antiques/junking – Page 25

Here’s looking at you, kid!

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 17, 2009

Hmm, I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but the puppies have opened their eyes! For some reason, I was thinking they weren't due to be looking back at us yet, so I was surprised when Sugarwings held one up and said "he can see me!" She was pretty excited to be the first to notice, but up till now, she had been worried because the puppies wouldn't look at her.

Probably because, in this house, that is all we do is, Look At Sugarwings. Its our favorite pastime.

Although, lately, another regular pastime of mine is cursing at Papashop. That is the web hosting site for my new online store, and my friends have been over-the-top helpful in setting it up, and I can see where it will be really easy to use once I get it fine tuned. But— I keep finding glitches. I thought I was ready to open and discovered that I had NO LIMITS on my inventory. If a shopper wanted to order 1,500 of a one of a kind option, there was no stopping them. Not that I get those kind of sales…. maybe a more reasonable illustration would be that if a shopper wanted to order TWO of a one of a kind item, I couldn't stop them.

This is an item that I have three of, one is listed. Since I can't open my shop yet, I figured I should tell you about it here. So many people have inquired about the swap tags, that I made up a kit with the copies of the ones I made.

The kit includes 6 of the collage/painted tags copied onto card stock and then their backs were covered in vintage wallpaper. Two red flocked, two pink flocked, and two rose patterned.

Snippets of wallpaper scraps, some ephemera, lots of rick rack, ribbons and bows, three sprigs of old millinery blooms, and a scattering of vintage buttons are included too.

Plenty of pretties to deck out the tags and make your own Puppy Love Tag Book if you didn't get into the swap. Or, if you are a swapper, these would be fun to add to your book and double the size of it!

The kits are $25 each (plus postage. Postage is free if the kit goes out in the mail with a completed swap book to a fellow swapper) and as I said, only 3 available. If you are interested, please contact me by email. I can't open my web boutique yet, but hopefully will soon! I have other Valentine's goodies there too!

Like this piece. It has a pink flocked heart on it, so it would be nice to have for sale by Valentines Day! I'm sure I'll be able to get the store figured out. Heather and Beth have been so kind and have taken so much time to give me advice. I'll let you know when I have my GRAND OPENING.

Heather and Beth aren't my only generous friends! Two Puppy Love Swapper's packages have arrived and Samantha Miranda sent coloring cards for Sugarwings and Dove chocolates! Ruth Flowers sent marvelous ephemera die cuts. Thanks, ladies!! And by the way, both of you both are so lucky to have those names. Don't they just roll off the tongue? Samantha Miranda…Ruth Flowers…. how pretty.

This photo should make you wish that you were one of the 65 people in the swap! Aren't these tags that Samantha sent in just beautiful!? (Ruth's are too, but my photo didn't turn out. Ruth, I know you wanted photos I'll get some to you when the light is better)

Hopefully, the swappers will be adding their photos to the flickr site so we can all see their creations…

I'll leave you with a couple photos from an antique show today. I met Carol there, and Beth had a booth, so I took her some treats. I have pictures of Donny and Sandy's booths, but they don't have blogs, although Carol and I tried to tell the Fabulous Donny that he needs one!!

Tagging along

antiques/junking, Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 13, 2009

How is that for some puppy love? At this point the little princesses are mostly sleeping and eating. They curl up and they cry for mama and that is about it.

Beth came by to help with my website today, and we spent some time cuddling the puppies, although at first she thought they were too tiny to hold. But these little guys enjoy being held and Twinks doesn't seem to mind.

Although, she certainly doesn't take her eyes off of them once we pick them up! I could tell she was a devoted mother, when she went out to potty yesterday and a rabbit ran right in front of her. Instead of taking off like a shot into the woods to get tangled in cockle burrs, thinking that she might just catch the wascal this time, she simply turned around and came to the door to be let back in to her babies. Not even a glance over her shoulder to see where it might have gone to.

Worrying about your kids can sure take precedence over other things, that is for sure.

Luckily, at this point, my kids are doing well, so I can worry about tags! 60 some tags. Now that is a lot of worrying.

