Cautiously Easing Back into the Saddle

After taking a full summer off, I reopened what's left of MyPalPeppy as of today. The official grand reopening is a couple of weeks away, but meantime I need to reestablish myself on the Etsy radar screen and get going on listing the new stuff I've made and acquired over the long break.

I cheated a bit and created this treasury this morning.

www.etsy.com/treasury/MTA0ODU1ODB8MjcyNzc3NTI1MA/just-say-no-to-black-cats

As my father-in-law used to say, all's fair in love, war, and getting a job. And to that I would add, getting one's products noticed on Etsy.

I had great plans for the summer, thinking that by closing one shop I'd have oodles of extra time, but that was pure self-delusion. Basically all I did was to channel my efforts into my other shop, MelmacParadise, and not accomplish much else. I may have to go cold turkey next time, before home and hearth fall into rack and ruin. (Or is it "wrack" and ruin? Probably so.)

Oh, I did have a little info to share. Harking back to a previous post:
http://sheertrashroadshow.blogspot.com/2015/07/this-friday-vintage-animal-finds.html

I think I may have gotten an answer about my little toy ram. It looks mightily like these examples from a teammate's shop, 
umbrellafant:

www.etsy.com/listing/233594698/primitive-sheep-figurines-german-germany

She identifies them as being comprised of "antique composition material and elastolin". I'm not sure what elastolin is, but at least now I have an idea to continue researching. 

I love b's shop, by the way! She has such covet-able items. Here are some of the ones I'm lusting for:

www.etsy.com/listing/158801161/5-five-vintage-pyrex-harvest-home-cups

www.etsy.com/listing/239696172/mid-century-pink-elephant-cake-toppe

www.etsy.com/listing/210543434/vintage-artificial-corsage-pink-roses

www.etsy.com/listing/239586145/3-plastic-deer-fawn-mid-century

If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you probably saw those deer coming... I am a sucker for vintage plastic deer and have a massive collection of my own that I haul out every Christmas. I even have a few I keep out all year round because they're too wonderful to pack away.

I also admire b's photography style. It looks fabulous and I may have to find myself a similar background. Most of my stuff I do with a white background which I then fotofuze, but that's quite time-consuming and I need to find a simpler option.

Well, I should close. Got to quit schlepping around in my pajamas and get some work done. I have a masses of projects in half-finished condition and I need to tackle them. But before I do, take a look at this nifty vintage Halloween cape I found and rescued over the weekend. It was all crumpled up and stuffed into a box of ugly doll clothes at an otherwise dreary and overpriced estate sale we ran to ground; my little granddaughter is modeling for us:

www.etsy.com/listing/246207596/amazing-black-gold-vintage-halloween

I didn't feel brave enough to try and wash or iron this, but fortunately it seems clean enough, and by lying it between barely-damp towels overnight it seems to have straightened itself out. Isn't it cool? It's at least a 1950's item, maybe even 1940's. I especially love the scared puffed-up cats along the bottom. Amazing this thing is still around after all these decades.

By the way, we had rain!!  Lots of lovely rain over the weekend and more is predicted for tonight. Since the fire danger has been categorized as "extreme" (I don't remember when I ever saw it as high as it's been this summer) this change in the weather is a true blessing.

Of course, it wouldn't do to leave you without a laugh. My son and daughter-in-law produced this short clip. Hope you enjoy it!