vintage — Page 21

The Country Living Fair – Part One

June 8, 2014 at 9:12 am by Claudia

lamp

Greetings on a Sunday morning from one exhausted fair goer.

Two days at the Country Living Fair is about one more than I could handle. I ended up going twice because I wanted to see my friends’ presentations (more on that tomorrow) yesterday. If I could do it all over again, I would have combined everything into one day. On the other hand, going back enabled me to get the lamp you see in this photo. There were two small pottery lamps in aqua that I loved. They are hard to find. I kind of loved the other lamp even more than this one, but it was gone when I returned to the booth yesterday. But I’m very happy with this beauty.

If you snooze, you lose. I lost out on two things I had my eye on. On the first day, I saw a Nelson McCoy piece with a parrot that I’d never seen before (in aqua), at a very reasonable price. I held off for an hour or so and when I returned to that booth? Gone. Sob. Same thing with the other lamp. Attending for two days really enabled me to see what pieces had been sold – especially by viewing my photos this morning. I look at them and think “Oh, that piece was gone by yesterday.”

CL-more-olive-buckets

I’m dubbing this year’s Fair as the Olive Bucket Fair. They were everywhere and the prices varied depending on the age and condition. If any attendee was in the market for an olive bucket, he/she certainly hit the mother lode this weekend.

CL-lots of drawers

Be still my heart. What is it about little drawers or cubbies? Add the chippy paint and, my goodness, this is gorgeous.

CL-JenniferLane

Earth Angels Studios showcased a lot of their artists, including Jennifer Lanne. I love her paintings.

CL-AliceinWonderland

Also from Earth Angels – Nancy Wiley’s exquisite Art Dolls. This Alice In Wonderland piece was so beautifully done.

chairs

Hello chairs. These Tolix-style chairs were hugely popular and many of them were gone early on during the first day. Clearly painted and ‘aged’ for the CL audience.

CL-zinc-sink

This gorgeous zinc double sink was gone by yesterday. Sigh.

CLreligiousstatuary

This religious statuary reminded me of my friend, Donna. She collects them.

CLpottingbench

Doesn’t this potting bench with the sink remind you of the one in my dollhouse? I guess I’m more in tune with what’s in style than I thought!

CL-fashion2

I loved these and saw them in at least 3 different booths.

wickerset

Be still my heart – again. This was a four-piece set consisting of four chairs and the table. Vintage, original paint, fantastic condition, cushions recently redone in Ralph Lauren fabric. $1800.00

Why am I not wealthy?

CL-ModernJune-oilcloth

Oilcloth creations in Modern June’s booth.

CL-Mason-Jars

Mason jars and galvanized anything were everywhere.

CL-more-fairy-gardens

This exhibitor created the most beautiful Fairy Gardens, all of them set in aged metal containers. I’ve been suffering from a case of fairy garden fatigue – I see them everywhere. But these beauties made me rethink my fatigue. Here’s another one:

fairygarden

Works of art.

CL-FairyGardenshop

There was even a booth that sold miniature supplies for fairy gardens.

gamewheel

Would I like this in my house? An emphatic yes.

CLbirds&eggs

I was tempted to buy this poster, but wall space is extremely limited here. Isn’t it lovely?

CL-Olive-Buckets

Yes, more olive buckets.

Hope this gives you an idea of what was on display this year. Lots of the industrial, rustic, wood-and-metal look. Lots of fairy gardens. Lots of garden things; seeds, plants, tools, vintage tools. Lots of architectural salvage. Lots of antiques and vintage. Lots of vintage fabric and sewing notions. Lots of birds/nests/faux eggs. You can tell that the exhibitors know what is on trend and they understand the kind of person that is drawn to the Country Living Fair. They know their audience.

It was a visual treat, that’s for sure. But, boy did it get crowded! Yesterday was hotter than Friday and I was wilting by about 11:00. I stayed to watch Heidi and Elyse give their presentations and meet up with some of the bloggers from Hometalk, where I got the opportunity to chat with Country Living’s new editor. Then I came home and collapsed.

Collecting: Two More Finds

March 30, 2014 at 8:24 am by Claudia

The sump pump has been on overdrive here at the cottage. Rain, rain and more rain was the theme for Saturday and into the early morning hours of Sunday. Since the rain was to begin around noon on Saturday, Scout and I took our walk together in the morning. She went a little further than the last time – yay, Scout!

