and then there was 5 . . .

Hi Everyone,

Well, what started out as a 'fun' new addition to our merchandise family, IT now has siblings.


Lots of family so to speak. Every time I turn out the lights, there's another one that just pops up!


Meet cousin Haywire, (I can not believe I am naming my merchandise, shoot me now)

A lovely addition consisting of the great rusted elements plus waxed hemp, a slightly wild child appeal with a definite flair for the dramatic.

Can you say life of the flirty party ? It isn't fair to pick a favorite one so I will keep moving on.

This is the muscle tassel, heavy duty appeal with strong character, A very heavy gauge of jute meets the strength of metal and there you have it, Hercules.

Such a handsome dude.

On the other side the the track are the almost twins. Earlier we met IT,

the looped muslin beauty that started this whole thing,

and here is the almost identical twin with a bit of twist, straight no loop tails. Here's Cutter, the clean cut other one.

Both 'kids' offer a very rich, stained appearance.

Such a nice complement to that wonderfully rusted tassel top. They are just so gorgeous.

Every family has that one individual that marches to their own drum. Our's is no exception, meet ET, who thinks copper is really the coolest metal ever. Hmmm, that is something we have in common.

Definitely the show off of the family

He is equal parts copper and jute, just exuding a raw energy that will prove to be a great accent to any primitive piece you happen across.

We have a huge family outing planned for Saturday and Sunday, so please head down to the Trades building at Kane County Flea Market. I will make sure all the 'kids' are on their best behavior.  LOL! we are looking forward to seeing all of you.

Our schedule for the next couple of weeks and don't forget NA DA coming May 18 -19.

March 31 & April 1  Kane County Fleas Market, Trades Building St. Charles, IL (let's all pray for warm weather as the buildings are NOT heated)

April 7 & 8    Grayslake Antique Show, Lake County Fairgrounds, Libertyville, IL

April 13, 14 & 15   Gordyville Flea Market, Gifford, IL

April 21 & 22  somewhere at a flea in WI   (details to show up soon!)

April 29    Allegan MI Antique and Flea Market

Back to work, there are so many other new things for the booth,

Suz

the muze

our Etsy address  All My Musings 

our Facebook address  All My Musings

linking to WOW Us Wednesday

Fat furry obstacles

Hi Everyone,


I eluded last post that our show in Barrington was very successful, so much so that I spent all three days while sitting at the show, working on our wreath collection. We brought them back in to the booth at Grayslake and they started selling, really fast. And the continued selling real fast at Barrington, six of them in three days.

So I started making them in between customers and still came home empty. Needless to say, this week I am making even more wreaths before we go to Hastings.


Imagine my surprize this evening when I noticed one of our 'fur' kids was missing and went looking for Lige, our 30#plus, longhair, angora farm kitty.

Apparently, the center of an 18" wreath makes a perfect bed, after all he had his choice of three and he seems to be leaning towards the all burlap style. Glad to see he has good taste!


Well, I need to go remake a wreath, I have one that has found a new use . . . We are off to Hastings MI this weekend if the weather holds, so far they are predicting thunderstorms, but hey it's still early for the weather to change.



Rest of our schedule for the next couple of weeks:


March 24  & 25  Hastings MI (we are still hoping!)

March 31 & April 1  Kane County Fleas Market, Trades Building St. Charles, IL (let's all pray for warm weather as the buildings are NOT heated)

April 7 & 8    Grayslake Antique Show, Lake County Fairgrounds, Libertyville, IL

April 13, 14 & 15   Gordyville Flea Market, Gifford, IL

Back to work,

Suz

the muze

our Etsy address  All My Musings 

Tired and Empty

Hi Everyone,


This is short and sweet today. We had a great time in Barrington at the Antique and Garden Show, met really nice new customers and even got to see a couple Grayslake regulars. We sold tons and tons including the 6 new wreaths I actually made at the show!


Have some new things we are trying to put together before we head to Michigan this weekend so I will try to post before we get on the road. Also, the actual name of this event, still tentative as it will be our first outdoor tent showing since last October and I am watching the weather like a hawk. So we will see . . . 


