Spring tulips and the Easter weekend sale at Good Juju

flowers, holiday decor
By /

Aren’t these tulips so springy and bright?  They have such a realistic look, everyone is surprised to find they are fakes.  My friend, Mindy, had some excess inventory and offered them to a few of the dealers at Juju the other day while we were all working there.  There were a LOT of blooms.  I have plenty to plenty to use around my space, plus took these home.

This year, due to my surgery, I haven’t set out any Easter decor around the cottage, or even anything spring themed.  I was happy to have these.

I do have holiday goods at the antique mall.

For the March sale, I crafted quite a bit of bunnies and eggs, plus had a couple boxes of vintage too.  After the sale, it didn’t look like anything was missing.  But when I went through sales receipts I was surprised to see just how many bunnies had hopped away with customers.

In retail, you need to be a few skips ahead, so March was the time to sell Easter goods.  And our First Friday sale this week is actually the holiday weekend, so those who needed decor items, most likely already got them. And their minds were turning to all the things they had to pack away, instead of planning new arrangements.

Being smart, I’d have packed my own wares away and used the real estate space for another box of stuff to sell.   But I was enjoying the festiveness and let it stay.

Sometimes my displays are more about entertaining myself than good business practices.

Oops, did I admit that out loud?

Heck, I guess a lot of what I do at Good Juju is to make myself happy.

One of the reasons that I moved into a larger booth was to indulge my design and display dreams.

Im not really missing having my home all Eastered up, since I got to indulge myself at the store.  Now, of course I do hope that shoppers will be attracted to the goods and choose a few for themselves, but I know the odds are lower this month.

And I’m still happy to be doing it.   I hope you’re enjoying your holiday too, in whatever way you do it.  We will have a quiet day, just Rich, the dogs and myself, along with that joyful bundle of fake tulips.  Maybe a walk in the woods? Probably some physical therapy exercises for my arm too.

Simplifying my booth redo after surgery.

antiques/junking
By /

It’s almost time for First Friday sales again at Good Juju.

The delightful vendors there all offered to redo my booth for me while I’m recuperating from rotator cuff surgery.

Which was quite generous.  The owners and vendors have enough to do, working on their own spaces.

Ahead of the operation, I planned the space well, setting up mostly shelving displays and tagging boxes full of inventory in advance.

After my shoulder was worked on, I discovered that the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as I was warned it would be.  Oh, yes, it hurt like crazy and I felt wiped out.  But I could also deal with it better than expected since I’d been used to the constant ache for years.

It didn’t take long for me to be acceptably good at doing things left handed.  And the booth was pretty much set up for popping new items into holes left by the previous sale.


While being careful and knowing my limitations, I figured I could manage the redo for the upcoming April sale.

For a while, I can’t drive or lift anything over 2lbs.  So Rich loaded up the car then unloaded the boxes at Juju.  He dropped me off with my crates of inventory placed in easy range for me to do some simple, left handed rearranging and refilling.

I will admit that the first trip was too much for me.  Maybe I should’ve waited a week, not jumped in so soon.   The next two visits went better, but did leave me drained.

My plan for having easy to fill in shelving sure helped.   Typically, I shuffle all the pieces of furniture around for a new look each month.  But that won’t happen for a while.

Not needing a major change sure made my mini redo go smoothly, even with one arm.  Rich spent a few hours playing pool with his Kansas City buddies while I puttered about and emptied boxes. Then, he’d pick me up a do a couple little tasks that I couldn’t  manage myself.

The arrangement worked out splendidly.  I got out of the house, which I really needed.  And I didn’t have to rely on other vendors too much.  They are already doing a lot for me, by turning my lights off and on, helping my shoppers, and keeping the space picked up.  I didn’t want to take advantage of their generosity.

There will be a few more months of this style of set up before I can go full force again.  I will soon be able to drive but still won’t be able to carry my own things.  I’ll be relying on Rich and the other dealers quite a bit.

I’m quite happy that I can manage as much as I have.  And also very blessed that I have so much help to do the things I cannot.

I feel very blessed.

Happy National Puppy Day

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Goldendoodle Puppies
By /

Today is National Puppy Day.

What a perfect excuse to scroll through my sweet babies’ photos.

My only problem was in choosing a couple faves to post.

Then I realized that is impossible.

I have been lucky to have so many sweet puppies in my life.

Each and every one of these darlings was special to me and I adored every minute of my time with them.

Well,  to be truthful, there were a lot of sleepless nights involved, with deliveries and newborns.  And scary moments, worried about a pup’s life when it wouldn’t take its first breath.

Sugar started off that way, but after gently rubbing her little, wet body with a warm cloth and softly blowing into her face, she revived.   Terror turned into pure joy for me.

