Coolin Days Show - Memorial Weekend

 It was a gorgeous weekend in Coolin Idaho, up at Priest Lake.  We had a nice little spot for the Coolin Days Show and settled in comfortably.  Our neighbors were super friendly, and we had a good time getting to know each other.  Sorry for the iced coffee in the pic, lol.  Best Buzz coffee was right across from us, so I was a happy camper!!!  Honestly, I think they did the most business of anyone at the show!

This is my business signage when I don't have access to electrical for the Marquee sign

 Our first day, we were a little short on shade.  Our current set up doesn't have a roof, so I will say, it did get a little warm.  Thankfully, my sister had a bistro style umbrella she lent us for the show.  That gave us a spot to go when the sun got to be too much.  I wore a big 'ol straw hat, so that also helped immensely!   Mike had an idea for providing that much needed shade for Sunday, so when we got home on Saturday evening, he set about gathering up some materials (salvaged, of course!!!) to create a roof.  This is the booth before Mike made the roof:

 And here it is with the much needed shade of a roof:

 At one time, we had a pop up canopy, like most craft show vendors do, but I left it up one day when a massive thunder storm blew through, and well, it became a mangled mess.  The piece Mike used for the roof was one of the side walls, and the pipes were from a carport type canopy that collapsed from ice and wind a few winters ago.  They are really light weight, so they worked perfectly for this.

It really made a huge difference in the comfort level on Sunday!

Here are a few pics showing some of the new items I've been working on:

In this picture, you can see the potting table I made that has a cute vintage sink dropped in.  It's in working condition, so it's a nice little spot to wash off some of the dirt from a day in the garden.  I know it's kind of hard to see with all the stuff on it.  Here's a picture I took right after I put it together:

I've added 3 old bed springs holding cute little terracotta pots, across the top rail of the picket fence

Here's a pic of the beverage center.

It was an old sewing cabinet I've had sitting around for years.  I finally decided to do something with it.  We don't have a lot of visitors out here at the ranch, but when we do, we tend to grab a wash tub or something and fill it with ice for drinks.  I've always wanted a "beverage center", and this is what I came up with.  I have a few other designs in mind, and will work on them as time allows.  

This baby worked great!!!  We had ice cold drinks for the entire weekend.  It got a LOT of attention, but I think mostly for people that have an old cabinet of their own laying around, collecting dust.  I wish them luck.  Honestly, I do.  I bled more making this project then anything else I've made!!!

Here are a few of the new signs I've made for the Coolin Days show:

There are so many more sign designs I've made lately that I don't have pictures of.  I'll try to get some of them photographed as soon as possible and be them posted.   

I'm taking a break from the shows for a little while, but I have some big plans for the future.  I'll fill y'all in on the details shortly. 

As always, if you have questions or comments, please feel free to post them here on the blog, or email me directly.  

 

A work in Progress

A Diamond in the Rough

As usual, I forgot to take any pictures before I started taking it apart.  I don't know why I never can remember to grab my camera (or phone).  Anyway, this is almost a before pic, lol!  At this point, I've already removed the vintage sewing machine (set aside for another project) and all the other "guts", and started working on the top.  When I decided what I wanted to do with this piece, I had a choice to make.  The veneer was pulling away,  as you can see in these pictures:

I could try to re-glue it back down, or I could try to strip off the pealing veneer.  I chose to strip it off.  Everytime I do a project like this, I convince myself that the offending veneer will come off, in one or two large pieces, easy-peasy.  HAHAHAHA!!!!

This is a portion of the top after about 2 hours of peeling, and scraping:

And this picture shows the entire top.  The arrows show my customary blood splatters.  I kid you not, I manage to stab, slice, or nail myself on pretty much every project I work on!

I this instance, I stabbed my finger when the scraper slipped.  I've never been known to be graceful, or for that matter, particularly careful.  Thankfully, the cut is pretty small, and really, this picture shows how little it actually bled.  I must say though, 2 hours after cutting myself, my finger is really sore, and seems to want to keep bleeding.  I've cleaned it well, so I'm not worried about it. 

I guess my little accident came at about as good a time as possible today.  It was time for me to get my evening chores done, and the critters were letting me know it was time I got to work doing my "real" job, lol!  Here at the ranch, the critters come first, and all other projects line up behind.  Let me tell you, it's a REALLY long line, lol!

So, that's all I have on this project for today.  I'm hoping to have a reveal of the finished piece in a day or two.  It all really depends on how much veneer removal I'm going to have to do.  I think you'll like the "After" pics when I get this little beauty finished.

Here's one last look at the "Before"

It's Spring Craft Fair Season!

