More Penny Tiles

You liked the floor of the Standard enough that I have to do a follow up post...

Amanda pointed out this Apartment Therapy post with instruction on how to do it yourself. This particular floor used about $35 worth of pennies -- cheap from a materials point of view, if not for labor. Scroll down to a long comment by "teeze" for the how-to.

And Cheetah Velour sent this from the New York Times of a bar covered completely in pennies.

IT CAME! NEW ITEM! 46th ANNIVERSARY

My wonderful gift arrived today from Evelyn of LEE HILL PRIMITIVES and it’s even better than the pictures show.

I absolutely love everything and it smells sooooo good. The sweet Annie and Coffee scented Pantry Cake and Corn are wonderful.
THANK YOU EVELYN!

I have to now get them in their place but that will have to be tomorrow.

I whipped up a cute little runner for Christmas last night. I had a couple hours free (yeah, right!) so I came up with this….I made it as a 10 x 22 trying to keep the sizes and the prices down and more affordable.

Today is our 46th Wedding Anniversary and I guess it was like any other day of the week/year.
Doug had a delivery to make in WI and IL and just got back a bit ago while I sewed up orders and now he just went out to bring us back some Burgers/Fries/Onion Rings from one of the bars downtown…there’s nothing better than a bar burger….all juicy and grilled.

Well, better go eat my wonderful Anniversary Dinner….LOL

Karen

ANYONE HEARD FROM……

I have had Lea from Farmhouse Blessings on my mind for some time now. I was wondering if anyone has personally heard from her.
http://farmhouseblessings.blogspot.com/

On her May 16th post she said she decided to stop posting on her blog and put her time and love into her family and home and I commend her but I miss her. She left her blog open for all those who enjoyed her recipes and suggestions -

After reading her posts on A SIMPLE WOMAN’S DAYBOOK it always left me with a feeling of peace. Her outlook on life is so positive and complete and she is just is the sweetest.

I also wonder how Colton is doing. He is always a huge part of her posts.

Anyway…if anyone has heard from her just leave a post her.

Karen

Surprises at CB2

I'm always surprised at the vintage industrial style pieces CB2 -- purveyor of extremely modern style -- offers. Their most recent catalog had a couple that piqued my fancy:

Gear Tealights, $6.95 each

Firefly Pendant Lamp, $199 (But only with Edison bulbs!)


Miner Side Table-Stool, $149
A bit too modern for my taste, but could be used to add some edge to a traditional room with a lot of wood and leather.


A bamboo model of the Chrysler Building in New York, $29.95
I love the idea of architectural models, but the bamboo seems to make this a bit too "light"--both in color and visual weight--for most of my rooms. I'm tempted to get this and spray paint it black.

UPDATED MY LAST POST

I just updated the post I put on this morning…
I added pictures of the Bittersweet we found.

It’s really embarrassing looking but I wanted to know
if I got the right stuff and woe and behold….when I went
to take a picture of it I noticed they started to open…
so I guess I got Bittersweet!

YIPPPEEEE I WON!

Oh you must see what I won from Evelyn from
Lee Hill Primitives
Give A-Way!

I am am so excited and now I’m anxious to receive it.
It’s awesome….just look at all those goodies.
You must visit Evelyn over at here blog….she’s just the dearest and she makes some of the most beautiful offerings and decorates beautifully.
http://leehillprimitives.blogspot.com/

THANK YOU EVELYN…I’ll post pictures when
they arrive and get settled in their new home.

 

I was looking for Bittersweet this weekend and only found this one little vine….and the berries
were such a deep, deep orange red.
There were no splits in the berries, no shell popped open.

Questions:  When they are ready to pick?
What should they look like?
All the one’s I see on the blogs,
there are the 4 little pod leaves behind the berry.
Here are a couple pictures of what I found….
Very measley. Just a couple branches off one vine.
And today when i went out to take a picture
THEY WERE OPENING UP!!!!!

 
See, not much there on each stem! 
 
And this is the vine they came from. 

 

How many of you out there have this wonderful book?
I am so wanting one – they are quite expensive but
I’ve seen it in a store we go to in Lancaster, PA
and I think when we go again in October
I will pick one up for myself this time.

