Family, work, snow, and ......the other thing.

So far, his has been a crazy winter. First, of course, there is all this snow. OK, so what. It is inconvenient, but I do live in New England so why should I complain? Plus, I also lived in upstate New York for nine years, so this is nothing by comparison. So forget the snow already. What else? Well, I've been juggling lots of family stuff. Understand one thing: if you have kids, and they need your help, that trumps EVERYTHING. Need I say more?

Finally, there's my own work. I have been a good worker bee, going off to my painting studio every day to work on my latest picture book, which is being done in real paint, and is very time consuming. I love it, but it is loaded with detail. And when I am not in the painting studio? I am in my home studio designing fabrics, creating images for licensing,  and working on writing my books. Not a lot of down time to be out and about. And, as we know, all work and no play makes Barbara very cranky.

So what's a gal to do to decompress? Of course, the obvious answer is SHOP. And for me, that means shop for home goods, antiques and quirky collectables. But if one is snowed in and/or pressed for time? Then, one has to be resourceful.

As an ebay lover since before they were a public company, I know the agony and the ecstasy of on-line collecting. Been doing it for years. I even have the dark circles and piles of junk to prove it.

But who has tine to wait for an auction to end? I cannot spare the extra time to make an appointment for my eagle-eye bid sniping. Yeah, yeah, I'll do "Buy It Now" if I'm really impatient. But, lately, I find that sifting through the listings on Ebay is tedious to the Nth degree.

Enter Etsy! The pickings are somewhat slimmer, and there is stuff that you couldn't pay me to have, but if you look carefully, there are gems to be found.

I've also picked up some neat items  from Three Potato Four, another hard-to-resist vintage shopping site, although now I have to compete with the buyers that walk into their Philadelphia storefront.

I also check out the wonderful antiques, folk art and Americana  on 1st Dibs, but suffice it to say, most of those things are well beyond my budget. Still, it is satisfying just to look and the wonderful offerings.

One thing I've noticed: more and more antique shops are doing videos of their current inventory. To tell the truth "virtual shopping" is almost as much fun as the real thing. After all, the thrill of the hunt is the best part. Often, I  get a kick just seeing the items, which is why I also love checking out blogs about decorating with vintage finds. Taking a look at videos from From Out of The Woods Antiques in Goffstown, NH, ended up with me also taking a drive up there to get some things. And THAT is really dangerous.

I'm sharing a handful of my latest on-line finds. I find that I am drawn largely to Americana and Folk Art. That Tobacco Flag Quilt is one of my very favorite finds of all time. I got it from the etsy shop, Camp Hobachee. 

Now back to work....

Comments

[parker lanier]

omg Barbara we like exactly the same stuff, I am posting link to your site on my blog and finding u on fb. I have albums full of carnival art on my fb page....

[Barbara Johansen Newman]

Parker, thanks so much for stopping by my blog! DOn't you just LOVE LOVE LOVE this kind of stuff? When I get back from my studio later, I am going to check out your carnival collection!