Grayslake Antique Flea Market This Weekend! Half Price Admission.

We couldn't ask for a better weather forecast for the Grayslake Antique Market this weekend in Grayslake, Illinois.  40's in January?  Never happens!  It's a perfect weekend to get out and have some fun.  Thanks to Zurko Promotions you'll get half price admission during regular hours if you print out this post and bring it along.

Here's a little peek at some of the things you'll find in our booth.

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This old square "bucket" has the most marvelous "make-do" repair.  Giant light bulbs make great offbeat gifts for the one who lights up your life.

You'll see Valentines by the gazillions.

Trophies from Monaco, France, St. Moritz....

Brushes

A table filled with ephemera for your projects.

...and, of course, our signature "Fixin's Bar" filled with schnibbles and bits to inspire the artist in you.

We probably won't get another blog post up, but we'll try to post updates on our Facebook page - click here.

Other purveyors of marvelous things will be at Grayslake including Altered Ever After, Diane Passi, Rhubarb Reign,  and ChiPPy!-SHaBBy!   We'd all love to see you so print this post off and be sure to say "hi" when you come thru!

A Whale of A Sale - Antiques on Main Estate Sale in Wisconsin Dells

 Early last Friday morning, Kathy and I headed up to Wisconsin Dells to attend the second weekend of an estate sale conducted by Antiques on Main in Reedsburg.  (Wish we'd been there for part one!)  Things left from the first weekend were 25% off, while items that were making their first appearance were full price on Friday.

The yard surrounding the old farmhouse was loaded with furniture in the rough, while inside the house, every room was literally packed.  Sarah & Dale, proprietors of Antiques on Main do an excellent job of organizing & setting up a sale. They & their staff spent eight weeks getting ready for this one.  

I walked through the house over and over, gathering items and putting them in a holding place. Each time I re-visited a room I'd find something I'd missed before.

 One room was filled with lamp shades, toys & fabrics.  Another had tables full of books.  A small bedroom upstairs was devoted to frames & framed prints while a small porch held tables laden with lamps.  There was a room full of pottery.

China cabinets and shelves were filled with small decorative objects. 

Small cases held the tiniest treasures.

These photos were all taken mid-day Friday, week two, after loads of items had been purchased. Does this give you an idea of the scope of this sale?  Outside, my heart was captured by this gnarly dental cabinet.  The possibilities for decking this piece out for a show are amazing.

 Fortunately, I came to my senses and realized that I have nowhere to store it; CG just wouldn't 'get it'.  Thankfully, Kathy then bought it so I will get to see it again anyway!   I have a hunch that you'll get a chance to see it at Junk Bonanza in September.   I'll show you a few of the items that I did buy.

Five schoolhouse lights.  Awesome!

Sweet ephemera.

A pair of watercolors on paper. (sold)

Irresistible birds - oil on board...

...and several other interesting paintings. 

This Viccy doll settee...

...love the cherub! 

Other purchases are still being unpacked and put away.  

It's such a pleasure to attend a sale that has an abundance of wonderful items. When you drive a long way to attend a sale it's great to find that the quality and quantity of items has been honestly represented in the ads.  Thanks for a fun sale Dale & Sarah.  We had a blast!  See you at Elkhorn!

Do You Love Gnarly?

Most of the grain sacks in my etsy shop have sold so I've decided to dig into the stash and get some more listed.  A year ago my "stash" was huge...I had over 700 sacks at one point. 

I haven't counted lately, but there are not that many left.

It seems that most buyers prefer the ones that are the closest to "perfect"; 

without too many stains, repairs or holes.  

 I'm afraid my heart beats at a different pace.  While I can appreciate the "pretty" ones, what really gets my pulse racing are the gnarly survivors like this one.

It's been around the block and over the river more than once.

It shows honest wear from just going to work and doing it's job.

(At the risk of offending some by getting political for

a moment, I wish our Wisconsin Democratic Senators would do the same...)

I love the way the farmer or his wife patched this with a bit of blue/white ticking.

Charming, yes?

I'm linking up with Capers of the Vintage Vixens for Bloggers' Bodega, (grain sacks are available in my etsy shop with more are being added today)
and
Faded Charm for White Wednesday. 

Spotted at the Gurnee Antique Center

After stocking my case at the Gurnee Antique Center this week 

I took a stroll through the rest of the mall. 

This dealer has a lot of ironstone.

I love these pitchers.

Simply divine!

This jewelers cabinet looks great

and offers loads of storage for small items.

One chippy shelf...(the only one I saw).

perfect!

Old blue paint grabs me every time.

 I always find something to love in this booth.

Check out those bins on the back wall.

