Sadie Olive - The Blog

a girly girl

Sadie Olive — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:22:02 +0000

I’ve never really been a “girly girl”. I was somewhat of a tom-boy when I was younger, and I am very rarely seen in dresses, but for some reason my thirties seem to have given me a case of the “girlies”. I find myself drawn lately to feminine objects, and frilly clothes, lacy slip dresses, and peep toe heels. Polka dots, and the palest of cotton candy pinks. You may have noticed my new blog header incorporating a new “softer” feel to the blog, I thought it was time for a change. Maybe it’s the colder weather evoking this soft girly mood in me?

My buying trips for the shop have also started to reflect this new mood…

In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been these last few weeks… it’s been on etsy! :o) It’s taking up a lot more of my time than I had anticipated, but I am loving this new creative outlet. I go on buying trips at least twice a week, and snap photos of my finds for the etsy shop a few times a week. It’s been getting most of my attention, and I have really been pleased with the outcome. But sadly, I have been neglecting to update this blog. I will have to share some new photos soon, but for now, I leave you with a collage of my etsy items, frilly and soft and wonderfully girly.

all hallows eve

Sadie Olive — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:47:17 +0000

Well I finally got decorated… for Halloween. I spent the later half of my Tuesday night adding the finishing touches. I took lots of pictures, so I hope you enjoy taking a peek inside!

I tried to add a few new pieces this year… the baby carriages, and the black and white cat, old photographs… I’m loving how they turned out…. although I still feel like my baby carriages need something else… so I’ll be sure to update you when I find what I’m looking for.

I found out yesterday from the lovely Jo-Anne, that my photos from past Halloween’s made it into Dovetales Magazine. She scanned a few pages from the magazine, so be sure to head to her blog and take a peek!

P.S. Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes. My birthday was yesterday (number 33) and I had a really fun day with my husband who took the day off to take me to breakfast and shopping, and then lunch, more shopping, and then dinner! I loved every minute!

october

Sadie Olive — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:40:31 +0000

I adore the month of October. I always have. It probably has to do with my birthday being in October, but I also think it’s for a few other reasons. It is the month that finally makes me feel like fall is here. The smell outside seems to change somewhat and it just as that “smell” of autumn. The breeze blows fallen leaves around and makes that soothing sound outside my window at night. The night air allows me to cozy up under my covers and feel safe.

I am dying to start decorating for Halloween. But I am going to be at the Irvine Valley College Flea Market this Sunday and my house is a mess getting prepared for that. I have promised myself that Monday is the day I will start to decorate. (Or maybe Tuesday since I am taking the day off for my birthday). I have a few ideas floating around in my head that I am hoping I can pull off. I just need the display space to be able to! (My house doesn’t have many “display” areas believe it or not…)

I have some new finds that I’m so excited to use this year to decorate with. Sheet music, old photos, vintage baby props, and a bit of whimsy. I love the old masquerade mask I found (above) from 1966, I’m thinking it will make it’s way into my idea somehow… Maybe a few pressed leaves….

What kinds of things do you do for Halloween decor this year?

free as a bird

Sadie Olive — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:23:31 +0000

free reign

Sadie Olive — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:13:40 +0000

I know I’ve been a bad blogger lately. I’ve been so focused on the shop (and my other endeavors) that I haven’t had time to take pictures for myself. Well today I made time. I wanted to “show and tell” a few of the items I’ve been picking up lately and decorating my house with. (There are some advantages to a husband whose out of town a lot… no one to complain about what I choose to decorate with!). I pretty much have free reign of the house when it comes to decor… I just have to “consult” him on any big purchases. So I have been decorating away, and loving every minute of it! Here are a few of my newest treasures:

This round suitcase I picked up at IVC, I was so excited at how clean it was inside! A super fun piece to use for photo props, and just sitting pretty on display. I piled in some of my smaller finds, a clock face, old photographs, vintage postcards, an old painters tray, a record book filed with vintage stamps, and a few smaller silver pieces.

The clock face and photographs sit in an old iron planter in my front room, and I threw a few of my other treasures into the picture… some old lace, and old garter, a vintage scale… the hardware I picked up on Saturday at another small flea market in the Orange Circle. And as for the books, I have been book crazy lately, I can’t seem to pass them up, so I have piles of them everywhere! These few are some that I wanted to keep for myself. I love the tattered edges, and soft colors of them. A vintage photo I picked up finishes off the display.

I also bought a few vintage umbrellas, to hang by my front door. I change the objects out for each season, and I’m loving the end of summer, pre-fall look here. :o) This last photo was something that made my heart skip a beat! It’s a very old photo album (1800’s) with brass latch and worn velvet cover in the dreamiest shade of teal. I’m so in love with it!