As I was blog hopping (instead of making tags) the other day, I saw a pretty hand painted tag by Suzanne Duda and used her idea as inspiration. I added hand painted designs to the vintage papers of the one on the right, and then added a bit of old papers to the painted roses on the tag on the left.

I think this one is my fave, though. I painted a floral heart wreath directly onto an old photo and added the words to the top.

And this one is about half and half, with some flocked wallpaper as a heart. I'm copying them all and then embellishing the copies with millinery blooms, lace, ribbons, glittery ink, etc. That sure helps me toward my goal of 60 plus.

This one is a copy I made of one of the painted tags. I think they copy well. I added lace and glittery ink in accents, then covered the back in wallpaper. By the time they get uber-foofed with charms and ribbons when tied onto the books, I think they will look fine.

Today's mail brought some sweetness from Sugar Sugar.

What a nice surprise from Analise!

Beth spent the day here in the studio with me, we worked on swap pages and website stuff, with a LOT of help emailed to us from Heather. Now, I am getting ready to head out the door and go see a movie with some friends. Looks like "Slumdog Millionaire" did great at the Golden Globes the other night, I am looking forward to seeing it. Last night, I went to see "Benjamin Button" and can't stop thinking about it. Maybe it is too soon to go see another flick, since the one last night was so good, my thought are still lingering on it.

Nah- its never too soon to go to another movie!! My idea of a great afternoon, is to see a double (or Triple!) feature.

So, before I head out, I'll leave you with a few pictures of this beautiful little book I bought in St. Joe the other day. It is signed and dedicated in 1922. I really appreciate those little written introductions in old books that were given as gifts years ago.

Oops, puppies everywhere in this house!!

Time to add the Buttons

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 11, 2009

Thanks to all of you who joined my Valentine Tag Book Swap! We are at 50 right now, so unless I have communicated with you about joining and we haven't gotten back together about it yet, it is too late to join.

Or, if you have commented that you wanted to join and haven't heard back, please email me. I have some trouble with TypePad at times and can't always return comments. One that got returned to me was from Carrie, and I have no way of contacting her.

I've added this button to my side bar. If you are in the swap, please grab this and add it to yours too! Thanks for being a part of it all. Now, I just need to go and whip up about 50 tag covers….

Time does have a way of getting away from me- especially when I blow a day by going shopping and not working.

But shopping IS working for me, not just recreation. All these old watches will make gorgeous necklaces! The other goodies will be wonderful things to take to Miss Frenchie's April in Paris sale this spring.

Not the trims, though. Those were a gift from Beth (who was my partner in playing hooky for the day). She gave them to me to use in my new obsession to "Pearl Up" my home, after reading the Magnolia Pearl book.

Beth also made this pile of tags for me with her cuddle bug and a deck of cards. I'll make use of many of them in the swap book covers. Especially ones that have hearts on the backside!

Red isn't typically my color. I bypass it at Christmas, but at Valentines, I get sucked in by juicy redness. Especially when I see such a sweet baby doll dress with tiny flocked, dotted Swiss style hearts on it!! (I wish it fit Sugarwings)

I know I am not the only one who enjoys a splash of red for February, so if you'd rather have ruby tones for the blog swap button, please help yourself to this one.

My hat-whispering skills weren't focused during our jaunt to St. Joe to visit Jesse James Antique Mall and The Rusty Chandelier. (both worth the almost 2 hour trip). But I snagged a couple of flowery concoctions. Man, the one on the bottom left is just asking to be ripped apart. Some hats are so pretty as they are, that I don't take them apart until I need a specific bloom from it, but this one is just plain awful as is. Like some sort of smooshed up wedding bouquet made by a blind florist. Who designed this? It is one of every kind of flower, in each color, with no rhyme or reason to the placement. But good for me, because, did I mention- one of every kind of flower? Beautiful to use in other projects!

These grocery store price tags are nicely aged. But what I like about them is the holders. Can't you picture them as place card holders? I just can't wait for my next fairy tea party!!

This throw was found at the Rusty Chandelier too, it isn't all antiques. This isn't exactly new, but far from old. I fell for it, because of the soft, plush velvet and the metallic bronze vines that go so well with the ones I painted on the ceiling.

