Where have I been???

You know the old saying......time flies! Well yes it has! There are no excuses here. What can I tell you except that other things took up my time. My life and all that it entails. Family, so precious! And of course all those evil time stealers.....Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, candy crush and all those other games.......yes, I am guilty of all of these!
My family has changed a lot in the past year or so. My sweet Daddy passed away in January. Oh how I miss him! To be with a loved one at the end of their life is a precious thing. To be there as they slip away into God's open arms is a memory I will never forget. My 22 year old son, with us in that hospital room, said " I've never seen someone die before" and his Daddy and I said that we hadn't either. We let him know what a blessing it was to be there!
Another change in our family is a new baby, our first grandchild, a beautiful boy born in April! This is another moment I will never forget as I was at the hospital for his birth. What a blessing a new baby is! A new life! We are so so so in love.
Other things taking up precious time is my three antique mall booths. I love my booths! Who doesn't love having a mini store all their own? I love looking for new things for my customers and bringing them to the booths. Rearranging my booth is always fun, restocking, displaying and I also like to take pics of my booths. I usually post these on Facebook under Lynnesfinds, on Instagram under Lynnewilsonshropshire and of course, Pinterest under Lynne Wilson Shropshire.
While being in the antiques business for over 30 years I transitioned into conducting estate sales. This business is known as Estate Sales By Lynne. I cannot begin to tell you the satisfaction I get when helping folks with this service. One of my recent customers was downsizing and moving out of town. She thanked me profusely when the sale was over because she just didn't know what she was going to do. She even called me again several months later to thank me again, so sweet! That's what I like...satisfied customers!
I also sell online thru eBay and etsy also under the name lynnesfinds. Because of the above mentioned time stealers I don't list as often as I should so I need to work on that! :)
Well now I have updated! I am not going to promise to do it more often because life gets in the way, but, I will certainly make the effort to try. Have a blessed day and rest of your week!

Busy, busy, busy!

 My year has been blowing by so far, how about yours? Can you believe it is almost April? Wow! I for one have been very busy! I am in the middle of my third estate sale for the year and start my fourth tomorrow. Plus I have 2-3 more coming up. The Lord is good! In between working on these sales I sneak a little time to take care of my antique mall booths. I was there Monday sprucing up and adding more merchandise. In one of my booths I added some vintage watercolor paintings by Alberto Meza, all with south Texas wildlife and so detailed. There are also three vintage cactus paintings which used to hang in the Casa De Palmas hotel years ago. The Casa De Palmas still sits in the middle of downtown McAllen but is now called The Renaissance. My husband and I spent our wedding night there in one of the towers back in 1981. The towers are no longer open, boo! It is a beautiful old place! My mother used to be friends with the manager's daughter back in the 1940's or 50's and would swim in the pool.

 Here is a view of my second booth at Mimi's Attic. I completely rearranged it Monday and brought new things here, too! It is barely in the picture but in the top right corner is a vintage retro orange hanging light fixture covered in orange prisms, so cool!!! I found it at an estate sale years ago and my daughter used it in her room. It is so unique!!! You can always click on my photos to get a closer look!

 I have been rearranging/purging at my house too! I had my brother refinish my old hall tree which turned out really nice and brought it to the shop. It is so beautiful with a heart shaped bevelled mirror. Love it! I also tried my hand at Annie Sloan paint and book page wreath making! I painted this table and then accented it with gold trim. My two book page wreaths are hanging on the heart hall tree! I loved the Annie Sloan paint AND making the book page wreaths!

 Here is Mimi the owner of Mimi's Attic. She has recently changed everything around at the mall and it is looking wonderful and so inviting! She has some great antique showcases and counters at and around her checkout area just full of wonderful things to tempt you with! She works so hard and it is a pleasure to rent my booths from her! If you are local and haven't been to downtown Weslaco in awhile you are missing out! There are now seven shops selling antiques, collectible and vintage merchandise all within three blocks plus other stores and the Weslaco Museum. It is not that far either. I can get to her mall in about 20 minutes from my driveway in McAllen!

 We have had a glorious winter and spring with summer coming quickly. I stepped outside this morning and the weather is just beautiful! It was a bit windy and cool and just perfect! This pot of lobelia and petunias is just bursting with blooms. That petunia was barely alive when I bought it for 75 cents at Lowe's back in October. Amazing what a little tender loving care will do, huh? The purplish blue lobelia blooms are awesome but will be gone once our summer heat shows up around May.

 Since the weather was so awesome I decided to do some pruning and trimming. I have several piles now so I guess I went a bit trim happy but it was needed. I had put seed out for the birds right before I started trimming and they patiently waited in the trees and bushes for me to get finished so they could eat! My cat was right there helping me and she came to see where I went when I went inside for the camera.

Here is another pot of lobelia, geranium ivy, ornamental cabbage and lantana, so lush and overflowing!! Well, I enjoyed my morning but look forward to working my newest estate sale tomorrow! Stay tuned!!!

