Gina~Country Garden Antiques

Each season at The Zapp Hall Antique Show I know that Gina of Country Garden's Antiques will have fabulous things located in her tent.  This year was no different.  I couldn't wait to check out what she had.  Take a look:

I loved all the glass, mirrors, silver and trophy's.

See what I mean about her displays, books piled high on a fabulous table.

If you've never stopped by her booth at Zapp Hall, I hope you make plans next season to.  Or, if you are in the Dallas Area you can stop by her store Country Garden Antiques.  More show pictures coming next week.  I have lots more to share with you, so I hope you'll check back.  Hope you have a great week. 

Thank You Austin!

I have to start out this post by thanking the many customers that came out and bought from us this past weekend at The City Wide Garage Sale.  We had customers from of course the Austin area, Waco, San Antonio, Victoria and other areas.  We had a great sale and I do believe we've found where we need to be as far as selling.  I am so grateful for all the sales we made. 

We will be back in Austin during their Thanksgiving show on November 26-27 and they are indicating this will be their biggest show of the year. It's also their last show for 2011.  If you weren't able to make it out this past weekend, I hope you will plan early to come out during this next event.  While the malls will be offering Christmas specials, you know you'll definitely find one of a kind unique Christmas gifts here.  They also have early buying starting at 8:30 am on Saturday, so you can still make it to the Mall in time for your other gifts.

Here is a quick preview of our booth:



That awesome Farm Table went to a new home as did several other things on the table.  More pics to follow soon.  Hope you all have a great week!

Reminder about City Wide

Just a quick reminder that we will be at The City Wide Garage Sale this weekend in Austin Tx, Saturday (early buying at 8:30) and Sunday.  There will be huge ironstone platters waiting on you, see what I mean:




(Both Platters SOLD this weekend ~ Thanks Linda!)


The crazing on these platters is awesome.  Come and check them out and so much more. Hope to see you there.

Rusted Gingham Barn Sale

Suzanne and Tracey of the Rusted Gingham have a Barn Sale each year. This year's sale is set for Saturday, November 5 at the JB Wells Show Barn in Gonzales Texas. I know that several of my friends are selling here and there are many more vendors that are going to be there too.  Click on their blog above for all the details.

They've moved the sale a couple of miles down the road from where they previously held it and they say it's huge show barn. They'll now have room for lots more vendors! If this is something that interest you and you think you might want to be a vendor here, check out their blog for details. They also have a Vendor Tab on their blog that you can check out as well.

So go ahead and mark your calendars for their next Barn Sale. You can check out their blog for more updates or keep up with them on their Facebook Page.  To see a preview of their sale, check out Amy Boland's blog to see the pictures she took of their sale.

Why I Blog

(Taken during the Accumulations Show in Dripping Springs last October)

Monday was my Blog Anniversary and I missed it. I knew the date was getting close and actually gave it a quick thought but then got too busy to check the date.  I have loved blogging ever since the first day I started on October 17, 2006.  It seems like it was so long ago.  You can read my very first post HERE (you might be surprised who you'll see mentioned there).  Wow, I can't believe it's been 5 years. I first started my blog to get the word out about Texas Shows, Shops that I visited, and then I thought what a great communication tool to let people know where we would be selling next.

I never even dreamed that it would lead me to the opportunities that it has. I have met so many wonderful people through this blog and while some have come and gone since initially meeting them, isn't that how life is too. You meet someone and sometimes they are only part of your life for a season. It's same in the Blog World.

My blog has lead me to meet so many people literally from all over the world and even those that were actually in my area and didn't realize it until we met. I've met so many at the different Texas shows and while I may not have realized they were reading my blog, they'd come and find me and tell me about a story they'd read or seen a show or a shop that I had featured and how they'd visited the place because I had posted about it.  It just goes to show you you never know who is reading your blog.

There are the kindest people that have left me such sweet comments over the years.  Even though they didn't really even know me and telling me how much they would miss a post when I hadn't posted in a while, coming to see me at the various Antique Shows and expressing your love for me has just meant so much to me!  I can't thank you enough for your kindness, the fact that during your busy day you've left me a comment, or just seeing that you were visiting really meant a lot.  I am so grateful for all the one's that I've got to meet face to face and even if we haven't met face to face, I still feel as though I know you through your writings too  You are the best group of people ever.

