antiques/junking – Page 14

Sparks and White Cloud

By Karla Nathan / September 2, 2012

For the Faery Book Swappers-

Since
the 1st is a holiday weekend, its ok to wait till Tuesday to mail your
packages. And please note that it will take me a couple of weeks to make
that many books and get them mailed back to you!

During all the puppy and other chaoses around here, I've managed to still squeeze in some junkin time. Beth, the other Karla and I set out for Sparks and White Cloud on Thursday. Its my favorite place to shop!

It was blasted hot, like its been most of this season, but that didn't stop us. Well, kinda, just not all the way. It did cut our day short. There was a period when we were all feeling a bit woozy and sick from the heat and decided we needed to sit in the air conditioned car with a cold drink and think about whether we'd lost the will to go on or not.

We'd spent maybe 3 hours in Sparks, and figured we could handle a quick trip to White Cloud too. They aren't completely set up on Thursday, so there wouldn't be much there.

We were pretty tired, hot, and sick of crowds. There were tons of people there, lines to walk through some booths. I'd never seen it so densely packed with shoppers. It made me kind of sad to see our flea market hidey hole found out by hordes of others!

I'm glad we pulled up our big girl panties and braved the second stop, I found this 1800s ledger book, with over 200 pages of receipts in it! I paid much more than I usually do for supplies, but I was travelling with two accountants who pointed out how it was only pennies per page, and that didn't sound so bad after all. It was cheaper than most scrapbook paper.

It was my lucky hat day too. I must have bought 8 or 9, all creams, whites and pinks. All for $5 and under too.

And lace! Lovely, lovely lace!! A friend was selling old, old lace for $1 a package and I bought $40 worth. that is a LOT of lace, but wow, what a deal. I'll be using a lot of it to finish off the Faery Book Swap and will save some for Kim's Snow White gala in April. I'll be needing a lot for those kits.

This is for An Enchanted Affaire too. I found this 1940s lace dress for only $3, and it holds volumes of delicate lace for my kits!!

It came with a red satin lining, which is a separate dress. That will be going to the little girls for their dress up closet, after I cut it off short enough for them to wear without tripping over.

Sparks never disappoints in the sparkly department either. I was there the second day and still found all these gems on dollar tables. There were also old books for 50 cents, photo albums with great mats, and a few other goodies. We weren't there long, but we were there long enough to score big.

During my Indiana trip, I hit a few jackpots too. More hats! More jewels also.

And a gorgeous 1950s wedding gown to cut up for the Snow White kits. It cost a bit more than the $3 red dress, but the $30 I spent for it was well worth it. There is a lot of great, old lace to use. And don't both of them look perfect with the red flocked wallpaper I've got for the project too?

Usually I shop all along I70 when I take an Indy trip, but I needed to get back to the little ones. And how nice it was to be home and be with them! Cute, huh? I"m so glad I left the tails this time and didn't have them docked. Look at the blur where this teensy girl is giving her nice long tail a wag.

The Early Bird scores the junk

antiques/junking

By Karla Nathan / August 6, 2012

Thanks for your input on the charges for the Faerie Book Swap. I'm glad you feel the price is reasonable.

I was making covers at 5 am today. I'm not typically a morning person, but it was kind of nice to be awake and gluing before I am normally up to face the world. I worked for 3 hours on them and then started the rest of the day at my usual time, and it was like a little bonus of hours for me.

Not that I'll become an early bird. But I enjoyed the gift of extra time. But not enough to ever set an alarm clock, of course. If I made a habit of being up at the crack of dawn, it would feel more like slaving away too many hours instead of like a special little bubble of time I was given to get caught up.

Yes, silly thinking, but maybe my mind is still fuzzy from being up so early.

A lot got done today, by starting so early. I shopped for a new car (no luck yet), did yard work, edited photos, shopped for some back to school clothes for Sugarwings (eeek- kindergarten starts next week!!), piddled around with a few other things, then sat down and did something creative.

