Junk Bonanza

While at The Creative Connection Event, a few of us girls decided to channel our inner delinquents and ditch one our classes (shame on me) to go see the Junk Bonanza. How could I not? I had heard so much about it, read the magazine, read the blog.... I had to jump on the opportunity!

It was not exactly what I was expecting... but so wonderful anyway! I had a vision in my head that it was... well.... A JUNK Bonanza! Similar I suppose to flea markets I had been to in Ca. where there were just tables full of great junk and fabulous finds.

Instead, I found beautiful displays full of the most wonderful vintage goodies. It was like having hundreds of beautiful shops all in one place.

The white pumpkins were out in abundance, and I loved them all. They added such a wonderful fall effect. I love them much more than the orange ones.

There was tons of rusty iron of all kinds...

Something about this framed eye chart I found really cool....

Chandeliers and petticoats... what girl doesn't love that???

I was feeling strangely  at home in this booth...Could it be the steer scull on the table?? LOL! 

There were a couple of vendors selling art of this type. I really like it. It has a wonderful combination of vintage and contemporary style. I'm thinking a canvas and some paint might be on my shopping list....

 

This sign sums up how I feel perfectly. I truly hope that this decorating movement never goes out of fashion.  I love the connection to the past, the feelings of warmth and peace that I feel when surrounded by it all. It's a good thing I only had limited space in my suitcase to bring goodies home or I would be in poor house (and the dog house)!!!

Run to the Pines

 

My sweetie and I took a break from chores this weekend and decided to take the  3 1/2 hour drive up to Pinetop, Az for the annual "Run to the Pines" classic car show. I could not have asked for a more perfect day. The weather was in the mid 70's (a stark contrast to the 105 degrees they were experiencing in the valley) and the smell of the pine was intoxicating. I honer of fall I created a mosaic from the cars in lovely fall colors!!!!

 

Pinetop, is up on the  Mogollon Rim, (pronounced Mug-ee-on) and has breathtaking views as far as the eye can see.

 

There was a time when my  honey and I used to go camping up here (and all over Az wherever we could find trees and water.)  I really miss those days and hope that next Summer I can convince my darling workoholic to take time to smell the roses (or pine) again!!!

Handmade Market at The Creative Connection

One of the many highlights of The Creative Connection Event was the handmade market. There were many amazing designers, artists and craftsmen(women) showing off their beautiful creations. My favorite booth by far, was Rebecca Ersfelds booth. She created the most amazing surroundings to hold her mix of vintage textiles, handmade items and vintage goodies.

I spent over half of my spending budget in Rebeccas booth. It was sooo nice to finally meet her after a year of emails and chatting on the phone.

I bought one of her darling lace wall pockets that she had filled with assorted Vintage goodies, and hung it on the wall next to my bed. It makes a wonderful tissue holder and I don't have to take up space on my side table.

 I got wonderful rolls of all different kinds of lace.

I also purchased a couple of yummy handmade pillows.  This one is pleated on the sides and I added a shabby rosette that I also found in her booth.

This one is made of the softest linen I have ever felt. It's very simple, but I have a few ideas for dressing it up a bit more.

Another of my favorite booths was Kecia's from Lemoncholy's Flight of Fancy.   Kecia is an amazing jewelry designer and I was getting a bit giddy at the thought of owning one of her pieces. Unfortunately for my bank account (or fortunately for my creative style) I couldn't pick just one ....

...and brought home two pretty little pieces. I wish my photo

showed them off better because they really are spectacular and 

I got compliments all weekend. (fun, fun, fun)

The last booth I have to show you was from Earth Angels Toys. It was so fun to look through because there were several artists all in one booth.  I have always been a fan of Debbee Thibault. Some day I am going to own one of her pieces, but it was really great to hold them in my hands. (It made me want one even more)

I'm trying to put together a post of all the great people I met, but it appears most of my shots are just to dark or blurry to be any good. (See I told you I need to work on my photography skills)

See you next time!

Back from The Creative Connection event.

 

Hi! It's me... I'm back! (I know I'm a total dork right?) The Creative Connection was an amazing experience. There were art classes and interactive seminars relating to all sides of creative businesses.  I met so many women that I had only talked to via email, or read their blogs. It was so fun to meet them in person!!! (I'll do a post about all of them later.) First I wanted to share a few things that I learned while on my trip.   

