While wandering the local craft fair...

My sister and I spent a couple of nice, relaxing hours at a local craft fair a couple of weekends ago. Two years ago, having a booth at this fair started us both on our way to being professional handmade artisans. We enjoyed looking, and eating, and laughing, and remembering why we love making stuff and selling it to people who love what we make.

There were many beautiful things - not the least of which were the new paintings and prints by my favorite local artist, Temple Moore. There were a few things, however, that were unequivocably not good. Don't ever, ever, EVER do things like this. I love handmade, but THIS is crap.

These skirts are repurposed jeans on top, fleece on the bottom. FLEECE. Like, what you make blankets from.

There is just no way to explain this abomination, nor is there any way to excuse it. I thought when I saw it that I had no words, but obviously I do. Several. Some of them start with the letters W, T and F.

Next in line is this yard art. You can kill two birds with one well-aimed stone if you put this on your lawn. You can call yourself an Art Lover*, and at the same time, you can be accused of sacrilege by your neighbors!

I'm pretty sure that Santa Clause (or anyone else with a similar name) was NOT hanging around by the manger when Joseph and Mary's first child was born. I mean, I'm no biblical scholar, but... I was president of my church's youth group. So, you know... I know stuff.

I don't even go to church regularly, and I read athiest blogs, and I was still offended by this piece of dung. I didn't check the price. But if it wasn't free, it was too much. (hint: click the photo for the full offensive effect)

*not really.

Finally, we turn to the apparel that should not be worn when going to a craft fair. Or anywhere. Maybe in your own house... but only with the lights off.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. This poor woman obviously had nothing but this to wear. I can only guess (hope) that all of her other clothes... the ones that didn't creep into her butt-crack and make her an immediate candidate for What Not to Wear... were burned in a house fire the day before. And all of her cash, checks and credit cards were lost as well, leaving her unable to shop for new clothes before the fair. That is the only explanation I can come up with.

But if I am right, then she should have kept her spandex-encased buttcheeks at home. Seriously, there was no need to subject anyone else - even the person who made that manger scene - to that. I would have even been okay with her wearing one of those WTF skirts if it meant I wouldn't have to see those pants... leggings? Tights? Shorts? What the hell are they??

I won't even get into the fanny/belly pack and shoes. I feel a little faint...

HGTV's Design Farce

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of the series on HGTV called Design Star. I really am!! But this season, some weirdness is going on, and I'm ready to call it like I see it.

In the first show this season, Clive Pearse announced that the winner was going to be chosen by judges (and, presumably, the producers) rather than by the viewing public as has been the case in prior seasons. No big deal... I can understand that to some extent. Why leave the decision of who the people want to watch up to the people who watch, right?? Who knows the HGTV viewers better than the stars of HGTV shows? Okay... maybe not. But anyway, it didn't seem like a big deal to me.

Fast forward through a couple of shows... I'm wondering where the hell the personalities are? Isn't this a contest that is based on design chops AND the ability to keep the interest of some people staring at a screen for 30 minutes?

I'm sorry, NataLee, Amy, Jen, Tashica, Jany, Nathan, Jason, Torie, and Lonni - you all are in desperate need of a big dose of creativity and a personality that would stand out in a crowd. Even a small crowd - like, say... a reality show for would-be television designers.

So now we're looking at the final two: Antonio and Dan. Let me get to the crux of my brilliant theory...









A few questions:
Why are all the designers, except Antonio, so BORING? (remember Sparkle Josh!? And that surfer dude guy?)
Where are the knock-out designs we have seen in other seasons? (David Bromstad, nuf said...)
Why are some of the comments by the judges so blatantly fabricated to fit the elimination decision for the week? (Lonni was screwed by installers - not her own lack of planning.)
And WHY did one of the best designers of last week's episode go home?

My answer is this: This whole season is a giant joke built around the fact that the producers found their winner during auditions - Antonio. He's got a strong personality and an attitude that no one else on the network has. He is good-looking in a Stallone-meets-Fred-Durst kind of way. He creates drama with his bully tactics. And did I mention that there is no one else like him on HGTV? Oh yeah, I did.

Antonio can do the job of holding his own on a show, as he's shown in both of his "hosting" challenges, and has decent ability as a designer, so he was picked out of the hopefuls early on and the producers picked other designers to surround him on this season's show that would not only NOT stand out in the design arena, but would also crash and burn in terms of their ability to make people like them. All season I've been saying "gee, there's no one I really LIKE this season." Now I know why.