I've been doing so much assembly line work in making 100 front and back book covers, that I was feeling like a robot instead of an artist. This evening, i took the time to actully make an inside book page so I can be part of the swap too. I want a book of my own to keep, so I need to have pages to trade!! I have ten or so, only really need 8, but like to have extras. Plus, I wanted to do something fun.

I drew a dress form and cut it out of sheet music, then glued it onto this old text. The wings are cut from a 1950s bug book then glitzed with a clear gold Gelly Roll pen, and the dress is made of flower petals plucked from my garden of vintage hats.

I outlined the wings in Black Stickles glitter, then inked the background with pink and black. Over that I lightly brushed some white Tim Holtz crackle paint.

My car has been on loan to my son, so I've been driving my husband's car, while he has been driving the farm truck. We tend to buy cars and drive them till they won't go any more, or till we are so sick of them that we give them to one of our sons. We get about ten years from most vehicles.

This car is 12 now, and has been a wonderful car, but when it died on me in the middle of NOWHERE, I decided it was time to replace it! On Sunday, I had taken a spur of the moment trip to one of my favorite shops, 4 Corners. Someone there told me there was a flea market nearby, so there I went on another little jaunt.

Trouble is, the flea was closed, was on a back road2 miles outside a small town I'd never heard of, and the car decided to take a break from travelling and not start after I came back from looking in the windows of the market (didn't see much).

Luckily, I had a book with me, I sat and read a while, then tried to start the car again, and it took off after about a half hour.

I'll go back and check out the flea later, when I have reliable transportation. The place is called Hooterville Flea and Bait Shop.

How can I not go back with a name like that???

There were hats calling to me from 4 Corners, so I was glad I'd taken the trip, no matter how worried I was about being stranded.

I bought 4 hats, a huge pile of Victorian scrap, die cuts, and old books, a roll of old silk ribbon in chocolate brown, a gorgeous down pillow covered in lace, plus this picture all for $59!!

The picture is not in the best of shape, but that is something I like about it. The bottom 4" or so was missing, but I rubbed sepia ink on the cardboard backing where part of the print was missing and I don't think it shows much. I also sanded some of the gold paint off the frame so the white underneath peeks out.

She is sooooo pretty. Not sure where she will hang yet. Somewhere special! Maybe in the guest room I am fixing up for my sister's visit.

Well, better get back to the fairy book covers. 15 more to go and I'm finished with the front covers, yay!

A teacup-raven-thingy

antiques/junking, Books, holiday decor, Romantic Gothic Ghosts, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / July 29, 2012

Its been very nice to see the interest in our Romantic Gothic Ghosts day in the studio on October the 6th! We have a lucky 13 signed up so far, before we have shown our projects for the day. I hope that showing them now doesn't spook our guests away…

My class is inspired by this stack of old Edgar Allen Poe books from a garage sale ($1 each), They are tatteringly wonderful.

You'd think that maybe, these would make me think of teaching a book of some kind???

Well, it would make sense to use the pages in art journals. But instead, I was intrigued by using just one section, the poem about the Raven.

I cut the poem into 1-3 line quotes to use as banners on a teacup-raven-thingy.

(no name for the creation yet, I hope I can come up with something better than that eventually)

The two quotes I used for my examples are some of the less interesting lines, I wanted to save the best ones for the students.

Our projects will be Halloween Holiday Decor pieces, that have a romantic feel.

NO purple!

NO orange!

Garish Halloweens, Nevermore!

I've bought some white and gray teacups, we will fill them with vintage paper nests and add a raven made from felted sweaters.

I wish we could do the felting itself that day, but it has to be ready ahead of time. So, I bought a couple of men's 100% wool sweaters at the Goodwill (geez, when did GW prices go so sky high??? $5 each for a crappy, worn out sweater???)

I boiled them in a big pot with liquid Rit dye to turn them a deep, rich black.