Rest of our schedule for the next couple of weeks:


March 24  & 25  Grand Rapids MI (we think!)

March 31 & April 1  Kane County Fleas Market, St. Charles, IL (let's all pray for warm weather as the buildings are NOT heated)

April 7 & 8    Grayslake Antique Show, Lake County Fairgrounds, Libertyville, IL

April 13, 14 & 15   Gordyville Flea Market, Gifford, IL

Back to work,

Suz

the muze

our Etsy address  All My Musings 

New additions

Hi Everyone,


Well it had to happen. Monday afternoon the proverbial elephant that sits on your chest with a near bout of pneumonia arrived, weighing in at about 450 or so and stayed thru Wednesday. Now that I can breathe again and am only coughing up one lung at a time, I am much, much better. I did learn a very valuable lesson though. Always pack an additional winter coat in case you need to walk a half mile to the ladies room in a snow storm . . .  Never a dull moment around here I tell ya.


Feeling way under the weather is not conducive to creativity at all, so despite my best intentions, we only have a couple of new goodies for the booth this weekend. Speaking of which, we will be at the Grayslake Antique Show with the wonderful Zurko family in a very warm, well lit building. I have a new and profound appreciation for them after last weekend. 


My newest creation is an antique/shabby chic/vintage bobbin complete with lace. These are handmade from all paper but very sturdy, able to hold any type of trim.

Just love all the shabby details, aged sheet music, a shabby gauze and eyelet  flower. These will be a perfect addition to the booth.

Also making an appearance is more of our naked books series, these have wonderful lace and aged botanicals on them. Sorry no pictures yet, I am just beat and still need to pack. maybe next post and then again, maybe not. It has been like that the last couple of days.

Our schedule:

March 10 & 11   Grayslake Antique Show, Lake County Fairgrounds, Libertyville, IL

March 15, 16 & 17   The Barrington Antique & Garden Show, Ice House Mall, 200 Applebee Street, Barrington, IL

March 31 & April 1  Kane County Fleas Market, St. Charles, IL (let's all pray for warm weather as the buildings are NOT heated)

April 7 & 8    Grayslake Antique Show, Lake County Fairgrounds, Libertyville, IL

April 13, 14 & 15   Gordyville Flea Market, Gifford, IL

Please stop by and say hi this weekend, I'm the chick with the tissues in her pocket ! ! ! 

Off to rest up,

Suz

the muze

The Cold Flea

Hi Everyone,


We heard at the very last moment that we could go to the Kane County Flea Market on Saturday and Sunday this past weekend so I didn't have an opportunity to post any of the new goodies that we took with us. We needed to get there very early to get in line, which I do not understand at all, don't ask. But, here we are with 200 of our fellow market vendors waiting patiently in the frostbite cold to start unloading. And it was snowing. And it was cold, did I mention how cold? And we waited for over 2 hours, in the cold!

Rows and rows of SUV's, trucks, cars and trailers all loaded with everything imaginable under the sky.


The attendance was very large and we met a lot of new customers and saw a couple regulars as well, which we always enjoy. One lady stopped by to let me know what happened when she purchased a couple of our handmade boxes a couple of weeks ago at a different show, I had hid the smaller one her daughter had said she loved inside the one that the Mom wanted and when they got in their car to go home the Mom asked her daughter to get the box out so she could see it again. Then she told her daughter to open it and when the daughter saw her box inside that she had wanted, I guess the daughter got quite excited. Her Mom said she loves her box as well! So that makes two happy customers. Love hearing stories like that.


A couple of new items that we took with us were some new designs on our pencil or supply cans done in french script and one in yellow striped paper.

They join the other designs and made for a nice display.


I also added a new design to our slip covered journal collection. It features a stained muslin wrap over lace over our heavy brown paper cover. I thought it was beautiful.

We sold the felted heart journal and I was happy to see it go to someone who loved it as much as I did! LOL ! ! !  It is almost like seeing your kids leave home!