We've been working hard to get into the swing of the Spring Craft Shows.  So far, we've participated in 3 shows, Custer, WSU, and Shadle Park High School craft fairs.  The picture above was from Custer, our first show.  We did pretty well and receive a lot of great feedback.  WSU was not what I was expecting.  I found out there was a HUGE craft fair being held on campus (which I thought I was participating in).  Unfortunately,  we were in a smaller show dedicated to Fashion and Beauty.  There were NO signs to direct people to the upstairs gym we were located in.  It was pretty slow, and I was a bit disappointed with the turn out, so I didn't take any pics.   I met some really nice people though, so that was good.  Last weekend, we did the Shadle Park show.  Mike had made some little side walls for the display.  It helps with stability of the main wall, and gives me a little more display area.

 The weather was beautiful, which I think kind of worked against us.   I'm beginning to think maybe Spring shows are just going to be a little "lighter" in attendance.   Once again, I met some really nice people, and was even approached about being a guest artist at a Gallery in Priest Lake.  

Here are some pictures of some of the signs and accessories I brought to the show.  Many have sold, so I'll busy over the next 3 weeks preparing for the Garden Expo at Spokane Community College, May 9th.

Thanks for checking in.  Please feel free to contact me if you have something you'd like custom made.  I love doing special pieces for people.  I am also planning on listing some of my work in my Etsy shop soon.  I will post a link once I get that going.

If you are in the Spokane area, I'd love it if you stopped by my booth at the Garden Expo and said hi.  It should be a great show.  I'll post more details when I receive them from the show promoters.

Buffalo Girls, won't you come out tonight?

FINALLY!  

It only took 6 attempts, several tools, most of them completely inappropriate for the job, and a few tears, but it's finally done.  I'm really pleased with the final piece, but boy, oh boy, did this test my tenacity!  

It looks simple enough, which is why I thought it would be a complete breeze.  I guess I needed to be brought back down to earth and reminded that I really don't have a clue what I'm doing with most of my power tools, LOL!!!  Oh well, I'm learning, and that's really the most important thing, right?

Here it is:

I dug through my scrap wood, game pieces and rulers and old belts to get the patchwork stripes.  There was quite a lot of trial and error to get this worked out. In fact, the first go round, the wood scraps I put together ended up being too wide, which didn't give enough contrast for my taste.  I knew when I took the first picture that I was going to distress the light blue board, cuz that's just how I roll, lol!

That's all I have for today.  Hoping to get a lot done tomorrow.  I hope, I hope, I hope.

Oh, The Frustration!

I had such high hopes for getting a million things done on Friday.  OK, maybe not a "million", but I planned to get a lot more done  then I did, that's for sure!  It seemed as though everything I tried to do backfired.  I've been trying to create a Buffalo piece of art, and I had a couple designs I wanted to try.  Well, lets just say I'm back to the drawing board.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not stranger to creation through trial and error.  In fact, that's pretty much how I work on a daily basis, lol!  But, for some reason, Friday was more frustrating then productive.  

I guess I should preface by saying that I work with the most rudimentary tools, all of which are second hand (like most things in my life, lol!) .  I was raised to shop thrift stores, yard sales and pawn shops for usable items.  This has worked just fine for me, as I wouldn't have most of the things I have today if I only bought things brand new.  Really, the age of my tools isn't the issue.  The issue is I'm trying to use the wrong tools for the projects at hand.  The Buffalo piece I mentioned before has a very narrow piece for the tail, which in EVERY attempt so far has broken off in the cutting process.  Nothing breaks my spirit more then to have a project go wrong, time and time again.  I tried at least 5 times to cut this Buffalo out, first using a jigsaw, then Mike suggested I try the Rotozip.  Both did fine until I got to the tail.  The Rotozip was better, but the tail still broke off.  SO FRUSTRATING!!!  I suppose I should also say that I am not an experienced wood worker.  I honestly have no real clue as to what I'm doing, lol!  I just pick up a tool and start playing with it.  

Now, in addition to the frustration I was having with my lack of skills, I also had Spock and Bob (the goats) running around part of the time, to get their daily exercise.  They are notorious for knocking stuff over, stealing chunks of wood and whatever else they could get their mouths on, and just, in general, a source of constant mayhem.  I know, not my smartest move!  Anyway, once they were good and tired, I put them back in their temporary pen and went back to work.  At some point, I noticed Bob was out running around again, and when I took a closer look, I saw that Spock had somehow gotten himself trapped between the feed trough that is attached to the barn and the pallets that make up the temporary pen.  I had to stop what I was doing and go out and rescue poor Spock.  I always joke that he's cute, so he doesn't have to be smart, lol, but I'm beginning to think he's even "simpler" then I originally thought!!!  Anyway, after completely tearing apart 2 sides of the pen, I was able to get him free.  More time sucked away from working on my project, but at least Spock didn't get hurt this time, and I was able to put the pen back together fairly quickly.  