Then, drew a raven pattern, cut it out and stitched it up.

I AM NOT A SEWER. If you aren't either, don't be scared!

But- this was fast and easy. Black thread on a black bird doesn't have to be perfect, it hardly shows.

She is trimmed out with pretty black feathers, lace and glitter, then topped with a crown that we will make from antique brass window screening, and decorate with rhinestones. We'll make a strand of pearls for her neck, create the nest, and the arch with the banner and cover it in old millinery blooms.

And of course, the stack of books that the teacup rests on is included. We'll bundle up stacked pages (pre-coffee stained) and tie them with lace and ribbons to use as a stage for our teacup-raven-thingy.

Beth is busy whipping up her class idea too, and from what I saw Friday, its going to be really nice. Hers is a Gypsy fortune teller's guide book of some sort. To be used an art journal. And I gave her one of my Poe books to take apart so she could share the pages with everyone. So, the garage sale books do get to be in an art journal after all.

For details about coming to the class with us in my studio, please scroll down to the previous post, or click on the button on my side bar.

Now, that I have told you that I don't do orange and purple, I'm going to try to sell you a bundle of traditional Halloween colored millinery.

Well, just because I don't use the colors much, doesn't mean they aren't just right for someone's project. And these are nice, old flowers that deserve a good project to be included in.

And this might be way off season, but here is something new in the Boutique too.

Lots of old Valentines!

I'll leave you with some pictures of whats new in the shop.

I found Hat Heaven (and the giveaway winner)

antiques/junking, flowers, give away, junk, Travel, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / June 21, 2012

Our trip to NC was just perfect.

A highlight was a shopping day with my sis-in-law.

Actually, we had TWO fun afternoons of junking. Our first was at the Vintage Village, and I was captivated the minute we got out of the car.

And the best part of it all was Susanna's Antiques, where I went to meet my blog friend, Jenny.

She and her mom have a cute as a bug shop together- filled with too much to fit in my suitcase…

(yep, my eyes are closed in this photo, of course)

Another friend, Becca, took a break from work, and came by to visit too.

The mall was just wonderful. If I needed a light fixture, I'd be looking there for it. They had the best selection of old chandies at good prices that I have seen in a long, long time.

And the atmosphere of the whole area was just plain fun. I loved all the little cottages and piles of junk out doors amid the plants and flowers. The best part was a fresh fruit stand where we bought ripe Carolina peaches and washed them in a garden hose to eat while we walked around.

I had some great food while on our trip, but those peaches were hard to beat.

Then, I saw the hats. Hats, hats, hats everywhere!!!!!!!!!

Hat Heaven.

If you need floral hats, head to see Jenny. But wait a bit, I cleaned her out for now.

Don't worry, she has plenty of other pretty things to buy.

I don't know why I didn't buy this print.

But I did snag this story book for my grand fairies.

Jenny had some of her work there for sale too, she makes these vintage brooch bouquets for brides.

And how sweet is this? This bracelet was a gift from her.

The next day, my sis-in-law, Sandy, and I went to the flea. There is one every weekend at the fair grounds, and it was a good one. I bought a ton more flowers and hats, as well as bags full of broken rhinestoney jewelry.

I bought so many hats, that I had to pull all the flowers off to make them fit into my suitcase. Sandy was horrified, she collects old hats and thought I was too ruthless. But she ended up helping, and we sat on the balcony of her son's home drinking wine, plucking hats and playing with her little Yorkies.

Now that we are home, Sandy, Dixie, and Daisy have come to stay with us for a while. They'll be good for Twinkle, she misses her Agnes Rosebud.

That is, if she doesn't try to rip their cute, fuzzy heads off. She doesn't like many dogs.

After a few days with family in Raleigh, we drove to the Outer Banks. This was a work trip for my husband, I was just tagging along, which is a nice way to travel. For me at least, my poor husband had to work all day while I goofed off on the beach.

