Quickie: My new friend Amelia

Hi, all!  I know I usually post reviews on Fridays, but I have been too busy getting ready for the Milwaukee Bead Show, which is October 6th, and the class I'm teaching at Knot Just Beads tomorrow afternoon (or today if you're reading this on Saturday, or yesterday if you're reading this on Sunday...) to delve into anything to review.  I do have a stack of beading books (actually, a few shelves of them) that I can review, so hopefully I'll have some time to read one and review it next Friday.  If not, there will be another quickie post.

For the most part I do my grocery shopping on Wednesdays.  It's a double coupon day, and I've found that I can keep our food spending down if we do menu planning and shop the sales.  Theoretically we shop less frequently, and we save more money.  Since I've been keeping track of our grocery spending and have a goal, we've been doing wonderfully.

This Wednesday I went to my local Pick 'n Save as usual but saw that the Marshalls next door that had been closed for a number of months was selling off their fixtures.  I typically don't find too much at these things because my needs are limited (portable jewelry displays), but at another such sale I found clear acrylic U shapes that I use as risers.  They were very cheap ($1 each, I think), and they work wonderfully.  I throw a cloth napkin or two over them, and they add height and dimension to my displays.

This fixture sale didn't have any of those available, probably because it had been going on since Monday.  However, I found something I absolutely adored:

I have long since wanted a bust that I could use for displays and for taking pictures, and I finally found one!  The two larger mannequins were $50, and the smaller one was $30.  Someone said she was coming back for all three of them (she didn't have cash, and it was a cash only sale) and was going to be back in an hour.  After a number of texts with Steve, we decided I would do my grocery shopping, get cash, and wait until either the woman came back or 1:01.

When I came back it was 12:55, and the guy said I could go ahead and get it.  But if I was the one who was coming back for it, I'd be upset if it was gone before the time I said I was coming back.  On the other hand, she should have just gone to Pick 'n Save and gotten cash.  I'm glad she didn't, because I was able to get it and not feel guilty when I checked out at about 1:06.

I was pleased to find that the bust can come off of the stand, so if I want to put it on a table at sales where I can't have free-standing displays.

I found a perfect place for her in my studio...

... and I've named her Amelia.  She kinda reminded me of Amelia (Amy) Pond on Doctor Who because they're both so slim.  Turns out my stepfather has an ancestor named Amelia, so that's nice, too.  I can sound less geeky if I say I've named her after an ancestor.

I've already decked her out in my Loose Bead Society 2010 Challenge piece:

Steve said I can also put sweaters on Amelia to blog about, "if you ever finish one."  Ha ha, husband.  Very funny.  Just because I have two sweaters in process right now doesn't mean that I won't eventually finish one.

I'm very excited about my new addition and can't wait to take her out for a spin at shows.

One more thing I got was one of the letters off of the wall.  They were just giving them away.  They're mostly made of foam with some particle board or something on the front.  I really like Ts and have a number of them around my room.  This one looks cute up on one of my knick knack shelves:

It seems to want to fall over, though, so I'll need stronger adhesive or to find another place for it.  We might stick it right on the wall.

So whenever you're out and about and notice a fixture sale, stop in!  Folks who sell their wares might find great things for shows, or you might find something neat for your studio or even your kid's room.  Send me pictures of your finds at traci@creative-pursuits.biz, and I'll post about it!