 

I forgot to add a couple pictures the other day of our trip up north over the weekend – it’s my favorite place to go when we are up there – it’s the Crafter’s Mall at the Dells – Oh so many goodies all under one roof. I loose myself in there, thank goodness there’s always someone with me…lol

Doug and my brother usually head out for the third
building – the Antiques, while Gail and I are in the Crafts. Oh, I didn’t notice till now…that’s my brother by his truck!

That’s it for today – enjoy!
Karen

Killer Robot Designs

Killer Robot Designs makes custom furniture and lighting from reclaimed materials.

The Cluster Bomb Hanging Light, assembled from 16 old lamp fixtures.

Coffee Table from Vintage Samsonite Luggage.

WHOLESALE & FUN

Morning everyone…well I’m glad to be home again!

Seems the older I get the more effort I have to put into going away for a few days. I guess I make it that way on myself though because even though it’s for 2 and a half days I take everything I own with me! You understand that I’m sure….just can’t survive if I don’t have this or that and usually come back home and haven’t touched nearly any of it!

No computer or internet service up there so it was a long couple days.

We headed out very early Sunday morning for Madison, WI for the Market Square Wholesale Cash & Carry show and had a bit of success there finding some things.

I did get a 4 ft. snowman cutout of plywood and painted all cute – he will go on our front porch for our Home Show the end of November.

And the same vendor had these cute wall plaques.

Plus I found the shoo-fly screens I’ve been wanting. I bought 4 of them because I have 3 here already.

More battery candles in stock now too! These are selling fast on our site. I wasn’t sure how they would sell at the beginning but wow people love them. I had a lady from Paris France purchase 6 of them 2 weeks ago. Cool!!!!

We headed on up I-90 to my Brother and Sister In-Laws place right after the show and got there around noon. And from there all I can say is it was an ‘EATING FEST’ – seems when we get together that’s all we do…but I’m not complaining because the places we went to were delicious.

 

My brother has been working on his pond for a few years now and re-did the entire thing this past Spring. The water is low at the moment but you can still see how pretty is is – earlier this season the flowers were just so full and gorgeous – so go take a peek. They live in Adams, WI on 5 acres in the woods and I just love going up there…very peaceful.

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Look at this great Copula – it’s really huge and he wants to put it on his pole barn after restoring it.
I thought the detail on the ring was absolutely beautiful.

 

We also went into the Wisconsin Dells to my favorite Crafter’s Mall and I bought another Prairie Apron and Bonnet from the same girl I got my Aqua one from – this one is a gold flower and period fabric.

close-up:

I took a few pictures of the Dells area – it’s just a huge town of water parks, roller coasters and junk stores and the ever popular ‘Duck Boats’ that tour up and down the Wisconsin River.

Tommy Bartlett Show is the biggie in the Dells – it was shut down all of last year because of the flooding and the lake that they performed on ran dry from areas breached and the water just left! Now it has been restored and the show is up and running again.

Here’s something I didn’t know the Windows Live Writer did….it does an Album…wow, the things this doesn’t do!

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We got home yesterday afternoon very tired and stressed – the three hour ride from their house was totally in a downpour of rain…sometimes you couldn’t see the next lane of traffic and the water was standing deep in spots – very stressful. Normally one would drive out of something like that but it continued till way after we arrived home. It was a much need rain though. Been over 3 weeks!

Guess this turned into a book today…sorry!

P.S. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL YOUR HELP IN FINDING THE CANDLE HOLDER CUPS….MY BROTHER FOUND SOMEONE WHO CAN MAKE THEM FOR US.  Yeahhhhh!!!
WE’RE HOPING WE CAN GET HIM TO CONTINUE MAKING THEM FOR US AND THEN I CAN OFFER THEM TO THOSE OUT THERE LOOKING FOR THEM….KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED.

Karen

Faux Bookshelves

Love the "walls of books" look, but don't have enough books (or enough room) to pull it off? Here's a clever idea -- paper one or more of your library walls with bookshelf wallpaper.

