Almost like spring at Grayslake

There's nothing that seems more like spring in Chicago than a 50 degree, sunny day in February. The contrast with the harsh weather that's preceded it makes you almost want to leave your coat behind! The great weekend weather brought a strong crowd out to the Grayslake Antique Market where many dealers were reporting good sales. We were pleased to sell all our large pieces of furniture, including a handsome Henredon buffet and the pretty claw-foot desk pictured below; Joe has been taking great pains to perfect our new painting technique, and we have been pleased by our customers' responses to it. We also sold most of our small furniture and a good share of the smalls in all categories. Two of my favorites were the found-item collages pictured that went to a new home during early buy.

I wanted to share two other great Grayslake dealers with those of you who love paper arts: 2 Sisters Things (www.2sistersthings.com), which sells a terrific range of paper elements (like the fun flash cards pictured), game pieces, findings and more, all at fabulous prices, and Patty Suttle(pasthist@comcast.net), whose vintage prints are to die for. Patty has pieces in all price ranges, from the wonderful old map of Paris pictured here, to an entire table of pieces that start at $1, which are perfect for projects. Contact these dealers directly for more information and be sure to visit them next time you're at Grayslake!

Many thanks to all our customers for their support and to all our on-line friends we see at the shows -- feels like homecoming now whenever we're together! On to Wheaton! xo