Through all of the drama, there was always joy.  And poop, lots of poop.

No matter how big the pups were

or how tiny

All of these guys enriched not just my life, but my entire family’sHappy National Puppy Day.

It was a privilege to have brought these babies into the world.

I loved training them

Feeding and raising them.

Watching them grow.

Playing with them and loving them.

I’m recycling old magazine article photos

magazine pictures or articles
By /

My shoulder surgery went well.   Much, much better than I’d expected.  Don’t get me wrong, it was unpleasant and painful- just not the horror show I’d been expecting.

My poor rotator cuff had been giving me grief for years.   So I’ve been used to dealing with my arm hurting.  And I prepped my house well, had things I’d be needing out with loose lids, Sugarwings and Rich have been here to help with what I need, and I pre-wrote blog posts beforehand.

But now, three and a half weeks past the operation, my stockpile of posts is used up.  And while I’ve gotten by okay, and can be self sufficient in most ways, I’ve not been creative, or been able to comfortably hold a phone to snap pics.

That’s why I’ll be recycling some old photos.

These are from back in the days of doing magazine shoots.

Directions for rotator cuff recovery say you can go back to work after two weeks if you have an office job.  Four months if you do Manuel labor.

Working an antique booth is definitely falling into the latter category, it’s a full body workout the way I do it.


And while I’m free to use my hand in limited ways, like typing, I’m not yet ready for crafting.

Which means, nothing new to photograph.

And honestly, even this much working with my arm while writing this, will leave me achey.

I seriously have to wonder how others go back to work in two weeks?   I’m certainly not  ready, even if I had a desk job.  I’ve been exhausted and sore, still sleeping in a recliner.  When I actually sleep, that is, since the pain wakes me up at night.    So for now, I’ll be taking it easy, resting up, and reusing some old pictures.

I’ve enjoyed looking back through them.

 

Another find from my past

antiques/junking, Uncategorized
By /

Once again, I came across one of my creations while shopping in Topeka.  It was a different mall than I’d found the water color in. But both items were sold in KC.  I found them in two different Topeka stores, so I doubt they were sold by the same dealer.

I sold the painting about 20 years ago, but this cabinet was fairly recent, from Good Juju.

These shelves  were quite a bargain and I was tempted to buy them (and resell again for a higher amount!).  It was a cold day, I was tired and in a hurry, so I didn’t, but it’s still on my mind to go back and see if it’s available.

Wallpaper heart table covering

Food and Drink, friends, vintage paper/collage art
By /

Before going in for rotator cuff surgery mid February , I wanted a big night with friends to fill up my fun-o-meter.

Rich had been gifted this giant, dbl magnum of one of his favorite wines and that was a good excuse to invite people over.  There was no way we could’ve finished off that ginormous bottle on our own before it went stale on us.

And sharing a bottle of good wine with friends over dinner was just what I needed.


Our get together was on Valentine Eve, so I went all out on the reds, pinks, and roses.  I used the great big, vintage wall paper hearts I’d made or hang from the ceiling at Good Juju as my tablecloth.

After setting the table, I realized that I didn’t have a center piece.  So, I scattered dried roses (from a bouquet I’d gotten back at Christmas) down the middle of the table and gathered all of the votives I could find for a glow.  The wine decanters acted as decor too, since the wine was the star of the show.

The weather was strangely perfect for grilling (in February?!) so we had some juicy steaks along with the wine. But the best part?

So much laughter.  What a great night.

Ruby and I would’ve been crafting buds

Uncategorized
By /

Aren’t these just the sweetest?  Ruby Underwood made these lil cuties and her friend took  care in packing them up to save for decades, til I found them at her estate sale.  Each were wrapped in a pale pink Kleenex (remember when tissues were pastel colors?) along with this note.

There were little bunnies made of Pom Poms too.  These tiny bits of Easter fun remind me of something I would do.

Here is one of my peat pot baskets that Ive brought into Juju for the March sale.  I’d love to think that someone might carefully wrap up my hand made item and tuck it away each year after their holiday is over.

Possibly, many years later it could also find a new audience when another enthusiastic junker comes across it at a sale?

I make a lot of stuff.

For all occasions, and many reasons.  Sometimes just for the joy of creating.

And other times, for holidays.   And just like Ruby, who made the delightful eggs, I throw in a dollop of cuteness.  Ruby and I have so much in common that we even used the exact same chicks in our Easter designs, dozens of years apart.

I have a feeling that Ruby and I could’ve had a great time at a craft day together.

The Jewel corner got some updates

Uncategorized
By /

The jewelry corner of my booth keeps expanding.

It’s important to me to keep it looking fresh and restocked.

One of my biggest sellers has been the rings.

So I’ve tried to overfill those cases before I went in for surgery.

