Adult Ed

November 6, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Have you gone back to school as an adult? Do you think that the first day jitters are worse than when you were young?

Last winter I took a class at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. On my first day, I was nervously digging out coins for the parking meter when a skateboarder came rolling towards me. “It’s free parking on Saturdays, you know,” he said. “Really? That’s not what the sign says,” I responded. He was already halfway down the block and over his shoulder he hollered, “Guess you’ll have to follow your heart.”

I Love My Job

October 9, 2015 mithra ballesteros

It's October, baby! My favorite time of year! This collection is twisted and twee. (Great word, 'twee', which means sweet to the point of sickening.) While I was dismembering dolls for this vignette and holding plastic baby arms over the open flame on my stove, careful not to burn myself with molten doll flesh, I had to stop and count my lucky stars. It doesn't get better than this!

My vocation requires hunting things down and then matching things together in unexpected ways. Once the objects are assembled, a new thing is created which has a little of 'me' in it.

That Time I was Banned on Reddit

September 11, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Reddit is a gigantic public online forum. Its tagline is "The Front Page of the Internet." Every user has a voice, but most everyone is anonymous. As a result, bad behavior and boorish self-importance abounds. It’s cut-throat.

Reddit divides itself into categories of interest called subreddits. Each subreddit has a moderator who makes up his or her own rules. Kind of like the Wild West with a different sheriff in each town. Redditors must abide by the Sheriff's law. There is no due process in Reddit. “If you don’t like it, you can just gettttttt out.”

I've Been Knocked Up!

May 29, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Okay okay, I'm not knocked up. I believe the term I'm looking for is knocked off. But heck if it doesn't feel like I've been knocked up. Like, how could this happen? What should I do? What does this mean? Does this change my routine?

I'm taking a deep breath now and backing up to explain: today on one of my favorite blogs, I read about a new shop that just launched. It's called Still Life No. 3. Go ahead. Click here to take a peek. And come right back.

Why I Bought Shares of Etsy

April 17, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Yesterday, Etsy, the online marketplace dedicated to all things handmade, went public. The share price was $16. I bought a bunch. I am filing this post under "Mistakes" because maybe I just made a costly one. But I don't think so. The source of my confidence is an aspect of Etsy that is too little discussed. I'll get to that in a minute. But first, a quick introduction of Etsy. (I've peppered this post with images of products purchased over the years on this fabulous marketplace. Click on each photo for information.)

Today Only! April Fool's Slideshow in the Shop!

April 1, 2015 mithra ballesteros

This is a special blog post devoted to my most favorite of holidays, April Fool's. There's even a new slideshow on Finder Not Keeper that is viewable today only. To those who may be offended by my ribald sense of humor, I can only say this: I'm doing my part to lighten the load. Tomorrow I'll make up for this unladylike behavior by ironing my duvet cover and writing the stack of thank-you notes I owe.

But for now, 'bear' with me while I tell you about the joke played on me by the carved creature in the photo above. I fell in love with his innocent eyes and when I brought him home,

Kool and the Gang and Lindsey Vonn

March 13, 2015 mithra ballesteros

I've been skiing nearly my whole life and have never felt comfortable in the bumps. Once I took a fancy class on how to ski moguls from a French guy named Claude. He asked me what I wanted to learn. I said I want to look like Lindsey Vonn. He told me to plant my poles, point my boobs downhill, suck in my stomach, and keep my weight forward. I said, "Don't you mean boots? Point my boots downhill?" "No Madame," he said, making hand gestures to explain, "your boobs. Eez not what you Americans say? Or teats?"

Is This Ugly?

February 20, 2015 mithra ballesteros

I think it's ugly. Is it the Pepto-Bismol wall color, or the hideous burnt umber tones in the wood? Either way, this composition did not start out ugly. Under the studio lights, it looked really pretty. The rods and cones of my retina told my brain that the colors complemented each other. I believed my brain and patted myself on the back for assembling a visual lovefest of vivid pastels.

