Those Fabulous Gryzbowski Boys

Hi Everyone,

Here's a  little more about Grand Rapids and what it took to make all of it happen.

When Michelle and Brian from Re-Imagined for You said we could show a few pieces of theirs, the best part was what 'extras' they included. They have a self contained moving force that comes with their furniture and accent pieces. I can only dream . . . 

When I first met all of them back last summer, I was so impressed on how they did their set up. The truck pulls into their area, the back opens, a chair comes out for Michelle and she sits down with her pre-done diagram and directs them as to how to do the setup as the pieces come off the truck. They fill about a 30' X 40' at Allegan every show and everyone pitches in to make it work. When the show is over, whatever is left, if anything, Dad helps direct the repack and again it goes like clock work. And then they are gone, just like it never happened at all. And we are talking about a lot of furniture involved.

If you remember from back in October when the entire G clan drove over to Hastings to help us load in and load out, I had mentioned then how great they were. This past weekend they were in top form again. Ah, youth. We had the privilege of having these three.

Meet some of the fabulous Gryzbowski boys, numbers 2,3, & 4 I believe out of the 1-9 of all of the young people.

These handsome lads are from left to right, Isaiah, Luke and Josiah Gryzbowski. I am hoping I have all the names correct, please forgive if I messed up yet again. The make hurricane Andrew look like a gentle spring rain. I am not joking. There is no discussing what will be done, no plotting how to do anything, just pure doing it. Just stay out of the way. They can safely and cautiously move furniture, boxes, ladders, crates, you name it, in a matter of minutes. They are a force to be reckoned with. Respectful, polite and courteous, they have it all. Oh and did I mention a wicked sense of humor to boot? They kept me on my toes.

It was almost impossible to have things ready to transport they moved so quickly and having their younger sister Victoria helping me get things ready and packed up for them, helped out  tremendously. We were out and done in record time. I want to borrow them on a regular basis. Dead serious about that.

I wrote their Mom Michelle this morning and told her what a joy is was to have them around and sincerely meant it. We laughed, joked and worked, really hard, really quick and really efficient.

It simply doesn't get any better than this, and for that, I am truly grateful to them.

Til later,

Suz
the Muzeeet 

With a little help from my friends

Hi Everyone,

Welcome back to as least part two of the Michigan show.

I didn't mention that when I first listed this event it was called the Grand Rapids Antique Market and when the show opened on Saturday, it's name had changed.

For the better, I might add.

Let's hear it for updating the show by changing it's name to the Vintage Life Expo. Yea! Good going Cecily.

About two weeks before this show, I got a phnoe call from the promoter, Cecily the Magnificent and she was wondering if we could 'spread' a little when we set up.

This happens to us a lot. Either someone cancels or they change the floor plan, they have some extra space and heavens knows that's a bad thing for a promoter at the last minute. Blank empty space at a show, not good at all. Spreading for some dealers is a piece of cake. For us, it's not. We are pretty static with our fixtures so spreading another ten feet or so is a real challenge. 

Normally.

Remember how I said we were going to get to see our friends, Brian and Michelle? Well I called Michelle and said 'Congrats, you have just won a chance to show some of your wonderful things right next to me if you like, since you and you items are only a few minutes away."

They said yes, thank goodness and came in on Friday with us and we set up a gorgeous booth, if I have to say so myself. Take a look. Yes, I figured out the YouTube thing. Will miracles ever cease?  LOL ! ! !  There is also a sneak peak at the fabulous Amy from  Butterbean Antiques, our friend and neighbor. It was a killer aisle as many of the customers said the same thing to us.


All My Musings at The Vintage Life Expo 

Most of the signs, accent pieces and that fabulous chest in the front of Michelle's all sold on Saturday and they made a special trip in to restock for Sunday. Victoria's hand sewn messenger bags disappeared as well. It was great.

It is always amazing how each show takes on a different appearance with each venue and how it changes again in just a few hours.

Back tomorrow with Brian B cup. You will love this one, I promise.

Suz 
the Muze

Life with a side of love

Hi Everyone,

The last ninety six hours hours have been such a jam packed whirlwind, I really hope I get it all covered. You are all in for a treat as I think it will take at least four posts to get it done.

