Flea Market Madness

My name is Felicia and I'm a flea market addict. There, I said it. What's worse is I got my husband hooked too! There was a time before I injured an ankle that my husband and I would spend most every Sunday at a Southern California flea market. The first Sunday of the month was the Pasadena City College market, the second Sunday was the famous Rose Bowl flea market, the third was the Long Beach Flea Market (my personal fav), and the fourth was our Sunday to rest (unless the Ventura Flea market was going, of course). I swear, it was the only thing that could have gotten my butt out of bed before the sun was up! But with my inability to walk for long distances my flea marketing days are, if not completely gone, then seriously dampened. Thank goodness for online shipping and Etsy! I've found many vintage goodies shopping on Etsy and within the CCCOE there are a number of sellers that specialize in vintage alone (CCCOEr's - make sure you tag your listings with CCCOE Team). Here are some goodies I've found recently while browsing through the Vintage section: This vintage Mexican tooled leather purse in KMalinka's shop takes me back to summer vacations spent with the aunts in El Paso. They used to cross over to Juarez to buy these (back in the 60's when it was still safe to venture there). If I were more of a purse person (backpack, anyone?) I would totally have this one in my arsenal. Many times the best vintage finds are those that you no longer use for their originally intended purpose. This camera has a great silhouette and is a sculpture in its own right. Carried by SlothArt. Alyssa of Oldetymenotions is a great supplier of antique buttons and other vintage goodies. I used to collect antique buttons once upon a time and I'm sure if I hadn't gotten over THAT addiction that I would have been Alyssa's best customer. Alyssa not only sells the antique buttons but she creates wonderful jewelry from them.

Dustdesignco uses a circa 1950's Los Angeles Transit Authority token in a way the original commuters never dreamed would look so good. I wonder if these were for the iconic "Red Car" my mom used to talk about.

I love when vintage components are used to create contemporary pieces. Nan of Nansglam uses a vintage skeleton key to good effect by creating a necklace with a sense of mystery.

This post was contributed by CCCOE member, Felicia of Maid of Clay Ceramics (in her very first blog post EVAH