We Have A Winner

We have a winner. Near the end of June we sat up for our next drawing. The entries were made by making a purchase from my web site or leaving a post on my blog. Today I put all the names in the little basket and let a friend draw the winner and she is Lisa from New York. She made a purchase on the web site this month. Congratulations to you, Lisa I will send you an email and as soon as I hear from you, your beautiful basket will be on the way. Last months winner was Birtie and from posting on my blog. We will have our next one up and running in a few days so be sure you post a message to get in on the fun. All the ladies who have left a comment on any of the post since the end of June were entered in the drawing. The sweet basket in the picture is the prize Lisa will receive.

I also want to thank everyone who made a purchase, I am so thankful and amazed at how well the web site is doing. When I started Victoria told me it usually takes about a year to get a good start and this is so true, I was open a year in March and it has really taken off this summer.
Joining Shabby Lane has been a big plus for me and Catherine is on the ball. I don't think I will be traveling to do the shows anymore. I also think with the economy the way it is more people will be shopping from home.

Home at Last and so Glad

Hey!
We arrived home on Monday and so glad. There is no place like home and sleeping in our own bed. Spent yesterday getting every thing sorted and put away and getting my laundry done. Of course the grass is high and Darrell spent the day today working on it. Going to get some mums in the flower boxes for fall. Our little garden is beautiful. Tomatoes are loaded and we have green peppers and cucumbers. We picked green tomatoes before we left and took with us. We had fried green tomatoes at my sons house. We really had a great time visiting with our granddaughters for 2 weeks. Madison will be 3 in Sept. After spending time at her house it is hard for her to understand where Mamaw and Papaw are when we leave.

Now to the show, We have been working this show for about 22 years and it has been going on for 32 years. This was the lowest attendance and sales in the history of the show. This is a tourist town. You could tell the people who were there were having to watch what they were spending. I am hoping the problem was everyone traveling and needing the money for expenses. I think the local shows will be the best this year as people do not have to travel far to get to them and will have more spendable cash. I think there will be more shopping on line until the economy changes, the sales on my web site is really good.

We have decided, due to some health problems for Darrell that we are not going to work any more shows this year, just concentrate on the web site, sorting all the stuff from the old house and selling on ebay. We are listing daily on ebay so be sure you take a took.

I am looking forward to Pink Saturday and getting back into blogging. Hope you are having a great summer. Drop me a line and let me know you came to visit.

Pink Saturday

Hey! I am posting on Friday night for the Pink Saturday. I haven't took the time to figure out how to post in advance. I need to learn to do this but don't have the time right now. I am in Gatlinburg, Tenn. working the craftsmen fair so I am going to share a couple pictures of my booth at I have more pink than anything else. Today was our opening day and we will be in the show for 10 days. I have been working this show for well over 20 years, This will probably be my last year for the summer show. With my web site I have to much to do at home.
Be sure you visit Beverly at how sweet the sound and check out all the ladies who have joined pink Saturday for this week. Will catch up when I return home. Hope all of you have a wonderful week.

First show of the year

The year has passed so fast I can't believe we are ready for our first show of the season. Darrell always jokes that after the fourth of July that we only have two weeks before winter, Sure seems this way. The older we get the faster the time goes by. Can you remember when we were young and in school ( yes it was a long time ago, lol!) we thought the school year would never be over so we could get to the summer. This is a reminder that we have our 40 year class reunion this year, Where did the years go? If our body would just keep up with our mind we would be 21 forever.

We leave tomorrow for Gatlinburg, Tennessee to work our first show of the year, The Gatlinburg Craftsman fair, We have been in this show for well over 20 years, We will open on Friday the 18th and close on Sunday the 27th. If you are visiting the area be sure you come by and visit us. We are in the Gatlinburg Convention Center in town. Our booth is 1212. We will also be there for 18 days in October, This is one of the best quality craft fairs you will find in the country. The promoter is wonderful to work with and keeps a great mix of quality work in the show. Hope to see you there. Just stop by and introduce yourself. We have worked shows up and down the east coast for the past 20 years or so but now only work this one 2 times a year. This may be our last year for it also. Will have to wait and decide.

The other great thing about the show is we will be visiting and staying with our children who live there and our granddaughter Miranda who has been with us since the first of June will be returning home on this trip. We are lucky as our children live bedside each other so we get to visit with everyone at the same time.

The picts. are from the show for last year. I will get more for this year and post later and let you know what is new and interesting.

Pink Saturday

Good Morning Ladies,

Welcome to my little place in the mountains and to our ever growing pink Saturday. Be sure you stop over and visit with Beverly as we have fifty two participants this week. Visit with as many as you can and leave a note to let them know you stopped by.

As you will see from my post today I am a doll collector and Victorian dolls are some of my Favorites. This cabinet is in my family room and hold some of my favorites ladies.

This Beautiful Victorian Lady is from the Franklin Mint and one of a series of Victorian Ladies.

Of Course she is dressed in PINK.

This is a larger charger plate I have on the wall in my dining room. One of many plates I use for decoration.

Hope all of your are having a great summer. Our vegetables are beginning to come forth in our little garden. We have enjoyed cucumbers and a few tomatoes. Nothing taste better than a fresh ripe tomato. Especially with a breakfast of Gravy and biscuits. Come by for breakfast with us and you will see what I mean. Makes me hungry to talk about it, so think I will go to the kitchen and make us a country breakfast this morning. LOL! Enjoy you day.