When we first started All My Musings, it was a simple goal. I needed to be kept busy since my semi retirement and we found ourselves in need of another income because George had been laid off again. They had said he 'might' go back to work around 2015 and I said, (in a heartbeat) 'uh, NO!'.

My creativity was still firing all most all of it's cylinders on good days and I was having fun. That was all that matter in the beginning. Oh, and we were getting by.

As we grew and started expanding our exposure in various markets, our life started changing as well. If you read this blog at all, you have heard me say that we are constantly amazed by the folks we meet and show with along the way. We now have this extended road family that expands seven states and hundreds of friends and thousands of customers.

On Thursday of last week, we had been given the opportunity to visit a new venue to scope it out for am upcoming show. Even tho this was just hours before we were due to get on the road and drive a couple hundred miles to Michigan, we wanted to travel the extra time and head in the opposite direction, of all places downtown Chicago. Don't get me wrong, I love the city and wish we had more leisure time to visit and enjoy it. So we left really early Thursday to go visit the Ravenswood Event Center in the city. This is where the cool Indie Wed show will be held February 2, 2013.

On a normal weekday, this jaunt can take anywhere between an hour to an hour and forty five minutes depending on rush hour traffic. 

Oops, apparently everyone is still on Holiday break and we buzz down in a brief 50 minutes. Just a tad early.

We located the venue and walked to the main office to see if we could possibly get in a bit early. The young lady in the property office was so sweet and said if we could hold on a couple of minutes, she would be glad to walk down with us.

As we walked along, she looks at us and said, "Don't I know you from the recent Lycee show in Chicago?"

I was horrified that she didn't look familiar and was trying desperately to recall what happened during the three days we were there. That show was only 2 weeks after George's heart attack and I was in full blown hyper mode trying to set up a show with strange help and keep an eye on George and do the show. I am applying for a juggling job with Ringling Barnum and Bailey next time they are in town.

Not easy or enjoyable. We were swamped and it was a tough show for me.

So she goes on to explain, that she was with her fiance, they talked to me about a shabby/vintage feel wedding and how she loved everything in our booth. Her friend walks up and she says, 'Remember that cool booth I told you about at the French Market, this is them'.

I am feeling pretty amazed by now and then a third woman walks up and starts the same type of conversation, 'Didn't I see you at NA DA farms this past October?" Yep, we were there too !

George and I started laughing after all this died down and agreed we had better start taking better notes on who we talk to at each venue, cuz' we aren't remembering as much as we would like too. It felt pretty doggone good that people knew who All My Musings was.

Now this reason I am relating this, is that it got sooo much better a couple of days later. Fast forward to a nice drive up north, a gorgeous venue, the DeVos Center in downtown Grand Rapids, MI, a wonderful setup, we got to park in an inside garage to unload and the actual venue was beautiful.

The first thing I noticed was all the handshakes, hugs and kisses that were happening around the trucks, trailers and vans being unloaded. So many of our vendor friends hadn't seen each other for some time, some as long as 4 or 5 months, so it was a huge family reunion of sorts. You could over hear statements like, 'the family is doing well and we had a great Holiday or It sure is good to be back at work". Tons of laughter but very caring, very sincere and warm, they are such a great bunch to work with.

On the first full day, we were busy from the get go and as the morning moved on, we sold out of the new runner collection, the new pins and several customers from Allegan stopped in and chatted, we stayed really busy.

Then it happened. I got my heart handed to me.

A bunch of people were in the booth and several conversations going on at once, (completely normal for our place!) when one of the ladies piped in and said, "That's why I am here, I read about it on your blog". I stopped cold in my tracks and focused on the voice that was speaking, not believing what I heard.

Let me digress for a minute here. I have always hoped someone was reading this other than family and friends, not that I don't absolute LOVE my family and friends that read this. I DO ! ! !
But when a non family member stands face to face to you and says out loud where others can hear, "I love reading where you go, the shows you do and the places you visit. I kinda' live vicariously thru your travels"  and goes on to relate several details about past postings, ( remember the $2.88 gas price from November piece?) that was it. It hit like a ton of bricks. My eyes welled up, I stumbled and stammered for words trying to thank her for coming out to the show and for reading my blog. It was blubberly to say the least and probably a little sappy on my part but I didn't care.

Someone new then started the "you have a blog?" conversation and we were off onto another part of the topic.