Our schedule for the next couple of weeks is a bit harried, grab a pencil and jot down the dates,


March 10 & 11  Grayslake Antique Show, Lake County Fairgrounds, Libertyville, IL


March 15, 16 & 17  The Barrington Antique & Garden Show, Ice House Mall, 200 Applebee Street, Barrington, IL


March 31 & April 1, Kane County Fleas Market, St. Charles, IL ( let's all pray for warm weather as the building are NOT heated)


April 7 & 8  Grayslake Antique Show, Lake County Fairgrounds, Libertyville, IL

April 13, 14 & 15 Gordyville Flea Market, Gifford, IL


Wait till I post May thru November, I don't think we have a single weekend left. Better get busy creating new things.


Til next time,
Suz 
the muze

We are going to NA DA again ! ! ! !

Hi Everyone,


Last year I waxed on and on about the small but incredibly, breathtakingly beautiful event we did call NA DA Farm Event, a very prairie holiday. I have talked about it to everyone at every show we did and I am back at it again, because . . .


I just received a confirmation email from Anne Marie and Jason at NA DA Farm that we are confirmed for the May NA DA Farm Event on May 18 & 19, 2012. Yippee ! ! !  We couldn't be more thrilled and you will be too ! It truly is the best vintage, shabby flea in the area.


You remember NA DA don't you? The beautiful setting . . . 

The charming visitors, feathered  . . .

and non feathered

the sun, the wind, the fun of it all. It truly is a spectacular event like no other. Anne Marie and Jason are promising more of everything, more vintage, more antiques, more primitives and of course, more cupcakes!


This year is kinda special in that NA DA just received a special honor being named one of the BEST flea markets in the country from the reader at Flea Market Style magazine. Quite an honor indeed! Last year it was the Midwest Living magazine article and now this. Way to go guys !

If you haven't gotten your copy yet, run to your favorite magazine store and get a copy now. It has way too many cool new things to list here including the flea market listing.


So mark your calendars for May 18th and 19th for NA DA Farm Event, 2423 South Woodlawn Road, Esmond, IL 60129. It is only 45 minutes West of Geneva IL. So very easy to get to and so worth the drive. Not all the details are available just yet so stay tuned in for more information.


I have sooo much work to do . . . 


Suz 
the muze
our Etsy address  All My Musings

Old Friends

Hi Everyone,


Well, I hate to I say I told you so . . .  Rick, but I was kinda' correct about the Wheaton Antique Show last weekend. We met some great new friends and even one great gal who fell in love with our booth and with a little bit of prompting told our show buddy Rick that hands down we were her favorite booth there. LOL!  It was fun to laugh with someone else getting so excited about our goods.


The crowd for the most part was older and very traditional but incredibly nice and talkative. We sold a couple of frames, a lot of paper elements, these sell no matter where we go it seems and chatted to everyone.


So for the next week or so, we are off the road and I am excited to be able to create. With a little planning, some sleep and time to sit at my workstation, I am hoping to introduce 7 new items for our next show. 


Here's a peek at the first one.


This is made from an old volume of Sherlock Holmes stories published in 1953. The paper has a wonderful feel to it and sews up beautifully. Add a couple of embellishments and you get yourself a very usable pouch. It measures with the linen handle about 4.25" X 8".


Wouldn't this be great for a gift card or hand written note? You could even slip jewelry inside, oh the possibilities!

The gloomy rainy weather outside wasn't the perfect help for a great picture but you can see the lace detail and the sweet accent buttons.

Out in the outdoor workshop, there is a whole lot of noise bringing to life at least 4 brand items, none of which are ready for their pictorial debut just yet. Some of us work slower than others, just kidding, not! If it does get to 50  degrees this week, who knows what we could get to doing!

My BFF, Linda the muze and I have been going at each other for about three days straight and the ideas and compositions are flying fast and furious. So stay tuned for more, what I am still formatting but I can tell you, you about to see some cool barn wood things as well as new paper items.

I am waiting on a phone call before I post our next show, we may be adding a new venue. Never a dull moment . . . 

Off to create,

Suz

the muze

The latest addition

Hi Everyone,


One of the hardest and biggest challenges of doing all these shows is keeping new fun items in the booth. As a creative mind, once I have made something, that's pretty much it's lifespan. It gets sold and I start all over again on a whole new item. Keep it fresh and appealing is the everyday law to live by for most show exhibitors in our kind of business.


