A Few Little Claims to Fame and More Stuff for Lucketts

Sorry I missed last week. It has been a bit crazy around here. But I'm here today. And I have a few exciting tidbits to share.

Let's start with Thistlewood farms. You guys remember. This is the site that inspired this post about my messy house (here) where I shameless threw back the covers and showed my own disorder to the world. It's the site where Karianne's perfect, perfect pantry caused me to wail in despair of ever having even one place in my house be that organized and clean.

Well, exciting things happened. 

She asked for readers to suggest a name for her online shopping posts (my  suggestion is in the comments here)....and she chose MINE!!! Read all about her wonderful sponsors, etc here. She mentions me way at the bottom. So go show her some love and check out the cool stuff she's gathered for you guys. You can tell her Marian sent you, if you want. But you might have to clarify that I'm not Miss Mustard Seed. She's a way more famous Marian. It wouldn't be the first time we've been confused with each other.

My other bit of fame comes from the Old Luckett's Store blog. Branches: the Barn Sale Without a Barn was a featured vendor on their blog yesterday! Yay famous! Woot. Check it out here. We are the third vendor mentioned. That was super exciting to discover.

So I bet you've all been wondering what's been keeping me too busy to post. Well, that would be book lamps, garage sales, and collages. Great stuff, right? The garage sale gods have been super kind to me the last couple of weeks. I found some incredible things. Like this huge, vintage wooden trunk.

and some amazing old forged iron serving pieces

and this cool silver plate tray. Can you see the bunches of tiny grapes all around the edge? 

Who wouldn't want a silver tray with tiny grape clusters?

I almost had heart failure when I saw an entire table covered in vintage and antique copper pieces. I only had enough money with me for a fraction of what they had. Could you die?

And the vintage and antique spoons. You know you have to have at least one of these.

I especially like the happy meal book on the floor behind them.  We keep it pretty real at my place. 

Here's a little peak at what Sharon from Hand Picked Art is bring to our booth at the show:

Isn't it funny how different our taste is, even though we hang out all the time? That's why it's good to have a partner, folks. Then there's something for everyone. 

In the studio, I have been super busy making collages and refinishing frames like this one with vintage stamps and 100 % linen backing

And this

And this. 

 DK shot the picture for me because I love dandelions. I'm having a really hard time putting it in the show. I LOVE how the chalkboard frame turned out. You guys would forgive me if I kept it, right? You 'll just have to come to Lucketts to see what I decided.

Here's a closer shot of the frame.

As far as the book lamps go, they are all drilled and bolted together, but are still a work in progress. I will have them looking amazing for the show. Please pardon the mess. Neither one has any lamp parts attached yet. The picture with the shade and the big pipe sticking out is just to show you where they are going. 

 These detail shots are the two different ways I attached the casters to the book stacks. One goes all the way through the bottom book. I had to reinforce that stack with a board hidden inside the book. The other style caster is screwed into the base book's cover.

I have a couple more pieces I am working for this show, a box and another collage, of sorts. Neither is finished, but here's a peek:

This is that piece from 1888 that I found. Please pray that the conservation glass I ordered from California gets here in time for me to pull this one together for the show. I suppose I could have used regular glass, but if something has made to to me from 1888, I certainly am not going to be the one to let it get ruined. UV glass or bust baby!

This was an experiment with MMS milk paint. I love how it chips and cracks. I'll take better photos and tell you all about this project later. But the lining will be woven strips of book page. (A Tom Clancy novel, if you must know.) You can see how I've done it on the bottom already.

So that's where things stand for now. Thanks for hanging with me. 

I always miss you guys when I don't post.

Don't forget to come to the show. I'll be there all day Saturday.

Here's the link for directions etc.

The Lucketts Spring Market

MAY 18-19, 10-5 both days

$7 at the gate

The fields behind the Old Luckett's Store

42350 Lucketts Road  Leesburg, VA

Almost there.....

I have been shooting pictures all day. I know I was going to do a "before" and "after" picture post, but I am just too creatively depleted right now. You all will just have to wait until after the show to see how your stuff started out.

I just finished inventory and I actually made over 50 items for this show. No wonder I can't decide what to make for dinner.

Ok, enough chatting. I am a big fan of the "a picture is worth 100o words" theory, so here are a bunch of pictures from the show:

So......Are you gonna come see it for real? I promise it will be fun.

Wow! What a shoot! (Pictures for the 2011 Barn Sale)

We shot the promotional pictures for the barn sale last Tuesday. It was SO INTENSE! And the pictures turned out AMAZINGLY WELL. But I'll just show you that part later.

So if you know my art, you know that I have a background in photography. It might surprise you then, to learn that I hired Kodi Wright, of Kodi Wright Photography (check out her blog and gallery here: http://kodiwrightphotography.com/ ), to shoot the barn sale pics. In fact, she looked at one of my shadowboxes and said "Why exactly am I here?" Well, frankly folks, there are two answers to that. First, I am WAAAAY to close to this to take my own pictures. And I'm too stressed out and over-arted right now to have the mental space to take good pictures. The second reason is the point of "Gathering" Branches is to promote the artistic growth of artists who working on a professional level, but don't have the space in their life to have art be their primary focus. See? Hiring Kodi suited both purposes. It took stress off me and allowed me in turn to help promote her career. Besides, she put up with me as a roommate in college, back when I was still learning how to be a decent human being. You gotta love anyone who will still talk to you after that, right?

So you wanna see some pictures?

So you guys totally want to come to the sale now, right?

Almost everything we used in the pictures is the actual item for sale.There are a few things shown that may or may not make it into the sale, but that is at the discretion of the individual artist. (For example, the antique pillar and  aqua door shown in one of the pics will not be there. They live in my bedroom.) But for the most part, if you see it, it's for sale. Even the cool tea pots and wooden boxes and spools and chairs and tables. Yup folks, it's all for your shopping pleasure.