And for those of you who are sure Dan can pull it off - have you noticed that there is already a designer like Dan on HGTV. His name is David. Yes, his nursery was a better design than Antonio's office - and so was Lonni's guest room - but viewers will understand that they can't pick another DB to win. What would happen if Lonni's room kicked Antonio's ass in the finale? Lonni had to go.

So, you're hearing it here first, folks. Antonio is a ringer, and they've eliminated contestants all season to get it to the point where the finale is between Antonio and someone who would lose for obvious reasons... because he's too similar to another HGTV host. Antonio will take it, and we're all suckers.

Project #847,049

Don't laugh! I feel like that's how many things are on my to-do lists. I have several... one in my head. Or maybe three... and a few written in the odd notebooks and on pads of paper here and there in my purse(s) and desk drawers and car. I read somewhere that one should make lists if one desires organization in one's life. So... it hasn't really seemed to help me much for some reason. Hrrmmm....

Anywho ~ I share with you the pictures I took of my gloriously and horridly vintage bathroom! I love the way the cabinets angle in at the bottom. It lets my guests - for this is our Guest Bathroom - get reeeaaaallly close to the mirror to inspect their enlarged pores or search for gray hairs in their eyebrows.

The tile is not too bad, except that the color is not quite describable. It's a goldy, greeny, odd kind of color that doesn't seem to go with anything. And, it's everywhere. On the counter, on the floor, up the walls, in the shower/tub.

BUT, lucky me, I found this lovely shower curtain with a tropical feel to it (a perfect addition to the vintage tiki god tumblers I use as decor on the counter top) with leaves that perfectly match the goldy, greeny, odd color of the tiles! I couldn't believe it! That was the start of the idea to redecorate. I'm going to paint the bright white cabinets a deep chocolate color, to bring down the visual assault a bit. They were originally a horrible off-white-turned-yellow color, so the white was definitely an improvement, but I think a dark brown will be in keeping with the more modern look I like in bathrooms I see on HGTV.

Then, as I was hanging out on Fabric.com looking at their sale fabrics, I spotted The Perfect Fabric to make curtains out of! If you take a close look here, the current ones are two halves of a pillowcase. A little too "dorm room" for a house with a mortgage and established trees. Doesn't it look AMAZING next to the shower curtain!? I'm ignoring the fact that one of my daughters and my husband, upon seeing the fabric for the first time, pointed out that the design is remeniscent of a Star of David. Not that I care, of course, I have nothing against the Israelis or the Old Testament, but it's RATTAN!!! Good grief. Non-decorators...

So, the final goody that will grace my newly redecorated bathroom will be these gorgeous little prints by soon-to-be-famous artist, Brian Biggs. He has a great little shop on Etsy where you can get prints just like these (and a few others). Oh, and he's my brother. I'm going to frame them sitting on top of the brown burlap you see behind them (also from Fabric.com) and hang them on the wall opposite the sinks. At first I thought I'd paint the walls, but I think once the rest of the stuff is done, it will be enough. The cream walls will be a nice backdrop for the dark cabinets and colorful prints. Or I could put a mural on the walls... hmmm... project #847,050!!

Yard Sale Finds

A long weekend, a visit to the in-laws, a sweet score of vintage goodies to share with my readers!

We are just north of Kansas City, MO for a week of R&R with the Hubby's family. Yesterday his sister suggested we should see what kind of yard sales we should find... of course you know I didn't argue with that!

We found one that offered up a pile of t-shirts and shorts for the boy-child, but the real finds were these vintage lovelies. A great little overnight bag that is in pristine condition, a Pepsi bottle box, a cookbook from the 1970's, an old crocheted doily, a vintage apron, an embroidered table scarf, a pile of vintage canning jar lids and some cardboard milk bottle lids. I know I'll keep a few of the jar lids, but I think most of this stuff will be listed in my vintage Etsy shop. The doily will be incorporated into a bag.

There are a couple of thrift stores and antique shops I have always wished we had time to visit when we come up here for a weekend, so I'm hoping to get to those this week as well.

No market spaces = New items in the shop!

