Flea Market Re-Wind

I think most of these things are from the July fm, but a few pieces are from May.

I skipped June to go to the beach.

This was the temperature according to my car at some point on day one.



Granted, my car could probably qualify for social security, but this is one thing on it that does actually work.

This antique fan was a man magnet.


I didn't know it was a man magnet when I bought it, I have a perfectly good man already.

I put it out front, and I think every man at the flea market stopped to look at it.

They would get a little giddy and glance at their wives (...and often life partners...) when I told them that it worked.

The cord was a little iffy, but it worked.

It was used in a factory, and the cage was around it was for obvious reasons.

It sold for my asking price - to a woman. Ha.


A king sized headboard in blue.



A couple of shabby chic sconces on top of a rustic blue bench.



A cool old school chair from the 50's ( I have more of these!), and a wooden box.






Side table in blue.

A girls desk/vanity, and a lamp I made.

A simple little rocking chair in white.

Pink gingham memo board, and a small chalkboard.

A mission oak buffet.

This thing was a beast to move.

A vintage blue highchair. I painted the tray with appliance paint so it would be really durable.

Twin size, soft pink bed.

I don't have a lot of flea critter pictures.

It was really hot.

Cindy and I were a bit lethargic. I wasn't up for much of a chase, so I had to wait for some to come to me.

I wasn't disappointed.

I remember seeing these in a cheesy little catalog full of junk my grandmother used to get.

Can you see it on the lady that looks like she's asking for directions?

Aaaah, yes.

The umbrella hat.

I will never be that desperate for shade.

And I have hands.

I did not use the "mirror image" tool in photoshop for this next one...

That is 2 grown women in matching dresses and hair-do's.

You may not be able to see in the picture, but their bra straps were even the same.

I don't know if they were twins, I was too lazy to chase them down to find out.

Not that being twins would make it any less weird...

And, just when I thought I had seen the only woman in town with the guts to pull this look off...

...here came another umbrella hat.

Kim

I know what I did last summer...

I didn't blog once this sumer.
I could give a million reasons why, but the truth is I spent time with my children when I wasn't painting.
I'm not sorry.

I'm ready to get back to it, so here's my summer condensed.......

We had a preschool graduation.
(which doesn't really count since she's going back to pre-school for one more year. Next year -Xanax.)

.

An elementary graduation.



Oh, my, did he ever hate the tie.



Notice my neighbor turned photo bomb. His daughter looks on in embarrassmnet.



We had a sudden, totally unexplained swollen eye one day.

I leave the kiddos with the husband, my daughter's eye swells shut.
Go figure...



Lilly's Dear, (my mom), taught Lilly how to sew a button.



Her fingernails were wonderfully grime-free for this close up.
Sweet little hands...



We went to the strawberry patch.
It's in the middle of nowhere.
Well, in the middle of nowhere next to a really strange, mid-century modern house that looks like the Jetson's.

We had a mom and her 3 racoon babies living in a tree in our backyard.

We watched them, or they watched us, while we would eat on the deck.

See the eyes?

We went to the beach with my family.

It is seriously my favorite week of the year.

Lilly and my dad.

My kids with their "depression era" stares.

You're at the beach, smile for pete's sake.

We roasted marshmallows (covered in sand) on the beach.

Lilly and Baker fought over the ipad.

Sometimes they shared.

Lilly had a birthday too.

We had a pool party.

The weather was perfect, and all her friends came to swim and get sugared up.

A lot of my friends live for throwing a birthday party.

I'm not in that club.

I like 'em short and sweet.

This was a fun group of moms.

School had to come back around and ruin it all.

Thanks, Baker for the goofy look.

Tomorrow----some actual furniture pictures and this summer's flea critters.

Kim

http://littlebitsdesigns.com

Pants, frames, a map, and my soapbox.

I know my busiest time of the year has begun when I look down at my hands and arms in church, and realize I really didn't get all the paint off. That I still have some random smears of stubborn paint, in a variety of lovely colors, still clinging to me. When I feel compelled to explain to everyone that I really did take a shower - even if it doesn't look like it.



I've been finishing pants.


Well, Mom and I have, with a little help.



Working on some new frames.





And doing piles, and piles of the old regulars.





I've always liked this room. It would be great for a playroom, or for a boy's bedroom.
I think it's the cool map that pulls it all together. (There is a distressed, turquoise-ish dresser on the other side of the room).



I found this map at an estate sale. I think it would be a great place to start for a great room.

It hung over a gentleman's workbench. I loved that it still had the pins in it, marking where he had been.



He clearly had an affinity for the south, and Canada was not on his bucket list.

He spent some time in Europe. I'm thinking WWII vet?

For some reason he went to Iceland.

Lilly's been doing more than just helping us sew.

She's been drawing on her face.

"Make-up" according to her.
"Angry Eyebrows" according to me.

I scrub off the final bits of the Star Wars tattoo the boys put on her bellybutton, and now this.

I know this is random,but, I saw this ad in a magazine, and it just seems so stupid.

Is it an ad for cologne? A dating service? No. Countertops.

What the heck does this scene have to do with countertops??

Are they trying to convince men that if they just get Silestone counters, hot women will appear in their kitchen? And why 2 women?

Truly, trying to figure out this ad took my thought process down a path I didn't want to go down.
Our children have enough to face in this world. Why must everything be sexualized?

Sorry. I'll get off my soapbox.





LittlebitsDesigns.com

Black and Blue

I started this blog post last Sunday night.
It's Saturday.

Last week I finished some furniture for a fabulous lake house. The homeowner is the client of a designer I love to work with. I love her style, and , lucky for me, she likes painted furniture.

She gave me a couple of inspiration photos/fabrics. The one below is from the master bedroom, for 2 pieces in blue.




Here's a few shots of the furniture before.




I'll admit, part of the reason this turned out so well is because the furniture had great lines, and was in good shape to begin with. They were pieces from the homeowners family.




The markings on the furniture said 1958.




I painted the long dresser a distressed black, for a guest room.





Poor photography, I know.

I painted the hardware black as well, and used an umber glaze.

I rubbed a coat of wax over the entire piece for durability.



For the night stand and tall dresser, I painted the hardware a creamy color.




Thank you United States Postal Service for the free box I used to protect my desk.

If you work for the United States Postal Service, I promise I don't make a habit of it.





I used a robin's egg blue paint for these, topped with a grayed down tobacco glaze.




The hardware was lovingly "beaten up".





The shower curtain in the master bath had a simple bird print, so I pulled it out for the side table.




I really love this paint/glaze combination.





This picture is to show the frame.

Not hot young men loading said frame.

I promise.



My husband, (also hot and young ) made the frame for the mirror. We used reclaimed molding, and I added the red finish. This will hang over the long, black dresser.




I'm loading my August Flea Market photos. I'm hoping it won't take me a week....

I saw some serious good flea market critters, and snagged a couple of photos on the sly. I'll share soon.

P.S. Don't forget to click on my "like" button if you are on facebook..I want to get enough folks to do some sales and giveaways. Pleeeez.