prepping for warrenton ..

I have spent the weekend getting things done for Warrenton and Zapp Hall .. but I got this email this morning and thought I would pass it on to all you headed down, over and out this way for Warrenton .. I thought it was too cute .. the email..
.. oh, that pic is my Grandmother Rash - we called her Gran - her given name was Sina Dimple Crockett - a descendant of Davy Crockett - she was Texas to me ..

...


GRIT (Girls Raised In Texas )

Someone once noted that a Texan can get away with the most awful kind of insult just as long as it's prefaced with the words, "Bless her heart" or "Bless his heart." As in, "Bless his heart, if they put his brain on the head of a pin, it'd roll around like a BB on a 6-lane highway."

I was thinking about this the other day when a friend was telling about her new transplanted northern friend who was upset because her toddler is just beginning to talk and he has a Texas accent. My friend, who is very kind and, bless her heart, cannot do a thing about those thighs of hers, was justifiably miffed about this. After all, this woman had CHOSEN to move to Texas a couple of years ago.

"Can you believe it?" said her friend, "A child of mine is going to be "taaaallllkkin liiiike thiiiissss."

Now, don't get me wrong. Some of my dearest friends are from the North, bless their hearts. I welcome their perspective, their friendships, and their recipes for authentic Northern Italian food. I've even gotten past their endless complaints that you can't find good bread down here. And the heathens, bless their hearts, don't like cornbread!

I have a friend from Bawston, bless her heart, who thinks it's hilarious when I say I've got to "carry" my daughter to the doctor or "cut off" the light. She also gets a giggle every time I am "fixin" to do something. And, bless their hearts, they don't even know where "over yonder" is, or what "I reckon" means!

My personal favorite was my aunt, saying, "Bless her heart, she cain't help being ugly, but she could'uh stayed home."

Texas girls know bad manners when they see them:
1. Drinking straight out of a can.
2. Not sending thank you notes.
3. Velvet after February..
4. White shoes before Memorial Day or after Labor Day.

Texas girls always say:
1. "Yes Maam."
2. "Yessir."

Texas girls have a distinct way with fond expressions:
1. "Yawl come back."
2. "Well, bless yer harrt."
3. "Drop by when ya can."
4. "How's yer mama?"
5. "Love yer hair."

Texas girls know their three R's:
1. Rich
2. Richer
3. Richest

Texas girls know everybody's first name:
1. Hunny
2. Darlin'
3. Shuger

Texas girls know the movies that speak to their hearts:
1. "Gone With the Wind"
2.. "Fried Green Tomatoes"
3. "Driving Miss Daisy"
4. "Steel Magnolias"

Texas girls know the three deadly sins:
1. Bad hair
2. Bad manners
3. Bad blind dates

G.R.I.T.. = Girls Raised in Texas !

Now you run along, Shuger, and send this to ANY females aspiring to be GRITS--Even the northern ones, "Bless Their Hearts". and send it on to men who think Texas women are precious.

Just because you move to Texas does not make you a Texan. After all, if a cat had kittens and moved them to the oven, that wouldn't make them biscuits."

thriftday thursday...

love this platter.. found it at a local church thrift store... i'm adding it to the stack of other turkey platters i am taking to warrenton .. even though it is scratched up, i still think it is a great piece ..


here is the before on a piece i worked on today - i guess i should have taken a better picture of it, but that is where it ended up after unloading the trucks - and that is where it stayed until this morning -


this is how it ended up at the end of the day - it wanted to be a vibrant color - and yellow was what i had and it was kind of overcast today - so yellow seemed like a good choice - first i painted it a coat of white, then the yellow - then i distressed it - it will probably go with rod to his booth in warrenton -






i appreciate all your comments on the way we distress the furniture .. we do teach classes how how to do this .. it is a technique we created that some people like so we try to guard the secret as much as we can so we can charge large sums for the info .. and the class is only taught if you pinky swear to guard the secret .. lol!

(the peanut gallery - rod - says - how come you haven't posted the picture of the sign yet - see there is a sign that rod likes - he took a picture of it - so i replied, because i don't like it - i don't like the sign - he likes it a lot - it's about a foot tall or wide and 6 foot long - hand painted - i'll let him take it to his booth in warrenton )

white wednesday project ..

do i need to sign up for the white wednesday group? and where do i get the logo that everyone has on their blog that does white wednesday? .. anyway, i did a white wednesday project .. i painted a little night stand a soft linen white and accented it with shells and then distressed it .. i think it turned out pretty sweet .. it's headed to ZAPP and warrenton ...






please excuse how fuzzy the above photo looks - it didn't look fuzzy when i took the pic ..




i thought the little cross added a certain appeal to the piece .. i don't know, it just called out for the cross .. so it got one ..