But the first part didn't get lost on me. I thought about it the rest of the day, it was discussed at dinner and retold to as many of my fellow vendors that would listen. 

It was a truly magical moment that I will talk about for years to come. Thank you again as I know you are reading this and that short term memory thing is acting up tonight and I can not remember your name. But you promised to comment, so please do so I can say thank you properly.

For the first time ever, the entire space got videoed as well this trip so if I can get the YouTube thing straightened out, there will be video tomorrow. That may or may not happen. We will just have to see.

In the meantime, I am beat, it is late and tomorrow is just a few minutes away.

Thank you to each and every one of you that stop here, I really, really appreciate you.

Suz
the Muze

On the run -ner

Hi Everyone,

Another treasure we are taking to Grand Rapids this weekend is our new runner collection.

We had done a handful of simple flat runners out of standard burlap before the holidays and sold out of them. So after listening carefully to all the feedback from you all, we are ready to introduce our new runner line.

The runners offered on our Elements Board will be about 16" wide and 71" in length made from our famous 11 gauge woven jute burlap. It is hemmed on all four sides and is ready just the way it is or take one and embellish it your way.

The second batch of runners are going to offered already embellished. Like this one done with two layers of vintage lace.

I think everyone needs at least one runner for flexible tablescaping. It is the perfect jumping off point, great by themselves or a good foundation piece to be layered and accented with placemats, tablecloths or other linens. We have several vintage linen and doily runners as well which also work well, either sewn on or layered up.

So many possibilities and so little time. What's a person to do?

Well, I have to get back to packing for Grand Rapids. Look out Michigan, we are loaded for bear!

Later,
Suz
the Muze

New Everything for 2013

Good 2013 Morning Everyone,

I read somewhere, in the past couple of days on a blog I can not remember, oops!, where the writer looked at January 1 2013 as a first page in a brand new book she has yet to write or as I saw it, yet to live and fully experience.

2012 was an incredible year in so many ways, some really good and some really bad for us personally. After DH's heart attack in Oct, our whole world changed drastically. So, we are looking for a really good 2013 as Lord knows we have seen enough bad in 2012, personally and globally.

We are busy working on the Grand Rapids show here, still, and looking forward to seeing some of our friends, a couple of outstanding ones we met in 2012. 

You remember the Gryzbowski family? Those heavenly souls that drove an hour to help us set up for show they weren't even in when George was ill. Well, we are actually going to visit with them and their wonderful barn where Michelle creates all of her beautiful pieces for Re-Imagined For You. Michelle, we can't wait to get there and see everyone. I am practicing the names every days so as not to forget anyone.

If everything lines up correctly (there's a bet I wouldn't put money on) we are also headed to visit one of my favorite antique  / industrial / vintage stores in GR, Lost and Found. 

Lost and Found is owned by my wonderful friends Mark and Christian and it is truly a step above your ordinary antique shop. If you live in the US, you need to visit. Mark is a true visionary in his field, always seeing something more in a piece than the normal eye. He brings the coolest things to a show, always something new and cutting edge and you couldn't ask for a kinder, more fun soul. He will be at the GR show as well.

As for us, we will be bring all the new creations I have been working on, including these new pins.

A new gauze rose with pearl and rhinestone center

Each one has a different look as this fabric takes on new appearances each time you work it up.

Then I added laces to the gauze and came up with this beauty

I can see these on purses, bags and books. Hopefully others will too ! LOL One can always hope.

I would also like to take a minute and acknowledge my friend Kathi, who has sent the most comments on this blog in the past year. She and her family are 3 Wrens Street, All Things White and The Dancing Wren. Can we say busy ladies(and gent, sorry Dad!)? But Kathi takes the time to comment quite frequently and I am truly touched by her generosity. Thank you Kathi, you have spread sunshine here many a day.

We are looking forward to new adventures, new friends and new challenges this year as we start traveling this week. Hopefully the road will be as entertaining as usual and it will be a good business year and a great personal year.

See everyone this weekend,

Suz 
the Muze

Obsessive hoarding fix

Hi Everyone,

As part of that lovely reorganization we are still working on, I have come to the determination that all of us in the 'handmade' industry are hoarders to some extent.

It is damn near impossible to throw out scraps.

There I have said it, but alas feel absolutely no better for it. Or any closer to resolving the HUGE issue that entails.

