An Unexpected Treasure and an Estate Sale

I am at heart, a digger.  I get my biggest thrill when I am out digging through the past and uncovering some hidden gem, secret or inspiration.  Estate sale signs send me into a tail spin and when I can afford to stop and do a deep dig, I am satisfied for months - maybe even years.  And although I have been to many sales over the years, I have never actually gone through a home of someone I knew well.  Needless to say, it is a very different experience and everything is looked at through different lenses.

A year ago a friend of mine, who was an artist, collector,  and mentor to many, passed away - leaving a house stuffed full of collected art, craft supplies and history.  This past summer, her daughters asked if I would be interested in coming over and taking a look at the collection as well as packing up anything that I might find useful and or inspirational - in lieu of a trade.  I knew it was going to be a deep dig, going through years of collecting and dare I even say hoarding - but I had no idea what I was in for - and how layered and deep one woman's collection could be.  I spent a couple of days going through room after room - the bedroom alone took me five hours.  I made piles of anything and everything that I might find useful or inspirational and then I waited.  I waited for the daughters to look through it and decide if they were also ready to let go of the history.  Weeks later, I received the call.  They had gone through the boxes and were ready for me to pick up what I wanted.   I went over and filled up the truck - packed up old photograph books, spools of ribbon, boxes of hand written letters, and an endless amount of craft supplies.
I walked through the whole house and snapped pictures of all of the art that hung on the wall - many pieces that had been given to my friend from various artists as a thank you over the years.  I wanted to pack up each and every piece and hold on to it - keep it safe from falling into oblivion.  The reality is the girls need to let go of the collection and have decided to have an estate sale.  They have hired a company to come in and price everything in the house that is worth more than $5.  

If you live in the Los Angeles area, and want to peek into this house of treasures, the sale continues tomorrow, Sunday, November 13th from 9-3 at 5029 Westpark Drive, North Hollywood, 91601. See you there!