Right after that, I took off for my favorite little antique shop. I decided to treat myself as I hadn’t been there in weeks. Everyone around here is emerging from their winter prisons and getting out again.

miniandeggcup

I brought these little treasures home.

The little mini pitcher will make an nice addition to my miniature pottery collection. And the red transferware egg cup? How could I resist?

Collecting smaller things like the miniature pottery or egg cups is something that all of you who are dealing with small space restrictions might want consider. They don’t take up much space, and in the case of my collections, are pretty reasonably priced. You can amass a collection without it taking over your house, yet the display of your collection can pack a pretty powerful punch.

Back to my finds:

minipitcher

This pitcher is absolutely lovely, with a glaze that reminds me of Arts and Crafts pottery, something I researched when we were living in our little Craftsman cottage in San Diego. Depending on the light, this little pitcher looks green or aqua. That’s a little bird and a flower in the design. On the reverse side there is another bird sitting on a branch. The pottery mark on the bottom of the pitcher is a thistle. Jean had another piece there with the same mark. She hasn’t been able to find out anything about that particular mark, and my efforts so far haven’t yielded any information.

It’s probably worth more than what I paid for it, but since Jean couldn’t determine the maker, I got a good deal. I really love it.

transferwareeggcup

And do I need to say anything about this pretty double egg cup? I love transferware. I love red. There you go.

shadowbox

I couldn’t seem to get a straight-on picture of the shadowbox (it’s in a corner,) but here is the new addition. I think I’m going to have to search for another shadowbox. I’ll soon be running out of room in this one.

Isn’t the hunt for a piece the best? I like getting things on eBay and Etsy, but far more fun is the ongoing search where you have a little list tucked away in a corner of your mind and each time you open the door to a shop, the possibility of a hidden treasure awaits. And when you find something, that little surge of adrenalin hits and you quickly grab it. It’s yours.

This shop has been a great discovery. I almost always find something there.

Maybe that’s why I mustn’t go there very often.

The winner of a copy of The Moon Sisters is Claudia! (Not me! Another Claudia.) I’ve just sent you an email, Claudia. Congratulations!

Oh, and to top yesterday off, I watched His Girl Friday on TCM last night – perhaps the quintessential screwball comedy. Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy and a cast of wonderful character actors, a witty and smart script with dialogue that is so well-written it takes your breath away and directed by the great Howard Hawks. Heaven.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Ducks and Cake Toppers

March 8, 2014 at 8:35 am by Claudia

littleducksinarow

I’ve got all my ducks in a row.

I know. Groan.

More from Heidi’s shop: these vintage wooden ducks were in a baggie with some other items – most of which I trashed. The ducks were what I had my eyes on. Aren’t they sweet? They remind me of another era, of simple wooden toys, of a non-high tech existence. I had to bring them home. They are safely nestled in with the egg cups that are on display in the den.

bride&groom

This chalkware bride and groom cake topper came home with me, too. The poor things are missing a bit of paint here and there. The bride had a yellow waxy stain on her bodice and in one of the folds on the back of her dress. After using my finger nail to remove as much of it as I could, I grabbed some white paint and her bodice looks bridal once more. This piece is heavy and large.

caketoppers

There they are in the studio cabinet with their new friends. You can see how tall they are in relationship to the others. The cake topper right in front of them and to the right is the very first one I acquired. Also chalkware. I won it in a blog giveaway.

That’s what happens, you know. You get one thing. You like it. You find yourself starting to look for others when you are out and about. I have eight of them now. But I acquire them slowly. There’s no rush. And no eBay this time. I like the hunt. If I happen to see one when I’m in a shop, I examine it closely. If it’s too battered, I leave it there. But if it’s artfully aged, like my newest, I’ll get it.

They need a home, you know. At one time they were on the top of the world, basking in the joy of a celebration, symbolizing a happy union – and now they are sitting at the back of some some shelf in a shop.

Poor things.

And they are just kitschy enough to be fabulous.

Don and I got married in a simple and lovely ceremony with two couples sharing our joyous day. We had a cake, but no cake topper. I didn’t want one.

But now I do.

Go figure.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

The Country Living Fair – Part One

Collecting: Two More Finds

Ducks and Cake Toppers

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives