Nature's Red...

There is no substitute for the beauty of color found in nature.

I do however enjoy it with a side of junk (thrifted strawberry plate and some vintage napkins from the flea market)!

Of course you all know that I prefer EVERYTHING with a side of junque!

Elevevate the ordinary everyday!

Linking to:

Rednesday

And We Are Back...

Back from our yearly beach sojourn.

Much sun (possibly too much sun for some who are still baked like a lobster!) and sand was had by all.

A few shots of the lovely boat we found in the window of a consignment shop.

It seemed like the perfect remembrance of the trip.

I'm hoping a vintage one will fall into my lap at a yard sale this summer!

Yours in summer fun,

Carrie

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Sail Away

Greetings Junque friends.

Last Saturday was the City Flea down in Cincinnati.  Set up a booth next to the fabulous Miss Pam of Frippery and settled in for an AWESOME day.

Tons of shoppers.  Lots of creative vendors and an all around super experience.

Pam mentions over in her blog how fun it was to do a city market.  I completely agree.  The barn sales, rural vintage shows are pleasant and lovely.  This is a different beast.  It's vibrant.  It's young (oh how ancient those Hipsters make me feel).  It's creative.  It just feels more alive and folks seem to be more willing to break out of the box.  It felt like a shot of adrenaline.

Do I have any photos?

Why no, I do not.  It was a sea of people and very busy (I had Boy Wonder taking money from people on one side of the booth while I helped folks on the other side - not that I am complaining!).  By the time I could have taken photos my booth looked less than blog photo worthy...

The Princess arrived around lunchtime (because the food is a BIG DRAW for the show) and appeared in front of me with a grin and a question.

Pointing to a pair of sequin shoes sitting on one of my tables she asked, "If they don't sell could you let me have them for beds for my LalaLoopsy dolls?"  They were in her hands in hot second.  Seven year old re-purposing?  I'm all for it.  A Princess who "gets" her mom?  Priceless!

And thus we did this yesterday morning:

A wee mattress out of flannel fabric.  Some ric-rac trim on bit of Eiffel Tower fabric (all left over from million years ago when I sewed a zillion burp cloths and bibs to sell on Ebay - yes, BEFORE Etsy).  This way Marina Anchors can dream of Paris just like my Princess.

And we did this:

Princess decided one would be fun as a boat.  A plastic straw serves as mast while dictionary pages make a great sail.  A vintage wooden spool keeps it all together.

Not a single item purchased.  A fun trip through my stashes picking up bits and bobs to craft her vision.

Junque at its finest!

Linking to:

Share the Love

Around the House

I've been taking a little time to get stuff down around the house.

Not as pro-active as it sounds.  More of a "this crap has been stuck in a corner/lying on the floor/jammed between furniture waiting to get done forever" kind of a thing.

You know the kind where you think your spouse might lose their marbles if one more thing comes in under the, "I'm going to get to this one day" variety.

Several weeks ago I gave in to the siren song of these large clothes pins.  I'd seen them in the Ballard catalog a zillion months ago and was intrigued.

Catalog after catalog and I still wanted them.  Couldn't quite bring myself to pop on the price knowing that in person I would be disappointed with the quality and newness of them.

Then there was the coupon in the mail which is ever so useful at the outlet and darn if when I went in they didn't actually have these bad boys.

Now cheap enough to meet my standards (I have a different cheap threshold for new vs. old because let's face it - these are NEVER going to appreciate) into my cart they went.

Once home they sat on the floor for...let's just say a while.

Hung they looked a bit empty on the wall so my go-to Probe letters came in handy yet again.  I'm having a bit of a love affair with driftwood as of late so the mirror actually jumped into my cart the same time as the clothes pins.

Looks good next to one of my altered clip-boards (not usually this nice - two seconds after this photo it was chock full of ortho appts and ice cream coupons...).

Anybody else getting some junque done around the house?

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Elevate the Ordinary - Teacher Gifts

Being a mom of the most awesome variety I may or may not have failed to keep track of the calendar.  As in until last week I had no clue that Friday is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.

Hmmm...

A bit of teacher appreciation is in order.

Naturally, even our teacher gifts are of the "junque" variety.

What to do?

Berry baskets from your stash (why oh WHY did I not get more at Springfield - because your brilliant idea didn't occur until AFTER Springfield).

Paint the fronts with a bit of chalkboard paint.

Add a whimsical stamp.  It is whimsical - I said so!  Of course the teachers are laughing now.  School is over - their sentence has been served (the mom sentence is just beginning)!

Use chalk to write the appropriate sentiment.

Fill with junque.

Vintage bottles stuffed with buttons and lace.

Burlap bags adorned with fabric trim and filled with lavender.

Try to remember to have your kids "sign" them when they get back from school.

Try.