He was able to be done working in time for romantic walks on the beach, and watching the sunset on the sound. Then, stuffing ourselves with locally caught seafood.

We stayed in Duck, NC and it was a very peaceful, quiet beach. I wonder why there weren't more people there? It was beautiful.

Oh, I forgot to announce the winner of my giveaway!! This collage goes to:

Linda Owen Postma

What once was lost and a giveaway

antiques/junking, Books, give away, I do tend to run on, don't I?, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / June 3, 2012

While cleaning up the studio for a mini redo, I came across some art journals I'd made a LONG time ago and forgotten about.

It started by cleaning the garage and coming across this buffet I'd forgotten about. After our kitchen remodel, I'd stashed it out there and it was buried under a pile of stuff my son was storing. I don't know why I didn't move it into the studio in the first place instead of leaving it to the spiders and dust in the garage for 9 months, its perfect in my work space.

The hutch had been sitting on a table previously. I switched the two out, then returned the hutch and all the stuff in it. The table is now in the garage with the spiders and I have an empty cabinet waiting to be filled up with more crap from garage sales treasures.(so I can lose them in the chaos too, like the art journals and the buffet. Who loses a buffet anyway? Does that mean I have waaaayyy too much junk?)

Back to the journals… I found a couple of them, and they are now listed in the Boutique.

One is filled with ephemera pages, and the other is a heavy canvas art paper, that I bought at an estate sale, kinda vintagey, not real old. But just perfect for a journal.

Um, I hate to admit it, but I found some other stuff packed away and forgotten too. Stacks of extra covers from the Birdsong tag book swap last year.

Plus a few extra tags I'd made while I was on a roll with the theme.

So I made up a couple of tag books and listed those too. And listed those in the Boutique under the Altered Books category, which had been empty for quite a while.

This art journal is in there now too, its a recent creation and was made from Beth's stash of goods, not mine.

I was at her house for craft day and was at a loss for a project.

She handed me a chipboard book and a box of paper and I did the basic pages for this, then embellished it when I got home.

(I have another project to show you from her stash too. I'll post it later this week. It was done with just what I could reach from my chair and not have to get up. I have to say, I could have gone on for years with this and not made a dent in the supply!)

She has great old papers piling up in her studio. This was in her box of odds and ends. I love the cracks from age.

When I listed this last book, I included a bagful of OLD goodies from my stash to finish it with, and am selling it as a kit.

Slowly but surely, I'll be filling the Boutique back up, and maybe, just maybe, I'll tend to the poor little neglected Etsy shop too.

But maybe not, I'm going out of town again this week.

Hopefully, I'll get more in the shop before I go. All purchases after Tuesday will be mailed when I get back.

I'll have fresh blog posts up for all week while I'm gone. And a chance to win this college I made when Beth and I practiced her class for Birdsong.

Leave a comment on any (or all posts) and I'll draw a name after I get back, probably on Sat. the 16th.

The Summer of Salads, and Garage Sale Goodies!

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 31, 2012

Its the most beautiful time of the year. Garage sale season has begun! I went to a couple estate sales with Beth and the other Karla.

One was a gold mine of crafty, vintagey goodness! My favorite find was this box full of old starched lace Easter eggs for $2.75. The eggs are smashy, but the flowers are wonderful and so are the velvety trims on some of them. I've already harvested the best parts and have them set aside for future creations.

At another sale, I picked up this satin gown for my grand fairy for $2.

Her favorite thing about it, is the big skirt that poofs out like a cloud when she sits on the register in the floor.

On the way to Beth's, I stopped at a garage sale, and found an under the bed, Rubbermaid container full of dress up clothes for the kids for only 50 cents. Which I thought was a pretty swell deal for the carton alone, not to mention the piles of fun clothes inside.