The reason I blog is because of YOU!!  YOU inspire me with your comments, emails, your blog posts, the things you write about that are funny, serious, meaningful, at times gutsy.  YOU don't mind putting your heart out there.  YOU write things that I needed at the right moment.  YOU inspire me to be a better person. YOU so often enterain me with your funny posts and humor and I know I can always finds something interesting to read about.  Thank you for supporting me all these years through my blog!

Judy Hill ~ Marburger Farms

Each season I can't wait for the opening of Marburger Farms Antique Show.  I know there will be displays that are just over the top.  Of course, Judy always does a fantastic job of putting together the most usual things and making them just breathtakingly beautiful.  I think the fact that she uses her beautiful linens and pillows helps her space to look super awesome too.  I could just show you a few pictures and you would think yes it's just beautiful, but to get the full scope of her booth, you have to see it from several shots.  I'll let the pictures do the talking:



There's Ms. Judy herself.

Now tell me what you think.  Doesn't she do a fantastic job.  Judy does have a blog, you can click here to see it.  There's much more Marburger Farms and show posts to come.

Jackpot

Yesterday as we headed out bright and early, we came across some really good places to find things, and boy did we hit the Jackpot.  Just look at what all we found:

A primitive farm table, a very vintage leather chair (Ralph Lauren inspired of course), a wooden table with rollers, tons of silver items (salt/pepper shakers, a bridal basket, loving cup, a great egg cups with lambs on it, sugar dishes and a rare butter dish and honey dish), a black sewing stand turned into a table, an old basting turkey pan, ironstone platters and bowls, zinc topped jars, enamel bowl, metal suitcase and fishing box and a really cute lamp made from deer legs, but I think my favorite find was the leather stool on top of the table.  It just has that worn leather look that you can only find with time.  See here's a close up:

It was definitely a good day for finding things. 

You can find all this and much more next weekend at The City Wide Garage Sale in Austin.  Hope to see you there!

Warrenton Sights & Sounds

The tiny town of Warrenton Texas is literally transferred overnight.  It goes from being a population of around 77 to well over into the thousands.   Each Spring and Fall, droves of antique dealers come in and set up a shop in a few short days.  We are literally building a shop from the ground up for show week.  I know for me it takes me at least three days of loading and unloading and once the show starts I'm usually still not finished.  I've decided to do things a little different next year.  We'll have to wait and see since it seems so long from now if my plans work out.

When I drive into Round Top/Warrenton Texas at the beginning of each season, there's always a sense of excitement for me.  Excited that I'll get to see my friends that I only get to see normally twice a year, the excitement of possibilities as you never know who you'll see at the shows or what you'll see for that matter.  I know that going to each booth in the many different fields always catches my eye with a fabulous display.  The talent that is out there is just amazing how they will take something that was not to be used as that item and turn it into a work of art.

Each field holds so many vendors that are so talented and the merchandise they find for the shows is sometimes just so amazing.  I know for me I think I haven't seen an item like that in many years or I remember when my aunt or grandmother had that item and then the memories start flooding back. 

In case you didn't know, you are in the middle of cow pastures.  During the off season, if you drive through Round Top and Warrenton and the other surrounding towns, you'll see nothing but pasture land, no tents, or very many people or cars are seen then.  I guess those that live in that area probably are there because their families have owned that land for generations and it really is so quiet and peaceful, but then Antique Week starts and their worlds are turned upside down with all the people that show up. 

I normally like to drive in that area at least once during the off season to look at all the beautiful scenery that's there.  There are the old home places that you just want to stop at and stay awhile.  You wished you could sit on their front porch and enjoy their views for a while, sipping tea, finding out what brought them to the area, why they've stayed, and what sort of history they can tell you about their home place.  Locals are sometimes really quiet about their places and normally they don't want to share much about it with an "outsider".  But then again, you find those that love the area and while they may not have been there all their life they don't mind sharing a story or two with you.  I love the area and have come to call it my temporary home, at least for three weeks of the year it is. 

