Scores!!

3 large (several yards each!) pieces of fabric bought for $1-$2 each! Also one awesome vintage sheet!



Pretty throw/table runner. It looks table runner shaped to me but was marked as a throw. I love this so much and can't wait to make some pretties with it!



Flat and fitted Troll doll sheet set! They're kind of girly, but I'm trying to convince Felix that dreams dreamt in a troll wrapped world are the dreamiest dreams to dream.



Scraps of orange upholstery fabric. I have some fun ideas for this!



Brand new fabrics I bought in South Dakota.

I also found muchos dresses that I found for good deals, which is awesome because some don't fit or are actually pretty ugly on my person. Thrift stores need dressing rooms, ya'll. Anyway, I like to promise that I'll share them, but to be honest the ones that fit will probably just get thrown into the wardrobe rotation. Maybe I should start a vintage dress series?

preserve wildlife. throw a party.

I think these guys would completely approve of that idea.



I had the best time every the other night at Red Rocks. I've always had to sit in the top general admission, but this time we were lucky enough to get a seat in the second row. Of course, it was pretty far off center, but we had a sweet view nonetheless. In fact, I totally got to watch Eugene dancing backstage before going out to join the fun!



I only took a few pictures, and they suck. Those guys dance too hard for good point and shoot pictures. Gogol Bordello put on a fantastic show, and I highly recommend them to anyone who likes to feel the good energy and get down. :D

Other highlights include:

Seeing a guy laying on the ground puking on himself, then watching the security guards send each other flashlight signals (and also point them in drunk guy's face!) and the EMT's carrying the guy out. I'd like to know who leaves their drunk friend puking on himself by the garbage with no supervision. Oh well!

I had a feeling I was going to have an awesome new hair flair to wear to the show, but inspiration didn't strike until 4 pm (and we were leaving at 6). I knew that I needed feathers, vintage metal buttons, and hot glue- STAT! I whipped this pretty thing up in 20 minutes.



I'll take a couple pictures in which you might actually see the details this afternoon when I photograph the new things I created this weekend. I can't believe I didn't get a full body shot of my show costume. I finally got around to wearing my red sequined sash and of course my favorite new boots!

I got the title of this post from this awesome vintage fabric:







My aunt Janna gave me a box of vintage fabric to sort through that she had gotten many moons ago from a family friend. A lot of the fabric was actually reclaimed from other clothes. So this is vintage fabric reclaimed from vintage clothes in vintage times! So cool!





I think this guy's name is Bruno, and wouldn't you know it- Bruno hates seagulls! Oh my, see how he frowns!



The stack. There are a few other larger pieces not in the stack, but I can't believe how pretty it all is and that it took me so long (since our trip to Wyoming) to get this stuff washed.

Also, all my dreams came true this weekend. I'll tell you about that soon. cough cough barnfullofvintageclothes cough cough

Long story followed by a giveaway

Happy 100 posts day!

I accidentally on purpose bought the most expensive fabric I've ever bought yesterday. I don't feel one ounce guilty about it because it has to have balance out with all the thrifty sewing I've been doing lately. I'm getting ahead of myself. Step into my time machine. Did you put your seat belt on? Good! We're not going far.

So the Chainsaw is away from home for a few days. He usually works from home, but some guys from his company are in Denver for a few days. They requested that he stay there with them to get more work done.

City driving scares the crap out of me. I'm from South Dakota. I remember when driving in Rapid City scared me, and now it's nothing compared to driving through Denver. I can do it, and I will, but my heart rate goes up to like 503, I have white knuckles, and I'm super terrified that someone is going to rear end me.

I didn't want to be without a car for several days, so Felix and I went with Chainsaw to drop him off in the big city. I decided that if I was already going to be getting my pants scared off, I might as well try to check out the Fancy Tiger. I've always wanted to go.

Of course, it was 9:45 am and they don't open until 11 am. Felix and I checked out a kind of fancy looking Goodwill. I found not one item for my Halloween costume, but scored some snow boots for Felix and new (to me) jeans for myself. Everything else on this street (except the sex shop) appeared to be closed. It was snowing and cold. I was in the city, and damn if I wasn't going to walk through the doors of Fancy Tiger before I admitted city defeat.

I was desperately wishing for a coffee shop or at least somewhere warm, when I looked up and saw a sign that said coffee. The front of the building looked like a bar. I open the door a crack and see a man standing BEHIND A BAR. I'm pretty sure it's a bar, ok? I ask if Felix and I can come in. I have got to get this kid to a bathroom before he states he needs one, and we're cold. Bathroom mission accomplished. Felix of course decides we need to sit AT THE BAR. Not in a comfy booth, but on a stool where we might make small talk about skeletons and glowing lights in the bar for 30 minutes with the bartender. I guess this joint doubles as a coffee shop in the morning or something. Felix did not want to leave the bar to go to the Fancy Tiger at 11, but I talked him into it.