And see the blue rhinestone? They are scattered across the vines, and match the room perfectly! Nothing like a little sprinkle of added sparkle.

For those of you who needed a puppy fix, here's one of the teeny tiny babies. For those of you who are already tired of me posting dog photos everyday, we'll just pretend this is a picture of the blanket I bought.

What a good year

antiques/junking, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 31, 2008

When I'm not feeling productive or creative, a trip to an antique mall usually provides some inspiration. So, after a bit of shopping, I am feeling the urge to redo something and get moving.

Beth gave me this stack of plastic frames and I have just the project in mind for it. Today is limited in time, though,Sugarwings is coming here for New Years Eve and I only have till 1pm today to get going on my plan.

So, it might have to wait.

In the last few months, I have developed an interest in busts and statues, so was really happy to find this one while out exploring Kansas City antique malls with Beth yesterday. Especially after reading the Magnolia Pearl book this week,( cover to cover twice! ) She has them everywhere and likes to play dress up with hers just like I do with mine. This gal will get a few necklaces to go along with the crown she is sporting.

Not everything in the book was to my taste, too many colors and too dark for me, but the style of putting it together really grabbed me. The plushness and layers of luxurious finds is what I enjoyed about it, and want to go toward myself. But in lighter colors. With roses, of course! This bust will get a paint treatment, she is pretty as is, but I prefer a more light hearted, lighter look.

Another thing that I am hooked on right now is boiled eggs. I can't seem to get enough of them right now, so have been keeping a bowl full in the fridge ready to snack on. I've never been able to resist drawing faces onto the shells, so every time I make some, I simply have to give them little personalities.

I'm so glad to finally have a baby girl around who appreciates my little quirks! Sugarwings "gets me" and thinks that of course, eggs should have faces and French toast should always be trimmed with cookie cutters and made into butterflies and flowers. And that chandeliers should have glittering birds tucked into the crystals. And that dogs need to be sang to. And that dancing in the kitchen while cooking makes the food better. Yes,I am so lucky that she has come into my life and I finally have someone who doesn't look at me like I am strange sometimes.

Its wonderful to have a little friend who understands that fairies can make homes in birdcages around the garden.

And that if you look around, you can see magic everywhere.

Of course, there is nothing better than having a family member share my obsession with paint, someone who will spend all day in the studio with me and doesn't think it is an obsession, just a great way to spend time!

Looking back over some of my favorite photos of 2008, makes me so eager to see what fun 2009 has to offer and realize what a lucky year I just had.

Here's to 2009- and wishing all of you fun and happiness in the upcoming year! (and the joy of sharing it with someone who "gets you")

Joyeux Noel at Miss Frenchie’s Barn

antiques/junking, Miss Frenchie's, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 5, 2008

Things are looking Frenchie-fied at the old barn today! Set up began for Miss Frenchie's Holiday Brocante and that rustic building was in for a major transformation when everyone started hauling in their goods.

Elizabeth brought in a huge truck load. So did Gwen. My measly pick up truck load felt kind of pale in comparison to the goods the others were unpacking! When I left this evening, those two were still bringing stuff in. (and the temps were dropping to below 20 degrees after a balmy, mid day height of 30)

Deb, Carol, and Elizabeth had a Vision for the set up. Yes, a Vision with a capitol V.

And the place was certainly a diamond in the rough to start with. The place is perfect for this event, lots of space and big, high ceilings. But definately in need of Vision.

I had brought some velvet curtain panels to use as table toppers, but when I saw that I had rusty old tools as background, my plans changed and I moved the curtains to the wall behind my space.

Bringing my 'portable' mural was a good idea too. It is an 8' x 4' plywood board that I cut and painted a couple years ago for a show. Its been out in my shed and I'd forgotten about it. I like the way it brightens up my corner and has a festive, holiday feel. The painted tree has hooks on its branches, and I will hang ornaments from each one. In this photo, there are stockings on the hooks, but they won't stay there like that.

