squirrel !!! what does it mean?

i have had this squirrel for some time .. and have been meaning to list him on etsy.. he is a bank .. he has a slot on top of his head for inserting your money .. but the whole reason he has intrigued me is i keep seeing SQUIRREL!!! and wonder what does it mean .. if it is dirty .. i don't want to know .. sounds dirty .. also sounds funny ..

i think it is deb of talking trash who keeps saying SQUIRREL!! - so what does it mean? and here's mine .. and i still don't wanna know, if it's dirty ..

having a blast out here at canton today .. lots of people .. i chose to wear shorts today .. so here i am in shorts in a coat .. lol! it was warmer when we left waco this morning .. it is very chilly and wet here today ..

laterz,
troy

thursday @ canton

today was opening day at canton first monday .. our second time in arbors 2 - we are in spaces 207A & 208 in arbor 2 .. we met some wonderful people today - saw some familiar faces and made some new friends .. we found out that our blog is definitely attracting customers .. which is always nice to know .. one of our new customers is diane @ What A Find Antiques in Katy, Texas.. if you are near .. go check her out ..

so here are some pics of our booth - tomorrow i will post pics of all the cool stuff out there this weekend .. i did get out and do some shopping .. so keep an eye on our etsy shop for new listings fresh from the fields of canton ..

view to the left of the booth - revolving rack of vintage inspired plaques we make using vintage floral letters .. slipcovers and fabrics at the back of the booth .. the glass dome with the bunny underneath, under the oval table .. sold .. love it!

the left side of the booth at the front - a revolving rack of vintage inspired enlarged postcards - we make these - they are packaged with an envelope and an easel that can be attached to the back of the card - we sell them for $3.99 each .. and we have every holiday you can think of ..

the slipcovers and fabrics .. and some suitcases .. and some chenille spreads ..

to the right side of the booth - more cards - more holidays .. lampshades in the back .. loyal customer, bridgette - happy to have found us ..

always kiss me goodnight - picket signs .. we make these .. they are made using old fence pickets .. they sell for $9.95 ..each ..

baby dresses .. and baby shoes .. hang below a beautiful framed baby photo .. the baby shoes have been a big hit .. sold one pair so far ..

old coca cola crate in yellow with red lettering .. filled with shredded kraft paper and nestled with vintage bottles .. and seashells ..

vintage inspired holiday cards and vintage style paper mache bunny rabbits .. and wonderful hand made lye soaps ..

if you make it to canton .. do stop in and see us .. we love meeting new people and really enjoy it when people say they read our blog .. we heard that a lot today .. so thank you!

laters,
troy

today .. it is snowing again here in central texas .. we have the van packed and ready to leave on wednesday morning - canton starts on thursday .. we will be in Arbors 2, spaces 207 & 208A .. rod and i, and sherry are taking today off .. rod and i are just lounging around watching it snow .. i am making homemade tomato bisque soup and grilled avocado & cheese sandwiches with a side salad .. we rented law abiding citizen and harry potter to watch .. got my sweet potato chips for the crunch factor while movie watching - so i think we are ready for go ..

i wanted to share some pics of things we will have at canton ..

these are some new slipcovers i designed and made - i didn't have enough of the fabric so i was only able to make a pair - i love the way they turned out ..

the bottom of the skirt is edged with a small double ruffle - i left the edges raw - i would really like to be able to just design the slipcover and then have someone else make bunches of them ..

i left the corners open so the legs of whatever chair will show through .. kind of 'kicky', i think ..

i love babies shoes .. it has been a long time since i found some however, at a recent estate i was able to find several at a price i could afford and in turn sell at a price others could afford .. i stuffed them with tissue to fill them out and when i didn't have laces, i used old safety pins .. and then stuffed shredded paper in the tops .. love it!!

while cleaning out some of my storage buildings, i unearthed one of my collections .. old baby dresses and gowns - love them - i cut some simple wooden hangers down to size and they hang perfectly on an old rotating jewelry display ..

we have collected tons and tons of tiny jewlery fixings, odd pieces and this and that, drawers pulls, costume jewelry, trinkets and do-dahs .. i can't throw this stuff away - so i packaged it up and priced it cheap .. putting the 'junk' in Junk Exchange ..

also uncovered these - they are actual pressed flowers .. great for craft projects .. there are also leaves .. all small details ..

i love this old bathroom trash can - of course, now it could be used anywhere .. someone glued an old cut-out of vintage wallpaper to the side .. just like the way it looks ..

