ready for shoppers ..

sherry and i ended up staying home today and rod went to canton.. the plan was that sherry and i would list on etsy .. since the weather was going to be wet and cold .. well, i didn't get very far .. one thing led to another .. and the day just kind of slipped away ..

so here i am at the last minute tonight .. making a post with the pics i took of the booth on thursday morning ..

i am headed to canton with rod tomorrow .. but for now, enjoy the pics of the booth .. and i will try to get out and take pics of other booths and the scenery ..

i love old clocks .. whether they work or not ..

some clothes pin bags sherry and i made using an old pattern .. then we stuffed them with shredded paper and nestled a bottle in them for placing a small bouquet ..

the sofa table size table is actually a nice heavy wall mirror that we had rod build a base for using old table legs .. and the picture frames are fitted with mirrors we had rod cut ..

come see us .. ARBOR II, spaces 203 & 204A

troy, rod & sherry ..

ARBOR II, Spaces 203 & 204A

canton then ...
canton today ..

i think we got it all in .. after pushing and shoving through most of the day .. it is all unloaded .. and somewhat displayed .. we will freshen it up in the morning ..

i was afraid we didn't bring enough .. there is always one more thing to try and get done .. then panic sets in and you wonder if you brought stuff that people will want ..

looking forward to the weekend .. wishing i could make the sale of the century on saturday .. in fionaland .. maybe ..

off to the land of nod myself .. and feeling pretty proud about living in waco after reading robelyns blog post ..

hope to see you in canton ..

troy, rod & sherry ..

hopping along ..

getting everything packed and loaded to leave for canton .. we leave tomorrow .. this will be my first time back as i missed last month, but rod and sherry were there .. i am excited about seeing a lot of people i used to set up with .. lots of old customers .. some new ones too .. excited about seeing theresa of garden antq .. excited about seeing friends howard and sharon .. excited for the food .. there is a little cajun restaurant - cookin cajun .. i think is the name .. they make the most delicious chicken & sausage gumbo .. not too excited about the weather .. they say maybe rain ... maybe snow flurries .. we will be coming back to waco every night .. or most every night .. so i will try to post pics of what is happening and our booth and the people around us ..

have a good tuesday ... hope we get this done in time for american idol tonight ...

a collection of reproduction paper mache bunny rabbits .. love them .. they will be with us at canton this month ..


come see us in Arbor II, spaces 203 & 204A .. this thursday - sunday - jan 28 - 31 ..


an old double gooseneck desk lamp .. love these ... kind of remind me of mad men ...

see what sherry and rod did to it .. rod painted it and sherry slipped the cuffs from the sweater that i used on the shaw walker chair over each shade .. i love it .. cool idea ..

laterz,
troy

1940s arm chair redo with slipcover ..

it has been awhile since i re-upholstered anything, well anything other than a footstool .. so i was nervous about starting this project .. we picked up the chair at a yard sale .. i knew when i saw it that i wanted to do a slipcover for it .. i also knew i would have to recover it before i could make the slipcover ..

and what a perfect time to join in on some worthy blog parties ..

make it for monday at cottage instincts .. thank you, cindy!

make it monday @ the persimmon perch .. thank you, jules!

making the world cuter monday @ making the world c.u.t.e.r .. thank you, tiffany!

just something i whipped up monday @ the girl creative .. thank you, girl creative!


surprisingly, the springs were still in very good condition and i would not have to rework them.. which i hate doing .. i would just need to redo the arms and then cover the whole chair .. but the fabric i wanted to use - a neutral off white .. i didn't have enough .. then i found the vintage striped mattress ticking and sherry suggested i use the two fabrics ..

now, honestly, recovering a chair is 1 part know-how and 5 parts patience (if 6 parts makes a whole) .. i just took my time removing the old and marking it in what order it was removed .. then once it was all removed, i reversed the order - pressed the pieces i had removed and used them as a pattern to cut the new .. i made some errors and while i am not 100% happy with the project .. i am pleased with the way it looks ..
now i was able to start the whole reason i purchased the chair .. the slipcover .. i already had the fabric .. a vintage cohama screen print from the mid 40s .. quilted stitching .. and i had the perfect matched fringe .. it was just a matter of fitting the fabric .. cutting it .. pinning it .. and sewing it together .. i did make myself a paper pattern first, but only because the fabric i wanted to use was limited and i didn't want to make any mistakes or chance making one ..

i started with the inside back, since that would be the area that would make the first impression .. i wanted the pattern centered in the back and seat .. i cut and trimmed the back then cut and trimmed the arms and sewed the arms to the back ..

i knew that i would be leaving the back outside of the chair for the very last ..

i also knew that i would want to have areas of the slipcover trimmed out in welting or cording .. this was the fashion with slipcovers in the golden age of slipcovers and i knew i wanted to repeat this look .. so i cut the fabric strips that would cover the cording .. i cut the strips on the bias .. i learned this will help the cording bend and curve with the lines of the slipcover more easily that cutting the strips in running lengths ..

i also decided the slipcover would be a shortie .. i liked the look and wanted to trim it with the fringe i had and didn't want the slipcover to the floor ..

i loved the way it was coming along .. if i still smoked i would have been standing back admiring the work and taking a cigarette break .. slow and easy .. i could actually see greer garson or even eve arden sitting in this chair ..

it is done .. the trim is in place and all it right .. there are some things i would have changed .. i wished i would have had more of the fabric .. i got out-voted on painting the legs to match the trim .. (democracy sucks) (kidding) ..

