Windy and Cold

Well I survived my first show of the year. The night before the show we had about 40 mph+ wind gusts, which made me pretty nervous. When we got up there was no wind, but by the time we got there the wind had started blowing pretty hard. Setting up was quite a challane, after one broken bottle, a shelf blown over, broken santa gourds, I was about to call it quits. I was close to tears. But we finally got everything semi secured, and the show went on. The wind blew most of the day, and it didn't warm up much, but it actually turned out to be a great show.
I saw lots of vendor friends that I hadn't seen in almost a year, and had great neighbors. Neighbor vendors can make your show great or cause you misery. Mine were really sweet, and told me to request the same booth next year so we could be neighbors again, which made me feel great. I didn't know what to expect sales wise due to the economy. I am happy to report sales were good. A little of everything sold, which is different than the past. Well back to restocking, my next show is in two weeks in Uvalde.

Sorry about no pictures, with all the chaos of setting up and things breaking I forgot to take any.

Christmas in God's Country

Isn't that a great name for a show? If you are in South Texas this Saturday, Nov. 15th, come join us in Hondo for Christmas in God's Country. It is an all day affair. The show starts at 10 am. They really stress handmade crafts, the food is excellent, and there is usually live music. They also have a special section with activities for kids. So fun for all shapes and sizes. I will have lots of painted ornaments, bottles, chalkboards, and other surprises. There is also have a night parade.

Great Weekend

I had a great weekend! The Texas Tech Red Raiders won a huge game Saturday, and I got to work in my workshop all weekend long. What more can a girl ask for, lol. I'm strange I know. First project was some cabinet doors I've had in my stash for years. They had a hole in the center of them, and I wasn't sure what to do with them until now. I picked up some iron pieces at Canton last weekend and waalah, key holders....

My next project was to paint this hutch top to use as a display piece in my upcoming shows. I bought it at an estate sale a few weeks ago. I love the "peely" paint, but once I got it home, I realized the paint was peeling way too bad. If you touched it the paint would peel off. So I sanded it down, a kinda gave it a white wash look. I think it'll work great...

The last project I got finished was these neat little bird ornaments. I cut the birds out of some scrap wood I had, used spray adhesive to cover them with scrapbook paper or wrapping paper, and then hot glued the greenery on....

It's funny how you can have something in your stash for what seems like forever and can never find the perfect pattern or idea for it. Last night I finally figured out what to do with this gumball machine that I've had on my shelf for over a year. Three more days until we leave to go to Canton!! I can't wait. Here's a picture of a Home Interior frame I transformed into another chalkboard.

And after (sorry pic is not the best):

A productive weekend

The weather was beautiful this weekend, so I took advantage of it. I painted 13, yes 13, cabinet doors with chalkboard paint. I need to find some more embleshments for the others. Another thing to add to my Canton list. Craft Shows are fast approaching so I am working like crazy to get ready. I had planned to cut out a bunch of Santa's to paint, but my scrollsaw decided to burn up early Saturday morning. So instead I finished up some ornies, did the chalkboards, and sanded and stained some bread bowls. I usually paint designs on them, but have been wanting to see what they look like just stained. I really like them.

This is what they looked like at first...

And this is the after....

Gotta Start somewhere...

After reading so many wonderful blogs, I thought I'd start my own. I look forward to sharing my projects and finds. I dabble in a lot of things, but my main hobby is tole painting. I love hunting for treasures at thrift stores, flea markets, and auctions.

So I thought I'd start with the gourds I just finished painting. Once a year we go to Canton, Tx to the trade days. A couple of years ago we took a different route and came across what looked to be a vegetable stand on the side of the road. Much to my surprise and delight, it turned out to be a gourd stand. It is run on the honor system, each table has a price on it, and you leave your money in a mailbox. It is run by the sweetest 80+ year old man whom we met the first year. Anyways here are a few of the craziest gourd santa's....