My space feels like the dessert table at this buffet…. Look at some of the in progress set ups for the other ladies:

And all of this is just a few little peeks, not much was ready yet. I can't wait to see what Deb and Elizabeth do in their corners, they have that Vision to make happen.

Hmmm, what could be going on up above?

Giant, blow ups of vintage French Christmas cards will grace the railing! It just keeps getting better and better.

Come by to see us if you can, I can guarantee, it will be special!

A Glittering Gala

antiques/junking, celebrations, Food and Drink, give away, holiday decor, I do tend to run on, don't I?

By Karla Nathan / November 7, 2008

We had a magical night at the Curious Sofa. Or Fofa as Carol and I called it after a funny typo. Well, maybe you had to be there, but it struck my funny bone.

Maybe I found it so funny because at the C. Sofa, every detail is pure perfection.

Deb is extraordinarily talented in the art of display, and there is never a mistake of any kind allowed on her property!

Even things that seem to be imperfect, are NOT. They are either made to look distressed or actually aged to perfection and chosen for that quality like the paneling in this powder room.

Pearl was hard at work greeting everyone at the entrance that was flanked by stacks of firewood. Who knew I was so trendy, I have firewood stacked in my breezeway by the door too! If Deb is doing it, it must be COOL to do!!

We had a fun group, and sat in the rustic cabin display and chatted after exploring the store. Here is Beth, Carol, Gwen and I from left to right. Gwen had recently returned from a buying trip in France and we were drooling as she was telling us all of the details about the trip.

By the way, if you will be at vendor night at Silver Bella, Gwen will have fresh off the boat, French ephemera for sale. Please do me a favor and say "Bon" to Gwen. I promise, she will laugh….

Plus, she has GREAT stuff and you’ll be glad you dropped by to shop! I put in a pre-order for 20 bucks worth of old French postcards. I wanted to be first in line!!

And here is the Queen of Styling, Deb. What a great hat!

This is something I fell in love with! I’m jonesing for that crown.

This big headed girl caught my eye too. I didn’t buy her though, but am kind of wishing I had, now. I got a few trinkets and will show photos of them after I recharge my camera battery.

Notice the books wrapped in old papers? And the fabulous colors of pearls? There is never a jarring note in that store, every inch is coordinated and well thought out.

Deb is an expert at sticking to her palette. She adds hints of color here and there, but it is always faded to a remnant of its original shade.

And there were sparkly things everywhere!

I don’t know what kind of glitter went on these roses to make them look like they were kissed by an early frost, but I want a jar of it. A BIG jar.

Don’t you wish you could pull up a chair to this table for a dinner party? Well, I did, but only because Carol dared me to. I didn’t mess anything up, I just sat and ate my dinner and felt pretty pampered while doing it! All chairs should have angel wings like these do!

And what a dinner it was!!!!! Champagne with Dean and Deluca catered deliciousness.

I tried to not make a pig of myself, (remember I was complaining about the 10 lbs I put on?). But honestly, LOOK at these platters. I had to have some of each.

But this platter is the one that got my heart racing (and not just from high fat treats, but from the beauty of it!). If I only had that Cannon Rebel camera that I wanted so bad, you could see the detail of this. The pink bon bons are covered in glitter. Yes, glitter. The Real Deal. Edible glitter that looks like GLITTER not sugar, because it really really is real glitter!!!!!!!!

Does it show up any better in this picture? I swear, the stuff is magical pixie dust, not just sugar. It is sheer, fine, holographic and as beautiful as the stuff Martha Stewart sells to craft with. Sugarwings and I were on a quest to find the stuff today and Dean and Deluca sent us to this cute little bakery where they sold us some magic pixie dust of our own!

Everything in there looked tasty and rich. Sugarwings was convinced these goodies were snowmen. I tried to tell her that they were tuxedos, but I don’t think she gets the concept of what a tuxedo is.

I am so thrilled to find this pretty glitter, and can’t wait to start sprinkling it around! I have big plans for frosting the rims of the glasses we will serve the Glitter Tinis in at our Glitter Lounge in Omaha! My roomie, Carol and I are having a mini kick off to Silver Bella before the group craft night starts and I think that I will have to sprinkle the magic fairy dust on the Godiva chocolates too.