Anyway, about the time I was ready to give up, in tears, I looked out the window and saw this:

Princess Bertha Belle!  She always seems to know when I need a little love.  I put my tools down, and went to the window and rubbed her pretty face and ears, and she snuggled right up to the window and offered wet, slimey kisses.  If you've never known the love of a cow, you've missed out.  She is so sweet and affectionate.  I really needed that lovin' right at that moment!  

The critters here at the ranch give me so much joy and happiness.  Yes, even Spock and Bob!  They are young, and full of energy and curiosity.  That is always a recipe for chaos, but for the most part, they are sweet and loving little gentlemen.  OK, gentlemen is pushing it, but they are typical little boys, full of mischief and always looking for something to get into.

Anyway, Mike felt so bad for me that he looked on Craigslist for a scroll saw and we picked it up yesterday to try making the intricate cuts I was having trouble with before.  Wish me luck!  I don't know if I'll be able to master the scroll saw, but what I do know is that I am blessed, even when I get so frustrated I want to cry!

I will post the results of my first attempts of using the scroll saw, provided I don't accidentally cut of a finger or something, lol!

Spring Cleaning!

After the crazy week prior to the Custer Show - working outside, in cold, sometimes snowy weather, we decided to clean up the barn and make room for working on the building portion of the crafting business.  The goats were ready to move back outside, so the first thing was to take down the temporary pen we built with pallets and start shoveling out the bedding.

This was NOT fun, lol!!!  I am so fortunate to have a wonderful husband that offered to do the worst of the bedding removal.  Since he was kind enough to work on that, I decided to tackle this:

Can you say YIKES!  It was getting a little difficult to maneuver in there, lol!!!

Anyway, here's what it looks like after 2 days of cleaning.

I just realized I didn't take a picture of the wall of shelves.  It has been cleaned up and organized too, but to the "untrained eye", it still looks messy, lol!  I'll try to get a picture of that area tomorrow.

  It's been raining non-stop for the past 2 days,  and it got a little chilly out in the barn.  Even though we fired up the kerosene heater, it was still a little cold.  Probably should have thought of it first thing instead of waiting until we'd been working out there for several hours!  After fighting off the chill for the the better part of the day, we decided it was time to head into the house.  I have to admit, I'm ready for some "curl up in a blanket and watch movies" time.   Tomorrow, it's right back to cutting wood, sanding, painting and waxing!  

Custer's 40th Annual Spring Arts and Crafts Show was a SUCCESS!

Hi Everyone!!!

I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to update my blog.  I was crazy busy getting ready to participate in the Custer Spring Show.  I was super fortunate to get a space due to a last minute cancellation.  I had 10 days to get everything ready, INCLUDING DISPLAYS!  I had a few pieces ready, but for the most part, I would say about 90% of what you see in the picture above was created in those 10 days.

Here are some close ups of some of the items in my booth.

I've been taking the week following the show to regroup, and am hopeful to get right back to creating starting next week.  I will post any upcoming shows I will be participating in as I get confirmation.  I was encouraged by several of my fellow vendors to apply to some very prestigious shows, (which I found very complimentary!) and have been contacting them over the past few days.  

I also had the wonderful good fortune to meet the lovely ladies of Buffalo Girls Vintage Jewelry the other day while out looking for salvage material for new creations.  These beautiful ladies create amazing jewelry from salvaged metals, leathers and other quality materials.  While talking about our mutual love of all things old, crusty, rusty and salvaged, we found that our styles blend beautifully.  I will be working on some custom signage for them, and they are working on a new line of doggy jewelry (I had Harley with me, AS ALWAYS, LOL) and it is possible that Harley will be the spokes-dog for this new line.  

I mean, seriously, who wouldn't find this little guy irresistible?

I can't begin to express how blessed I am feeling right now.  I have been struggling with what direction to take my life recently, feeling as though the extreme amount of work I've been doing over the past year and a half was being done in vain.  I have spent an inordinate amount of time (and personal finances) using my "creative obsession" helping others make money, whether intentionally, or not so much, while not even coming close to covering my own costs.   To finally, personally have some positive results, has truly given me the motivation I needed to continue down the path that has been set before me.

  

I would like to thank all of the wonderful friends and family that have been so supportive.  Without you, I NEVER could have had such a great show, or be looking forward to all the bright and shiny fun times ahead.

I am BLESSED indeed!