a few pillows .. didn't have as many pillows for this show as i would have liked, but the weather has kept me under the weather .. :) ..


aren't these galvanized flower buckets great!!? .. this is all we have left .. great for summer floral arrangements. .. i love them filled with fresh dill and wildflowers ..

collection of bottles nestled in an old coca cola crate with some shredded brown kraft paper ..


these wonderful homemade lye soaps .. we have them in fresh linen (shown in the above picture), pink true rose, and peppermint tea tree .. they are hand made one batch at a time and then wrapped in vintage chenille and tied with raffia .. we sell them for $6.00 a bar and the bars are big - measuring about 3" by 1 1/4" thick and 2 1/2" .. my favorite is the peppermint tea tree .. so soothing ..

old book, shredded for craft projects .. filling cubbies and nestling what knots ..


old dominoes .. for craft or jewlery projects .. i have an old galvanized bucket resting in an old water bottle stand ..


vintage hand painted chinese paper lanterns .. probably from the 30s/40s - maybe some into the 50s .. super cool - i am going to hang them around the booth ..

also, we got us a netbook .. so i will have internet connection at canton .. if you would like, you can add me/us to your yahoo messenger - our id is junkexchange .. the netbook has a camera .. so i/we can chat with you .. cool huh? also i will be posting pics of the booth once we get set up - which is an entirely new and different look and one we are almost settled on .. there are still a few tweaks to perform .. but i like this look a lot ..

laterz,
troy

once upon a time ..

back in the late 90s, rod and i had a little shop outside of waco along interstate 35 in a small town called elm mott - it's just a blip on the map ..

the building we had our shop in was a 50s era log cabin that is now slated for demolition as the new highway project will claim the land ..

i ran across some pics of our shop - some of you who traveled I-35 in the late 90s may remember the shop - the building is still there for the moment..

i painted the sign by hand .. i was real proud of it .. this picture is after we had been there for awhile and had planted purple verbena - which grew like wildfire ..


we later grew all kinds of rose bushes and flowers around the railing area and under the sign ..

the side porch was the perfect spot to lure people in ..there was a door on the side and one at the front - there was no air conditioning and we left the doors open during the day ..when the weather was nice ..

the interior was divided in half - the front half had a combination knotty pine walls and sheetrock walls .. the front half and outside porch of the building was shop and the back half of the building was an upholstery / work space .. i did a lot of upholstery work then ..

this was still when we were buying painted furniture pieces and stripping the paint off .. we only did that if the paint was an ugly color or we knew there was oak underneath .. now, we just sell it like it is or paint over it .. no more stripping furniture ..most all of the wood finishes in this picture if of something we refinished ..

a great square oak table - i loved the woven felt folk art rug on the table - and the tureens .. the table was painted yellow when we found it ..

this was a great little rocker i reworked - it had it's original finish, but was without a seat .. so we gave it an upholstered seat and a matching ruffled pillow ..

one of the things i was known for was taking old metal porch gliders and upholstering them with slipcovers and cushions - this was one i re-worked in denim and plaid with floral pillows .. i love the way it turned out ..one day i will do a post on nothing but the pictures i have of the gliders i have re-worked ..

this was a double rocker rod made - he took a regular normal size rocker and took it apart and extended it .. i upholstered it with a drop in seat cushion and padded back and a pair of vintage floral fabric pillows ..

this was a wonderful vintage art deco mohair sofa and chair .. i added the vintage barkcloth pillows for accent ..

don't forget to come see us in canton this month - Feb 25th - Feb 28th - we will be in Arbors 2, spaces 207 & 208A

laters,
troy

son of a taxi driver ..

i never knew him .. i only knew how he made me feel when i saw the things he created .. the beauty he brought to the world .. the way he dressed a woman .. the way he could twist and turn a length of fabric or in his case a bolt of fabric .. his gowns always struck me as created by someone who was instructed to use all the fabric in the bolt ..


i remember the first time i saw one of his gowns .. i honestly wasn't sure what i was seeing .. the way it twisted and turned and folded over itself .. i thought for a moment it was a trick to the eye ..

i loved the things that alexander mcqueen created .. i don't pretend to know the demons he carried .. but i am thankful he showed the world the beauty from within ..


may he rest in peace ..