I will be using this stuff everywhere! Heck, I always have glitter in my hair, on my face, all over my house, grandchild, dog, and husband. I might as well have it in my food too. And on purpose!

Thanks, Deb for such a fun party last night. And for feeding me glitter cakes and starting a whole new obsession for me!

I think that what ever my giveaway for November will be, I will add some pixie dust for the winner to sprinkle onto some of her own holdiay goodies too. Don’t forget, there is a giveaway going on. I know, lets call it a secret surprise goodie bag giveaway! You won’t know what it is until you get it in the mail! But I can guarentee, it will be sparkly.

Meeting up with blog Friends at the Big Flea

antiques/junking, jewelry, Moving to DC

By Karla Nathan / November 3, 2008

This trip to Virginia sure has been a fun one! Coincidently, Valita, a friend from Silver Bella last year was going to be in the DC area too. We met up with Robin, a friend I’ve hung out with here before (and who makes the best Play Dough ever), and a new pal, Sue. A non-blog friend wrote to us and was nice enough to take some time away from shopping with her sis to meet up with us too.

We met up at the Big Flea in Chantilly, VA, and although it was more high end than I usually shop, it was fun place to meet and we all managed to find some goodies.

I’m used to paying under 50 cents for vintage greeting cards, but I saw a few that were special enough to be worth the price of 3 for $5 to me.

And of course, I always am on the hunt for old jewels. I found a few, not that there weren’t plenty there, but I limit myself to the $1 price range for old jewelry.

Robin and Sue who have shopped the Big Flea before told us that it is normally 2 buildings full instead of just one, and more bargains can be found.

These little candelabras were a great price, only 50 cents each. Can’t you picture them glittered and sparkly?

I was on the hunt for old mercury glass beads to decorate my bottle brush trees with. The price ranges from booth to booth were really something! I was happy to find three strands in colors I liked, as well as some holiday decor in pretty pastels.

If you ever get an opportunity to get together with blog pals, I highly recommend it! Every time I have met someone whose blog I read, I have had a great time, they are usually people that I have a lot in common with and feel like we are already friends before we even see each other.

I’m really looking forward to having Natasha and Heather as house guests soon. And I am hoping to host a dinner party in their honor the night before we head off to Silver Bella.

Speaking of blog friends, I have been trying to update my blog roll (on my side bar, under "Pretty Places"). I haven’t finished, but have been so busy Leaf Looking, meeting Bloggers, going to movies (Zack and Miri- Kevin Smith always goes too far, but still is funny and I think Seth Rogan is a comic genius), out to dinner, antiquing, and of course watching my shows, (there is no way I can’t spend Sunday night without Vampire Bill) that I haven’t had time to do much to the blog roll like planned.

At least I have space to list more people and promise that I will later on when I can get to it! I may be a TV junkie, but I am also an avid blog reader and my blog roll has never reflected who I actually visit, so I am revamping it as I have time.

Tonight I fly home to my fairy grandbaby, so I’d better go try to smoosh all this junk into my carry on.

PS- I have shut my Etsy shop down until after Silver Bella, it was just too neglected and empty for now. I promise a big restocking and lots of pretties added when I return! Thanks for your support of the shop, I really appreciate it, and HATE to have it looking sad and pitiful, so will open it again when it is worth looking at!!

Leaf Looking

antiques/junking, give away, Moving to DC, Silver Bella

By Karla Nathan / November 2, 2008

Virginia is beautiful this time of year! Actually, it always is, I haven’t seen a season yet that wasn’t pretty here.

We have spent some time in Richmond, so I have been away from the apartment and the computer (I’m too cheap to buy a laptop to take along with me), so I haven’t been able to update or announce October winners till now.

For the main drawing, with the little glittered white pumpkin, linens and a pair of crown earrings, the winner is:

Cammile Fano

And the special Bella additional drawing prize goes to:

Maija Lepore

Thanks to everyone for entering, and don’t worry, there is another drawing this month. It will be for something Christmassy and sparkly and all comments count all month, all posts!

