Get wired up

'Get WiredUP!' by analogueshop

Enjoy

Old Wire Basket wit... kizzyrayan123 $36.00	Plump, Wonky Cage L... CrudeOil $40.00	Wire Locker Basket ... AtticRat $22.50
Vintage Industrial ... CoopDeVilla $9.00	2 Vintage Gym Locke... circlecreekhom... $48.00	Vintage Wire Bird C... bluebonnetfiel... $79.00
Vintage - Industria... BDVintage $25.00	50%OFF early wire w... thefoxparade $12.00	Wire wall shelf SassytrashAnti... $29.00
pair of vintage wir... jetsetvintage $19.00	Vintage French Chic... Shabbylull $20.00	Rusty Wire Basket annabelleestud... $18.95
Vintage Silver Wire... AmeliaRoseVint... $12.00	vintage wire coland... mamaleanne22 $12.00	Green wire Fishing ... faithfulroots $52.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com.

I am truly honored to be featured in analogueshop's first treasury list on Etsy.

Something to gush about

Lauri woke up the other day feeling very generous so she hosted a giveaway on her new blog, Lauri Evans Designs. She challenged us to tell her what item she makes is our favorite. I didn't know if she had ever made any burlap pillows with an ampersand on them, but thought that they would be charming. Guess what? I was right! It is very charming. The best part is, I won it!! Lauri custom made it just for me. She was even more generous to give away not one, but TWO pillows! Both Karen and I won. It's on it's way to me and I can't wait until it arrives.

Lauri can usually be found here in Texas at the Marburger Farm Antiques Show in Roundtop. Her booth is always stunningly beautiful.

Junking Trend

We are entering into a new phase of television viewing - JUNKING!! First, most of the programs shown on HGTV, DIY, etc. were all about arts and crafts. Remember the Carol Duvall show? Then, when the prices of homes were skyrocketing, they were all about flipping houses. Well, we know how that turned out. Because of the housing crash, the shows started to be more about how to get your house sold or how make part of it an income property.

Enter the current phase - JUNKING! Now, we're talking. We get to enjoy shows like American Pickers and Pawn Stars on the History Channel and Storage Wars on A & E. Tonight, HGTV is getting in on the action. It looks like it will be a girl version of American Pickers.

The new show is called Cash & Cari. Cari Cucksey is the star of this show. She is an antiques dealer and appraiser.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HGTV

From the HGTV site: With her razor sharp business sense and an eye for spotting diamonds in the rough, estate sale guru Cari Cucksey combs through her clients' basements, attics and garages in search of hidden treasure. And once she and her team have organized and priced the entire contents of the home, they hold an estate sale right on the premises. From antique furniture and vintage toys to retro electronics and rare cars, there's something for everyone, and everything must go!

PHOTO COURTESY OF HGTV

I figure that she won't be buying bicycles and other motor-head items so she'll be running in different circles than Mike and Frank. I think that these two shows will complement each other very nicely. I already have my satellite to autotune so I won't miss it.

Happy New Year

Jill of beanlennon has rung in the New Year with this Etsy treasury that she titled, "happy.new.years.day!". She included my brass stencil letter Y. (mine is the Y in the word year) Jill lives in Mississippi and her shop is full of necklaces, earrings, and other items. You should check it out.

For some reason, I'm not quite ready to be done with 2010. It doesn't seem like we've had 2010 for a whole year yet. I guess that is what happens when you get older. The years start zipping by like you are standing next to the highway as the cars zoom past. My calendar is already starting to fill up.

I am wishing each one of you a wonderful 2011. You mean a lot to me. God bless!

American Pickers on Etsy

When I found out that Danielle from American Pickers had her own Etsy shop, I checked it out right away. She loves textiles and makes some great bags from reclaimed fabric items. This is one of her Pickin' Bags. A few hours after I bought mine, she was completely sold out.
When I shop the estate sales, I make a quick run-through like a rabbit to scope it out, then go like a turtle, digging through the random boxes in garages and outbuildings. Of course, I couldn't do that without my anti-bac wipes!
After I bought it, I decided that it would be nice to have her sign her handiwork. She granted my request. I like the way Danielle chose to sign it. Since it was an after-the-fact plea request, she added it using a huge eyelet.

What kind of items do you think I will score with it?

Open House on Alameda

Last night was our Open House. Once a year, all the antique shops on Alameda stay open until 9:00. There is lots of food, music, and FUN.

A couple of the shops have a universal percentage off, but at Betty's it is up to each vendor to have a sale . . . or not. Joan and I opted for not. We ran into Judy and Betty and had fun checking out the shops together.

Betty is one of the hardest-working people I know. She has three (count them, 3) antique malls in Corpus Christi. I have booths in 2 of them. Frankly, I don't know where she gets the energy. I'm pretty high energy, but Betty could run circles around me.

The food went fast. There were tons of people enjoying the huge shopping party. The brownies did not last long. They were absolutely delicious! Did someone say, "chocolate"?

Jean is owner of the Renaissance Shop. She is another with boundless energy.

This is the window that Jean did at Betty's Trash to Treasures. Even though she has Renaissance, she also has a booth at Betty's. Our booth is just to the left of this wonderful window.

Jean has started a Junk display at her counter at Renaissance and has included one of my Junk Queens to be a part of it. I feel quite honored.

This guy was awesome. He played Christmas music on his sax all evening. He really added to the festivities and could be heard all over.

Cricket stopped by our booth and we had a lovely chat. It's fun to meet your customers one-on-one. She has a shop just down the street and I plan to go check it out the next time I am in town. By the way, she got an awesome deal on those bowls. I wish that I had seen them first. LOL

Even Duggers Flower Villa on Antique Row got in on the fun. She served lumpia and jello shots. Quite a combination.

Perfect solution

I loved the gas heater when I first laid eyes on it, but it was missing one of its ceramic bricks. The chances of actually finding a replacement were slim to none. Inspiration hit me upside my head this morning when I was looking at my bird nests. Instead of filling the space with an impossible-to-find brick, why not fill it with a sweet little bird nest?

I didn't permanently attach it if someone wants the heater in its natural condition. It would be so cute for Christmas. I am planning to place this in my booth at Betty's for the Open House on Saturday.

Now for the big question: what am I going to wear??

Lighted hall tree

Yesterday, while I was standing in line at the bank, Betty from the Alameda store called me and told me that she had just sold the hall tree that I had in my booth. That makes at least 3 pieces of furniture this month. Woo Hoo!!

So what' s a girl to do? I trotted out to the workshop and made a new one this afternoon. It's made using a shutter that came from Galveston after hurricane Ike. These are kinda fun to build. I make a cornice for the top so that I can put a light in it. I am down to my last shutter. This next one will be a little harder to use. I will remove get my husband to remove the hardware off of it before I will be able to use it.

All settled

Now you see it . . .

. . . now you don't.

Yesterday, Joan and I moved out of Third Coast Antiques and into Betty's Trash to Treasures Too. This is a nice space. We were able to get an entire wall so it gives us some "presence" in the room. It has great light, electricity, and it even has a door that can be opened for bring in larger pieces or for moving in like we did yesterday.

We will be tweaking it as we go, but we were running out of time. We tried to utilize the screens that we had over at Third Coast, but they didn't work as well in this space unless we take them apart.

Since it has less square feet than the booth we had at Third Coast, we had to bring a lot of it back home. As things sell, we will be able bring it back. I enjoy doing the buying part, but probably should stop for awhile . . . if I can! That is asking an awful lot!