side view .. i noticed a slight dip on the corner right underneath the arm .. i didn't notice this when i was sewing it .. actually i worked on this lifting and lowering it from my work table .. ideally, have a work table at least the height of a childs desk or table .. it's easier to see that everything is even .. and measure .. measuring is good .. sherry is still horrified that i do NOT always pin pieces together before sewing ..

i love this chair .. so pleased with it .. new life .. kept from the landfill .. so charming .. someone will just have to have it .. if not i guess we can always use it for firewood ..

laters,
troy

(i'm kidding about the firewood - but come see us in Canton this coming weekend - we will be in ARBOR 2, space 203 & 204A - or the chair gets it! )

silver sunday no. 4 .. Op Art Patrick Dupre

some time ago, someone threw these in the trash .. i pulled them out .. there was just something about them that made me want to keep them .. i think they will eventually end up in my 'dream bedroom' area ..

the artists name is patrick dupre .. from what i have found out about him, he is well collected and his signature pieces were these 70s/ 80s era op art metallic pieces .. the print has a foil or metallic appearance .. very reflective .. or as buddy the elf would say .. shiny ..


visit beth @ gypsy fish journal for more silver sunday posts by other bloggers .. thank you, beth for hosting such a fun event ..

off to sew some more ..

laterz,
troy

ready for canton ..

i'm not personally, there are tons of things to finish up .. but i took some photos of things we recently completed that are ready for canton ..


another sweater lampshade .. this one accented with a large hand made cream burlap rose ...
love the way these sweater shades are turning out .. so you will know, the sweater lamp idea was NOT my idea .. i got the idea from the current issue of country living magazine .. the credit goes to them .. but thank you for thinking i am that creative .. lol!! oh, and this is a large floor lamp size lamp .. would make a great pendant lamp - the rose is only in place with a T pin - it can easily be removed .. and this one i added a 'rolled' strip at the top to finish it off ..


this one is my idea kind of - i saw it on an old old old lampshade in an old old magazine .. i liked it and have been doing them for years ... this one is covered using vintage YSL lining fabric ..

this was rods project .. one sherry and i dreamed up for him .. we loved the patina of the old pine wood and hated the thought of painting over that .. so we remembered the vintage linoleum we had ... and thought it a perfect amount of vintage without painting ..

back to work - i am procrastinating over a slipcover .. can't think of another excuse to put it off .. darn it ..

laterz,
mor pics to follow - we have a busy few days here before canton ..

troy

a chair to remember ..

do you remember this chair?

i bought it back in november of 2009, i think .. it is a vintage 60s era shaw walker with aluminum legs .. with the original fabric and the original metal tag label on the back .. rod and sherry took it to canton last month, but it didn't sell .. so they brought it back ..


then i saw an article in country living magazine where they took old sweaters and recovered things .. lampshades, bottles and the like ..

so ... this is what i did .. i recovered the chair in a grey sweater i picked up at a thrift store .. it wasn't until i was cutting off the excess that i noticed the original tag on the sweater ... also, i left the original tweed like fabric on the chair ..




then i was having such a good time with the sweaters .. and looking for things to recover ... i picked up this pink sweater and recovered a large drum shade .. i like the 'button-up' look ...

i left the old fabric on the shade .. lazy i guess .. but also i was afraid i would end up having to line the shade .. i wanted to avoid that ..

off to work some more .. footstool to upholster and slipcovers to make .. rod is painting today and sherry is working on signs .. and keeping us all organized ..

laterz,
troy

Tornado in Canton ..

just heard this from a friend and then i located this website -


http://daviddrummond.com/blog/2010/01/20/012010-tornadoes-reported-in-northeast-texas/


has anyone heard how laurie anna's shop fared?

post if you have heard anything .. please ..

troy

every shade has it's day ..

i believe there is 'the perfect' shade for every lamp .. sometimes i try to help make that happen..

i found the perfect lamp some months ago .. slender .. weighty brass .. a nice frenchy kind of feel to it.. to me .. i think it has some age on it .. maybe not a lot, but it is a very well made lamp ..

i love how nice and slender it is .. very regal .. in a kind of 'yes, i'm pretty, buy me' kind of way ..

the detail is really very nice ..


so i have the lamp .. then i ran across this shade that i had in storage that i had been saving ... one day i turned around and they were sitting near one another .. and that old light bulb went off in my head ..
perfect shape .. i thought .. and i was almost content to sell the two as they were ... but something was still missing .. and while digging through a box of fabric the other day i ran across the perfect fabric.. a vintage floral pattern embroidered silk.. just barely enough to make the vision that was dancing in my head the moment my hands touched the fabric and my eyes fell on the shade and lamp standing on the cutting table in the middle of my sewing area amongst all the fabric and shades.. my head was swimming i tell ya' .. my head was swimming ...



the two of them are VERY happy ... i am giddy with excitement .. ya'll are the first to see it .. sherry left today before she got a chance to see it complete .. but there it is .. i am in love with it .. she will be on her way to canton next wednesday .. come see her in person .. never a lovelier match will you see .. ARBORS II, Spaces 203 & 204A

laters,
troy

i got to find something to say about white wednesday ...

textures of a booth

thought i would share with you some of the textures you will see in our booth next week at canton ..ARBORS II, Spaces 203 & 204A







spending the day working on lots of stuff - a bit windy to paint - but lots to paint ...

have a good one ..

laters,
troy