I have however, found a bit of solace in creativity about it. After discovering a slew of gauze scraps, I made some drop dead gorgeous flowers. If you have drop dead gorgeous flowers, you must then create something to place said flower on.

Has any of this made sense?

It did to me, there' a problem right there . . .LOL!

In February, we have agreed to be part of a huge bridal event in Chicago called Indie Wed. If you are a bride to be, it is the best of the independent best to be found. Really great artisans in the bridal industry. No corporate stores or firms allowed.

And then there is us, the burlap and poultry netting folks.

Last Spring we did the show at the Harley Davidson Museum and it was spectacular. We were inundated from the moment the doors opened to closing as we were the only shabby / rustic / romantic farmhouse type vendors there.

So now that we have one under our belts, look out our displays are going to be killer this year.

That is as killer as one could be in a 6 X 6 space. Really ? I digress. So sorry.

I used my scraps for a table setting item that everyone has thought about, the infamous mason jar / glass jar centerpiece.

Here is  Jar #1 Gauze and copper wire with satin rose

Jar #2 is lace and German Glass shards

Jar #3 is painted jar with lace and gauze rose

What do you think ?



There is still a big bag of scraps and I can see more gauze roses in the future.

Road schedule

January 5 & 6  -  Grand Rapids Antique Market, Grand Rapids MI

January 26  -  Indie Arts and Vintage Marketplace, Carmel IN at The Fountains

February 2  -  Indie Wed , 4025 N. Ravenswood Ave  Chicago IL 

Working on the new things and off to get in more trouble,,


Suz
the Muze

Main stream and new introductions

Hi Everyone,

We have finally had a teeny tiny dusting of snow here in the South suburbs of Chicago and I am hoping that we don't receive anything else til we get back from Michigan in about 8 days. One can always hope . . . 

While out running errands early today, I stumbled on something kinda' cool. For a couple of years we have been proud to say we were part of the new revolution of the standard antique market industry. When referring to antiques these days, one also needs to include words like vintage, shabby chic, mid century, industrial and retro as they are integral parts of the industry today, 2012.

This has made it into mainstream as evidenced today at the new Whole Foods store near us. Take a look at the cool checkout lane lights.

Yep, vintage soda bottles! How cool is that? Then down the aisle they had these for sale . . . 

Yes, boys and girls, canning jars and wildflowers, the exact items we have been showing for our  shabby chic/ rustic farm/barn weddings for the past couple of years. This store also has beautiful tin ceiling accents and tons of worn wood, patina finished pieces, a real shabby feel. Guess we have arrived, if the building industry is shabby-ing upscale stores!

I have a sneak peak for you on our newest line to be shown at Grand Rapids next week. After serious contemplation, I decided to design a line of totes, not purses for practicality reasons. Seems there are a slew of bags out there, all about the same size, so I have a new line of really use-able tote bags, shabbied up with gorgeous laces, fabrics, beadwork, doilies, vintage jewelry and handmade flowers.

Here is a corner of the first tote . . .

And the second one . . .

That gauze rose is to die for in real life. These totes are very generous, 13" W X 14"H  X 7"D with additional handles, ready a million different uses. If work continues at the current rate, there will be 4 new designs of these gorgeous new totes and if they make it through the MI show I will put what ever I have left on Etsy. You know you are on the right road when you take your new project out in public and several people stop you and ask about it! (Just another reason to move into the Trader Joe's, but I digress . . . ) So it is a serious push to get all of the it done, new runners, new journals and new totes. 
Back to the mill, more later,

Suz 
the Muze

Introducing . . .

Hi Everyone,

Well, as promised, more new items are finding their way here and without further adieu our newest tassel in the family, Scrapper

This tassel was literally a culmination of all the scraps I found during my big workroom redo. A piece of lace here, scrap of shredded muslin there, leftover piece of ribbon found, each time I added a scrap, it added a dimension to this tassel. Pretty soon I was in awe to how gorgeous these guys turned out. Kinda' shabby, kinda vintage and a whole lot of fun, that pretty much sums up Scrapper, coming to a show near you in the near future.