That theory springs from the idea that if a customer visits us on two separate show dates, we want them to get just as excited about all the new things as they did the first time they saw us. That was proven last Sunday when a regular Grayslake customer stopped to see us. She ooh'd and ahh'd about all the 'new' butterflies that were on display since she had seen us in December and proceeded to buy several. Thank you !


The newest offering will come out in Wheaton on Saturday, I think it will be called a hanging envelopes, still not sure of the name. This is The Bird On Print

This is one of four designs, each measuring about 7" wide and with the handle about 14" high. This could be a wall hanging, a larger gift envelope, a purse or just a fun embellishment. 


Here is what I call the French Parfum Ad,

This one offers a cool copper wire handle and antique cuff buttons. It is always about the embellishments, don't you know!


Today we picked up new ceiling tiles and a HUGE box of really rusted bed springs from the picker. Hopefully tomorrow I can make a new project from them. Stay tuned !


Back to creating,


Suz
the muze

The Roller Coaster Weekend

Hi Everyone,


It is already Tuesday and I had really wanted to get this post up early, oops . .  again. This past weekend was the roller coaster ride of the season so far.


After working  on new pieces and trying to get ready, Friday afternoon is started snowing. You know the famous expression in Chicago has always been, "Don't like the weather here? Well, hang around, in 5 minutes it will change". Boy, was that true this time.


The drive to the Antiques and Collectibles Show in Grayslake normally takes us about 1.25 hours but when you add blowing snow, 40 to 50 mile an hour winds and temperatures dropping rapidly from the 30's to the teens, you get a mess. The drive up was over 2.5 hours and the winds blew so hard that the building was forced to keep the overhead doors closed making the load in long and tedious. Everyone was working in coats, scarfs and gloves as every bit of the heat had left and the wind just kept blowing the cold in. There seemed to be a lot of chatter about warm vacations and sunshine, all wishful thinking. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking we were gonna get hurt if the weather doesn't let up.


But it did.


Saturday was bitterly cold but sunny and hundreds of people came out for the show. Vendors could be seen smiling from ear to ear! We met so many new friends, visited with wonderful past customers and did a lot of laughing and shopping this time.


We sold out of our hanging fabric hearts, I loved these cuties,

and a little bit of all of our lines, frames, lots of brown paper elements, wine bags, coffee bean bags, furniture and candles. 

Part of the paper elements we sold included this new tag,

 Just a great time and so cool to meet so many new friends. Just a heads up I bought cool new 'stuff' to play with so look for new things in the next couple of days for our new show Saturday. 


We will be in Wheaton at the Antique Show held at the DuPage County Fairgrounds. We have never done this show, but our fellow vendors encouraged us to try it a couple of time and see. Who knows what will happen.


Til then I need to continue creating,


Suz 
the muze

Sneak Peek

Hi Everyone,


Just a real quick post about a new slip covered journal I was able to finish up for this weekend's antique show in Grayslake IL.


I just love the idea of being able to slip a new blank journal in these covers and keep the beautiful artwork at hand. 


This cover features a hand felted heart made by a great artist from WI  we met this summer in New Berlin WI at the fantastic Hawthorne Hill Farm Event. We will be going back there this year and can't wait. To save my life, I can not locate the artist business card but when I do find it, I will post it and relate the poor penguin story as well.



Here's the slipcover . . .

The printed page section is an old Sherlock Holmes volume and I just love the feel it gives pieces like this.

Well, I need to create a couple more things before this weekend, pray the snow does not materialize that they are talking about. 

Suz

the muze

A star is born

Hi Everyone,


Wow, two blog post in two days, the world may now officially come to an end, LOL! 


Back home again after two very good days in St Charles and we met a whole lot of new friends as well. Another wonderful outing! I am still saying silent thank you's as the weather is holding and it was beautiful here in Illinois, 48 degrees and sunshine instead of the typical horrific snow storms we always have had this week in past years.