That’s all for now. But I hope to share more soon! I’m off to have some lunch!

smitten with silver

Sadie Olive — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:03:15 +0000

Well my first flea market booth was a success! I had lots of fun, although it did take me about two days to get to feeling normal again after I worked all day on only three hours sleep. I was so anxious the night before I just couldn’t fall asleep, and I ended up hardly sleeping at all. I actually didn’t even feel how tired I was until I came home that afternoon, and then it hit me. Even with a full nights sleep on Monday, I was still terribly groggy on both Monday and Tuesday! But I feel refreshed now, and we are so happy with how things went, we decided to do it again! I’m not sure how long our excitement will last (it is a TON of work), but we for sure plan on doing at least October and November at IVC.

I know I promised to take pictures, but I have to admit I didn’t get any worth sharing. I snapped a few at one point, but the bright sun was out and our booth was full of shoppers, and the pictures didn’t really even come out. It’s silly, but I don’t think I can bring myself to share bad photos on my blog after calling myself a photographer… :o) So you will just have to settle for pictures of my own junk collection.

I have been buying, buying and more buying all things silver lately. I can’t get enough of the pretty, delicate, and tarnished silver ware. I think there is something so beautiful about it. I actually decided I had too much of it, and listed a few of my pieces on etsy. Visit the shop by clicking here.

I have many new treasures I need to photograph and share on the blog with all of you. But if you could see the sad state my house is in right now… it’s certainly not pretty. Once I clean up and get organized I promise to share more.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

now on etsy

Sadie Olive — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:51:50 +0000

Well, I decided my vintage treasures needed a new home… on etsy!

I set up shop yesterday and am now open for business! (Don’t be fooled – this is a screen shot below, so you can’t click on the items).

Head on over to my new shop and take a peek at the treasures in store. I am excited to have had a few sales happening already! I may have to close up shop on Sunday (since some of these items may make their way to the local flea market when I sell at IVC on September 6th) so don’t wait to act if you have your eye on something! I hope to see some of you there in person! (You’ll have to forgive me if I’m not too chatty, I am shy in person, and I will have also have been up since 4:30 am by the time I see you!) I’ll drink some coffee, and put on my best smile for you though!

this and that

Sadie Olive — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:52:33 +0000

On Wednesday Josh and I made it out to the JustSpotted Blogging Party held in Laguna Hills. As a nominee for one of their awards I felt I couldn’t pass up the invite… so I drug Josh along and headed out. He moaned and groaned the whole way, until we made it to the “NASCAR room” at Wowzville and then he was perfectly happy being there. :o) (It was held at a cute place called “Wowsville” that was created by a former NASA employee and they have themed rooms with neat interactive video games for kids to play at parties and such.).

The party was sort of strange (at least for me) since I didn’t know anyone, and most of the people there I introduced myself to had never heard of my blog or shop. I kept being asked “Sadie What?” all night… I felt a little intimidated and out of place. Most of the blogs there seemed to be family oriented or “mommy” focused. And since Josh and I don’t have kids (sore subject) I didn’t know many of their blogs either…

It was sort of set up so that you were left to “mingle” on your own and meet other bloggers… something that I thought was very hard to do, since I am basically pretty shy and introverted. But we did have a nice time, and I did manage to meet a few very nice people. Coleen and Kelly the hosts were adorable. Coleen had on a super cute dress that I totally forgot to compliment her on, and Kelly had her adorable little girl there. I also found a new blog that if I DID have kids, I would have to stalk, because her ideas are amazingly creative and so cute… Dana Made It

They announced the winners via twitter, and although I have a blackberry, I was just not coordinated enough to figure out how to get the results on my phone. (I guess I was only following Kelly’s twitter profile, and not the Just Spotted main profile, so I didn’t even know I won until AFTER I got home!) But I did win (thanks to all of you who voted for me!). I won “Readers Choice for the Best Lifestyle and Design Blog”. It’s such a fun honor for me, and I am super excited. Check out the other great winners here: Just Spotted Winners

I have to give a special thank you to Tara, who told me about the contest and turned me onto their blog in the first place. So, thank you Miss Tara! Love you girly! And also to Melaine and Kasey who spread the word and got people to vote! Thanks ladies, you rock!