After going through the costumes (M&Ms, clowns, fairies, hula dancers, flappers- it was full!) I found this fairy garland and thought it was kind of nice. On closer inspection, I realized that they were very old pansies pulled off a vintage hat! Yippee!

Those are going to MY dress up pile, not to the kid's. Twinkle was kind enough to model them for me.

This retro chic stove was at one of the estate sales we went to. I'm still in a Tiffany blue mood after my trip to CA, so I was really attracted to it.

There were lots of old bottles, some floral hats, for $3 a piece (yippee again!), not a bad haul.

I especially like this old rat poison bottle, it will be used in my Halloween decor this fall. Doesn't it look like the poison was so compelling that the rats tried to chew their way into the bottle?

Uhm, if you are wondering why my curtains are in a bowl of water, its because I accidentally squirted blueberry juice onto the delicate lace. I hurriedly grabbed a bowl of hot water with vinegar and dish soap in it, and tucked the stained bit into the bowl to soak. It seemed quicker than trying to take them down and wash them.

And I think its done a good job of getting the stain out. I've replaced the soapy water with clean water a couple times to rinse them, I was trying to treat the old lace as gently as I could.

And why was I squirting blueberry juice? Because last week I officially declared this the "Summer of Salads" and started off with a juicy fruit salad.

My goal is to have at least 2 to 3 fresh made salads in the fridge at all times. I chopped fruit, spritzed it with lime juice, and added a sprinkling of Trader Joe's cinnamon sugar, the kind that comes in a grinder.

I also made a carrot salad, using a bag of shredded carrots, a half cup of broken pecans, 3/4 cup big golden raisins, a cup of chopped celery, a pinch of sea salt, and enough dressing to moisten it all. The dressing I chose was a strawberry vinaigrette from Kroger's.

Simple to throw together with the prechopped carrots and bottled dressing, and great to snack on when I have a sweet tooth.

The third salad was a standard one we always have on hand. Equal parts of chopped cucumbers ( I like those baby sized ones), celery, and tomatoes with sea salt,cracked pepper and some balsamic vinegar with olive oil. This will be even better to make when our garden takes off and we have our own veggies to chop!

No, I'm not making a big bowl of yarn salad. This was something pretty that I saw at Beth's home.

This too.

Even prettier, this is some of the stuff I bought from her! She had piles of things ready to go to her booth at the mall. I of course, dove right in. She has the BEST stuff.

I'll leave you with some photos of what's new in the Boutique.

(yep, I actually got some work done! Its only a handful of stuff, but its a start.)

Birdsong Two Shopping

antiques/junking, bird song art event, Food and Drink

By Karla Nathan / May 7, 2012

Did I mention that there was shopping at Birdsong too?

I was floored by the response to the little shopping area we set up last year, so this time, we tried to expand a bit and make it less crowded. And we hopefully handled the frenzy a little better. Kind Karla was the cashier in another room to help lesson the crowding, Beth, Lisa and I tried to make piles and fill boxes for people, then Beth prewrote out tickets for the Peeps to hand to Karla to pay.

My garage was transformed!

Its surprising how much space was available in a single car garage. Beth, Lisa and I both sold out of that area.

Debbie was supposed to set up in the driveway under a tent, but the weather just was not cooperating with her, so I emptied out the breezeway and that seemed ideal.

Next year, I think we'll use the breezeway again, it was nice and light and airy.

Any place would look wonderful filled with Curious Sofa goods!

When dinner time drew near, I had to bail out on the shopping activities and attend to supper.

Sadly, the weather didn't cooperate with my plans for all 29 of us to sit down together outside for dinner. It was breezy and cold. Funny, after months of freakishly warm weather, we get a cold spell during my party. Oh well, the Peeps didn't seem to mind.

