Packing Up for the Show

I've spent most of this week getting ready for the annual Spring Show at One Way Antiques and Two Feathers Trading in King, a small town about 30 minutes away from us. It's always a fabulous show, like one big family of artists, who gather together for two days of showing off new art, meeting customers, and truly enjoying the chance to be together again. It's not a large show, the "production people" keeping it to 30 or 40 booths, but each booth has fantastic and very original work, often very different from what you see at other small shows. There's textiles, paintings, very unique stained and fused glass sculptural pieces, glassblown work, metal jewelry, jewelry made from vintage dominoes, ceramics, custom knives, and much more. And it's in the most beautiful spot imaginable... a gorgeously landscaped area filled with vintage architectural pieces, salvaged goods from old homes and buildings, and a bamboo forest!

I'm just about ready at this point. I've priced, tagged, cleaned silver, made more business cards, ironed my table covers, baked blueberry muffins (snackies, you know, are important!), wired the backs of all my paintings, and I can't remember what else. Phew! We're going to the site this afternoon to set up our canopy and tables so tomorrow morning we will only need to set out our wares. For my husband, with whom I share a booth, this takes about 10 minutes. He throws an old Indian wool blanket on his table, sets out a deer antler or two, puts out his glass-topped boxes that contain his handmade knives, and a few other little goodies. But for me? Well, it takes just a little longer. I have old Moxie crates, a small metal table (from which I hang various necklaces from the rungs), necklace stands, rocks, dried beans, my large earring stand and my smaller individual metal earring displays... and then I have to decide which pieces to put where. And this year I will bring a display for my smaller paintings, which I normally don't take but have decided that their bright, cheery colors will add to my more earthly jewelry display.

So here's a couple pictures of stuff gathered round waiting to be loaded on the truck. You can see my hinged earring stand that my husband made for me, my vintage blue jewelry case with individual trays that contain the necklaces I will take, my crates, paintings, and other whatnots.




And here's my outfit (always important!), probably (sometimes I change my mind at the last minute... isn't that something we girls are prone to do?)... consisting of a wonderful little skirt from the local thrift store (yes, I LOVE the thrift stores) which cost all of $4, the most beautifully sheer vintage maiden's blouse that I bought from QueenLondonsCarriage on Etsy at a great price, a pair of my Ariat cowgirl boots, of course, and a straw cowgirl hat! And I usually sport my boot dagger that my husband made to help him with his sales!




Pictures from the show will be shown early next week! And probably no blogging until then! Happy weekend, everyone!

A Little Smile for Today

A very dear friend of mine, whom I miss a heck of a lot since she has been living for several years many states away from me, sent me an email today which contained this image. I loved it immediately, and it reminded me that though life can be frustrating, stressful, difficult, sad, and scary, it also contains much joy, much beauty, much kindness, much love, and many, many blessings, both large and small. How can we help but smile when we know this truth?

Here are some other things from Etsy shops that bring me a smile, and this beautiful mix of color offers a sense of peace and joy.

A kitchen towel with a great little reminder by sweetnaturedesigns...

Whimsically fun print of a watercolor by karenfaulknerart...

Lovely photo of earth's beauty by chefjen137...

Pretty cool tie-dyed pillow by AKingHearts...

A stunning enamel pendant by indigoflameworks...

And finally, a pair of my own earrings, appropriately titled, Tell Me Why in my Etsy shop...

So smile, enjoy life and all it has to offer, find your sense of peace, love yourself and others!

Mother's Day Giveaway... But It's Not Just for Moms!

A fabulous necklace for a fabulous woman in your life!! There's only two weeks left, but I'm holding this giveaway in time to ship out this necklace to the lucky winner for Mother's Day! "Golden Shimmer" is approximately 16 inches in length with a lampworked glass pendant that is an additional 1 1/2 inches long. It contains white agate, gold mother of pearl, unakite, and a variety of glass beads and crystals. It's unique, one of a kind (as are all my jewelry items), and quite lovely on the neck with an open blouse, a tee or tank, with dressy attire or with casual clothes.




To make this fair for all entrants, there is just one chance per person to win. All you have to do is follow my blog OR my Facebook fan page, leave a comment here OR on my FB fan page telling me which WOMAN in your life would receive this necklace and why. It could be your true mom, another relative, your wife, a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker, or even yourself, if you're feeling the need for a treat... you make the call! Happy entering, and good luck to all. Winner will be posted here and on FB next Monday, and I'll mail the necklace out as soon as I have shipping information! So make sure you leave your contact info so I can email you for shipping address.

A Little Spring Cleaning... Not for the Faint of Heart!

We have a side porch that we practically live in during the warm months, but this spring it has been covered in pollen from the pine and other trees that surround it. I have felt even less like cleaning than I normally do, so we have kept the door shut for the most part to keep that excess pollen from blowing into our main living areas. But this afternoon, with sunny skies prevailing over the cloudy morning we had, my husband got out the vacuum cleaner and other things and did some major cleaning out there. What a good man he is! Of course there's still some dusting that I'll get out there and do, perhaps in the morning, but when I looked out there just a little bit ago, I was amazed and my spirits were lifted!