And now onto other news…

You may have noticed that my Brocante site has slowed somewhat in weekly new additions…. well, there is a reason… I am saving up my finds for my first ever sale at IVC (Irvine Valley College). My Aunt and I are getting a booth and sharing all of our treasures with all of the Orange County locals that can make it to Irvine for the monthly flea market. It’s actually called “The Groves Antique Market” and it’s held at Irvine Valley College, off Interstate 5 or the 405 at Jeffrey Road. 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month. (949) 786-5277. (We aren’t committing to doing this more than this one weekend, but if all goes well, who knows! It could become a regular event!) September 6th, 2009 is the big day.

My house is a total disaster as I have treasures all over while I try to tag and price each item. (I am gussying up a few in the meantime). My Aunt Lynn has an etsy shop you can check out called ZigZag Way. She is a treasure hunter as is her daughter Danielle who also has an etsy shop, Second Wind Vintage, the two of them are my partners in crime each week at the local estate sales. (My Mother-in-law is also a member of our clan, but she doesn’t have a shop, as of yet!)

I’m hoping our first sale will be a lot of fun and well worth all of the time and work we are putting into making it pretty. If you are able, please come by and pay us a visit. (We are hoping to have our booth number in advance, so I’ll update this post once I find out!). And for those of you who can’t be there, I’ll be sure to take pictures for you!

it’s a mish-mash

Sadie Olive — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:47:34 +0000

Along with the new estate sale addiction comes the need for additional storage. My home office is starting to over flow with junk (uh…I mean treasures). So I have been on the lookout for fun storage pieces that will give my office space that pieced together aged look I’m after.

The chest on the left (above) is my new favorite find. It is a chest of five skinny drawers perfect for papers, photos, and even jewelry, and has a large compartment up top. I fell in love instantly with the black worn and scuffed finish. It belonged to a man who had it in his garage, so it required a good cleaning, but sometimes that is half the fun, since I also found treasures hidden inside as I cleaned. (Old receipts from the 1960’s, papers, stickers, and even live ammunition! I had the sheriff come to my house to pick up the old bullets as I wasn’t sure how to dispose of them?!?!)

The green tool box, I picked up at IVC. It sits on my center island which acts as a shipping center for me. I keep all of my stamps and labels, and other tools of the trade inside. It has really cool leather handles and an awesome green finish with years of splattered paint that could never look as good if it were artificially achieved. It was funny, as it carried it out of IVC (Irvine Valley College Flea Market), three men each said to me separately: “it looks like you’re on your way to work with that thing!”. I giggled to myself thinking that each man must of thought they were so clever saying so, not knowing that two men only steps past them would say the very same thing! :o)

This old fan was another score. It’s a perfect shade of powder blue and it still works! I was so excited to score this one, and for only $18! The little tin tool box on the right (above) holds all my tags and hardware for “gussying up” my finds for the shop. I thought it was only fitting to gussy up the box itself with a corsage of it’s own. (I bought that one, and can’t recall who from… Art Takes a Village maybe?)

The little red tool box holds my trinkets and jewels. I’ve been collecting old pins, and brooches for that perfect project, but nothing has called out to me yet to make with them. I stuck vintage French vocabulary cards in the drawers label holders. The blue champagne trug I may have shown you before, but I just love it! It’s another IVC find. It holds all my postcards for the shop. It too, has that perfect aged look that I so easily fall in love with.

It’s a mish-mash of old objects that are blending really well with the Pottery Barn pieces I have. I’ve still got a few more ideas to bring it all together, and then hopefully I can show you a wide shot of the office. (For now I just move the clutter out of the cameras view). :o)

Now on to more important business:

The winners of the three Somerset Life 2010 Calendars are:

1. Zita – http://www.mllemagpie.typepad.com/

2. Laura – http://52flea.blogspot.com/

3. Marci – http://madysunshine.blogspot.com/

Congrats ladies, please email me your mailing addresses and I will send out your calendars sometime this week! Thank you to every one who left a comment!

miscellany

Sadie Olive — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:46:06 +0000

Awhile back, the editors at Stampington and Company asked if they could use one of my photos for their Miscellany section in an issue of Somerset Life magazine. I of course, agreed, and was delighted when it was published. But recently, to my surprise they asked again if they could feature the very same photo in the 2010 Somerset Life Calendar debuting this year. My image not only made it into the calendar, but it also got the cover! I am tickled over here, and so excited!

Just yesterday I received four of these gorgeous calendars in the mail. So I decided that I would give away three to a few of my blog readers. (Sorry, I had to keep one for myself!) It’s such an amazing piece of eye candy, and features the photography of some of my most loved blog friends.

Just leave me a comment, and I will contact three lucky winners on Tuesday of next week (August 18th, 2009). In case you don’t win, but you would still like a copy of this gorgeous calendar, you can also purchase one online here: https://www.stampington.com/calendars/

Good luck to all of you!