Really?? I haven't posted since AUGUST????

If you know me you know I LOVE antiquing, junking, picking....whatever you want to call it! I LOVE the thrill of the hunt, seizing upon that special find and hoping I don't gasp loudly when I do....I'm trying to get better about that part but it's hard! To support this ummm habit/addicition I sell in three antiques malls, on ebay and etsy! Whew! I don't sell EVERYTHING I find of course. It is only for the things I find that I don't want but can't pass up OR if I am tired of looking at it at home! Case in point....the lovely tray pictured below! I have had this for years. I have used it in the kitchen as the holder for the salt & pepper shakers, napkins and toothpicks. Then it held a part of my sterling topped vanity jars.....notice I said PART! I have also used it for perfume bottles. So it has been fun but adios sweet tray!

 This photo shows some of my pickin' finds from last week! Lots of jewelry, some good, some bad, for selling, crafting and keeping! Please note the AWESOME antique purse frame underneath it all!

 Here are more photos of my booth, lynnesfinds, at New & Again Antique Mall in McAllen, TX. This is such a fun place as they have all types of things, not only antiques. Crafts, collectibles, vintage, you name it! They even have a tearoom for lunch and Karaoke Kafe on select evenings.

 These birds were one of my "collections"! Adios, birds! They are truly beautiful pieces but once I tire of something, bub-bye! Alot of folks love it when I "tire" of something!

 I crafted this standing iron cross by embellishing it with all sorts of vintage jewelry which makes it unique and one of a kind. I also repurpose vintage jewelry by making "new" jewelry out of it. Plus I decorate picture frames and am about to start a new "project" with my vintage jewelry....photos soon! In this picture are also several pieces of vintage and antique sterling items including a gold rimmed sterling thimble, very nice!

 Antique cameos anyone? These are all old or antique, are carved or etched authentic shell and have backings of gold filled, sterling or authentic gold. If they haven't sold since I took this picture last week they would be a great Mother's Day gift which, the way the year is flying by, will be here before you know it!

 Upon entering our local grocery store this past Monday I was hit with an explosion of Valentine's Day offerings! You looked to the left and it was plants, flowers and balloons everywhere!

 If you glanced to the right there were cakes of any color combination you could imagine, some good some not so good, cookies, cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, etc.

 I know when I whipped out my camera some folks were thinking, um, weird, and others just smiled fully understanding my awe!

Lastly, these cookies did not come the grocery store. These were made for me by a sweet friend who is the best baker I know! They taste as good as they look! Happy Valentine's Day and more posts to come.....and you won't have to wait 6 months either! :)

Bits & Pieces

 MIA.....missing in action! So much has happened in the last few months that I will just touch on a few things! The above picture was taken at our local grocery store during the few days around Mother's Day. Here in deep South Texas Mother's Day is taken seriously!! Check out the explosion of colors on these cakes. I had gotten in line to pay for some groceries and I was right next to this display. Yes, it was a Kodak moment! Click on the pics for up close and personal! :)

 This picture is of some darling little showcases I found. No this wasn't a flea market, antique shop, thrift store or any other of my usual "junking" haunts......this was at a "Marshall's"! I could not believe my luck! The wooden one is aged to perfection and really does look to be very old. The other one is a tin and glass creation with the lid slanted a bit....very similar to an antique one we had used in our antique shop for years....Mom has that one! I have had these a couple of months now so don't go running to Marshall's, sorry, but I just had to share!

 This is just because I love pink......and mercury glass......and old millinery velvet leaves.......and MacKenzie-Childs pottery......and that great antique pink satin glass lady flower frog.......well, the lady flower frog is my daughter's but I am "storing" it for her till she is ready to take it! That MacKenzie-Childs very large platter was a gift from my kids and husband several years ago and is one of my favorite pieces. I don't think this pattern was made very long as you sure don't see it much! The old vintage jar with a metal lid holds a large ball strand of pink mercury glass beads that are new but I am an equal opportunity mercury glass buyer. And besides, hello, they are pink! By the way I LOVE old glass jars, too, but that will have to be another post! :)

Now the first photo is of what used to be my daughter's room. She grew up on me, darn her, went off to Texas A&M and is now married to her sweetie, lives in California and is an elementary teacher! Soooo her room got transformed into my craft, eBay, Etsy, antique mall preparing room! Whoosh! It does NOT look like this picture anymore as it is somewhat filled up, and a bit messy at the moment, but I will post pictures soon of it's "loveliness"! I am in love with the great black and white floor and I have even more shelving now than what is here. Don't hate me!
The bottom photo is of some items I have listed on eBay right now, lynnesfinds is my seller name, that are from an estate sale I am currently working on. These pieces are sterling and very nice to say the least!!!! Please check them out if they interest you, they are beautiful pieces! So that is a little of what I am, and have been, up to lately. I will try my best to not take so long to update and my finished room pics will be coming soon! Have a great week!