Another QUICKIE GIVEAWAY

Thanks for all the well wishes on my garage sale.  It went very well.  Here's the giveaway I promised.  My intention was to do this last week, but, here we are.

It seems I hadn't noticed recent my milestones till my husband pointed them out.  So, let's consider this a celebration of well over 1,000,000 views, and two years of blogging.  I couldn't have done it without you.

So, to you, my wonderful followers, I'm giving away,

1.  One of my handmade salvaged shabby tiara/crowns.

It's great for display, or, how about at the base of a candle.  It's 3.5" in diameter.

2 . A faded blue script covered book with hemp twine, and vintage skeleton key. I'll toss in a dried rose bud.

3.  An ornate clay heart.  Molded, painted, and distressed by moi.  It makes a great door hanger, but, you can use it anyway you want.

Somewhat romantic, don't you think?

You get the entire vignette.

Soooooo, would you like to enter?

Here's how:

1. You must be a follower of VILLABARNES , and let me know you would like to enter. Leave a comment letting me know if you are already a follower, or if you've just joined me.
2. Because I so appreciate some of you as customers of my Etsy shop. If you've ever purchased anything from me, and you're a follower, I'll count that as another entry. Just let me know what it was.
3. Leave a separate comment for each entry. Don't cheat yourself.
4. ****THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED****

The winner will be picked by Random Number Generator

GOOD LUCK TO ALL

Garage Sale, Flea Market, Spring Cleaning, Back at Kane, etc.........

That's right, I have a lot going on as usual.  You know how much I like doing things at the last minute, right?

Well............Yesterday, hubby and I decided to have a garage sale this weekend.  Hey, if I can pull off an antique show with 6 hours of prep..............why not?  I live on a main street, with lots of traffic, and, I'm giving some of my local customers a heads up. I also threw a posting up online.

Yesterday, I did some clean up.  Today, all day, I'll be plowing through my stash, and figuring out what goes.  

I wish you all lived nearby.  SERIOUSLY.  This is my "Spring Cleaning".

Time to purge a bit, and power up for the shopping season ahead.  Plus, the weather forecast looks really good.

What doesn't go at the sale Saturday, we'll be taking to the flea market Sunday.  Of course, we'll be shopping as well.

Ahhhhhhh, making room for fresh stuff.

Gotta go gather up more stuff, listen to a little music,

and work, work, work.  Wish me luck.

***NOTE***

Next weekend, I'll be at the Kane County show in my usual spot.  This will be my first show there this year.  I was MIA in April, and May.  Too much going on.  I know some of you are regular customers, so, yes I'll be there.  I'm planning on bringing A LOT. Hubby is out shopping estate sales as I write this, and I have some new creations I'm working on.  The next 7 days are going to be VERY busy.

Oh yes, I'm having another giveaway tomorrow, as well.  Stay tuned.

***NOTE II***
If you have a question about my garage sale, please send me a regular email for details. If you're a No-Reply Commenter, I won't be able to answer your question. Thanks.

Tinted Silk Flowers

Here's a really quick way to give white silk flowers a little color.

A while back, I showed you how I used milk paint as dye.  I used it on book pages, and fabric.

You can review that post HERE.

However, just in case you didn't know, you can use acrylic paint as a dye/tint. Which is what I did to a few of my silk flowers.

Just water down the acrylic paint,

and, you can either brush a subtle touch on the tip,

or, completely immerse the flower in the liquid, and swish it around a bit.  Set it aside to dry.  It'll give you a nice watercolor effect.

If you want a deeper color, repeat a few times.   I like the subtle pink, so I only did it once.  I was inspired by the pink roses on my French postcard.

See ya soon.


Sharing With:
My Romantic Home: Show and Tell Friday
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdays

Rustic, or Shabby?

Are you rustic, or shabby?

Which speaks to you more?  Layers of age, and rust?

Or, are you more on the shabby side?  Do you prefer the simplicity of white?

If you're like me, you like both.