The hat whisperer luck was with me in Richmond. This pink posey bonnet was $4 and included the stand (which I think will be useful to have if I decoupage it with old papers)

The journal/mini ledger was $4, and the aqua floral hat was, yep, you guessed it, $4. And what did the the roll of aqua flocked ribbon cost? Yep, $4.

So, guess how much the two packs of glue on stones and rhinestone buttons were? Sorry, NOT $4, only $3. I almost paid the lady an extra dollar so I could keep the $4 streak going, I was feeling lucky with it.

There is more shopping today, I wonder if there will be hats???

I am meeting some blog friends at the Big Flea in Chantilly this morning, and bundled up some little crown tags made from my new favorite flocked wallpaper to take to them.

I might have gone a bit crazy with the crown stamp. Everything I own will soon be sprouting a crown….

While in Richmond, we took a drive to Vineterra. I must be getting old, because a long drive in the car through changing leaves seemed like a vacation itself. Am I now one of those Geezers and Geezettes who travel through the hills in the fall to be a Leaf Looker?

Well, maybe I am not that bad yet, at the end of this trip, there was wine!

And it was served in the most amazing setting! This is a new operation, kind of a resort/upscale club/ neighborhood, all still under construction.

But what is really cool, is that the club houses and the main buildings are all built from salvaged materials.

Yes, we go to a high class, exclusive place and all I care about are the peeling old bricks.

Well, and the reclaimed lumber and old nails too!

The beams are from 1860, the floors from 1910. Every little detail of this place is full of history. Well, history ripped from some other building, but hey, still really old and really cool. And I love the idea of recycling all the building materials.

Club Corp, the company my husband works for is overseeing the building of a golf course there, and we took a cart out to see how it is progressing. Now, I know and care nothing about golf, (well, I do enjoy and care about my husband’s pay checks from it, since as an artist, I barely have one myself) but as a new Leaf Looker, I sure enjoyed the scenery!

Proud to be a Mid Westerner!

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, give away, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 27, 2008

Sbella_booth_230 Today is a packing and pricing day, the last table top of Silver Bella goodies are going into their boxes! Although, all the tags are falling off the stupid bottle brush trees, how irritating is that? I went with sticky tags on the bottoms, not string tags, because I didn’t want the strings to tangle. Now, I have a pile of loose tags at the bottom of the box.

I’ll have to keep that in mind as I tag the rest of the crap, er, I mean lovely inventory.

I HATE pricing. It is one of the chores that seemed to never end back when I used to host mini flea markets in my yard and chicken coop. For this event, I am doing as many signs as possible, instead of individual tags. I packaged things, like wallpaper journals and millinery flowers with the idea of saving tagging time. I did the same with hand painted charms, tags, vintage greeting cards, and china shard pendants too.

Too bad that idea won’t work for the old Christmas ribbon, some spools are nearly full, others aren’t, so the prices can’t be uniform.

And for small things like this, it is easier to do tags, than to take up space with a sign.

And the decorated bottles are all so different, it just doesn’t work well with them either, they will need to be tagged.

I’ll place a small sign on this basket that says "Embossed and Stamped Tags 3 for $1"

I also have a big picnic basket FULL of odds and ends for $1 each. Doilies, trims, cake decorating tid bits, just a hodge podge of goodies. I’ll set it on the floor because my tables are overflowing.

10′ x 10′ sounds like plenty of space, but I could have used twice that amount. Of course, I also could have been a little smarter and not planned to bring so many cheapo priced things….. and made better use of the space I have…

But- this booth really does represent what I have to sell in my Etsy shop or on my blog and that is what I wanted to accomplish. There will be bargains and surprises and good deals all piled together to dig through. I hope that the booth is enjoyed as much as I have enjoyed putting it together!! And if most shoppers are like me, they will appreciate some good deals and have fun digging through it all.

Dont forget that if you want to win something from my booth, I am having TWO giveaways!

A pair of crown earrings goes to a Bella, and another pair, along with black and white rose linens and a white glittered pumpkin will go to another reader. All you do is leave a comment to enter.