I walk into Fancy Tiger, which is a super small joint. However, the stuff it has room for is awesome. They have fancy threads, sashiko floss, craft books, and the coolest, nicest fabrics. And that's just on the sewing side. The other side was dedicated to yarn and it's best friends knit and crochet.

I think I made 4 or 5 laps around the store just looking at fabric, thinking I probably wouldn't buy any. THEN IT HAPPENED. I saw some Enchino, which I've always thought looked so cool on the internet. It's $18/yard price tag effectively kept me from ever considering owning a piece of the glory for myself. Then I did something I should have never done: I touched it. It felt amazing. I left with half a yard.



It's sitting on the table looking at me, begging me to touch it. I think I may end up playing hard to get. I might iron it in a bit, and then it's going to have to wait around for me to call and see if it wants to get together with my creative energy.

Ok, that was a pretty long story. In summary, I took Felix to hang out a bar and got my grubby hams on some Enchino.

If you stuck through the whole story you will now be rewarded with my 100 post giveaway.

Pardon the flash, but Felix wanted to show you his "reluctant to give this to you" face.



Aww!



So what it is exactly? I'm calling it a cosmetics case. I'm not going to lie- it's kind of a prototype. There are a few messy parts here and there, but it's pretty cute.

Want to win this for yourself? Here are the ways you can enter:

1. Comment here (preferably with a hilarious knock knock joke).
2. Subscribe/follow my blog. (if you are already a subscribed, that counts!)
3. Tell your friends- twitter, facebook, blog, whatever!

Please leave a separate comment for each entry. I know it's a pain, but it makes my life easier.

Also, keep checking back. I have a couple more things I'd like to bestow upon you! I have a purse or two that need new homes and a gift certificate to my shop is not out of the question.

Good luck!

Adventures

I made out like a thrifting bandit last week in South Dakota. I have piles of glorious fabric, some of it being vintage and way too cool. I also acquired several linen items on the cheap. My favorites are long matronly dresses and skirts. Thrifting linen is one of the best ways to get your hands on it without breaking the bank.

Check out this sheet:



I love how it looks like water color!

I was uploading pictures of my favorite purchases, and several of them were "invalid files" or something. I love this flower one on top:



I also celebrated my second side ponytail Friday afternoon. Sometimes it's the only appropriate hairstyle.



My mom didn't notice until late in the evening. She then asked me if I knew my ponytail was crooked. It was, and it was on purpose. Feel free to participate next Friday afternoon.

I also thought you might appreciate a funny story. It was not so funny at the time, but it's funny to me now. On our way home on Sunday, Felix and I encountered this spectacle:



Do you see what's going on here? I had to drive stop and go for around 30 minutes while a bunch of cowboys (cowpeople?) on horses drove a herd of cows down the road. When we were doing the going (as opposed to the stopping), we discovered that the speed of cow is approximately 5 miles per hour.

I have a question for my blog friends. If I wanted to share some etsy or flickr favorites, how do I go about using the pictures? Do you have to save them and upload them on your own? Do you always ask first?

A happy list for an unhappy day

Felix feels a little bit better today. That should be good news, but in all reality he feels just good enough to have the power to hate everything. Fo reals. He "hates" every show I can put on the tv. He "hates" it when I take him out of his high chair. He "hates" being in the high chair. He hates "milk," but he wants some. In fact, he even "hates" me and himself. He has told me all of these things several times today.

All the hate that's flying around here isn't making me very happy, so I thought I'd make a list of things that do make me happy.

Ashley's Super Cool List of Happy Stuff

1. I know I've said it before, but I am always happy about getting new fabric in the mail from overrainbow.com. Sign up for her newsletter, I dare you. Then you'll know about the sales on her already cheaper than most places fabric. I got 18 half yard cuts in the mail yesterday, and that makes me happy.

2. Cheap zippers. Mama needed some new zippers. Zipper stop has several lots of 100 zippers for $9.99. Shipping is a little spendy, but they will combine. So I just got 200 zippers for a little less than $30. They are on their way. I'm excited about this bringing down the cost on the zippers I put into my items. 35 cents a zipper is much better than $2 a zipper!

3. Winning stuff. The universe apparently thinks that if I need anything right now, its a calender. I won one of these cuties from LeeAnn at MintBasil. Then a couple days later I saw that I won this family organizer from The Toby Show. I currently have a big ol' dry erase marker calender on the wall that I haven't touched since sometime before Uncle Babraham went missing in July. I think I'm going to put it away. I'll let you know where the new, glorious calenders go when they get here. Thank you so much ladies! Let us let 2009 be the year of no forgotten birthdays, anniversaries, or appointments!

4. Christmas Eve Fambly picture:



5. Adorable nieces with carrot faces:



That's what I've got for now. I hope your day if a happy one and that no one else is being hated as much as I am right now.