Just try.  Or be like me and forget so that you realize you forgot this part until after you had wrapped them up for transport to school!

Done and done.

Of course there is always the concern that said teachers are not junque lovers themselves...

Linking to:

Primp Your Stuff

Wow Us Wednesdays

Open House Party
Vintage Inspiration
Creative Things Thursday
Be Inspired
Your Gonna Love It

Vintage Marketplace Springfield Extravaganza

Well the Olympics are over and I am ever so slowly regrouping.  What, you thought they were in London this coming summer?  Ha!

Springfield Extravaganza is my Olympics of junk.  Months of preparation, four days of mental anxiety, physical exertion and all around "stop the world" this is the ONLY thing I can focus on.

Sounds a bit like the Olympics, no?!

Happy to report I sold my two "must sell" pieces and managed to get everything back home.  Of course one load is still in the car and Boy Wonder has soccer tonight...

Must get to that post haste!

Had some lovely neighbors.  Check out Vividly Vintage on FB.  A million thanks to The Wren's Nest (who makes the most magical jewelry which made me gasp out loud - the pieces are truly unique!) for making me feel so much better about EVERYTHING and for getting me!

And finally there was Cheryl and team Small Town Chick (blog coming soon - hint, hint, hint - nudge!) who made my year with their verve and enthusiasm.  Not to mention the awesome junk tote she so graciously made for me.  Words of encouragement from Cheryl reminded me that I am not alone and many of us experience the same journey.

I should have photos of these awesome folks but sadly I do not.  Know that their junk was awesome, displays terrific and they all made me happy to be part of their community.

Your in junque,

Carrie



Finding the Fun

I've been a bit glum of late.  Lots of confusion.

Lots of late night decision making (the dark is NOT a good time for that).

You all know the drill (and if you don't know, than I say yeah for you because you have totally got your life together!).  Things not going as you had hoped.  Success not seeming possible.

Feeling overlooked. 

Questioning EVERYTHING.

As I bored my husband yet again with my booth plans, business plan, definition of success, whining about people ignoring me, etc. I ended up saying this, "I've just lost the fun.  Somewhere along the way this junque stopped being fun."

WHOA.  STOP    THE    PRESSES.

Junque not fun?

He told me this was a big deal and a big problem.

He was right of course.  I kept thinking about it and Saturday night I did something I have not done in a while.  Made something just because I wanted to make it.  Headed down to my cave (you remember my "Where Women Create" studio is the unfinished, piled high with junque side of the basement - soooooooooooo glamorous) with these:

A t-shirt from my closet, a vintage cross stitch napkin and the remnants of an embroidered table runner).

I cut, I ironed on interfacing, I pinned, pondered placement and then I sewed (of course I was still working on altered scarves while I did this which reduced my "I should only do things that can make money guilt").

I came out with this:

I have no illusions that I am the first person to do this.  Lots of folks are altering clothes.  But this is me.  Actually me.  Not me trying to be what all the big shots look like.  Not me trying to get the RH, PB, Anthro look.  Just me. 

I'm not a shabby chic girl.  I don't do all white.  I love florals but I do not want them everywhere.  I like my vintage to tell a story and somehow I stopped telling my story and started telling the one I thought people wanted to buy.

I'm pretty small potato in this junque community.  I'm the girl dealers laugh at when I pull up to my booth in my SUV with the soccer sticker on the back.  That's all I've got.  An SUV.  I pack it like Tetris (which I do not do well on screen but am surprisingly talented at when it comes to stuffing the car).  I don't rent a truck.  Can't rent a truck.  Bigger overhead means less profit and possibly Mr. Wonderful and I recognize that my driving skills are not quite up to the task!

I've got no help.  No entourage to unload.  Me.  The kind of me who only buys furniture that a)fits in my car and b) I can lift by myself (note to self - working out would help).  It's not a pretty sight but I get it done.

I'm just a mom trying to make enough money to pay for soccer and horseback riding lessons.  I'd like to be bigger but this isn't the time for that.  I've lost sight of my goals.  I got them all muddied up with wanting to be recognized/successful.

That might be fun if it were working.  It's not.  When you sit at a show and miss soccer games to not sell enough to pay for those games while realizing your junque addiction stopped being fun...you realize you lost your way.

My self confidence has taken a hit as well.  I question all of my decisions.  I am afraid to try anything for fear it might be a money losing endeavor.  We all know you've got to spend money to make money but man, it just keeps flowing out, out, out.

So I sat.  I sewed.  I finished.  I liked it.  I had fun doing it.  I will wear it with pride at Vintage Marketplace.  Slowly I will find my way back to me.  I will find the courage to be who I am and stop caring how I am received/perceived.

I will fly.

Yours in junque,

Carrie

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Primp Your Stuff

Wow Us Wednesday

Share The Love

Open House Party