Vintage Camera Find

...or Sometimes it's Really Nice That Your DH Loves Auctions.

Projectman went to the auction Saturday to check out a cement mixer and ended up bringing home 8 vintage cameras for me.  He called me mid-auction to tell me they had a few old Kodaks and asked if I'd like him to bid on one.  When he went over to get more info for me, he discovered a treasure--a Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex camera.  I've been wanting one since I first got into this new hobby of mine and so I was suitably
excited (read panting and drooling and crossing every finger and toe I have), hoping there wouldn't be anyone at the auction who knew their real value.  Anyway, being the wonderful man he is, he and DD stayed for a few extra hours at the auction, sitting through innumerable ugly crystal knick knacks, in order to bid on the Rolleiflex for me.  Instead, they auctioned all the cameras off as one lot and I ended up with quite an addition to my tiny vintage camera collection.  And I think I got some real beauties too.  :)

This blog post is obscenely bloated with photos because I have tried 3 times to make a collage in Picassa but the menu for that option seems to be disabled for some reason.  I guess that means y'all will just have to look at all of my lovely cameras individually.  Heh, heh, heh...

Kokak 3A Autographic Camera Model C circa 1913-1919

Kodak 1A Pocket Camera Series ii  circa 1926-1932

Even though it doesn't look like it from the photos, this camera is about half as big as the 3A

Brownie Hawkeye No. 2 Model C a British model circa 1907-1914

Brownie Reflex Synchro Model circa 1949-1952

Kodak Duaflex IV circa 1947-1960

Brownie 8mm Movie Camera circa 1951-1956

Kuribayashi Petri 2.8 Color Corrected Super 35mm Rangefinder circa 1958-1962

And the whole reason I have a bunch of new-to me vintage cameras.

Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex camera 2.8C Model K7C circa 1951-1953

I took the photos using the new DIY light box that I made yesterday out of a cardboard box, vellum, masking tape and poster board.  I just love it when I can make stuff for cheap!  :)  Next post will have a bit more about the light box and some of the things I've tried to shoot with it.

For Rent: Plein Air Studio

Beautiful light filled space in the middle of the woods.  Hear the sound of the birds and watch the squirrels frolic as you work.   Comes complete with partial basement and plumbing.  Don't miss out on a great opportunity to create in this unique space.

Sounds great doesn't it?  Too bad the reality doesn't match the fantasy.  :)  My studio is officially gone now.  There's nothing left.  I'm way past due for some photos showing the destruction progress so far.  Enjoy!

All the walls and roof disappeared by about the 4th of July--it makes a nice patio doesn't it?

When I came home from Mom's on the 9th, I had a new hole in the ground.

By the end of the weekend, DH should have the forms for the footings all finished and we can call for our first inspection.  Since I'm starting to suffer withdrawls already (if only for a place to put all my "stuff"), every little bit of progress is a good thing.   

Miniature Garden Birthday Fun

Yesterday was one of my bff's birthday and her gift theme this year was garden stuff.  She's become intrigued with miniature gardens, so I decided that I would make her one for her gift.  I'm not sure what "mentally challenged" part of my brain was involved in that decision because life has been just a bit busy lately but regardless, I bought plants at a nursery in Chehalis and found some cool stuff at the thrift shop in town and set to work Thursday night creating. 

I have to say that it was one of the funnest things I've done in a long time and I'm gonna have a really hard time not making a lot more of them.  They're seriously addicting.  

Making these reminds me of when I was a kid.  We spent a lot of weekends in the summer camping at Fish Creek Campground in Glacier Park and I would always find a tree at the edge of our campsite, hollow out a spot between two tree roots and collect rocks and twigs and bark and make tiny gardens with bark huts and twig fences.  Until I made this garden the other night, I'd forgotten how much I loved making those gardens.

I see at least a few more of these creations in my future.  :)

Bye Bye Studio...

...otherwise known as what I've spent the last two days doing. 

This summer my studio is getting a makeover.  The roof leaked all last winter and there's no quick and easy fix, so we really have to redo the whole roof, including half of the garage roof.  And since redoing the roof means we have to rebuild the walls anyway, my sweetie asked me if I'd like to have a bigger studio.  Well, I could hardly say no, could I? 

I picked up the building permit on Tuesday and since I have to leave to go to my mom's on Friday, that left just a few days to get everything packed up.  I started Tuesday evening and packed 8 boxes of books before I went to bed.   I took some pics of it in its almost normal state when I got up on Wednesday morning.

art table area

                           

sewing area

 jewelry area

Wednesday morning I hit it hard and worked all day packing stuff.  I had to go into Lowes once to get more boxes (yikes, I packed a whole lot of boxes) and I stopped to eat dinner, but all told, I spent about 14 hours packing.  It seemed like every time I turned around, there was something else to pack.  :)  Here's what it looked like this morning before I started in again.  

nothing but bare shelves

35 boxes of stuff stacked to the rafters in the garage

                                             

This morning I took the time to finish the the buttonholes on the shirt I made on Monday so I could pack up the sewing machine and the last of the sewing stuff.  Once that was done, it was a quick half hour for my husband and son and a few neighbor boys to haul all the furniture out to the garage, and presto chango, it was all done. 

 

looks pretty much like it did when we moved in two years ago

all my stuff, anxiously awaiting its new home in a few months--a few months, right sweetie?

Happy Birthday Giggle!

Today is my sister Gayle's birthday.  In honor of that I decided I'd post some pics of the mini quilt I'm working on for her last year's birthday.  So like me to be a year behind, huh?  :)  

I think I'm about finished adding flowers so now I have to add the beading for the centers.  I did a few centers on the small flowers last night but I don't like them so I'm going to have to cut the beads off and start over.  I think I might have to buy some different beads to get the look I want.  When the beading is all done, I have to decide if I'm going to add a border to the quilt.  I think I want to machine quilt the words of the song that was the inspiration for this quilt on a border but it's something that I'm going to have to think about for a while. 

Nestled In My Backyard...

Last weekend, Al finished the siding on my new garden shed (thank you so much sweetie!) so now I can show it off.    I still need to paint the trim and bring the door up from my mom's and get in installed but even with that still undone, isn't it awesome?  If I were a little girl, I'd be finding furniture and a tea set to take out there and make it my playhouse. 

I can't wait for a sunny day when I can get out in the yard with a sketchbook and my paints and try my hand at capturing it on paper.

Sneak Peaks

I've been spending a lot of time on the road the last few weeks, alternately going to my mom's and bringing her up here to stay, so I haven't had much time to blog lately.  But I couldn't let any more time go without showing some sneak peaks of my almost finished garden shed.  I have to find time to search out an old door and then the rest of the siding and shingles can be put on and the trim painted.  I'm very, very excited about how it looks so far--exactly what I wanted!

I can't wait until it's all finished!  How can it not be cool?  It has two of my absolute favorite things--old windows with peeling paint and old metal roofing.  The windows were found on Craigslist for cheap and the roofing scrounged from my folks house.