Lucketts 2016

We had a great adventure last weekend...

I had the pleasure of spending the day with my daughter and 2 best friends...

We drove to Leesburg, Virginia for the Lucketts Spring Market.

The weather was wet and overcast but there was still so much to see.

My daughter and I loved this new vendor.

She upholsters vintage chairs with everything from vintage fabric to leather and cowhides....

Mmmmmm....We loved her style.

I am gearing up at home for a studio makeover and a chair like this is on my wish list....

The leather and cowhide is probably my favorite but it was so hard to pick one.

They were all fabulous!

This fun garden art is on my radar for a few windows I have laying around...

 This tepee is always somewhere in the market....

Maybe this year I will make my own version...

There is just so much good stuff we could have taken thousands of pictures...

My daughter and I were in love with those bottles...

They are covered in barnacles...

Old ladders and tin ceiling tiles turned into a screen caught our eye and imaginations...

And check out that cool chandelier at the base of the ladder...

We found what had to be the prettiest cookies ever at this booth....

Sky's the Limit is her company name.

We each got a camper cookie and they tasted as good as they looked.

More amazing tin tiles....

I have to make something like this great pallet display.

How awesome would that be outside the studio/shed?

It was a wet, chilly but fun day.

There is always so much to see.

I always leave with my head swimming with ideas.

I will have to share my finds later.  

Sadly, they cancelled the second day of the show due to wet and muddy conditions.

I am so glad we got there to enjoy it when we did...

Thanks for stopping by....

Thrifty Thursday: Chemistry Finds at Lucketts

I know some bloggers show you everything they got all at one time.  

I tend not to do that.

I don't go thrifting every week.

And I like to savor my finds.

When we went to Lucketts this spring, my daughter came and got me from one booth to show me "some cool chemistry stuff".

We found all sorts of goodies.

I am just going to show you what I chose.

My daughter got a bunch of cool chemistry stuff herself.  

She also told the seller what the pieces she had left were used for and how they went together.

I got all the glass test tubes she had.

I have never seen ones with caps.

Some had plastic and some had metal.

Very, very cool....

I also got these tiny glass bottles.

They are destined to become little reliquaries and vials filled with treasures.

And last but not least, check out these tiny little bottles.

So much possibility...

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.

Massive Score...KEYS!! Thrifting Thursday...

A few weeks ago I made a trip to Lucketts Spring market with friends and my daughter.

Although the day was HOT, we had a great time.

I found a few goodies, but my favorite find was this haul of new old stock keys.

They are not even cut yet.

They are old enough to be cool and have great patina.

After taking the photo, I put them in a half gallon pickle jar.

They would not all fit.

I cannot wait to work with these in some designs.

Thanks for stopping by...

                 Linking up with these great blogs.

Fun Studio Organization from Artistic Endeavors 101

January always makes me want to clean up and organize.

I am fortunate enough to have several creative spaces, but organization always seems to be a challenge.

Here are a couple of my favorite ways to organize.

I make my own polymer clay beads.

I love to organize them so I can clearly see what I have.

These are organized in a house shaped shadow box.

The little compartments are perfect for sorting what I have made.

I use this tie/belt rack that I got at the thrift store to hold chains and necklaces.

I used to use these printer's trays in my booth to hold necklaces, but people tangled things in them.

I decided to use them myself in the studio to organize my favorite bits and baubles.

I love that I can see what I have and easily choose components.

This fun industrial drawer unit came from Lucketts last spring.

It was my big splurge of the day.

I adore it.

Last summer I made this spinning studio organization.

All my favorite materials are readily available.

Tin cans got a new look with a coat of spray paint and some burlap.

Sugar shakers hold spools of baker's twine.

They do not get tangled and are easy to use.

All my favorite markers and pencils are finally all in one place.

This year I want to start an art journal.

This will keep all those materials at my fingertips.

The colors inspire me and make me smile.

I bought this little shelf from a closed store in town.

It only takes up a few inches of table space, yet it organizes many of my most used supplies.

My big paper punches rest on a tension rod I added.

My RIT dyes are close to the sink here and ready as soon as inspiration strikes.

Another tension rod holds spools of ribbon.

I love ribbon.

You can see how much I love ribbon.

This was my husbands brilliant idea.

We used long clear rods to hold 5 rows of ribbon.

My husband added wood strips to this storage shelf and screwed in cup hooks to hold the rods.

I also keep twine and cotton string and lace here.

This galvanized tiered rack was on clearance from Sam's last year.

I imagine it will end up holding many things, many places in my studio and home.

I try to use what I have.

What is your favorite studio storage piece?

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these blogs.

Baby Steps to A Clean Studio...

I am still chipping away at the studio.

It does get overwhelming.  

So I am trying to celebrate the little victories.

My workbench area is shaped like a U.  I have a long counter along the wall with old kitchen cabinets above and below.

At one end is our old kitchen table.

It kicks out from the counter at a right angle.

From the other end is a tall counter my husband created for me from an extra locker from work.

He suggested turning it on it's side and then we put casters on it so I can move it if I need to.

I wanted to put a lot of my tools and such on there so I can find them.

Over time it got really full.

Eventually I made curtains from an old shower curtain from the thrift store for the front to hide my mess.

Here are a couple before the cleaning shots:

That is a lot of stuff....

You can see part of the U shape work area here:

My target area is to the left in the picture.

When I went to Lucketts this spring, one of my finds was this amazing industrial style metal cabinet.

I love it and actually cleaned it and got it into the studio the day after I bought it...

A new record!

I love all those amazing little drawers.

I am filling them slowly with new flea market goodies and supplies I use frequently.

You can see this paint rack is actually accessible.

Remember, the one on the other side of the studio serves duel storage purposes.

Those cool copper canisters were a thrift store find this

spring. 

 There were 2 larger ones that said $4 for the set. 

 Cool, I thought.

  They will make great studio storage.

I paid for them, brought them home and got them out to clean them.

I opened them up and there were two more little ones inside!

A bonus!

Score!

Took them from a good buy to a great buy.

My daughter even likes them.

One is filled with lace.

One is filled with stained and dyed cheesecloth.

The other two are waiting...

Also on the counter now are three printers ' trays from a family junking trip this spring.

My husband spied these for me.

He knows my weakness for these trays.

These are actually the cleanest, nicest, least damaged trays I have ever seen.

So I paid a little more than usual.

I usually put them into my booth for jewelry display but I decided to enjoy these in my studio every day.

I am filling them with goodies from a recent junking score.

The vendor was liquidating. 

 He offered 7 jewelry boxes and contents for an unheard of price each.

I could not scoop them up fast enough.

I did not even really look at them until I got them home.

They were full of lots of cool pieces.

The rest we will put on Etsy.

There are some other junking goodies.

Pebbles and sewing notions.

So you can see I am making progress.

A little bit each day.

There is a reason behind the steady push.

I am working to get it done so I can work here again.

So I can find my supplies and tools.

And so I can participate in the Where Bloggers Create Tour 2014.

So watch for my studio tour on July 11th.

Until then I will keep updating you on my progress.

Thanks for stopping by....