New House!

We went back to look over the house again this past weekend and brought with us nearly every family member near by. Two sets of Richard's grandparents, his parents, his brother and my parents all joined us. It was a packed house to say the least.

I'm really glad that they are all so excited. It feels so good that everyone else is just as thrilled about the house as we are. But it was a little overwhelming having them all there putting in their two cents. Both of our families are ridiculously opinionated (something both Richard and I have inherited) and they each had their opinions on absolutely everything. It was actually kind of hard to sort through all the advice they were giving us.

Also, can you please just look at the color in the kitchen. I'm not sure how I feel about it.


On the update front, we're going with no news is good news. We haven't heard anything from the bank/owner and neither has our mortgage banker or realtor. The only downside is that we can't get anyone who still owns the place to go by the house to turn on the heat, which is probably an issue seeing as the water in the toilet has already frozen and since this is Wisconsin the odds that it is going to get warmer are slim to nil. We're worried about the pipes bursting, but the good news is that since we've already had an inspector come in anything that happens in the house will have to be taken care of by the bank/owner.

So much, and already late.

At the moment my life is a little bit.... all over the place. We're in the process of buying a house, but we have apparently done all that we can and now just have to sit back and wait to see where the pieces fall. And it really shouldn't, but it's putting me on edge just a little because I'm just so eager for this to fall into place.

There are so many creative things I have my hands in as well, so far this morning I have worked on creating a cross stitch pattern (yes, this might be my new winter shut-in hobby), packaged an order from etsy (big news in that department to come later!), and worked on some Christmas gifts.

Things I should be doing include dishes, laundry, exercising, and a post office visit.

As far as I can tell it hasn't stopped snowing since Sunday night, and now the wind is really blowing! I'm going to have to shovel the car out of the parking lot and venture forth for our yearly pilgrimage to The Rep for A Christmas Carol. I should probably do that before getting all gussied up.

I always feel like there is so much to do, so much that needs doing, and so much I want to do, and sometimes I just don't know where to start.

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." - Douglas Adams

Etsy Handmade Discoveries no.4 - lovelies under $10

I've noticed that although I keep myself to a rather strict budget the items in my Etsy discoveries are often way above my own price range because I like to indulge in wishful thinking. Today, it is about sticking to the budget. Lovely little handmade creations for anyone, all under $10.

As always, if you have an item on etsy that you would like to be considered for a future Vintage, Handmade or Art Discoveries post leave a comment or shoot an email to suitcaseart@yahoo.com


VINTAGE Typewriter, Sewing Machine, Rotary Dial, Video Camera, Polaroid 1 inch buttons. Set of 5. $2.50
from pinbackattack


Sea Mistery cocktail faceted aquamarine jade earrings $10
from lightkeeping


Reclaimed Stationery Letter Set $10
from craftgasm

Etsy Vintage Discoveries no.7 - Won't you Take My Picture?

That's A Sweet Argus 75 Camera... $40
from iamanie


Tiniest Vintage Camera on Sterling Chain $24
from FreshyFig


Kodak Disc Camera Advertising Film Box Vinyl $54.99
from Atomic Katz

Etsy Handmade Discoveries no.3 - Pint Sized Love

A day late, but here this week nonetheless! Great little things for great little ones!


Baby Socks from alpaca yarn



Dinosaur NATURAL ORGANIC Teething Toy Block Set


Pumpkin Pie Felt Food

Happy December!

It always amazes me how quickly my favorite sweater and scarf weather turns into full on snow suit weather here in Wisconsin, but it seems to be coming this week!

Happy December!

Etsy Vintage Discoveries no.6 - Holidays are for parties!

Vintage West Ben Penguin Hot Cold Server
from reusefulhome
Both my mom and I use one of these in our kitchens,
it's a fabulous little ice bucket for parties!


Stainless Steel Little Forks. Set of 12.


vtg 60s SILVER TUMBLERS cocktail glasses set of three
RustBeltThreads

Our House, in the middle of...

I've held off mentioning anything about our recent house searching just because we were so excited last time and it resulted in such a let down when the credit union backed down.

But here we are again. We made an offer on a house and it was accepted last week. It's a cute, tiny house - two bedrooms, one bath, one car garage. And it's perfect.

We've moved away from dealing with our credit union, so things should go a bit more smoothly this time. Today we're meeting with the house inspector and if all goes well with that and the paperwork in the next few weeks we're scheduled to close on January 15th, 2010.

And then the moving work begins.

also - the bathroom is blue! Tub, sink, and all! And it's not all that tacky - in fact it's rather cute!

Thanksgiving break

I've been spending some of this downtime while the men are out hunting to redo the layout of my blog and work on Richard's Christmas present - both of which shall be revealed soon! Richard got a deer the first night we got here, but even though they went out almost every morning and evening during this break there wasn't another deer to be had. Nonetheless we should be set on venison for many a meal to come.

I have quite a bit more tweaking to do on the layout. It always takes me a bit longer than I expect it to and than it should.

On the other hand the present will get it's finishing touches on Monday when I have the day to myself at home.

We did take a quick shopping jaunt today and I found a few things at the two goodwill stores we stopped at - a handheld slide viewer, brownie bullseye camera, and a purse. Go ahead, guess which one I'm the most excited about.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posts have been delayed this week to make time for our holiday in Michigan with Grandma Lori and Grandpa Rex.

Happy Thanksgiving!


Cousins J.H. and Atlas

I am thankful for Richard, my family, and my many, many cousins.
I can't wait to see them down south this Christmas, and meet my newest little cousin.
(If I've counted correctly he's number 18!)

Etsy Art Discoveries no.3 - For the Birds

I was just too busy catching up with an old friend and watching after some little ones to remember to publish the Art Discoveries this week, but here it is, only a mere day late!

As always, if you have an item on etsy that you would like to be considered for a future Vintage, Handmade or Art Discoveries post leave a comment or shoot an email to suitcaseart@yahoo.com


Owl in Bathtub
by Lee Arthaus


Ducky
by Snap Click Tripod


Retro Owls
by Ferntree Studio


Sleepy Heads
by SherriConley

Honeymoon Photos

I finally got a couple rolls of film developed from our honeymoon, including one of my the first rolls I used in my holga and from one from the underwater camera. I can't wait to get prints made and fill up our new photo albums!