These are my latest redesigns.  When I found these, they were sorta crowns.  I say sorta, because, well, they were flimsy, and had funky shapes attached to them.  Oh how I wish I had a before.  I removed the weird swirly things from the wire part, reconfigured the top piece (which looked more like a bad star burst originally), and added the ornamental embellishment around the base.

I painted them both white at first.  Then, my rustic side layered on dye, paint, plaster, and I don't remember what else to give the second one that aged look I love so much.

So, are you rustic, shabby, or a little of both?  See ya soon.

Tiaras, Boards, Frames, and Questions

Let's start with the questions.  I know my long time readers have heard me say this over and over, but I still get questions regarding the images, and  more recently, the script I use.

I've collected ephemera for many, many, years.  I don't download them, and I don't have a secret source.  I'm the source.  The script you saw in my last post, is a copy I made from the 175 year old diary I shared HERE.  If I ever use another source, I'll definitely share it.

I copied the page, and decoupaged the sheet to the mat board.

Also, I did not cut the hole.  I have lots of mat boards.  I always pick them up at garage sales, estate sales, etc.

Again, most of my questions come from "NO-REPLY" commenter's.  PLEASE, read my post, HERE, to find out how to fix that.  If you don't, I can't answer your questions.

Okay, I've been having fun with my rusty crowns, but I've had requests for my shabby tiaras.

I was able to find enough salvage metal with the same pattern to make two of these.

Yes, that's another mat board on the right, decoupaged with a copy of vintage fleur-de-lis paper.  I'm also working on frames, using some of my postcard images.  Not quite finished with these.

Yes, I have lots of vintage postcards in my stash.

I know, not everyone has been collecting ephemera for years.  So, although most of you are familiar with Karen (The Graphics Fairy), some of you may not be.  Click HERE, and you'll find a large selection of downloadable images.  See ya soon.


Sharing With:
Funky Junk Interiors
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Common Ground: Be Inspired

Script Decorated Mylar Mirror From Mat Board

I'm loving this.

I know I'm suppose to be resting, but I did this from the comfort of my couch.

I was looking at some of my mat boards, and had the idea to turn them into little mirrors.  Of course, I had to give the board extra flair.  So, I added script. For the mirror, I backed them with Mylar.

Yes, I have tons of Mylar I picked up at a garage sale.  It has a nice reflective surface.  I knew I'd think of something to do with it.

I even decorated the back.

Then I added the string.  So, what do you think?

In the midst of creating, I paused to say a prayer for Boston.  My heart breaks for all those involved in this brutal act.


Sharing With:
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdays

The Crazy Woman's Guide To Preparing For A Show In 6 Hours

First of all, you need to have a garage full of stuff you've acquired.  As a dealer for the past 20 or so years, I never run out of "stuff".

Frames are a mainstay, and they always sell.  The bulk of my frames went to a couple who were decorating their first house.

So, gather up all that "stuff", finish up several projects in record time, and start handing off containers to your adorable, understanding, husband to load into the van. This includes a mirror you thought about keeping, but decided you didn't care anymore.

Get a late start, make a huge mess when you get there, and negotiate with early buyers, while trying to take photos.

Trip over a box, and take a blurry pic of your vintage watering can.

Forget about photos, limp over to your customers, and continue to sell, while hubby brings in more "stuff".

Realize that, because quite a few of your items are gone before the show officially opens,

you will only be able to take random vignette shots, cause you're still selling, and never get a chance to set up properly.

End the first day happy, and try to stay awake on the way home, cause your husband tells you there's a possibility he'll fall asleep at the wheel.  Tell your dear spouse, you'll bring your son back the second day.

Throw together fresh items to take back the second day, get some sleep, wake up and tell your son, "I'll be fine by myself."  Seriously?

Drive back to the show (75 miles), do a reset, and sell like crazy.

Forget to take more photos, and ask fellow dealers if you can take a couple shots of their booth.

My friend Jeanine always has a great looking booth.

Sandy and Joe are long time dealer friends.

Get called back to your booth, and give up on taking photos.

End the second day wishing someone would just carry you home.

Call on Jesus to get you home safely, and thank him for a successful show.

Hope you took plenty of notes.