pictures to share of last warrenton ..oct 2008

i was looking through some old picture files today and ran across some pics that i don't believe i have ever shared with anyone ..

as many of you know, last warrenton was a muddy mess .. rod and i took a 24 foot box truck of merchandise stuffed .. which we attempted to cram into a 30 x 15 space .. our truck got stuck in the mud in front of our tent and we were unable to totally unpack the truck .. we ended up putting as much as we could into the booth up on tables and stacking stuff on top of one another .. so after the first day of unloading in the rain and getting the van unstuck from the mud - we decided to return to waco with the stuff we were unable to unload and return the truck ..

as has been mentioned, it rained a lot that week .. everywhere in texas .. when we got back to waco and got the truck unloaded rod went to return the truck and i stayed at the warehouse .. after he had been gone for a little bit .. i looked across the sky at the setting sun and was met with the most awesome sight and had to grab my camera ..

today, i am still stunned by the beauty in these photos .. so you will know, i have not altered these photos in any way .. the sky really was that color .. like fire in the clouds ..

laterz,
troy

100th post & the importance of junk ..

i heard somewhere one time about people who give their junk importance .. i love that idea .. giving junk importance .. isn't that what we are all after .. to be important .. to matter .. so junk matters .. it holds it all together .. the junk in our lives, the junk in our homes ..

a lot of what we sell these days is stuff we convert, make or re-use .. we hadn't been selling as much of what i like to call the old stuff .. the junk ..the trinkets .. the left behinds .. the forgotten pieces of someones memories .. you know what i am talking about .. and i, having been in the business a long long time, have accumulated a lot of that stuff .. and i want to share something with you that came to me and seems to work .. work really well ..

i gave that junk some importance .. i handled each little trinket or do dad and slipped it into an appropriate size baggie with our business card .. closed up the bag with a staple .. punched a hole in the top with a hole punch .. priced the piece a small price .. lots of stuff under a buck .. most all under $3 .. (and i did most of this while watching the current season of american idol) .. then i hung it on a pegboard .. people loved it .. loved it .. i think we paid our booth rent off this junk .. which we gave importance to ..

don't forget if you are in waco and want to come shop our warehouse to give us a shout out .. we would love to show you around ..

laters,
troy

ok .. me in shorts ..

ok .. here are the pics .. here is the proof .. i actually had hoped the weather was changing for the good .. it was warmer when we left waco on friday morning .. it just got colder ..

honestly, i love wearing shorts .. i am very hot natured .. my mother was also .. i own coats and sweaters .. and i own some long pants .. but i so prefer shorts .. i just feel more comfortable in shorts ..


so canton was good .. tiring .. but seems like most any show is these days .. would really love to find a good one day show ..

we have been working the last few days on setting up the warehouse in case people want to come shop the things we have here in waco .. so if you are passing through or headed this way .. give us a shout out and we would be glad to open up for you ..

rod and i started exercising again .. i need to loose about 30 pounds .. i was weighed at the doctors office today .. 186 .. when we were fired from our jobs last august .. i weighed around 160 .. stress .. i know it is ..

i know everyone who is headed to warrenton is getting ready for it .. kind of wish i was going .. just the excitement of it .. but it has gotten too long for an old boy like to me participate ..

off to say hi to come of you ..

laters,
troy

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