But a camera lens is not an eyeball and through my photographer's camera lens, the pink wall went from a soft blush to something more like salmon. The antique tea table, which is a rich brown, turned burnt orange. And through the camera lens, I saw that the sleek decanter and cordial glasses didn't suit the polychrome plates.

Junk with Spunk

January 29, 2015 mithra ballesteros

This is a boring business-y post, so if you find marketing discussions to be dull, skip down to the part about going to hell (second-to-last paragraph). Marketing can suck, so I'm right there with you. It is so uncomfortable to "pitch"Finder Not Keeper to anyone who is not my mother or who hasn't shown me ample amounts of social media love BECAUSE I NEVER KNOW WHAT THE HELL TO SAY.

First off, who am I? An antique dealer? Sort of. An artist? Not really. A decorator? I don't think so.

The only thing I know for sure is that I am a shopkeeper. Who sells antiques, art, and decor. This makes no sense.

Messy Year Means New Goals

January 1, 2015 mithra ballesteros

What a tumultuous year. I launched a blog and opened a shop. One of the initial decisions I had to make was whether to work out of my home or occupy a space. I realized our house -- not large but with interesting architectural detail -- is a great photographic backdrop. And the rent can't be beat.

More importantly, when I live with these objects and mix them into everyday life, I often see them in a new light. They show themselves capable of evolving in a modern way. It is much easier to form collections with items I've gotten to know and love on a personal level. When it comes time to shoot them, they are content in this space, and it shows through in the photographs. Weird, huh?

My Birkin Bag Smells Like Weed

October 15, 2014 mithra ballesteros

Did you hear about the Birkin bag snafu? According to recent customers who paid $20,000 for the privilege of carrying the iconic Hermès design, the newly purchased handbags emit a strong scent of marijuana, especially when exposed to heat. (Imagine that.) The smell, transmitted through badly-tanned leather, then infects other items in close proximity. Outbreaks are spreading and it's a real scary situation.

Mrs. Matthiessen is Right

October 9, 2014 mithra ballesteros

This week my camera, video camera, and laptop all went haywire and torpedoed my plans to post about a Halloween prank. Boo. Hiss. And to make matters worse, by openly sharing my technology woes, I just broke a cardinal rule of blogging. Which is this. Never make excuses to your readers. Don't apologize. Just shut up and write good stuff.

Because no one cares if your hard drive is shattered or B&H didn't deliver your light meter. It is boring. Unprofessional. Annoying too.

Me and Melanie Griffith, Writing a Bio

July 31, 2014 mithra ballesteros

First off, Finder Not Keeper will soon be featured on the site ScoutMob. ScoutMob is one of my favorite places to shop. I like how they provide a platform for independent makers to tell the story behind the product.

However, being featured has one major drawback. Three letters: b-i-o.

It is Okay to Be a Beginner: Lessons Learned at Alt Summit

July 5, 2014 mithra ballesteros

Me, rushing to learn. Photo by Justin Hackworth. — Me, rushing to learn. Photo by *Justin Hackworth.*

This post is about Alt Summit and I'm filing it under 'Mistakes' because I made another big one. I am not comfortable in the role of beginner and before launching my shop, I believed that with enough preparation and education, I could skip beginner status altogether.

However, I'm three months in and there is minimal traffic to the store, my Google page rank is zero, Photoshop kicks my butt no matter how many tutorials I do, and each day ends with a longer list of things I need to learn. I cannot skip to the next grade.

Owl Gif Proves Old People and Photoshop Not Always Incompatible

April 29, 2014 mithra ballesteros

It is nothing short of miraculous that I created the gif below. I did it in Photoshop, which is now in its 13th incarnation. As I'm in my 50th incarnation, Photoshop and I don't really get each other. All of the young whippersnappers out there who grew up with the internets have no idea how strained our relationship can be.

That all changed this weekend. Thanks to the lovely Angela Kohler and Bri Emery at Blogshop, Photoshop and I hung out together and got to know each other and only once did I call it a prepubescent idiot and shortly after, it crashed on me. Typical high-strung teenager.

The First (Hopefully Not Last) April Fools Edition at Finder Not Keeper.