As my famous friends mentioned a while back in a post, it is My Soul Vacation.







Donna Hood's booth



Junk Gypsy's Booth



Atlanta Vendor at Zapp



Seen at Zapp Hall.







Cindy's Booth at Zapp

Seed Box Antiques

Country Garden Antiques

Warrenton Fields

Fall Show @ Zapp Hall

This Fall Show was hotter than I'd remembered in a while.  I know we always try to prepare for the hotter show in the Fall than the Spring, but I think this past show won for definitely being the worst as far as heat.  It was humid almost the 10 days we were there, but we did have a welcome surprise when it rained for one day.  No complaints were heard for the rain, we so needed it.



However, despite the heat, we still always managed to have a good time (wait until you see the pictures as proof~oh my all I can say is I can't wait to show them to you)!!

The customers that came out bought and even though I sold tons of things I still looked like a I had a full booth.  Toward the end, actually when we were packing up I sold three more pieces of furniture.  I had bought a really cool leather chair, I don't know how I didn't take a picture of it, but it was muted tones of gray that had worn to this color with time, went to a new home in Austin.  I was glad to see a young couple was going to be enjoying it.

I think customers were definitely being more careful with their purchases and they seem to be looking for more and more uniqueness.  This is sometimes hard to find, that's what I try and find as well.  I am just thankful that despite those that had been told that we were cancelling the shows due to the wild fires still came out and bought.  They battled the heat too but it's always worth coming out to the shows since it's only held twice a year.  I think we had really good crowds during the entire show. 

Here were pictures of my booth:

These photo's were taken by Anne of Fiona and Twig and Honey at 2805 Blogs.

Thanks again to all the customers and friends that came out.  I'll be posting many more posts.  Hope you are having a great weekend.

Shabby Chic ~ Texas Style

Since my last post was a teaser post on Rachel Ashwell's new shop, I thought I'd tell you about being here.  I was one of 35 bloggers that was fortunate to sign up in time for the Fund Raiser Luncheon that Kelley of The Hidden List put together at The Prairie.  You might remember that last Spring myself and several friends toured the place and now seeing her new store there was just so exciting. 

When I learned that I was attending the luncheon, I couldn't wait to see her store.  She had the cutest house moved onto the property to turn into her Texas Shabby Chic Couture Store.  This place was just perfect as is her B&B.  Spending a day here left me speechless.  The spirit of it can't be described.  It's so peaceful and magical all rolled into one.

The store was just so pretty inside.  Kristi and I left in plenty of time to be able to see the store early before the luncheon started.  I enjoyed see the things she had for sale and buying her new book was a must.

The lunch was so good.  I wish I had taken a picture of it.  We had Shrimp BLT, grilled chicken on a bed of salad with cilantro ranch dressing, California Tea, and pie with ice cream all prepared by Royer's Restaurant.  Does it get any better than this. 

After the luncheon, Lisa and Kim explained what exactly Dwell With Dignity is all about.  When families have been down on their luck, they help them reestablish themselves by providing a new place to live, their essentials, like furniture and even a home cooked meal and pie.  Once they pass their requirements, they are allowed to keep all the things that were given to them.

Rachel also told how she came to own a Bed and Breakfast and what made her pick Round Top as her new home and now new shop.  I could listen to her talk all day.  She's always been such an inspirational person.

She then gave us a tour of the main house, Liliput Lodge, and explained how she had redone the place, Shabby Chic style of course.  Isn't it just gorgeous:

The gardens are equally as pretty.  There were pretty flowers blooming and rose bushes were brought in and planted throughout the property.

I hope if you get the chance to visit The Prairie that you enjoy your time there.  It truly is a wonderful place to go.

More To Come

As soon as I rest up, wash off ten pounds of Warrenton dirt from my clothes, and just get caught up with being gone for 10 days, I'll post more. 

In the meantime, look at Rachel Ashwell's cute store.  I can't wait to share this with you and so much more.  There's a lot to tell you about!  Stay tuned...