After every show we finish, I always do a recap, what we sold, how I perceived people reacting to our merchandise and what conversations took place, so as to prepare for the next show. It has always been a standing rule in all my businesses that you really need to listen to what is and isn't being said in your store to get a feeling for what the customer is truly looking for. So, to that end, I try to talk to everyone that stumbles into our little world. Today, I heard the best line ever I think.


I approach a nicely dressed woman who was looking at our brown paper packages line and she asked if I made all the flowers and butterflies that were displayed on our primitive wooden ironing board. I told her yes they were mine and that I tried to introduce at least one new flower every show and a new butterfly every other show so as to keep my little garden fresh with nice package trims. Operative word here, try . . . .


She was very complementary and told me how much she liked all the different pieces. And then she said, very sincerely I might add, " You are truly talented, all these things are really so pretty but boy, it must be so very noisy in your brain, with all those ideas trying to get out."


I started laughing and she did too, and I told her she couldn't have been closer to the truth if I had written it out for her. It's true, some days, there is a real traffic jam up there trying to format all the ideas into reality and other days  . . . there is NOTHING, nadda, zilch, buptkus, zero. It is so maddening at times. You never really know who is going to show up and whether or not is is really going to work. An honest to goodness crap shoot from the get go.


But then, there are times when it really does work, like today with our old rusted bed springs. We sell quite a few of them, mostly to people who have absolutely no idea what they are going to do with them but just love the idea of having one. True, that's what most of them say! It is so funny to hear that sometimes as I am packaging them up.


So to help everyone get a clue, I came up with this idea and boy, was it ever a hit today.

A simple bud vase made with a test tube with our rusted bed spring. A big thank you to our next door show neighbor, Jeanine ( I need a French cruller now ) from Chippy Shabby. She always has fresh flowers in her booth and she graciously shared a beautiful Shasta daisy with me for this. It was so simple but so spot on for one of those perfect touches. A design star was born. If you need one of these, drop me an email, we still have a couple left ( you are on your own for the Shasta Daisy part tho).


We will be up at Grayslake IL next weekend for the Antique Show so if you are in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello. I will be the chatty one there . . . .


Til then I need to create a few more new goodies for the booth,


Suz the muze
All My Musings
630.917.8777

Welcome Surprizes

Hi Everyone,


Just walking in the door from a very busy day at the Antiques and Collectibles show in St. Charles at the Dupage Expo Center. Lots of great folks showed up at 11 AM and we stayed busy thoughout most the day.


I took some new things to this show that I was able to finish up in the nick of time.


First, is a new item for our Brown Paper Packages line called Prairie Hearts, a neat 4" heart cut from our wrapping paper and embellished with old Sherlock book pages, buttons, muslin and gauze. These are so sweet in real life and we sold some of them today.

Next is one of the many new designs in altered tin cans I am doing. This one is covered in paper with old antique foreign stamps and shipping tags attached to the outside. It will be perfect for a pencil or tool holder on a desk.

I have done these little covered books before but they sell so quickly I have never been able to get a picture posted. Gotcha this time !

The biggest surprize today came from one of our customers, Annette. When I saw her, I recognized that she had been a customer in the booth before but not remembering what she had bought until I looked at the bag she was carrying.


We are always encouraging everyone who stops in and visits to be creative and wrap a package, create something from paper of our elements and use some of those wonderful coffee bean bags into something.


Well, Annette did just that. She made this great tote bag from one of our coffee bags, one from El Salvador to be exact and it was just outstanding ! ! ! !  Talk about a full circle moment, it was really humbling.


Look at this adorable bag . . . 

I have plans on offering totes in our booth by this Spring, but was just tickled pink when Annette showed hers today. I am so thrilled to see our coffee bean bags finding new life and oh so fashionable to boot! Congrats Annette and can't wait to see the new ones you will create ( she took a armful of new burlap home today!). Thank you so much for being so generous in sharing your work. It truly was a pleasure seeing you and your bag today.

We are at St Charles tomorrow for the last time until Fall of 2012 and then on to Grayslake Antique Show next weekend. No rest for the wicked they say . . . 

Til then,

Suz the muze

All My Musings

630.917.8777