country living and a fair

did you know the country living fair came to atlanta this past weekend??? i definitely did and i made sure i arrived bright and early on friday to shop. but first i had to get my picture taken in front of the pumpkin patch before the area got too crowded.

there was so much eye candy, i didn't know where to start first. however, we did know one thing since we remembered the crowds last year, we decided to start at the end and work our way to the front.

this double shabby chic booth was amazing! (i grabbed a card, but no website listed :( if you know it, shoot me an email). it was done out in white and cream sheets and lots of vintage goodies. the styling was impeccable.

i rounded a corner and the skys parted when i came across a booth entirely of buttons. seriously, every kind of button and price point you could imagine. the woman who runs this booth also sets up shop at the new lakewood antiques north of the city.

vintage notions were available everywhere. i especially love this vignette because it gives me an idea of ribbon storage i can build.

the sisters on the fly girls were also there with two of their beautifully redone campers. isn't the custom painting amazing???

this is the inside of one of the campers. i just want to crawl inside and take a nap. actually it really makes me want to scour the internet for a camper of my own to redo and park in my back yard as a little retreat.

this was a sweet decoration that twiststyle added to a tree outside of her booth. genius way to attract customers as they round the corner.

i think i walked and shopped for 9 hours straight with 3 trips out to the car to deposit goodies. overall, i thought the fair was so much fun. i did wish that there was more individual art and less wholesale products represented, but still a great day.

check back tomorrow to see how i helped out at the fair on saturday, along with a giveaway you won't want to miss!

labels and country living

i've been sewing up a flurry of aprons this past week. i shouldn't say this, but sometimes i get so burnt out on making them, the redundancy of it all, so there is a long time in between batches. but once i get going again, i love mixing together crazy patterns and seeing all the colorful fabric laying around my studio. the best part about this batch? they are the first ones that include my woven business label. i get very giddy over the professionalism of it all!!!

and...

they will be for sale at the atlanta country living fair this weekend at stone mountain along with my hoop art! i will be helping out the lovely kelly mccants in her "modern june" booth and she has graciously offered to sell my creations alongside of hers. i will be there all day long on saturday cutting up a storm of oilcloth and laminated cotton fabrics. and, who am i kidding, probably buying some as well. if you are in the atlanta area, swing by and say hello!

and...

did you know that kelly is the author of this new book? she is going to be doing a signing at whipstitch fabrics tonight if you can't wait for the weekend and want to swing by and pick up your very own copy :)

goals and dreams, a recap

about a year and a half ago, i posted about my goals and dreams for linwood avenue. i thought it would be a good thing to revisit them to see where i stand. i try to be a very motivated person, and to actually put one foot in front of the other when i put my mind to something. looking back over the list lets me know where i have made strides and where i need to devote more time. so here goes...

small goals:

• be published in a national magazine by the end of the year  - yay for artful blogging!
• create a calendar with my botanical drawings and find a publisher for it. month to month in flowers, but with a modern, youthful twist - 6 more months to draw
• purchase linwood avenue embroidered labels for my products regardless of cost - loving these!
  
• become a much better product photographer - photos aren't yet where i want them to be, but i'm getting there.
• keep my etsy shop update regularly - working on this
• save money to attend an art retreat - art and soul portland
  

big goals:

• enter the world of licensing. would love to design and reproduce vintage inspired lamps
• expand linwood avenue so it overshadows my graphic design business - not yet, but it is about half/half right now which is great!

blog goals:

• have my blog become a place of creative inspiration for readers  - i think adding more tutorials has helped this.
• build my blog followers - thank you once again artful bloggging!
• have a larger tutorial section - my partnership with may arts has contributed greatly to this section. 

that's it for now. i feel good about what i have accomplished and some of the items are almost there. overall, i really, really need to devote more time to etsy because i think that will overflow into some of the other goals. and i really want to finish the botanical calendar because i think i will feel such a sense of accomplishment after it is done. don't you love how freely you can breath after you have finished something that has been hanging around for a long time?

blooms and rain

this is the piece i was holding in my post about the classes i took at art and soul. it was the first one i created in class that day and i am really so proud of it. it is sitting on the bookshelf which hangs above my desk and i can't stop peeking at it. it makes me happy, pure and simple :)

more estates and sales

this has not been a good week so far. nope, not at all. i came down with an awful cold on friday and it has lasted clear through today with a minor trip to the ER on monday (don't worry mom, i'm alright). good news is i am on the upswing thanks to some great drugs that may or may not have been injected into my backside :)

so for today's post, you get to see some of my latest finds because, well, that is about all i can muster right now.

you all know my love for milk glass, specifically fenton, right? well, when i was in portland, we stopped at a random parking lot sale that was in the process of closing. i walked up and down a few aisles and then darted to this lovely platter. i knew it was fenton right away, but had to conceal my utter delight. i asked the guy how much it was, he went and asked his dad, and came back with $4. what? did you say $4??? let's just say i whipped my cash out as fast as i could and immediately walked away with a treasure in my hand.

this next piece i found at an estate sale near my house last week. estate sale is a bit of an understatement. it was actually a sale in a warehouse that included 9 full estates. can you say huge and overwhelming! anyway, after i pushed through my last aisle, i came across this vintage seltzer bottle. let me just say that i have been looking at these forever! with this one, the $10 price tag and the beautiful blue color sold me in an instant.

for a while i couldn't figure out if it was actually old or just a reproduction. once i got it home, i could see it a bit more clearly and realized that the straw inside is glass, so that means it is old/original, right? chime in if you know anything about seltzer bottles. i love it no matter what, so even if you tell me it is a reproduction, i won't be sad.

so, those are the treasures that have come into my home lately. i am getting very addicted and can't stop bringing things home. all i keep thinking about is how to stop my house from becoming an episode on hoarders???