Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Go Big Orange!

A play on a football reference, although the College Football, TN Volunteer loving men in my house were shouting "Go Big Orange!!" all this past Saturday afternoon.
 
I on the other hand apparently was on an orange kick when I was at the Nashville Flea market this weekend.
 
Again....it was hot. The heat did not break for us until Monday, it has been cooler so far this week and, oh my it feels soooooo much better!
 
But last weekend I was sweating my way through the vintage. September is a big market so there were a lot of vendors. But again, I did not find a ton that I wanted to bring home with me. I was shopping for a friend as well, looking for a vintage stainless steel water pitcher and cow creamer...struck out there too. But what I did find I really liked!
 
Love these mint condition, orange Anchor Hocking bowls! Seven bowls, a buck a piece, not bad!
 
 

And the cutest Tang pitcher. As predicted, I am seeing Tang pitchers all over the place now. I found three of the white milk glass Tang pitchers as I wandered through the flea market. I am very pleased to say that every single one of them was priced higher than I paid on Ebay! Love it when I score a good deal.
 
 
I think they make a great breakfast set!
 
And I found more Little Golden Books to craft with. I think another butterfly box will have to be made soon!
 
 
And flatware to hammer. Again this month my usual flatware guy was MIA. Luckily I found another vendor with a smaller selection, but better prices so I grabbed a big handful. I probably still need more, I find that I am running very low on sentiment spoons to have on hand.
 
 
Some beautiful patterns in here! Yes, the prettier they are, the harder they are for me to hammer.

 
Not a huge haul, but still a satisfying trip to the Flea Market, I plan to get a few Fall and Halloween spoons hammered out the next couple of nights to bring to Creative Village on Saturday. I have also been working on Christmas ornaments. I am proud of myself for starting these early this year!
 
I hope you are enjoying some cooler Fall temps this week, I know I sure am! Looking forward to getting up early Saturday morning to cool temps and drinking some hot coffee in my She Shack. Best way to spend an early Autumn morning! 

Saturday, September 24, 2016

How about doing something?

Today is September 24th and I am in the pool, spending Saturday afternoon much like I have spent at least a few hours every Saturday (and Sunday) afternoon since May. This will undoubtedly be the last pool weekend, so I did allow myself a couple hours even though I think at this point it is not the best idea for me to be killing time in the pool. I have too much to do.
 

 I love my weekend pool time, but I have to say, standing in the pool, looking at magazines, with pumpkins on the cover, reading about roasting vegetables and enjoying hot soup seems so weird to me right now. It is a week away from October, 93 degrees and this is the latest I have ever been able to get into the pool  since we have had a pool, at least nine years.
 
Even Bruno is over the heat and bored of hanging out with me in the pool.



 Last weekend I realized that I have been moaning and complaining about being tired, uninspired and in a creative funk for more than a month now. Who wants to listen to that? To be fair, it seems to be a malaise that everyone, especially the people at my office seem to be suffering from as well. Everyone is hot, overworked and tired. But here I sat, waiting to feel creative again. Not much happens when you just sit there waiting for things to happen. 
 
You have to do something.
 
During my daily problem solving, "Disturbed" blaring, commute sessions home, I asked myself why I was not shaking this funk off.  Hummm, probably because I was not really trying to. What am I doing now that is causing this stagnation? Nothing, I am doing nothing. Pool, football games, errands, house chores, work, flipping mindlessly through pinterest and squeezing in the very minimum of hammering to build stock up. Doing nothing is causing the stagnation and killing my inspiration.
 
I am my own worst enemy.
 
Thankfully I am also the one that can fix that!
 
So, what have I done this week to change things? Well, I realized I had stopped making
"to do" lists,  planning my weekends and evenings, even jotting ideas down in my notebook. I LIVE by lists. I always say, "If it does not get written down, it does not happen" very true for me. I am a die hard, very productive list maker. So, I made a list of what I needed to do for every night of the week like I used to do.
 
 
 
It helped, I got a lot done. Including some crafting and hammering. I even did some yoga! I have missed doing yoga!
 
I also stopped spending an hour and a half each night before going to sleep with my face in my iPad. Instead, I picked up two books that have been sitting on my nightstand since Spring. I love Julia Child, and I will read at least two letters between her and Avis Devoto before pulling out "American Ghost" and reading a least one chapter. Honestly both books are so interesting, I have been knocking out a couple letters and two chapters a night.
 
 
I started actually thinking about being creative with food again and not just throwing something on the table just to feed everyone.
 
My daughter and I even did one of our "girls night" dinners last Saturday night. Soup, good bread and decadent desserts. So good!
 
 
I did little things that I love like buying flowers and lighting my insulators up in the evenings.
 