March 31, 2014 mithra ballesteros

One of the perks of being the boss lady is that I can play an April Fools joke on my site if I want to. Sure, my shop might never be taken seriously as a business. Also, I might offend potential customers. In the end, certain consequences may mean that the joke is on me.

Na-na-na-boo-boo.

Craigs Listing with Political Strings Attached

March 21, 2014 mithra ballesteros

I am writing about this adorable collection of brass miniatures because tomorrow I am going to list it on the fabulous new website Hunters Alley as an experiment. I want to see if adding a secondary marketplace increases traffic to the new shop. I'll let you know how that works out.

But before it gets snatched up by someone like me who finds it irresistible, I thought I should mention that it was the very first purchase I made off of Craigslist. And this post will fall under the category of 'Mistakes' because I made a big one that day. I went alone, into a seller's house.

More Domain Name Mistakes

March 6, 2014 mithra ballesteros

Three versions of an identity mark for a domain name I should not have purchased. The designer described this as chaotic and beautiful, where every letterform is interacting with another and no letter is exactly the same. I think it seems very Frenc… — Three versions of an identity mark for a domain name I should not have purchased. The designer described this as chaotic and beautiful, where every letterform is interacting with another and no letter is exactly the same. I think it seems very French, very Art Nouveau, very chic.

Oh the pitfalls of domain names. It is a tricky business, thinking up a clever name, getting all excited about it, then plugging it into Go Daddy and BLAM! It's not available. It happened over and over again with fabulous names like:

Red Truck Round-Up
Milwaukee Pickers
Turnkey Charm
Bricolage Collage
Brave with a Little 'b'
The Commoner and Her Things
Sweaty Betty's Man Things
Mit Kit
My Sister the Shopper
Those Wanton Ways
Frogtown, Ltd.
Group Therapy
Vagabond, Ltd.
The Foundry
Me, My Shelf, and I

Domain Name Mistake

January 27, 2014 mithra ballesteros

This is an image I rushed to create for a blog titled "Still Life No. 3". That '3' was a beast to tape onto the stone wall.

It can be a joyous exercise to brainstorm names for a new business -- almost as much fun as naming a baby or a pet. But before purchasing that domain at Go Daddy.com, consider this mistake I made. The first of many.

Welcome! I'm Mithra (pronounced Mee-thra). I'm an interior stylist and a writer. I'm also a vintage and antiques lover. I have an online shop, Finder Not Keeper, where I sell my best finds. (That's a white lie. I keep the best finds.) Read more about me and the blog here.

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Instagram posts

A few days back in the ‘Quon. All of February is the price I’m willing to fork over for one week in September.

Latest blog post about our new outdoor shower and the differences of opinion between this guy and his mother (me) on how it should be used. #linkinbio

Brainy, brave, kind, genuine, indefatigable, funny, patriotic, fair, hard working, gentle, strong, iconic.

Those aren’t my hands forming baguettes. But I took the pic. @heat_her_all_a_man has it down and I’m ready with my salted butter and honey. What do you eat with baguettes?

Surveying the herb garden after a good weeding session. Basil took a hit the last couple weeks but everything else is flourishing like summer lasts forever.

First restaurant account for @littlelaurentide! Also first time eating out since the snow was flying. Really really fun night. (Not to mention that building’s white with black trim paint color scheme is 💯)

Surprise lilies, also known as naked ladies, fit in well here at the farm for reasons we will let you ponder.

This is son #2, the farmer. Walter is working hard to turn this place into a sustainable organic farm. Follow us @littlelaurentide for the latest on how mother and son align, clash, argue, hug.

On the blog today, the newest bachelor at Little Laurentide. Will he draw viewers or is he a train wreck along the lines of Juan Pablo Galavis? Read the latest blog post to find out! Link in bio.

On the blog today: a tour of the best places on the farm to sit for a spell. And I write a bit about what it’s like to cohabit with a son who used to give me every kind of gray hair. He could teach a polar bear how to be grumpy and I could teach a grizzly bear how to be grumpy. It’s a new world for the two of us, farming together, and can you guess how it’s going??

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