Love at First Sight

My friend and fellow dealer Mark McKee spotted these wonderful little flowers at a show last year and bought them, thinking I would like them. Boy, was he ever right! It was love at first sight. They were just so sweet -- maybe from the '30s? Scraps of fabric, made into yo-yos, strung on pipe cleaners to make a charming little bouquet. Can't you just imagine someone sitting at the farmhouse kitchen table, after the dinner dishes were finished, fishing through her sewing basket, all the while listening to the radio....Sigh.


Well, they graced my home studio work table for a couple of months, just waiting for the right project to come along. When these small, beaded pots showed up, I knew the moment had arrived!


Voila! Just enough flowers to fill the three little pots. They were off to a new home during the early buy at this weekend's Wheaton Antique Market. Projects, prints and smalls were our biggest sellers, although we did sell a lovely buffet and all our turquoise furniture. It was great seeing many of our regulars; thanks as always for your support! In addition, special thanks go out to Lynda Boyd for her set-up help and over-night hospitality, Frae McGuire for FIVE FABULOUS bags of goodies and to Patty Suttle for the wonderful new graphics. Yippee! Shopping for Midland this week, and then, drum roll please, it will be time once again for Kane County. Mark your calendars. xo

WE WILL BE AT WHEATON THIS SATURDAY!

Just a reminder that the Wheaton (Ill.) Antique Market, located at the DuPage County Fairgrounds, is a SATURDAY only show now. Come join us this Saturday, February 20, from 8 to 3 (there is also early buy from 6 to 8). We'll have some lovely new furniture, great prints, fun smalls and some wonderful spring projects. Click on the show sidebar for additional details. xo

Grayslake and Grandville

Some of our new spring handmades are inspired by the work of 19th-century French illustrator J.J. Grandville.

Grandville was a caricaturist who is best known for his pictures that combined animal and human forms. Having run into renewed censorship of caricature in the 1830s, Grandville turned his talents to the illustration of children's books. This is where we ran into him, almost 200 years later, in a page from "The White Blackbird," by Alfred de Musset, which we purchased from paper dealer Patty Suttle at a recent show.

We'd been planning to feature birds in our some of our spring creations and felt an homage to Grandville would fit right in! The collages pictured were used to create trays, which we offered for sale at this weekend's Grayslake Antique Market. The trickiest part of creating the collages was finding birds' heads that would fit the bodies we had available. In addition, we wanted the birds' faces to look "friendly," which also turned out to be a little difficult. Turns out many of the birds we looked at seemed a little cross -- who knew!

We were pleased that the projects were well received! The show turned out to be our busiest to date for 2010. Sold furniture, both large and small, as well as smalls in all categories, industrial and garden. Many thanks to all of the wonderful customers who turned out to support the show! It's always great to catch up with you. Today, we start work on Wheaton. Plan to join us and take home a little Grandville for yourself! xo

Happy Valentine's Day!

Many thanks to our excellent host Joan Babb for hosting a blog party celebrating vintage valentines!

This is one of my all-time favorites. Handmade, from Jim to Mary, part of a scrapbook. So sweet.

We had this group for sale this year. Came from an auction -- lots of really fun ones.

Here's some we made out of vintage game boards for a show last month.

Still looking for more? Check out the other participants in Joan's party, then come see us at the Grayslake Antique Market -- where we're celebrating the holiday! Click on the show sidebar for details. xo

Don't Miss This Weekend's Grayslake Antique Market

We're really excited about this weekend's Grayslake Antique Market! We have lots of beautiful furniture, fun smalls, containers, graphics and more . Plus we're moving into SPRING with some wonderful new projects and lots of garden items. Make plans to join us. Check the show sidebar for details.

Special Note: Our friend and paper dealer extraordinaire Patty Suttle will premiere her newly merchandised collage table at this show -- all sorts of wonderful paper for projects and framing. Don't miss it! xo

Expo Center Show: Reading the Fine Print

So, did you hear the good news about the DuPage Expo Center Show? Maybe a little bird told you.



Or perhaps you saw it written somewhere (in elegant vintage script, of course!)

Or maybe you just put the pieces together for yourself.

But anyway you heard about it, the news was true -- the show was wonderful, both last month and this month. Saturday was very busy, especially early, when the line burst through the doors. Sunday was quiet, as expected, but still some business. Smalls were definitely the big sellers for us this weekend, in addition to occasional furniture and anything turquoise. We got to see many of our favorite customers from Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana -- thanks so much to everyone who came out to support the show. And many thanks for all the nice comments on the blog. As always, a big round of applause to our excellent hosts, the Boyds.

This week, we're turning the seasonal corner, starting to work on SPRING. Don't miss its premier next weekend at Grayslake, no matter what the weatherman says. And again, many sincere thanks to the greatest customers in the world -- you! xo

EXPO CENTER SHOW THIS WEEKEND

Be sure that the DuPage Expo Center Show is on your calendar for this weekend -- Saturday, February 6, 11 to 5, and Sunday, February 7, 9 to 3. January's show was fantastic, so we're sure you won't want to miss this one! Click on the show sidebar for details. The Expo Center is in St. Charles, Illinois, on North Avenue, just across from Pheasant Run. See you there! xo

Dancing with the Stars and a Trip to Midland

Who's this handsome fellow? Give up? It's my dad, Jim Causey, cutting a rug with some sweet thing back in high school! In addition to donating his time once a week to rhubarb reign and maintaining our mailing list, Dad is a terrific dancer. So much so that his Zumba instructor asked him to be her partner in this year's Dancing with the Stars event. No, not the TV show, a fundraiser that benefits the Neighborhood Center, a community organization that helps needy families in our little town.



However, winners in this contest are not chosen for their dancing skills (which will be the rumba in my dad's case!) They are chosen by the amount of money they raise for charity. So if you're so inclined, please support Dad in this worthy cause. But hurry -- you have to vote before the weekend. And Dad, we're really proud of your involvement -- go get 'em!

In addition to cheering Dad on, we went down to Midland this weekend:




Funny how a little sun can make 25 degrees seem like a heatwave in January! Everyone was in a good mood when we got there, and the booth was almost empty -- yeah! We always appreciate that, especially this time of year.



Tomorrow, we'll start work getting ready for the next Dupage Expo Center show, which will be coming up this Saturday and Sunday in St. Charles, Illinois. January's Expo show was fabulous, so be sure to put this one on your weekend calendar! More details to follow. xo