Country Living Fair - Georgia, 2011!!

The Country Living Fair was once again not disappointing!  Beautiful day....outstanding vendors!  My Best-est eagerly hopped in the car early Saturday morning and off to Stone Mountain, GA we went.  Truly, we squeal with delight once on the road knowing our next 6-8 hours are going to be filled with a buffet of eye candy.  We annually look forward to this event!

Upon entry into the field there is always this mound of pumpkins, gourds and mums!  It is the signature element of decorating for the Country Living Fair!  If you can spot the pile...you have arrived.

The first tent I see is certainly one of my favorites....Earth Angel Toys!  Multiple vendors are represented and it is a feast of creative brilliance!

The entree' into the woods awaits us!  There... let the shopping begin!

The beauty of all the vendors that attend is the unending yummy goodies they bring, and how they cleverly display it in the middle of the woods.  

Of course, quilts are just randomly hanging in the trees....ahhhhhhh!

Then there is the furniture.  The reference "over the top" is no doubt useable.  Yet, it is exactly what I want to see.  How awesome is this sofa?

Just a glimpse of the magnitude of goodies.

The attention to detail is delish!  This tree had handmade paper poppies wrapped around the trunk.

We were one of many shoppers.  My Best-est and I even enjoy watching fellow shoppers.  Everyone attends in their most interesting and creative ensembles.  I wanted to poll one out of three people to ask where they shop.  This crowd is fashion forward!

These gals are some of my favorite!  I knew they were coming, but within minutes of our arrival I look up and BAM! there they were.  Love them!  Joy "the Junk Queen" Thornton, the one waving, is the proprietor of United Gift Shop, one of my favorite junking spots!  The other two are wonderful booth owners at her shop.  Anne Prettyman, the one with the sunglasses, is quite the junker herself, my numbered, wooden storage shelf was a purchase from her booth.  Gina Garst is wearing the navy blue jacket and always has great stuff in her booth.  My coffee table was formerly hers!  Great Gals!

 Just some miscellaneous photos of goodness!

A box of bakelite bracelets...my fave!

The ordinary is not common....the extraordinary is everywhere.  This chair says, "come hither."

 This furniture ensemble is truly my favorite!  I love me some red.

This is but a fraction of the beautiful wares available at the Country Living Fair!  If ever you can attend, make it a priority.  It will not disappoint.

"Mingle" Winner!

Suz of My Desert Cottage is the WINNER!!!!!

Suz, contact me with your mailing address and I will get your new copy of "Mingle" and art out to you ASAP!   Thanks for stopping by!

I went to the Country Living Fair on Saturday in Georgia.  

Photos coming tomorrow!!

It was awesome!

It's Time to "MINGLE"! Win a Copy and Art!

Simply Comment and Win "Mingle" magazine and Art!


YOU can be the winner of the latest Stampington and Company Publication

"Mingle" and a piece of art from me!

This is how I felt when I got my copy of "Mingle"!

Yes, the new rag is funkalicious!!!

Have you ever wanted to get a little advice or discover new ideas when inviting friends and family over to share a new recipe...or maybe you just want to gather some friends together to just....mingle.  This is your new go-to guide to all such occasions.  Once again Stampington has created a perfect solution to gathering.  

This was one of my favorite articles..."A Gilded Life: A Day In Canton"...

yummy pictures everywhere.

The simple reason I would want to purchase a copy of "Mingle" or any of the Stampington publications, is the ability to see myself in each vignette.  I feel certain me and the chick in the lower left hand photo could easily be "buds"....she just doesn't know it.  The beauty of a great magazine is the ability to transport the reader into a world they want to see and be a part of....

So in honor of such a cool new magazine "Mingle", I have a free copy for YOU!!!!  A value of lots of many dollars.....and a little piece of art from ME!

I felt these four chums could help you enjoy "Mingle"!

Rules of engagement to be the owner of this little prize package is simple...

1.  leave me a comment after this blog = one entry

2.  share this blog with a friend and leave their email/blog address after this blog in a new comment ...and I'll add two entries in your name for this prize package

3.  become one of my followers = one entry, but let me know in the comments after this blog

"Mingle" and art...all yours by just leaving a comment in many different ways!

Contest winner will be randomly selected from the number of comments.  More entries, more chances to win!

Contest winner will be announced Sunday evening!

Little Stamped Journals!

Once again 100 Proof Press has provided the perfect utilitarian stamp for little journals.  I was in JoAnn's just the other day...saw this little bundle of four journals for $2.50.  Too cute!  

 Happened to have a tiny little verse type religious book eaten up with "old" and mice nibbles.  The pages just fit the cover perfectly.  

 Grabbed some aged tablet paper, stamped a dust pan (2560-Q),

 chair (2601-Q) and artist's cup (1970-R).

 The zig zag stitch holds the yellowed page and a single stitch was sewn around the stamped image.  

 This is the back cover to each journal.

The inside paper was a lovely shade of grey with the white image at the bottom of each page.  Too cute!  

I tied some green baker's twine around each for a little interest.

Easy Peasy!

Collections Out Of Hand...

"Hobbies of any kind are boring except to people

who have the same hobby."

-Dave Barry

 Funny...what starts out as a cute little collection or hobby can blossom into an overwhelming, out of control mass. A nice odd number of units, maybe 5-7, becomes a triple digit inventory that almost makes you and your stuff an episode topic on "Hoarders."  A simple item on a "hunt" list while out foraging estate sales, flea markets and yard sales begins to negate the purpose collecting completely. 

I first found this awesome old blue, pottery container....great for umbrellas.  It has held umbrellas in my foyer for years....until...

a weirdo affection for canes, croquet mallots and badmitten racquets began to ease out the umbrellas.  Take note of photo...no umbrellas in blue pot.  I can't wedgy another wood handled anything in my blue pot.  The collection has absorbed my umbrella storage space and I now lean them in the corner.  The mail and me get wet on occasions.

A simple bowl of dice that made me smile could now support all the craps tables in eight Las Vegas casinos.  I love the color and sound dice make when klinked together.  A bowl of dice just makes me happy!  But now, just breezing by my coffee table while flipping on the TV, and a couple of dice will bounce across the great room and my dog yells "seven". 

Once again, out of control collection or hobby.  

What do you do?

Stop?

Humph.

It's A Sampler...or a Quilt...or....

 All the little pieces and bits become my form of a sampler.  Create lots of little mini pieces of "whatever you want to call this".  Have no intention any two will belong together.  Make a bunch...30-40! Spread them all out on a table and piece together which ones belong on one piece of art.  It's kind of a oddly pieced quilt.

Redefine sampler, piecing, quilting....

Storage!

Last Fall about this time, my favorite junking haunt in Ringgold, GA, United Gift Shop, with the awesome owner of Joy had a yard sale.....whoop, whoop!  I saw this wood shelving unit with numbered shelves and the infamous "I see something I must have" tingle commenced.   I got there a little late so why in the world this was still there only is answered with the "junk angels" were waiting on me.  I immediately snapped it up!

This shelf has sat in my garage for one year....until Wednesday.  I lugged it downstairs, cleared out a hole, and began filling it with all my ephemera.  Little did I know I had that many bingo cards.  It was a blast to revisit all the paper goodies I have accumulated over the years.  Who knew I had this much stuff?  By simply organizing this junk I gained 4 square feet in my studio.  Outstanding!

The top was perfect for all my jars of buttons, thimbles, parts, hardware, etc.  I think this shelf may be the best investment I've made in a long time.  Love it.

Nothing feels better than organization....and finding goodies you forgot you had.  

BINGO!