Here is our menu for the weekend:

Friday am– fresh muffins and coffee

Mid morning– oatmeal scotchies and chocolate peanut butter cookies/ fruit tea

Lunch- Prime rib (baked and sliced by me the day before), turkey breast, ham, and cheese platters/ sunflower seed bread/ citrus coleslaw, pita chips and hummus/ tea/ Belgian chocolate covered peanut butter balls

Mid afternoon- coconut chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies/ coffee and tea

Dinner- Vegetarian lasagna/ bread sticks/ turkey breast meatballs/ with pink champagne cupcakes and lemon cheesecake/ fruit punch/ wine

Saturday mid morning- coffee/ vanilla chai tea/ oatmeal scotchies

Lunch- Breast of chicken salad/ croissants/ twice baked potato salad/ chips and dip/ orange tea/ bird shaped sugar cookies and coconut almond nests

A surprise package!

antiques/junking, free images

By Karla Nathan / April 5, 2012

My friend, Angie was setting up an estate sale and asked me if I wanted to do a little early shopping. Of course I did!

When I got there, she said she had something for me in my car and would set it in my front seat while I shopped. Not only did I buy some great sneak peak goodies from her sale, this basket of beauties was waiting for me when I left!

The sewing basket itself was a great pink color and a thoughtful gift, but wow! Once I looked inside, I was just shocked. Here is just a few of the tidbits she added to the package.

Thanks, Angie!

This pretty card was inside too. I scanned it to share with you. Just click on it to open in a larger window to save and print.

And today, this pack of pretties came in the mail for Birdsong from one of my new Paper Cowgirl friends, Terri.

So many people have been generous with their gifts to the ladies at our arty party coming up. Thanks!

The countdown has begun, and THIS is what the studio looks like right now. Can you picture 25 ladies creating in this mess??

I've got some work ahead of me…

Plus I am teaching two classes this year, so I have two kits to still assemble yet.

Oh well, it all pulls together some how! But it won't happen if I don't get doing it, so I'm off to work.

In the Land of $3 Hats

antiques/junking, Books, flowers

By Karla Nathan / April 3, 2012

Last week, I got to spend a day with three good friends. We hit the road and went on a junk-a-thon. In the past, this was a regular occurrence with us, but somehow we'd gotten away from the habit and realized it had been about 3 years since we got away for a day long junkin trip.

Life and families might get in the way sometimes, but a solid friendship will hold up and be waiting for you when things settle down. With small kids, some scary cancer issues, and just every day life, we haven't had time for day long play dates, but we all know we will be there for each other and ready to share a good time even if all we can manage is a chat and a cup of coffee together here and there.

A whole day to hunt treasure is a treasure in itself, and it was sure nice.

We drove up to St. Joe, MO and I found a hat or two at each store we hit. I whispered up a few really affordable deals. Its not often that I find $3 ones. Not all were that cheap, of course, but even a couple at that price was pretty exciting and I might have peed a little bit when I saw them. But, then again, I'm getting old, so that doesn't take much.

The rose pattern barkcloth was a good find too, I'm considering making cushions for the bench in the breezeway with this. One panel was a bit damaged, so was only $15, but I got the one in perfect condition too, and thought $26 wasn't bad for it either.

Its roses! And barkcloth!

For only 2 bucks, I got this Audrey charm, its under bevelled glass, and is going to be just what I need for my trip to see my buddy Kim, at her Tiffany's event. I'm not going all out on the theme, but a black dress, some pearls and this pendant will make me feel like I fit in. I've got the pearls from my Great Aunt Caroline.

Not so sure about the black dress. Hmmm, I think I'll be happier in black jeans and a tee shirt.

I've not had much time to think about it, and probably won't. Her big shindig is a few days after my lil Birdsong party. So, I'll be thinking about birdies and my own to-do up till its time to pack and head to LA. I'll be lucky to even remember to pack my new pendant, let alone look for a black dress.

These baskets were from an earlier junking trip, at least a year ago. I finally added them to the Boutique, almost in time for Easter projects. Seriously, I need to be up on the holidays a bit better. No, a lot better. If I had a lick of sense, I'd have been trying to push these way back in February for those of you who do plan ahead and need supplies.