Blackberry time in the Mountains

First thing I want to apologize for not posting daily. Darrell and I are so busy with work, that is keeping up with sales on the web site and ebay. Sorting the things from the old house and trying to get ready for our fall shows and to top it off we have been entertaining our granddaughter this summer. She will be going home next week and we will miss her very much. She has had a friend visiting her this week from home in Tenn. I will try to get better at keeping up.

Well on to the good stuff. We have a Rhododendron bush in our back yard that is about 20 years old and probably 20 feet tall or more. It is always beautiful in May when it is in full bloom. Imagine our surprise this year when we discovered it had a wild Blackberry vine growing in it. We have watched it grow for the last weeks and now they are beginning to turn ripe and ready to pick. Wanted to share it with you. Darrell got the ladder this evening and picked the first bowl. Can't wait to get enough to make a cobbler. You can see how tall it is and it is loaded with berries. The bad thing is we leave for our first craft fair next week and will be gone until the end of the month and they will get ripe while we are gone. Of course my sister and her hubby will be more than willing to keep them picked. Hope she will save me a few. LOL!

Pink Saturday

Good Morning, The weeks go by so fast, and the older we get the faster they pass. Hope all of you had a great fourth of July and were able to visit with family and friends.

Joining Beverly this past few weeks for pink Saturday has been a real enjoyment. Makes you really look around the house for the pink and brings back a lot of memories. Be sure you visit her Web Site, "How Sweet The Sound" You will want to visit all the other ladies and see all the pink goodies. Be sure you let them know you were there to visit.

My first gift to show you is from our studio and is one of our altered art hand mirrors, Of course all decorated in pink flowers, ribbons and lace and surrounds a sweet porcelain doll head. You will find these for sale on our website.

We have a fabulous lady in Canada who has been making porcelain doll heads for us. This sweet little lady sits on top of a hat box and is surrounded with the most exquisite mix of vintage lace, ribbons, flowers and more. She is so lush and feminine. My first boxes I have in my home came from a couple ladies in Tennessee who I use to work the Gatlinburg, Craft fair within the early 80's. I have so enjoyed them.

My Son Joe is a lover of vintage and has many collection, Cameras being one of them so I thought why not decorate one to fit my decor so I can enjoy it every day. This is one of the old one that expanded. Of course, it has been decorated with pink. Has sit on a side table in my living room for many years.

Victorian Shoes are another thing I love. I have one that my mother wore in the 20's. She was from a family of eight girls and somehow she ended up with 3 shoes, a pair and one extra, I have two sisters so I decided to decorate them and each of us would have one for memories and to enjoy. This one I purchased some time ago and decorated to sell. You will find it on my web site. This is an ivory shoe and of course decorated pink.

Darrell and I make lamp out of most anything and this is one of my favorite. He took an old sewing machine and mounted it in a box and wired for a lamp and then my part was to paint it white and add the beautiful rose design to it. I love it and it sets in my family room. We have sold probably a dozen of these through the years at the craft fair. Wonderful gift for someone who sews.

This sweet mix surrounds the entrance of my front door, My room is pink around the top half and I painted a sweet design of sweet peas and columbine as a border around the room. The bunny is a vacuum cleaner cover. Purchased from another fellow crafter in Gatlinburg, The little bear and bunny were crafted by another lady at the show, Wonderful work, When friends come to visit they always tell me how they enjoy just looking around as I have so many beautiful handcrafted items I have collected over the years of working the shows.
The last one to share with you is a beautiful Strawberry sachet, lavender filled and decorated all in pink. I have one hanging on the bed post. We also make these for sale.
I hope you have enjoyed my little contribution for this week, Be sure you visit as many as you can and let them know you were there. Hope you all have a blessed week.

You won't believe the lamps

So amazing and hard to believe. I have more than 50 lamps sitting in my dining room. This is what is under the window. Most of these came from one closet in the old house. There was a closet in the bathroom that went back over the basement stairs and we found 55 lamps in this one closet, stacked like firewood and the newspaper they were wrapped in was from 1984 so had been in the closet for over 25 years. Most of these are glass bases and Victorian style. I cleaned them and took all the electrical parts out so Darrell could rewire them. This is just a drop of what we will have. Catch you later!

Can you tell me what it is.

I am busy, busy, sorting and cleaning thing from the old house. I have so much it is a little overwhelming. So many items that I have no idea the value and some I don't even know what they are. These are two I cam across this week. Maybe you can help me to figure out what they are.

The first one is some kind of dispenser. The handle on the top is a pump and a spout on the front. It has a dispenser pipe down in the bottle. Over all it is only 11" tall and about 7" across. the glass jar is just 4" tall. Let me know if you can identify this for me. I am thinking it is some kind of lotion dispenser.

This is a some kind of jar on the stand, and to dispense whatever is inside you need to push up on the small needle like piece on the bottom. I am thinking since it has a plastic top that it is not very old but I may be wrong. Help me figure out what it is and used for.

We have had rain nearly every day this week. Darrell and I started today in the studio to get some merchandise ready for our first show this year. We leave for Gatlinburg, Tenn. for the Craft Fair on the 15 and the show opens on the 18. I tell you more about it as we get closer.

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4 of July with family and friends.