The owner and designer (Lynda Gardner) says: these photos are from the library which was once a horrible tiny bedroom which barely fit a single bed……it now has a wall filled with real books alongside a wall of Deborah Bowness wallpaper,…this room also has a couple of leather 1930s chairs, a star light handed down as a family heirloom and a cow skin hide….a cosy place to sit opposite an open fire on the opposite wall.

This is from Design*Sponge, and I strongly recommend the entire post featuring the house of Lynda Gardner -- it is incredible in every way.

(quick tip: Do a google search for "bookcase wallpaper" "book wallpaper" and "bookshelf wallpaper" for lots of different styles and price points.)

Follow The Yellow Brick Road...

So here we are~~a little more than 24 hours left of prep time before we leave for the land of OZ... The Wizard of Junk...Junkapalooza...Junk Heaven...Junka Junka Burnin' Love. I digress... It's crunch time. I will officially go into berzerk mode tomorrow am and Mr. Sweet Pea will continue in slow mo. I will break out the bossiness and tempers will flair. It's the dance we do every time.

The trailer is packed~~thank heaven, cause it rained off and on all day. There are a million little details though. I have my list.. Mr. Sweet Pea is laying (or is it lying?) on the living room floor pretending to be watching Monday night football on the "man" tv. This will be my last post until I return so I am leaving you with pics from previous Marburger shows in my booth~~all white of course as I will miss WHITE WEDNESDAY for two whole weeks. Until then, here's wishing you all love and peace. Looking forward to meeting some of you there...

Etsy Finds: Airship Lamps

RiverOtterWidet is an etsy seller with some inspired lamps. They come with backstories on their use on the Royal Fleet's Airships (or submersibles...)

Glowing Liquid Airship Relic

Blue Airship Tracking Light

The squidbot lamp.

I WANT/NEED THESE…HELP

We are making wood candle sconces and are in dire need of these tin inserts that hold the candle and can’t find them anywhere on the web.

ANYONE, ANYONE out there….do you know or do you make them.

I will buy several if I can find them. HELP ME PLEASE…I’m not begging am I???  lol

Here is what they are

I’m hoping someone out there has knowledge of these thingys!

Thanks in advance.

Karen

Child Development Lab

This is an awesome concept for a nursery -- the execution is a bit too modern for my taste, but I love all the science. Parents Paul and Pam Costa created it for their son Edison (!!).


Backlit lab galssware, exposed edison bulb, and a "formulaic" blackboard.

And a vintage Cray supercomputer for seating!

via Coochicoos

SHEEP - PROJECTS

I guess I have to start being better about posting here…I seem to have so many irons in the fire right now!

Doug has been working on some candle sconces for my website and In-Home-Show the end of November and he’s doing a terrific job on them….he’s out there sawing away as I type. Today he painted 2 sample ones – I like the combinations but the blue one needs more work.

We need to refine the blue so you don’t see the grain of the wood. Not sure. Here’s what he has done so far. He will keep trying till he gets it perfect that’s for sure. Funny how some colors texture different than others.

The piece that looks like a piece of toast fits into the groove. There will be a hole for a candle and there will be a hole near the tip to hang on a nail….of which WILL BE DONE FIRST before painting. These are tests.

 

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And….my wonderful little flock of sheep are starting to get their blankets. I just love these fellas.

I want you to meet WILLOW….the first to be blanketed!
I now have them on my website.

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I also had a request to make my Hanging Pockets Un-Grungy….lol so here’s what the Willow one looks like Un-Grungied.

And here’s my original one all Grungied up.

This week has been a busy one with getting orders finished and starting new ones.

THANK YOU TO ALL MY LOYAL CUSTOMERS…YOU ARE MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO KEEP GOING ON A VENTURE THAT’S SO DEAR TO ME.

It’s isn’t the money because it takes time to be in the ‘black’ in this business instead of in the ‘red’…so that being said you all know it’s because this is from my heart that I keep going and the joy my products bring to those who purchase them and proof of that are the repeat customers and their wonderful comments.

AND THANK YOU AGAIN ALL MY BLOGGING FRIENDS FOR COMING

P.S. Go on over to Cozy Coops Corner http://coopriders.blogspot.com/ and read all about her wonderful article in the newest Country Sampler.
Congratulations Janae!

HUGS,
Karen