Cute, aren't they? I have a few pairs of them listed, all are mini baskets, vintage and made in Japan.

There are a couple more new things there too. Not many, but more than I told myself I'd add. I'm supposed to be working on getting ready for Birdsong! But between day trips, grand fairies, yard work, dinner parties, and discovering how fantastic the Hunger Games are, I'm behind.

But if you've read any of the books, or seen the movie, I'm sure you will understand. Katniss Everdeen is an addiction that you can't beat! I'm near the end of book 3, and had to rush out to see the movie as soon as I finished the first one.

I've also had some other projects going. This one about kicked my butt. Its a giant banner that I am painting, and its not the paint part that got me. My original job was as a muralist, and I've painted 60 foot murals with no problem. But this one was complicated because its on fabric, and had to be hemmed and ironed.

I can scale scaffolding and paint a huge wall over a hotel swimming pool without even planning or sketching first. But battling a sewing machine and an ironing board while swallowed up in 13 feet of canvas? I don't even think that my hero, Katniss, would deal well with that.

Paper Cowgirls like to Shop!

antiques/junking, paper cowgirl

By Karla Nathan / March 24, 2012

Did I mention the SHOPPING part of Paper Cowgirls?

Not only was downtown Waxahatchie jam packed with good stores, there was a special event going on with Petticoats on the Prairie and we all got in at a discount for the sneak preview shopping night.

I'm still kicking myself for not buying this pillow!

The chaise lounge wasn't bad either, nicely stuffed with down and so cosy and soft!

And where else could you see a steam punk duck decoy?

The displays were well done and I did get more photos. But- I had my crappy, little pocket camera with me and very few turned out. I hear that the newer small cameras do better in low light. I've had mine about 4 years, so I know that updates have made them better since I got it.

My favorite booth there was Angela's. I know her from her blog, but had never met her in person. I found lots of goodies in her space, including this small, Victorian loving cup, and this toothpick holder with the same trophy shape to it.

I'm using both on my dining table as part of my Easter decor, with some of my eggs and nests from the 3 Wire Workshops tutorial.

She had this lusterware mermaid too. I couldn't resist it, since Sugarwings is a major mermaid fan. I knew she'd enjoy seeing it in the china cabinet.

It was fun to see some of my pal, Lesa's work there too. I spied these on a table, recognized her style, and wondered how she ended up there from Kansas City, then realized they are from her Bethany Lowe line.

The show was a good mix of hand made creations, market items, and vintage goodies.

One of my fave purchases is this pillow/pin cushion that was a prop used in Alice in Wonderland. We all fondled it, hoping that Johnny himself had used it as the Mad Hatter. I was making people sniff it too.

The table cloth its on is something I bought at a place Beth and I stopped at on the drive home. It was only 10 bucks because of some bad stains. They washed out easily, and the lace itself is in great shape.

There was a bit of hat whispering going on too. I found quite a few for pretty good prices while in Texas.

The flea market we stopped at had lots of jewels too. I snapped up a bagful of cameo lockets from one dealer, they are in the boutique now, if you need one. I kept a few for my own use, but had quite a few, so there are both blue and brown ones in the Boutique now.

There were tables of $1 jewelry too, I scooped up a few special pieces to work with there after doing some treasure hunting to find the good pieces hidden in the piles of 80s plastic beads.

Beth knows that she can park me at a $1 jewelry table and go on shopping, because I'll be there a while. I take it as a challenge, and just have to delve in to see what is under all the junk. Usually its worth my time, and I find a few decent pieces of older stuff mixed in with the not so interesting pieces. Either way, it sure keeps me entertained!

We debated stopping, since it was an 8 hour plus drive. But were glad we did. The flea market was so good we stayed for over 2 hours, and filled a few bags. It was the icing on the cake to top off a wonderful trip!