Pottery Tile, Yarn Bowls, Monster High Doll, and Surprise

It was just one of those days, when the fellows were off doing their own thing and I had some time on my hands to kill. What better way to do that than a visit to my favorite 2nd hand store, right?! Well this day was going to be just full of fun and surprises, so we will get right to it.

 This first find is a lovely 8" x 8" porcelain and wood tile trivet. As a quilt lover there was no way I was going to pass this up at just $3.99. The colors are lovely, the saying so true, and I have seen similar ones selling for over $20. I think it will go lovely on my wall in my new shop.

 Oh the lovely yarn bowls! I am so hooked on lovely yarn bowls. These bowls I thought at first were exactly the same, but when I looked closer the pattern on each were slightly different, so I had to have them both. I could find nothing on this maker, but I'm not too surprised. This looks like a, "JP", to you doesn't it?! It did to me.

 Here is the second lovely bowl, it is just as pretty as the first, only the mark on the bottom looks like a lower case, "dr". Somehow I think the first, "JP", is most likely to be correct, but it still didn't show up on Foogle, so your guess as to this artist is as good as mine. However this person is, they did a lovely job and I applaud them.

Now that I know my granddaughter likes Monster High dolls, I am always on the lookout for them. I really had to dig for this one yesterday, as the toy aisle shelves were packed to the max. She washed up well, and tho some folks complain about how she is not as jointed as other dolls of the same brand, I for one am glad she doesn't have so many breakable parts. This allows younger girls to have them, without the choking hazard, and the hassle of losing pieces. I will make her a little skirt and she will be ready to go. This is Draculaura from the animated series Monster High. She can still be bought on Amazon for around $10, I paid just $2.99, a nice savings.

Now this is where the surprise begins. I was cruising the aisles of Goodwill in my usual way, when I glanced down and there on the shelf was a picture, just like the one above, only the one in the store was framed, and had my signature in the lower right hand corner. It was my picture! With my signature! You could have knocked me over with a feather, I was that surprised! I never thought I would see my own signature on something in a Goodwill, but there it was. The picture is one I took, printed on my printer and framed, back in 2007. The above picture is from my computer files and is the source of the framed one. This is a tiny Ruby Crowned Kinglet that I managed to take from my living room window, because the little fellow saw his reflection and kept getting upset at it.

 

To my further surprise just under that photo was this one of an Audubon's Warbler, I took in 2008.

And another of this Rufous Hummingbird, I took about that same time. They were all my signed, printed, and framed 8" x 10"photographs. WOW!
 After I got over the shock, I quickly picked them up to see what GW was selling them for? With smug satisfaction I saw a $4.99 price tag on the back of each. I don't know why, but it just hit my funny bone that my photo's were selling at GW. Does this now make me a professional photographer, as I now have nature photo's for sale?! ha ha ha
It finally dawned on my dull wits, that since my daughter was moving, she obviously was having a good clean out, and things were being dropped off at our local GW. This made my day!
From that moment on my visit took on a whole different dimension. I had so much fun going all over the GW looking for stuff that used to be mine. In all I think I found about ten items, from cast iron yard decor, to art pieces, to mirrors. All were better priced than I imagined, and made my trip just a riot. I can't think of when I have had such a hilarious time. Thanks a million daughter, this was priceless.
I can say with all seriousness that this didn't offend me. I am happy my daughter is not lugging around stuff she doesn't want, and will start her new home, decorating in her own unique style. In fact, she has inspired me to unload a large bunch of stuff I have been dragging around with me for years, that I've never really wanted, but felt obligated to hang onto, just because it had been given me ages ago. It will give me more room for the things I like, and I think, be a very freeing experience. Plus someone out there, that buys my photos, will have some very lovely little birds to put on their walls.