Alexander McQueen - March 17, 1969 - February 11, 2010 ..

the milliner in me & a $2 find ..

i used to make hats .. i started making them back in the early 90s .. and then got into it heavily after the movie Howards' End in '92 .. loved the costumes in that movie ..

i have been sorting through my life in pictures .. and locating pictures of all sorts of things .. places we used to live ..shows we used to do .. the many ways our booth used to look (i used to take pictures all the time) .. and some of the things we used to make or have found. ..

so i found these pics of some of the hats i have made .. i used to wholesale some of them to a lady in dallas who said she was selling them to barneys .. i never knew for sure, but it always thrilled me that it could be ..


this one had hand pleated fans on a straw base .. it was created for a summer wedding .. the veil was detachable .. and trimmed in the same vintage silk as the fans and band .. where the crown meets the brim i accented it with a strand of vintage pearls ..


this one was also silk .. i used two colors .. one bronze and one cream .. the picture is a little faded .. but, the underside of the brim is pleated and gathered ..all of this is hand sewn ..


the feathers used in all my hats were vintage ..


this was one i was most proud of .. it is worked on a vintage felt base ..and i made it to go with a vintage edwardian tea gown i had purchased .. it has vintage pheasant feathers, egret feathers, ostrich feathers, wings and tulle and vintage ribbons ..


i love the way it looked with the dress .. i ended up selling the hat long before the gown.. in fact i still have the gown .. packed away in a box .. though it has deteriorated ..
i just thought i would share these things with you ..

also wanted to share this ..

back in the late 80s - before internet .. rod and i stopped at a warehouse sale on the edge of town .. it was a huge cold storage warehouse and the man running the sale also owned an antique shop on the other side of town .. among the vintage linens and dusty oak dressers and tables there was a large painting propped against the wall .. it was huge .. and though i don't remember the exact size .. i do remember that we had an old 1971 chevy impala .. and it barely fit in the trunk of the car .. by a mere fraction .. the sides of the frame were grazing the opening of the truck .. it was huge .. anyway, there was a piece of masking (sorry robelyn) tape .. it was marked $2.00 .. i turned to the guy and said "is that 2 or 200?" .. he said .. "oh, it's torn (which it was) .. so just 2 dollars". .. ok .. we'll take it .. so fast forward to 2010 .. i find the pictures of the painting and notice the painting is signed .. Richard Newton, Jr .. and he is worth thousands .. however, we did sell the painting at Canton the weekend after we found it .. we sold it for $1200 and that was in the late 80s .. so i think we did pretty good .. but still there is a bit of me that wishes i had held onto that painting .. but we can't keep it all ..
by the way .. keep watching .. i am uncovering some great photos of things we have found through the years ..

laterz,
troy

awesomeness ..

willows at home .. these people were set up down from us at this past canton .. their names are fred & peggy hunt .. their website is willowsathome.com .. my dream home is filled with items they create .. set off in the woods .. away from the daily grind .. with my pets and loved ones ..

their display set-up was so welcoming and warm .. i loved it ..


i didn't get close-up details of the furniture, but the finish on the tables is so wonderful .. it is a checkboard pattern - kind of like the old picnic tablecloths ..

their twig furniture is made here in the states and the most comfortable and sturdy i have ever seen ..

i love the chandeliers ..


their topiaries and accent pieces are so wonderful, you must see them in person .. so the next time you are in canton - come see them - they are in the arbors - Arbor 2 - just down from us...

laterz,
troy

face it ..

aren't these cool? there was a couple set up across from us at canton - well kind of across and down or up - husband and wife team - howard and sharon - they have been doing canton as long as we have, maybe longer - off and on .. they are very creative and very friendly .. actually, i think they are setting up in what used to be judy hills space - in arbor II - spaces 219 & 220 ..one of the many things they do is re-cast old mannequin display heads .. these are copies of mannequin heads they have collected and this is only a small portion of the styles they have available .. they wholesale them for $85.00 - so cool .. i am thinking about one, but cant' decide which to get .. howard makes these himself .. here in America .. which i think is a big plus ..

group shot .. love the look a group shot creates .. just gorgeous ..

the vintage hats are not included and are part of their personal collection .. not sure if the hats are for sale ..

doesn't she look like katherine hepburn .. howard said back in the day when the originals were created they wanted to create mannequins that looked like the movie stars without looking like them enough to cause lawsuits, they you will find mannequins that resemble certain stars .. i think she looks like katherine hepburn ..

this one reminds me of lauren bacall ..

off to work in the warehouse .. new look for the booth coming up for the fabuary february show at canton -

laterz,
troy