 
 And paying a bit more attention to my neglected garden flowers.
 
 
 
And you know what happened? I started to feel better. I started to feel more productive, inspired and actually wanted to get out there and start DOING something.
 
 
Ideas for new Fall spoons!
 
 
And I started working on a sign to use in my booth/tent at some Holiday craft shows that I am excited to be involved with this holiday season!
 
This is still a work in progress, and I am excited to finish it. I think it will look great with my aluminum sunflowers sitting on display next to it!
 
As a matter of fact, it gave me a couple ideas of things to do to spruce up my front porch decorations as well! Inspiration always inspires more inspiration!
 
It was still hot this week, work was still miserable, but getting off my butt and just doing something really helped!
 
It actually really surprised me when I realized how many of the "little things" that had always been such a regular part of my day to day life, had fallen out of my regular daily habits, and how much it impacted me.
 
So you will excuse me, but I have to get up and get some stuff done!
 
Hope you are having a productive weekend!
 
 

 

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Just one of those things.....

Long ago when I first started collecting vintage I was obsessed with Bavarian China. Everything and anything Bavarian. Especially serving bowls (surprise, surprise). And I still love them to this day although I do not often find one that I feel like I just have to pick up.
 
Since the weather today was SO not pool weather, and I needed to drop my flower box and some spoons at Creative Village, we decided to run into my favorite indoor flea market to see what we could find. It has been a month since I was last in there, and not much had changed. Still seeing the same stock, not much new at all. Sad.
 
But one thing did catch my eye. A Bavarian made portrait vase. It was hidden on a shelf behind some junk, but it caught my eye and basically jumped off the shelf at me. I am amazed at how light and fragile it is.
 


Isn't she lovely?

 
In my favorite color as well. Love green!
 
Next weekend is the Nashville Flea Market. September, October and November are usually some of the biggest markets of the year and I am praying that the heat lets up (yes, it is still hitting 90, almost every day) so we can enjoy taking our time exploring the market without feeling like we are about to melt into the asphalt!
 
It looks like the rain that has stayed with us all day today is finally moving out and looks like tomorrow will be a good day to enjoy the pool. I think this is the latest I have even been able to enjoy the pool. This ongoing heat wave is going to make for a very short Autumn.
 
Hope you are having a lovely weekend!
 

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

All finished!

My Sunflower box!
All finished!
I must say, I am so pleased with how it turned out!
 
 
I of course had to add some butterflies!
 

 
Off it goes to Creative Village on Saturday morning. I love how it is very "Fall" like, but could just as easily sit out all Summer long. Flowers that never fade, gotta love it!
 
 
I am definitely making another box right away for the fall craft shows, they are really so fun to make!
 
Hope your having a great week!
 

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Coming out of it...

Painfully slowly, way too slowly. I think I am finally coming out of my creative funk.
 
Not long ago I saw a picture somewhere of a pallet box like we make filled with beautiful Zinnias. I loved the contrast of the reds, yellows and oranges next to the dark rustic pallet wood box and I have been turning it over in my head ever since trying to think of a way to recreate the look.
 
I think I have finally hit on it.
 
Of course I turned to aluminum cans. Why do I like working with cans so much?
 
Anyway....
 
I felt like I had something with the base that I use for my hydrangea flowers. Turns out...I do.

 

Just a little snipping, twirling and bending...They look more like sunflowers than Zinnias, but you know how much I love sunflowers, so I am ok with it.


A blast of spray paint. By the way....I love spray paint. Is there a repressed graffiti artist living inside of me? I think it is possible.
 
What was really stumping me was what to use in the center.  That stumped me for a couple weeks. I thought about fabric? Dried flowers? Felt? Glass stones? Tiny aluminum flowers? None of those Ideas set me on fire.
 
The only good thing about my long commute to work and back is that can I blast my music as loud as my speakers will allow and let my mind just wander. I can always rely upon blaring music to help me drown out my thoughts and lessen my stress level which somehow almost always ends up helping me solve a problem.
 
Stress reduction therapy care of blasting "Disturbed" at top volume. I have every album they have made loaded in the CD magazine in my car and just play them in rotation.
 Heavy Metal.... It works.
 
 
So this afternoon I sat down to put it all together, and realized....I need to make a few more flowers. Dang...Back to cutting, twirling, bending and spraying.
 
 
 You know I am going to have to tuck a few butterflies in there right?
 
But I am liking how it looks so far! Should have it finished this week, so off to Creative Village it will go next Saturday. Hopefully someone else will like it as much as I do! At least I hope so cause it has been darn fun to make!
 
Hope you are having a great weekend, and enjoying some cooler temps!