I'm working tonight on updating my Etsy shop with the bags I had held aside to sell at the Fayetteville Farmer's Market. Why, you ask, would I do that??? Won't that create a bit of a headache for me each weekend as I have to take things out of the shop in case they sell at the market, then put them back up again if they don't... just too much work, isn't it??

Well, it seems I will not be at the market this summer as often as I had hoped. Our local market is soooo successful that they juried some new craft vendors in order to add to the selection, but it is also soooo popular that there are just too many booths crammed into the location and the Board of Directors for the market decided to reduce the booth numbers to help with congestion.

So, my thrill of being accepted lasted only two weeks or so. On the upside, the market manager is hoping to be able to rotate the newbies ("floaters", we're called) every other week. On the downside, I'll be out of town for three weekends in a row, so it will be the end of July before I'm able to get back up there. I'll survive, I'm sure.

In the meantime, my Etsy fans will enjoy a bigger selection of goodies than they had to choose from in the weeks prior! Enjoy, and spread the word!

Green, the color

I'm all about being green in terms of environmental activism... I recycle my glass and plastics. I repurpose materials in my crafts (and home decor). I reuse containers that once held strawberries to grow seeds into veggie plants.

But in addition to THAT kind of green-ness... I seem to be drawn to the color. Especially green glass. It's just such a refreshing color... so clean and lovely. Like the hostas growing like gangbusters in my garden this summer. These little bottles were treasures waiting for me at a barn sale...

And this lovely Hoosier Glass bowl was a thrift store find. It can be yours if you love it as much as I do!

Finally - this little mug isn't as sparkly as the glassware, but I have a soft spot for the color olive. Maybe because I grew up in the 70's? It and its twin are also looking for a new home... they're perfect for some hot green tea!

Carrying on the family tradition

When I was growing up my grandmother and grandfather were farmers and craftspeople, raising cattle year-round, and spending nine months out of the year making and selling handmade wood crafts. Grandpa was a self-taught carpenter who, along with his brother, owned Whillock Brothers' Construction in northwest Arkansas. I have some wonderful things he made - a cedar chest, a rocking horse, a dresser...

Grandma took some of the smaller items that Grandpa made - bread boxes, clocks, wooden plates - and with the practical nature of a woman raised during the depression and the eye and spirit of an artist, she tole painted beautiful flowers, birds, and free-hand designs on them. I also have wonderful things she made, including the bread box that was a gift to my mother one Christmas.

Grandma and Grandpa went to the War Eagle Craft Fair each year for many years to sell their handmade crafts. War Eagle has long been a mecca for craft-fair enthusiasts, bringing thousands of people from all over the country to our little corner of the world just as the temperatures are becoming cooler and the trees are starting to turn color. Their cedar chests and painted items were shipped all over the world. They sold their goods for too little, in my estimation, but they made enough to get by.

I remember one fair when I was with them in their booth for a couple of days. They were set up next to a man who made candles that were dipped in layer after layer of color, carved with a hot knife, and the carved pieces would them be twisted around to show off the layers of color and reattached to the candle again. I'm sure you've seen them in flea markets or in your grandmother's living room. Anyway, that man would cut off pieces of wax after he dipped his candles and give them to me to mold. He showed me how to make little wax mushroom candles, which thrilled me to no end. They were probably one of the first "crafts" I ever made. Those, and the little rounded stones Grandma taught me to paint faces on to keep me out of her hair as she worked.

Grandma and Grandpa also set up a table with a bright yellow vinyl umbrella on the Fayetteville Square on Saturday mornings and sold their crafts and Grandpa's sweet clover honey to local market-goers. The market in the 1980's was far different from the market that goes on today. Not as many people, for one thing, and I don't remember there being as many dogs or musicians either. Certainly, if you wanted to have a hot cup of coffee and a muffin for breakfast, you brought your thermos and a napkin full of homemade pastry from home.

This Saturday my sister and I will set up a couple of tables on the Fayetteville square as two of the newest members of the Fayetteville Farmer's Market. I'm sure to most passersby there won't be anything all that special about our tables... (aside from our fabulous crafts!)... but I'm pretty sure that we will be feeling a bit nostalgic and very proud to be a part of the market - 35 years old this year. Unfortunately, my Grandpa isn't with us anymore, but I will definitely send a snapshot of Erin and I behind our tables to my Grandma. I think she'll be pleased.