Back to the desk,

Suz 

the Muze 

Newest additions

Hi Everyone,

Having a little bit of time off of the road and a really good cold snap is as good of a reason as any to sit and create for endless hours. That and having the Crockpot helping out with dinner. Can we say the world's best slow cooked barbecued pulled pork ever? (contact me for the really easy super delicious recipe) Then, there is the pot roast and root veggies for the family dinner today. Good old fashion comfort food, yes sign me up now. Being on the road makes you appreciate good cooking, trust me on this one.

So, having everyone else taken care of, I sat down to add some new, "old things" into our first of the year show in Grand Rapids MI on the 5th of January. 2013, where did last year go to and so quickly?

When the first couple of industrial tassels were created, I immediately saw tons of possibilities, all sorts of different textiles, fibers and materials to incorporate down the line. Saw them but had absolutely no additional time to get them created until now . . . 

Here is the one of the latest,

meet CR, a relative to Silky,

A wonderful permanently, scrunched and stained ribbon tassel perfect for an accent anywhere, front of a cabinet door, pull for a window shade or window treatment, pillow and the list goes on and on. Oh heck, just fun to have because you can! 

This tassel medium will be shown in two ways in our shop, cut, like pictured above and a looped version as well, CR Loop. 

Today I am hoping to finish a lace version and a new sample of Hercules so I have a lot to do. We will also have some of our regular tassels, IT and Cutter making an appearance, so it will make a nice display.

Two days ago we cut 30 new runners, 16" X 72" 11 gauge burlap as well, some to be sold as elements on our Elements board for those of you needing a basic piece to start with and others to be embellished with vintage doilies, lace and anything else that strikes my fancy at the moment. Ahh, the joy of being able to create at whim. Nothing like it in the world. Those get packaged next week, hopefully.

The last item or should I hint at items, is something we have been asked about for over a year now. Sure I could tip my hand but I would rather try to finish the first two and show you here but suffice it to say, I think everyone will be surprized at what I have been able to come up with. I know I am, as I never thought I would try to make something like this. But because we value your input and inquiries, I am going to try my hand at this. Heaven help the fashion industry, here I come . . . 

Til then, I am busy, busy, busy . . .

Road schedule,

January 5 & 6  -  Grand Rapids Antique Market, Grand Rapids MI

January 26  -  Indie Arts and Vintage Marketplace, Carmel IN at The Fountains

February 2  -  Indie Wed , 4043 N. Ravenswood Ave  Chicago IL 

Working on the new things,

Suz
theMuze

O M G ! ! ! take 2

Hi Everyone,

This past weekend we set out for Columbus Ohio early, like 2 AM in the morning early. We were headed to the Scott Antique Market, an indoor antique market held only in the fall and winter months.

For those of you who are rejoining us, welcome. I have no idea what that glitch was all about, but once again I apologize on behalf of Blogger for keeping this soooo entertaining.

As I was saying, leaving that early in the morning or was it leaving so late at night?, makes one question one's sanity at times.

Here in northern Illinois, the state that taxes dead people not once but twice, we pay exorbitant prices for gas. Next to California, we are right up there, consistently, without fail.

So the one joy in traveling is trying to find reasonable gas prices because logic states if we are leaving Chicago, it's gonna be less. We usually make our first stop right over the Indiana /Illinois boarder as it normal drops about 20 cents a gallon immediately.

On Friday morning it did. Yeah!, less money to fill up. Home was $3.39 and Gary Indiana was $3.09. But wait there's more.

Next stop somewhere in the Indianapolis area usually.(can you tell we have made this trip too many times?)

And there it was.

Gas priced under $3, Since it was a little before 5 AM, I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not, so I took a picture. Yes, the other customer thought it was pretty funny.

We drove on to Ohio, arrived just in time to make our load in window and had an interesting weekend. Senior citizens are so much fun.

Then we packed up, bought gas in Columbus at $3.03 a gallon, again feeling pretty excited and headed home.

Next stop Indy. I am sensing a definite pattern here.

Imagine my shock and disbelief when I pulled into the same station Sunday evening and saw this. Keep in mind we are accustomed to seeing much higher prices on Sunday evening between Michigan and home, as everyone and their Mother is coming back from their weekend away and therefore, they jack the gas prices way up.

But nope not Indy.

Can you believe this? It was amazing to fill up the truck for $37.50, not over $50.