Speaking of Silver Bella vendor night, guess who is going to be there selling after all? Deb of Curious Sofa! Now, that will be a beautiful space to shop in!!!!!!

I am going to be glowing with pride to be part of the Kansas City contingent up in Omaha. With my friend, Gwen, who shops only in France for her wares, Carol the Queen of primitive glamor, and Deb with her unique Curious Sofa style all there and all from KC, those three will be showing off the best that the Midwest has to offer!

Makes me wish I’d gone for a better display instead of just piles of stuff… these three ladies will have the kind of spaces that make you stand at the entance and just say WOW.

Fun with Fabrics

antiques/junking, family, flowers, parties, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 25, 2008

I’ve been playing hooky the last few days. Maybe a case of over confidence? I am so close to being ready for Silver Bella that I am doing fun stuff instead of finishing the work that needs to be done. I hope nothing comes up unexpectedly and I don’t have time to finish after all…

Today was a tie dye day. Normally, we do our dying outside, but the weather was just a tad to cool, so this is what my studio looks like now!

Here is a shirt I dyed last time, its an ombre type style. To get this affect, you saturate the piece with the base color of dye, then splash on colors that blend, starting with lighter at the top, darker at the bottom.

Then hang it to drip for 24 hours while the dye sets. I love the way the colors bleed as it hangs.

Last year, these hoodies were sold at Silver Bella, and I wore mine so much this year that I almost wore it out. It was white to start with and after a year of enjoyment and use, you couldn’t call it white any more. So the dye was a fix to make the shirt "new" again.

I also embellished the faded (from many washings) printed design on the back, with bronze metallic and silver glitter fabric paints.

If my other tie dye creations turn out picture worthy, I’ll show them later. Right now, they are wrapped up in rubber bands and soaking away in plastic bags.

Beth indulged me and took a hooky day shopping on Thursday, we went to the Jr. League Holiday Shop in KC. Hmm. Not my typical type of shopping, and we kept saying that we felt like tourists in another land. Everything was NEW and expensive, not stuff either of us buy!

But then, we came across Deb Dusenberry’s Curious Sofa booth like a beacon of light in the darkness we found her beautiful displays of fab finds!

See why I was so happy? Her style is so perfectly perfect. That woman has an eye for beauty, I love everything she does.

And while there, I found out that Deb is driving up from KC to go to the Silver Bella vendor night, so I made sure to invite her to visit Carol and I in our "Glitter Lounge". Carol (who is a good buddy of Deb’s) and I are stocking our room with wines and chocolates and inviting friends up to hang with us there. (Last year, after Silver Bella vendor night, we had a cocktail in the lounge, then a slumber party in Heather Bullard’s room. This year, Heather isn’t coming, so Carol and I will be having the girly night in our room instead.)

After eating enough free samples of gift basket style food offerings to justify our tickets to the Jr. League show (every other booth there had jam and crackers or spinach dip and pretzels), Beth and I escaped the newness of the holiday mart and made a run to Mission Road Antique Mall where Beth has a booth. We did a redo on her spot (sorry, no good pics of that, too bad, she has GREAT stuff- but there are pictures on her blog) and it was joy to play with vintage goodies after an afternoon of walking through booths of brand new goods!

Remember me telling you about the art show at Blue Plate Dinners that I painted a pear for? We went to the opening last night and what a cool event! The art was all food related and displayed in one gallon zip lock bags.

Quite a few friends of mine had artwork in the show, so it was fun to hang out with them for the evening.

Notice anything odd about my picture? Well my hand is a bit colorful from the tie dying.

Most people didn’t even comment, they are so used to seeing me covered in something, glitter, paint, dye, etc. that it would cause even more comment if I showed up somewhere pristine…

Vicki gave me a blog award, how sweet. I always appreciate the kind thoughts behind those, I am sorry I don’t always follow through with them. For this one, I am supposed to list 6 things that make me happy, so I thought this photo summed up most of them-

1- Sugarwings!!!

2- flowers

3- summertime and sunshine

4- pretty colors

5- a day with the family

6- spending time in this town I am so lucky to live in, downtown Lawrence has so much to offer.