It's a wonderful spot for morning coffee, an afternoon read (or nap), and an evening cocktail with friends among the candlelight and nighttime sounds of the woods and the wind. Y'all come!! I'd love to have you!

And now... the other part of the cleaning story. When John was first getting started on cleaning the porch, he called to me, with a voice that I knew meant some interesting critter was around! He pointed outside the screen to the shrubbery below, at the base of our front deck, and there stretched out on a branch was a very long black snake... the first one I'd seen this season. Guess what I did?

If you don't like snakes, you may not want to scroll down. But really, they are fascinating creatures, and they have a definite role on this green earth. I am not too thrilled when they find the bird nests around the house, but I know they have to eat too. It's all part of the plan, like it or not. So this one was about to molt, or shed its skin, hence the strange blue eyes. And so I guess this snake was getting ready to do his own spring cleaning too!

Life Reflections

Tomorrow afternoon I will have a little surgical procedure done to try and rectify the health issues I have had over the last month. It will be an out-patient kind of deal and hopefully won't be too much trouble or involve too much pain after the fact. I have tried really hard this week not to think of it so I don't get up in arms and all stressed.

But this morning I learned some very sad news of a fellow blogger and Etsian I have followed over the past year, and while I never knew her in person, I did "know" her through her blog and her beautiful photography, and I am so very sad. It has brought me to tears as I reflect on life and death and try to make sense of it all. Life can be hard and it can play some cruel tricks on us, and oftentimes I wonder how we ever get through it. It's a tough game to play, and as I wrote in a recent song, we have to "hold our cards close to our chest" because it isn't always a fair game.

When I struggle with the unfairness of it and the hardships that I see all around me, I usually take a stroll on our land and up and around the mountain. Lately I haven't felt up to such a hike, but just a walk through our yard in the sunshine has helped. So in honor and memory of dear Cat, I'll leave you with some photos of what's happening in our gardens and I hope these will bring you a smile and a sense of peace, as they have done for me.

Hostas...

Strawberry blossom...

Dandelion...

Blueberries in the works...

Rows of early lettuce...

New maple leaves...

Moss...

Baby grapes...

Flowers waiting to be planted...

My Kitty in the Garden!

She's done, she's done... with ten days to spare! I worked on the base today for my Scout in the Garden sculpture for the Art Unleashed fundraiser for the Humane Society. All sculptures are due on May 1 (the same day as a very wonderful arts / crafts / music show that always proves very successful for me!), so I knew I better get my ducks in a row and get out my One Shot enamel paints. Fortunately they take so little time to dry and the colors are amazingly vibrant too!

So here is Scout standing next to her base and among the flowers and cool season garden veggies growing in the pots on our deck.

And here she is on her base, looking very festive, bright, and cheerful... a happy kitty indeed!

Rocks, Birds, Bottles and Whatnots

A couple of days ago, I was featured in an interview on the EtsyProjectEmbrace blog. One of the questions had to do with things I collect. My answer was rocks, bones, and feathers. And it's true... I have many of these things in my house. So this morning, I decided to take a few pictures, and then I realized that there are other things I collect. So I'm sharing some of these things with you today.

Here are a couple of the rock groupings that live on my shelves and windowsills...


Here are my glass balls hanging above the window by our dining table which looks over the side yard and towards Moore's Wall, part of the nearby mountain range...

Here are some of my vintage bottles on my kitchen windowsill which looks out onto our front yard...

Here are a few of my favorite ceramic plates... love the colors and yes, I have a thing for barnyard animals. These live on a shelf above our fridge...

And these pitchers sit atop an antique shelf and mirror that my dad and step-mom gave us. The taller pitcher is from Finland, the ancestral home of my mother, and the little pig teapot was given to me by my sister... it isn't valuable, but I love it nonetheless...

Lizards, lizards, and lizards!

Now that the temps are warming up and the sun is shining, the lizards 'round my house are coming out, enjoying a hot bath and scurrying across the deck. Tiny baby blue-tailed skinks, beautifully patterned fence lizards... I just love them. I love their colorings, their movements, their watchful eyes and faces. They are amazing to me, and they've inspired this new piano key pendant, which I worked on today. I'm thinking I'll add a few more lines and details on the lizard, but scrimshaw is hard on my arm and wrist, so I only let myself do so much at a time. I'll come back to this in a day or two and wrap it up and then list it on Etsy, but you get the general idea.

WET PAINT!

Worked in the painting studio today.... doors and windows wide open, warm breeze blowing through keeping the oil and turpentine odors down, and sun just a-shining! Heaven!

A little 6 x 12 inspired by the Phoebes who are building nests all around our home and wake me in the morning with their cheerful little call...


A 16 x 20 loose brush painting inspired by my sweet Bruschi who died just 7 weeks ago...