It's the small things that make us smile and after this past Friday's events in Conneticut, we all need to smile thru our broken hearts and tears, wouldn't you agree?

Home to create for awhile,

Suz
the Muze

Back to the road (again)

Hi Everyone,

Before it starts getting back to the normal level of crazy, I thought I would post two new items we are taking to Ohio with us this weekend.

A couple of years ago, our customers from downtown Chicago told us they loved our wire boards for organizing, especially their earrings. Seems the theory of having all of it where you can see it, means that you wear it more often. Sounded sensible to me, especially when you think about digging through drawers and boxes in the wee hours of the AM. The one request we got time after after time, was to have a place to have both earrings and necklaces or bracelets.

So we did exactly that. And boy, have they been popular. So popular I haven't had a chance to photograph and get them here. As soon as we load them for a show, they disappear and the process starts all over for the next show.

These two babies just left the shop to be packed so I grabbed them quickly.

Lots of hooks to hang just about anything, bracelets, lanyards, necklaces and don't forget keys.

I personally love mine by the door for keys and last minute reminder notes. Anything to organize me is a huge win-win, just ask the DH. He would jump on that one!

We are off again to the wonderful area of Columbus OH for the Scott Antique Market at the Fairgrounds. It is a sold out show, so bring plenty of cash and your walking shoes, there is plenty to shop with over 800 dealers. I am worn out already and haven't driven the six hours and done the set up yet.

Just remember, we're the folks with all the coffee bean bags and tons of burlap and of course, while they last, wire jewelry boards!

Here's the next couple of shows;

December 15 &16 - Scott Antique Market, Columbus OH 

For 2013 - (can you believe that ? ? ? ?)

January 5 & 6  -  Grand Rapids Antique Market, Grand Rapids MI

January 26 - Indie Arts and Vintage Marketplace, Carmel IN at The Fountains

Until then I need to get back to creating the Spring line,

Suz
the muze

Thank you Sandy

Hi Everyone,

Things have been crazy busy here with our big workroom redo that we undertook starting Wednesday. Here it is Sunday evening and we are about 2/3 rds the way done. Thank heavens, it was so much more difficult than I had planned. Where did all this stuff come from to begin with?

Since we are a majority of handmade items, that requires a whole lot of different mediums and materials to have to work with. Add in I only work a minimum of two to three days a week creating and producing until it's back on the road again, things get out of hand real fast, i.e.; why clean up, I am just going to be back at this in a couple of days. You can see where this was going, real fast.

To compound the situation, I have been grabbing up every bit of lace I come across as we have been using quite a bit in a lot of different projects (and I am a sucker for a beautiful piece of lace). When it came time to straighten out all those pieces, I discovered how many I really had. Uh oh, there are a whole lot of lace pieces that I need to find a home for. Multiple that by 30 or 40 different materials and I have a huge storage issue.

So I took a little break and checked in on some of our 'road' friends, fellow vendors that we don't get to see very often. What everyone is doing and showing in their booths.

One of my favorites is our friends Joe and Sandy from Rhubarb Reign. Sandy describes their business as;

rhubarb reign is an antique and design business specializing in cottage-style furniture, artsy smalls and found objects. 

One of the main reasons I fell in love with their booth was Sandy always has cool laundry baskets like this

She and Joe always have really cool stuff. They are two of the nicest vendors we have the privilege of showing with, professional, kind and oh so knowledgeable about everything in this crazy business.

As of today, Sandy moved up on my appreciation ladder a couple of more rungs. When I went to visit her blog to see where she and Joe were going to be in the next couple of weeks, I noticed that she has this little blurb under the category of,

BLOG ROLL: SOME EXCELLENT CUSTOMERS AND FRIENDS

• 24 Seven~The Journey Awakens the Soul

  

  Black Friday Sale
• adventures of an invisible woman

  

  Coming in for a Landing
• All My Musings

  

  All in the Details

That's us ! That I am aware of, it is the very first time anyone has every listed our blog. Thank you Sandy for listing us, it means the world to us and hopefully we will show together again soon. It seems like forever since we were in Allegan and April seems like a long, long time off. We should cross paths somewhere at a Zurko show in January if everything works out.

In the meantime, thank you Sandy, for making my whole day. It was so kind of you but that is so you, just being you, a sweet friend.

Back to creating something out of all these goodies,

Suz
the muze