Laura's Lovely Letters

Hand-painted letters by Barrington (IL) artist Laura Simpson have been a bestseller for rhubarb reign from the moment we began carrying them. Laura is amazing to me -- in addition to being one of the nicest people on the planet (I've never seen anyone who would go to greater lengths to be sure custom orders are delivered on time), all of her letters are done ENTIRELY free-hand. No tracing, no penciling in first, nothing. Whoa.

At Grayslake we added three new items to her roster:

Numbers,

Symbols,

and City Signs. Special orders are taken on these, so we can offer your hometown, neighborhood, street -- you name it. Another plus is that Laura uses scrap lumber -- an excellent upcycled feature -- and all pieces are offered in a number of font styles and sizes. Come see our complete collection this weekend at the Wheaton show.

Saturday's crowd at Grayslake was good, despite the colder temperatures, until about 3 pm when coincidentally, the Bears game started. We'll have to give the coach a call and see if he can push the start time back a little. Shouldn't be a problem. Sunday was mild, but the crowd was thinner, which is pretty typical. We sold a range of items --furniture, industrial, smalls, holiday. Tomorrow, we'll start work for Wheaton, our last show for this year. Come and see us! We'll be having a little holiday sale and celebration. xo

P.S. A couple of personal notes:

Kelly -- Thanks for coming to show me your photocollage! You looked adorable, by the way.

Beth -- Congratulations on Painted Lady's inclusion in the January issue of Lucky (p. 45)
Stacy and Emily -- Congratulations on Snug's inclusion in Daily Candy

Megan -- Be sure to check back Thursday; the post is dedicated to you, baby!

Come see us at Grayslake this weekend! Holiday, Industrial, Furniture, Smalls and More! See Show Sidebar for Details

Happy, Happy, Happy

Today's post is brought to you courtesy of the Rolling Stones:

I have been a Stones fan since high school, mainly because they were my boyfriend*'s favorite band. This comes in handy now-a-days because my son also likes the Stones, so it's something we can both enjoy on the drive to school. And we turned up the volume today, because you only turn 15 once:

Happy Birthday, Jack Garrison -- faithful member of rhubarb reign's creative team and my all-around favorite son. It's gonna be a good day!

In addition to the birthday excitement, I have a bunch of things to be happy about today. Joe and I set a new sales record for December at Kane. WOW! Many, many thanks to all of our excellent customers for making that possible.

Sales were strong in all categories, from holiday handmades to furniture, big and small. Smalls did well, as did industrial. We didn't sell much art or paper this month, but blew through all of our Christmas. Excellent! We'll get to work tomorrow for Grayslake.

But until then, I'll be sippin' hot chocolate laced with these excellent marshmallows. If you have a Williams-Sonoma nearby, I suggest you stop reading right now and go get yourself a box. They are amazing, practically guaranteed to induce happiness.

And I'll be wearing this excellent new skirt, purchased from our friend and customer Cheryl Herman at Panache in St. Charles (IL).

(It is part of the Cutest Outfit Ever, which I'll be sporting tonight at Jack's party. Cheryl was nice enough to stay open Saturday so Joe and I (along with our pal Diane) could get a peek at her newly redesigned interior. It is stunning. Every bit as cool as Anthropologie, but much more personal. A smart blogger would have thought to bring her camera along. Hmmm. Guess I'll just have to go again in January (with Christmas money)! And to do a post. Wish I could figure out a way to visit all our customers' stores next year, so that I could share them with you. So much creativity out there! )

And I'll be turning up the Stones, working on Christmas cards and wrapping gifts. Happy, happy, happy! xo

*One of the many dangers inherent in small town life is that you have a greater chance of running into old boyfriends. Last time I saw this one in particular was at church a couple years ago. He looks EXACTLY the same, while I look like a green grape speeding towards raisin-hood. This is not a topic that can be included in my Happiness post, so we will cease discussion now. (:

KANE COUNTY THIS WEEKEND! COME SEE US!

Transformation Thursday: Lamp Base Christmas Trees

People know that we love to make things, so it's not uncommon for someone to come by with a bag or box of stuff that they couldn't bear to throw away, thinking we could surely use it. Case in point: a couple of years ago, a favorite customer came to a show with two bags of branches from a vintage Christmas tree. The base had long ago gone missing, but he figured (rightly!) that we'd think of something to do with the remaining pieces. As it turns out, we've used that windfall for several seasons, this year using vintage lamp parts for bases:

First, the lamps are disassembled and cleaned. Then, florist foam is cut and glued in place underneath. Depending on the size of the opening, a washer is epoxied to the top of the lamp base to hold the branch snuggly in place. Next, the branch is cut to size, using either wire cutters or a dremel. Last, vintage paper is attached underneath to cover the foam and stem:

To see more of this year's holiday projects, check out our friend Katie Palmer's site, SoBo Style Journal. To see more cool projects, click the button on our sidebar to visit this week's installment of Transformation Thursday. xo

Calling a Dealers: New Show in Town, Plus a Peek at the Midland Load

Calling all dealers: there's a new show in town! Zurko Promotions, of Grayslake and Wheaton fame, is now booking space for the first weekend in January.

Booth space for the new show, to be held in St. Charles (IL) at the DuPage Expo Center, is comparable in size and cost to Zurko's other shows, so what are you waiting for?! Get the new year off to a great start. Joe and I are psyched -- with Kane County on break in January, this is just the opportunity we were looking for. Come join us.

Back to November: hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving! On Saturday, we took the day and went to restock at Midland. We were really happy with this load; lots of interesting industrial pieces, plus groups of smalls that worked into logical vignettes:

Let's play store! Mannequins, hat blocks, display cases made this corner feel like an old department store.

Cool It! A great group of vintage fans -- all of which work.

Heavy Metal -- stacking bolt bins, fabulous film reels, vintage metal advertising pieces.

The parking lot was packed -- we were busy all day -- hauling, rearranging, pricing and chatting with customers. Whew! Today, we start work for Kane County. We'll have lots of great stuff -- furniture, industrial, smalls, plus tons of handmades and gift ideas for the holiday. Come see us! xo

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We so appreciate your friendship and support.