And  I have left bags of back ups in case refills are needed.  Other dealers are keeping an eye on it for me.

I thought maybe having so much of the jewelry out at once would be an easy inventory item for the other dealers to cope with.

So I doubled down on the sparkles and threw tons on the shelves.

This jewelry nook is new, I tried to rearrange my booth for easier access.

There are purses in the new nook too.

And jewelry boxes.

I’m hoping this space will be an easy care area for my friends who are taking care of things for me.  Thank you to all of them for their help!

It feels as if I have a much more open walkway through the space now.  I’m hoping it plays out that way, but I won’t be there to watch traffic patterns.

See the concrete child with the ears on, to the right?  Okay, looking at it, knowing it’s a kid, it is plain to know what it is, right?

But at a glance, and with those ears, it looks kinda like a bunny

See what I mean?

It will be hard to be away while the sale is going on.

But I know my friends have the space covered.

I’ll miss them!  The other dealers, the guests.   And my own pretty little corner of Juju.

Planning ahead for both March and April sales at Good Juju

Good JuJu
By /

Before it was time for my shoulder surgery, I was a busy bee getting my world situated so I function in with only one arm.

High on my list of priorities was to have my booth at Good Juju ready for the march sale.

Knowing I’d be missing the use of my dominate hand, I figured I needed to get enough inventory set up for redos too.  I tagged and boxed huge piles of goods ready to bring in and set up for April and May’s events too.

Another thing I wanted to accomplish in my space was setting up the power strips to be easy to reach, then making a diagram of where they were located so they’d be easy to find.  Other dealers need to be able to turn them off and on for me while I’m away.

Since I move furniture around between sales, I redo lighting each time, and convenience isn’t usually factored in when I finally get to the point of plugging stuff in.  I find myself twisting, reaching, and stretching to pop the switches and it’s been a work out to wrangle my arm behind something and feel around blindly trying to light up the area.

Since I’ll be depending upon the kindness of friends to make sure my booth is tidy and the bulbs are illuminating my wares, I knew I had to simplify how to reach the power strips.  After carefully placing them in spots with easy access and hanging some from hooks, I photographed and mapped out where they were, then printed copies for other dealers to find them.

As I write this, I haven’t gone under the knife yet.  (I’m also pre-posting here, because I’m afraid I won’t have anything to say during recovery).

I have no idea how all will go, and how much I will feel like, or be able to do after.  So part of my prep was to cram as much as I possibly could into the room in case I wasn’t able to do much for a while.

Cramming is my specialty anyway, but I really went for it this time.

She is filled to the brim!
And is decorated in a springtime/Easter theme that will hold through the April sale if needed.

From this angle, you can’t see the bunny ears on this guy.  But he is ready for Easter.

And I think I am too.

I’ve been in a tizzy trying to cover all the bases and be prepared for one armed life for a while.  Lids of toiletries are loosened, new pjs that button down the front are purchased.  My house is clean, as are my car and studio.

I’m as ready as I can be, I guess.  And feeling blessed that my friends are covering for me, so that I can take all this time off to recuperate.

How to make a flower bouquet on focaccia bread

flowers, Food and Drink
By /

Focaccia bread flowers are easier to make than they look.

Here, I’ve used the natural shape of the orange and yellow bell pepper slices to make a sort of daisy with caper centers.

I then turned short strips of peppers into petals to make an another shape of flower.  I used strips of pickled red onion in the same way.

With the onion, a half of a black olive is used for the center of the coneflower-ish bloom.  For the orange pepper, black olives sliced lengthwise become the base of the bachelor button type flower.

Roses are a bit more complicated. I started with a dark red, sun dried tomato center, and made the rose petals from jarred red peppers that I cut into petal shapes, then spiraled around the tomato.  Narrow strips in the center, wider at the edges.

The greenery ties it all together, with rosemary and thyme as twigs and stems.  I used asparagus cut lengthwise to make leaves and stems too.  Green olives are used throughout and the finished piece is  generously filled in with lots of thyme, then I spritzed the bread with olive oil and sprinkled it all over with  Italian herbs.

One flower that didn’t work as well, but tasted good was the mushroom one.  It was a center slice of the stump as the center, then petals formed around that center from the slices of the cap.  The color was simply too neutral to stand out.   I could’ve done the same look with cherry or grape tomatoes and it would’ve turned out better.

The design can also be very simple, like this mini serving with an herb heart and caper  posy that I made for a guest who had food allergies and couldn’t eat the various peppers on the bigger bread.

I made my own dough in the bread maker, then flattened it out on a sheet pan for these.  It’s pretty thin, for a crunchy crust, but you could use a smaller pan for a thicker, chewier result.  I made mine so thin because I wanted more “canvas” to create flowers.

 I can never have enough flowers.

Scroll to Top