Antiques Road Show Veteran

I am now an Antiques Roadshow veteran. My sister and I got up at the butt crack of dawn to drive to Corpus Christi to get there at 7:30 am. I am NOT a morning person so getting up and functioning at that hour is a major feat for me.

We got there just on time and scored an upfront parking space. Being from here, I knew one of the best places to park. Tee Hee.

Once inside, we walked 1/4 of a mile to the other side of the building and got into one of those cattle lines. Since my sister and I were among the first to enter the building, we weren't too far back in line. The first stop is at a table where you are given cards to indicate which line you are to get into next.  Everything flowed very fast and I was in the first line only about a minute.

I was given a ticket to see an Asian Arts appraiser but this item was really an item that a Metalworks appraiser needed to see so I had to take my referral ticket and get in a different line.

I was next up so no big deal. The appraiser told me that these two pieces weren't originally together. They had been "married". He said that the cloisonne egg is modern and the egg cup is English 19th century. I told him that it was a May-December romance. He valued the egg at $10 to $15 and the egg cup at $50 to $75. Based on what I bought it for, I did good. I picked it up at Mary Lewis Kleberg's estate sale.

My next item took me to the other side of the venue and I was first in line for that one as well. I bought a set of books that were all written by Rex Beach at the turn of the century.

All but one book was inscribed by Caesar Kleberg. I guess someone somewhere along the way didn't return his books. LOL The book appraiser said that these books would fetch more $$ around here since not everyone is familiar with the Klebergs or the King Ranch. Living in Kleberg county, we know exactly who the Klebergs are and all about the famous King Ranch.

Even with that, he appraised the set of 7 books to be worth between $250 and $300. SCORE!!

Since both of my items were once owned by very important, local people I was sure that they would want to film me for the show. I guess not.

 

Antiques Road Show

Can you see me doing a happy dance? A friend of mine gave me these coveted tickets. The tickets say that we get to take two items each for appraisal. I've already thought two things that I want to have appraised. I just need to decide on what the other two things will be. I have to haul these things around so I know that I don't want to take furniture.

I am so excited!! I think I'll get my hair highlighted in case I get to be on television. I guess I better get my appointment set tomorrow. . .

Renaissance Antiques

One of my favorite spots is the Renaissance Antiques shop in Corpus Christi. It has a very different flavor. It feels like a shop you might find in Austin. Kind of has a Bohemian feel.
It is right next door to Betty's Trash to Treasures where I have two booths.
The upstairs is dedicated to vintage clothing and cool accessories.

Today, I was handed the keys to my very own display cabinet. I am just plain giddy!! I feel like I've been invited to sit at the cool girl's table.

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.

bald

While I was having lunch with my friend, Shirley, the downtown shop called me and told me that my booth looked kinda bald. I thought that was a cute description and definitely music to my ears. Linda said that a dealer had come in and cleaned me out. She bought my chandelier and most of my framed pieces. What an awesome birthday present! Thanks for letting me brag a bit. I'm really jazzed about it.
After my delightful birthday lunch, I scrambled to put together some items to replenish the booth. I am going to have to take my drill and masonry bit the next time I visit my shop so that I can hang my pieces better. I can't take a chance on using the Command hangers. Even with the screws, one of my items fell off in the middle of the night, setting off the alarm. Ooops!!

Granny green

I go through LOTS of paint, so I love to hit the "mis-tints" ailse at WalMart and Lowe's. It's good paint, it just didn't turn out to be the shade that the previous customer was looking for. At half-off, it is often the perfect shade for me!! This time, I found some good ole granny green exterior paint. I hadn't thought to call this color Granny Green until I ran into a woman in Bastrop that referred to it that way.

Let me tell you, the shop hasn't cooled off one bit. The cool fronts haven't made it anywhere near this far south. These birdhouses are going into one of the shops in Corpus tomorrow. I guess it's real sweat equity.

Betty's Cat House

The name of this place gives me a little chuckle. Betty named her store Betty's Cat House for the section of the store that is dedicated primarily to retail cat items so get your mind out of the gutter. LOL If you look hard enough, you will also find things for the barking variety, a.k.a. dogs. What is super about this place is that it is open 7 days/week. Now we're talking.

A few days ago, I opened my 3rd booth in Corpus Christi. This one is downtown. It is surrounded by clubs and restaurants and one-way streets. On move-in day, my friend and booth partner, Shirley and I had a nice lunch of grilled mahi mahi, rice, and a wonderful salad. It was yummy!
Shirley makes beautiful handmade cards. I helped her open her own Etsy shop and now her cards are in a brick & mortar shop as well.

This is a small booth, but you would be surprised just how much can fit in. I believe that I can fit in more stuff without it getting too crowded. Now when I go to Corpus, I just hit all three spots. Number 65 was available at all 3 locations which makes things sooooo much easier. I can tag up everything, load it up, and pull out just what I want. It's all ready to go. If something fits better at one of the other locations - NO PROBLEM! I just load it up and take it to the other location.

Joan still shares the booth with me at Third Coast Antiques. When she recovers from her shoulder surgery, we will all go have some good girl time. Maybe we can get a big group of us together. It will be FUN!

Moving on up!

I am really enjoying having my booth at Third Coast Antiques. In fact, I am enjoying it so much that today, I opened a booth in the shop that is two doors down - Betty's Trash to Treasures Too. This second one is a tiny booth.

It needed a little TLC. Do you agree? The first thing I did was take a crow bar and bust down that ugly lattice panel. The shop owner said that I was the first person that she had ever seen setting up their booth with a crow bar. I think I am really going to like working with her.

I like the fact that the booth has electricity. I'll just have to ignore the ugly wires.

I designed the bookshelf and my husband helped me put it together. He wasn't able to help me set it up, so I made 3 of the shelves adjustable so that they could be removed so the darn thing wouldn't be so heavy.

One of the shelves has Alice in Wonderland related items, one has Coca Cola glasses, one of the shelves has bird and nature items, and one of the shelves barely has anything.

It was hard to visualize just how much I could fit in. I will go back on Wednesday and take more goodies. I am sure that I can fit LOTS more in there.

I sold over $100 in my Third Coast booth just this morning. *doing a happy dance* I will try to take a nice load with me. February has been very good.

Open House at Third Coast

Third Coast Antiques is having a Holiday Open House and you are invited! It will be an all-day party that starts at 10:30 in the morning and goes until 8:30 in the evening. Everything in the store is at least 10% off. Stop in for cool vintage gifts, food, spirits, music, and fun. I certainly plan to be there! Did you say wine?

My new digs

Starting next month, I will have a booth in a brick and mortar shop in Corpus Christi. I am so excited!! I am renting a 5 x 10 area with a couple of friends of mine. The place is on antique row and is located at 4325 S. Alameda.

We get to start setting up on Sunday, August 2. I am on a fast search for furniture. I have two weekends - well actually one because I am participating in Riviera Trade Days this weekend. It sure is going to be hot! I think we will have fun - I am doing a booth with Joan & Betty.