The Gurnee Antique Mall is located

in Gurnee, Illinois, right off I-94.

...easy to get to if you're traveling between

Chicago and Milwaukee.

***Housekeeping note...I haven't been able to get that 'update' box off my background, even after updating.  I'm happy to say that I have someone working on a new blog design and hope

to have it up in 2-3 weeks...can't wait!

Gathering - A Shop Filled With Delights in Willows California

Willows is a small farm town in Northern California.

It looked pretty much like this until they tore most of it

down in the early 70's, to 'modernize' it.

When I was growing up there, the only really 'special' thing in town was the vanilla Coke at Foster Freeze.  There was no ice rink, no Macy's, no ocean...none of the things that the heroines in the books that I devoured got to enjoy. So I left.   

(Now I'm living in the Midwest, 
in a little farm town with no ice rink, no Macy's, no ocean....)

Imagine my surprise when I returned to Willows for a visit last week and discovered that there was something very 'special' there;  A shop named 'Gathering'.

It's a charming place filled with artfully staged shabbies & primitives...

...with some great gift items mixed in.

My favorite part of the shop is the little courtyard out back.

(I'll admit that I was a bit jealous of the lush

plants thriving outside in November.)

One of the owners of Gathering was working that day.

(I'd show you her picture but she was camera-shy).

So I'll show you one more photo of the shop instead...

...and tell you that the camera-shy lady was none other

than the mother of Corey Amaro.  (Corey's amazing blog, Tongue in Cheek, is  favorite of many of us.

I've never met Corey; she was a kid when I left Willows.  After meeting

her Mom and seeing the shop, it was easy to see where Corey's talents come from.)

Next time you're traveling up I-5, zip off at the Willows exit and pay a visit to Gathering.

You'll be as delighted as I was!

The Kane County Flea Market - Would Love to Hear YOUR Opinion!

This year was my first at Kane and I participated in four shows there. My friend Kathy shared a booth with me this time and our location in Expo West was great. The building is light & spacious and sales were good.

At The Kane County Flea Market you'll find a great mix of primitives, industrial, and shabby treasures. You'll also find the dreaded beanies, t-shirts and cheap imports.  Countless customers at other shows have commented to me that they no longer shop Kane because there's too much new stuff.  From a shopper's perspective, I say just walk past what you don't like and you'll have more time to spend in booths like

The Frenchman's Wife...

ChiPPy!-sHaBBy!...

...and Altered Ever After

Kane does have a different vibe than any of the other shows that we do.  The show opens at noon on Saturdays and this weekend traffic was steady but we never felt the type of "rush" that we get at other shows. (We don't have the established customer base at Kane that we do at other shows so that may account for the quiet start.)

Sundays at Kane just feel surreal.  Few shoppers arrive at 7:00 when the show opens and many dealers don't stroll in to open their booths until 9:00 or after.  It's one of those chicken/egg things. Do the customers not come because the dealers don't bother to show up, or do the dealers not come because they don't want to open for just a few potential sales?  Personally, if I've paid for a space I'm going to be there for every possible customer. A later show opening on Sundays might be warranted at Kane since the hardcore buyers probably come on Saturday.

Traffic was steady later on Sunday, but many times during the day it just felt like there was no energy in the building and people were plodding along. (A little background music in that hall would probably help a lot.)  One of the vendors that came in late on Sunday just packed up and left around noon.  An hour or so later another did the same.  If I were the promoter I wouldn't tolerate that and those folks wouldn't be welcomed back.

We appreciate each shopper that helped make our weekend a success.  If you shop at the Kane County Flea Market I'd love to hear your overall opinion of the market.  And if you sell there, likewise...we'd love to hear from you!

Zinc, Iron & Rust - Junk Bonanza Preview #1

We're bringing chippy blue china, shabby treasures, grain sacks, ephemera, findings and old treasures of every sort to Junk Bonanza. Today - a peek at the industrial/primitive side:

Tuesday afternoon I started digging out all that heavy metal stuff that I've been buying all year, "for Junk Bonanza".  There's zinc, iron and rust.  It's been hidden away in various places with the hopes that CG, (also known as "Mr Clean"), wouldn't notice that I brought one more thing in...

I dragged it all out in the yard and cleaned it up. "Cleaned" in my world means that I turned the jet hose on it and sent any spiders or other scary-looking creatures away. There still might be grease, rust or other crud on it, but if you were the prissy sort you wouldn't be coming to Junk Bonanza, now would you?

There's farm stuff, garden stuff, factory stuff and stuff that we have no idea what it is.

Two weeks from today we leave for Junk Bonanza.  

That brings just one word to mind. 

P-A-N-I-C!

Now where did I hide that big stack of funnels?