i am very pleased with the way the distressing turned out ...



hope everyone had a good wednesday .. doing a little better myself .. one foot in front of the other.. looking forward to ZAPP and warrenton .. today i unpacked a crate full of alabaster i forgot i had .. everything from little vases to boxes to lamps and bowls ... i just get more excited everyday .. tomorrow i am back to pricing and packing .. yuck .. hey, didn't realize i had missed the season start of flipping out .. didn't realize it was coming back .. so i have been catching up on the show .. love jeff and his way of rationalizing his quirks .. he is so funny .. love zoila also ..
laterZ, troy

had up a cute little overnight case - but it had no handle - so i created one using a length of fabric - you could also use a vintage tie and even though i have some ties somewhere - i have no idea where - so i did it this way. i accented it with some old rhinestone clips i found.









also in unpacking artwork today - i ran across this laminated poster - i really don't remember ever buying this and where i even found it - but i think it is pretty cool - it is pretty big, measuring about the 24" by 36" - roughly -



as ZAPP draws close, i am getting more and more excited - i am not so sure i am going to have many of the slipcovers that i make - but i will have fabric and i will have some of the mosaic tables and accents that rod makes and seashell stuff - and silverplate - and art - alabaZter - baskets - pottery - lots of things with roses on them - ironstone - wicker - lamps - even a wicker floor lamp - lots of tabletop picture frames - boxes of wood and porcelain and silverplate - souvenir plates - costume jewelry - western stuff - indian stuff - quilts - quilt tops - drapes - crocheted table cloths - blue and white stuff - sets of dishes - blue ridge - wedgwood - villeroy & boch - and i have tons and tons of christmas stuff - i am just not sure i will be bringing the christmas stuff out first thing - i may wait and bring it out after a few dayZ - also we have decided we will be holding a HUGE warehouse sale the weekend of November 5-8. more to come on that later, but trust me - if you are a junker, you will want to come - there is so much stuff that we are not even thinking of bringing to warrenton..

laterZ, troy

depressed

internet connection has been sporadic .. family stuff happening here and there .. and honestly, i have been in a severe depression .. can't seem to pull myself out of it .. lately, some mornings it is very hard to make myself get up .. i think the fact that at 51, last month i was fired for the first time in my life .. it just hit me .. and all the stuff i have been sorting through .. i just can't seem to get motivated ..but, i keep praying and putting one foot in front of the other .. also, since the move, my diet and exercise program has been almost nonexistent .. that could be where some of the problem lies ..

feeling better today - i did get a very sweet mirror 'done'.. it was an old victorian mirror that i think one time went on a dresser - the picture below, you can almost see it down at the bottom next to the old tv tray stands - to the right of them - the little dark color mirror -



i took the mirror and painted it white, then distressed it and then accented it with some seashells i had - that helped get me out of some of my depression - so, this week i plan to do more things with my hands and not so much sorting and packing and all -







i haven't made it around to everyones blogs this week - hope you are all doing well -
laterz, troy

thrift store finds ..

hit a sweet little thrift store this morning and found some cool things ..i know i have absolutely no reason to be out hunting for stuff .. but i really needed a break from all the pricing and packing ..and i agree that it is a sickness, but what is a junker to do?


i don't know if black velvet paintings still sell, but i figured at $3.. i really couldn't go too wrong..


the boots are vintage 60s justin - maybe 70s - i think cool - don't know if you could wear them - the trim at the toes is flaky - but the soles are good - and they will finish out a display i am creating for ZAPP!! $1.50



if you come by my booth at ZAPP, you will see that i am weak knee-d when it comes to fabrics or textiles of most any kind - picked these up this morning, $2 ea - i was excited because i don't usually find fabric at this little place - but the last time i was there i asked if they would start saving me some instead of tossing it - hence the $2 price - had i not asked for them to 'look for it' - it would have been 50 cents, but then they might not have kept this 'old stuff' - and it is just small pieces - but you must come by my booth if you are into fabrics - seriously -

also, i decided what i was going to do with the little french styled chair - i am making a shortie slipcover of natural cotton muslin type material, accented with crochet trim and accenting with a generous throw pillow of vintage soft green toile that will be sold separately ..

i got to get busy on some big projects - didn't do anything too big today - but ran across a stash of crocheted doilies and turned a small one into a key tassel .. i used to make these a lot during the winter months while watching tv - made 50 of them during the winter olympics of 1992 - i crocheted 10 of them myself - was the most i have ever done at one setting - my hands hurt too much now to do something like that again..so i was happy to find these doilies all ready done - i just added the ring today and tied the key on with a ribbon - what do you think? - i think they have a sweet cottage feel -