stamps....and the "Special" stamp, because I am.

Oh, OK....so are YOU. 

I slipped away...

....for a short flea market visit.  

It was a jam-packed weekend, with important family events and too much to do, but, by gum (what the heck does that mean?), I was getting to Long Beach, if only for an hour.

Actually, it was more like 2 hours, which is still totally below my limit, I gotta tell you.  But, I had a great time and found such fun stuff that I didn't feel cheated.

This nice pile of leather will come with me to my book necklace class.  Students can pick out their favorites to go with the copper, brass and nickel book covers.  Yummy.  Might make a sketchbook or two as well.  

I may even store them in this new egg basket.  I have three now and they hold rolls of paper very nicely.  Love the color.

A little handful of metal.  Look at those designs!  The tiny keyholes will end up on a book cover, I imagine.  Or maybe a necklace?

More metal.  It's big enough to set on my table and hang a bunch of tools inside.  Rust, rust, rust..oh, how I love thee.

I was told that this cunning little carrier used to hold Belgian beer.  At the moment, it's holding some apothocary jars. But tomorrow...?

There is one more extremely cool item, but it's hard to photograph, so maybe next time.  

Speaking of next time, I just found out that there are 5 Sundays in this month, which means the Long Beach Flea Market will have a bonus market on March 30th.  Think I'll stay at that one all day.

First Flea of March

The threat of rain kept many of the vendors and visitors away from the Pasadena City College Flea Market.  

That might explain why I spent $15 on flea market finds and $20 on Girl Scout cookies! 

I did have fun, though...and now I have more money for the Downtown L.A. Flea Market next weekend.

Favorite find -

 Each packet contains a lens of a different size.    I like the envelope.  My grandfather's name was Edward (close to Edmund) and he lived in Barrington (but in Illinois, not New Jersey).  For some reason now, I can't get the connection out of my head.  "Pop" was a machinist and I often wonder what he would think of me working with all the tools in my studio.  I remember his work bench and the vise and all the baby food jars full of bits and pieces.  He is in my mind often as I forge steel, solder and hammer away.

Here's some more metal, destined for a book cover, I think.  They are from and old cash register and a little too heavy for jewelry.

 

Finally, I picked up this old Army bag.  I've been told it was used to water horses, but I find that hard to believe.  In any case, it is super handy in the studio to hold some tools or rolls of paper.

So seriously, that's all I got at the much reduced market!  In Los Angeles, people are apparently afraid of the rain.

Not everyone minds the rain, however....the garden is loving it!

There are even buds on the dwarf Meyer lemon tree.

This makes up for the skimpy showing at the Flea Market.  And next weekend, it will be 80 degrees here, so everyone should show up.

Long Beach Flea Market in February

Whew!  I am soooo glad to live in Southern California.  In February.  While my relatives are digging out from record snow and ice, I get to go to the great Long Beach Flea Market. Where it was 72 degrees. And oh, so lovely.  (Sorry guys).

 Quite an eclectic and dare I say, dusty haul. The box with dividers is so useful.  The back is higher than the front; it's 16 inches wide and 5 inches deep.  Now that it is cleaned up, it's  holding these:

I am so in love with spirals and these old watch springs fit the bill. 
They are parts for old Big Ben alarm clocks.  Wish I could have bought them all.  I did get these neat little silvery numbers.  If a certain someone sees these, she will know one of them is about to wing it's way to her...if the snow will allow for mail delivery :-)

The guy who sold me these boxes has 110 of them!  From an old sewing emporium in France.  You should have seen the buttons!  

The hardware on them is very cool. Can't wait to label them.  I wish I could have acquired more - maybe next month.

This is very geeky.  I did not even know these things existed or how much I needed them. They are handles for files.  You just stick the end of the metal file into the end of the handle and tighten.  Currently, all my files have champagne corks on the ends, but these handles will be easier on my hands, which is good.  Then, again, I won't have to drink as much champagne, which is bad.

But, the real winner of the day is something rather surprising.  Here is a fairly mundane wooden box.  I picked it up and the vendor said, $2. So, even though I wasn't that interested in it, I couldn't pass it up.

I was cleaning up everything when I got home and naturally turned the box over to wipe the bottom-which was filled with this:

Joy, Beauty, Life.

What else can I say?  Except that you DON'T want to know what it originally contained.

Living on Air

As if I don't collect enough, I now have a new passion.  Tillandsias!

I blame Sara's boyfriend Jeff. He gave me one for Christmas last year, in a lovely hanging glass globe.  Then, I kept seeing them at the flea markets.  Recently, I found one in Cambria at GROW.

Some of them bloom.

Some are whispery.

Some are....NOT.

And some are just plain weird.

These are plant parasites from the bromeliad family that normally attach themselves to trees in the forests of the Americas.   They don't need to be in water; they can't be in water; they don't belong in soil.  You just dunk them in a bowl of H2O every week and put them back out in the air. Crazy.  Yes, they live on air. 

But I guess I'm done now. There are, after all, only 8 empty Patron bottles on my windowsill and they are each topped with a tillandsia.  Of course, there are other windows in my house.  And I suppose more Patron bottles somewhere.   Hmmm....