                             

   1. Sitting at my computer all day has made me woefully out of shape. I discovered this when I went to bed the second night and my hips ACHED like never before. I guess standing on me feet all day, and running from place to place just isn't as easy as I thought it would be.  (Treadmill, here I come!)                                                                   

2. I really suck (pardon my french) at the whole Twitter and Facebook thing. I thought I knew what I was doing, but after listening to some of the great seminars, I realized I have SO MUCH to learn! 

3. I am not as comfortable in large groups of women as I would like to be. This one really surprised me. This is my first big event like this and there were times (especially before the big opening night dinner) when I just wanted to stay up in my room, watch TV and be tucked away nicely in my own little safety zone.  I pushed through it though. I knew it would be good for me and that I would have a good time. Of course, I did. But this is something I want to work on. I guess working from home has taken  it's toll in this capacity as well.

4. When there is a lot going on, I forget to pull out my camera and take lots of pictures. This is one of those things that if I don't get better at, I won't have wonderful pics to share with you of any fun events I may go to in the future. (Yes, that is a hint of what is or is not yet to come. I realized I had much fewer pics on my camera than I thought.) Bummer.

5. I want to get better at taking photo's. My roommate was the sweetest girl (woman) you ever want to meet. Her name is Koralee (Isn't that a great name?) and her blog is Bluebird Notes.

She takes the most beautiful pictures about the most ordinary things. In fact , there were many wonderful photographers at the event and they have inspired to try to see things in a different way. You all may have to be my guinea pigs. (I'm sorry)

Well, that's it for now. I hope I didn't bore you to much. I know you all want to see photos. Tiffany Kirchner (The Fancy Farmgirl)  was  one of the photographers for the event. As soon as they are available I will  be combining some of her photos with the ones I took to share some of the fun we all had at this super event.

 

Creative Connection here I come!

I am so excited!! On Tuesday morning I am getting on plane and heading off to Minneapolis to help Jo and her team with The Creative Connection event! I never thought I would able to participate, but a couple weeks ago Jo asked me if I would like to fly up and help out, take some classes and meet lots of other like minded women and I gave a resounding YES!!! I have never traveled by myself before, but I'm not nervous at all. This is going to be a wonderful experience and I can't wait to get on that plane. Of course, just that fact that it's going to be in the high 60's and low 70's makes it a trip worth taking. I will try to remember to take lots of pictures and will post all about it when I get home. See you then!!!

 

Decoupage Tray

Several weeks ago I was asked to do a blog design for one of the sweetest women I have ever met. Her name is Vonda and she is a very talented artist who has done decorative paint finishes on furniture, walls and accessories all over the world. I was thrilled when I found out she lived right by me, AND she offered classes in furniture refinishing and decoupage right in her home. I signed up immediately and have been enjoying the company of Vonda and several other local women every week.

For the past couple of weeks I have been working on a decoupage tray. One of the other gals had an old antique tray that she had decoupaged with a lovely vase of flowers, and by the time she was finished it was truly a work of art. I had a spot in my living room that I had wanted something about 12 X 24. I had actually looked for a yard long painting, but was unable to find one in the right color scheme.

The tray would be perfect . I went to Hobby Lobby and found a frame that was just the right size. They also have some wonderful hardware so I bought two iron pulls to act as the handles. A couple of screws and they look like they belong together! I cut out a piece of Masonite to fit into the tray and sponge painted it before applying my roses.

I used Redoutes Roses. You can find a book and cd with many of his roses on Amazon.com. The book is published by Dover. I used my computer to back off the saturation a little bit so they would look a little more faded and printed several copies of each rose.

Cutting them out  is a  lot easier if you use an exacto knife for all the detail work. Then I glued everything down and did a wonderful crackle finish that Vonda taught me. I added silver leaf to the frame and antiqued the whole thing.

I love the way it turned out. If you live in the Phoenix area and want to take some of Vonda's classes,  go visit her blog and shoot her an email. She is still very new to blogging and still learning the ropes.

I'm sure she would love to make some new friends.