Lovely La Conner Visit

We filled up our two cars with our visiting family members and headed to La Conner on Saturday. The sun was out, so the drive north was especially scenic.

I really was looking forward to visiting Hutch – Krys Kirkpatrick’s latest artistic vision. I loved it! The business tag line is “A Home for Ideas to Grow”.

We found sophisticated vignettes of hand crafted art along with vintage props for sale. It is so thoughtfully and creatively arranged. I also enjoyed visiting with Chris, the store director, very much. I’ll let the pictures give you an idea of what is to be found there.

We admired the swell baby clothes and items next door at Bunnies by the Bay. Another business venture Krys and her sister have grown. Here is a picture of my daughter-in-law Casey with baby Claire in the stroller, and Burly the pug hitching a ride.

Lunch was at Seeds. Yum. Everyone gobbled up the tasty food there.

On a walk along other parts of Morris Street, we popped into Mary Davis Vintage Lighting. What an amazing collection of restored and repurposed lighting! From crystal chandeliers to light fixtures incorporating funnels or antique phonograph horns for their shades. Mercury glass pendants, unique handmade paper shades and handsome mica shades all caught my eye. I’ll be shopping here when we get moved into our next home.

Plus we got to see the fields of snow geese filling up the fields in the Skagit Valley. It was a tiptop day. -- Beth

Happy Holidays!

"Hey, is that Santa on the roof?"

Lisa and I (along with Claire and Burly, Beth’s grandpuggy) wish you a very merry holiday!

Lovely View of My Garage

I am so excited! I got my car in the garage, alongside my husband’s car this week. I think it has been five years since we have had two cars in our three car garage. (It’s no coincidence, that I started rescuing good junk in 2004.) This accomplishment feels great! -- Beth

Quick Gift Idea

I was very inspired by the gorgeous silk flowers Kimberly Taylor of Mimi Charmante has been creating and attaching to gloves, tote bags, hairpins and other beautiful creations. I came home from NYC with a bunch of vintage shoe clips I found at Tinsel Trading Company. I decided to sew them onto some simple gloves for spiffy presents for some girlfriends.

I used French buttons on this pair, and was pleased as punch with the results. -- Beth

Christmas at Caroline's House

Our friend Caroline loves Christmas. She is a dedicated collector of vintage Christmas goodies. On a recent visit to her home, these collections were on display. I enjoyed all of them, but I really covet her pinecone pixie people!

Christmas Charm Swap Splendor

The charm swap we attended this week with a dozen friends was our idea of the perfect holiday shindig - friends whom make us laugh, tasty food, and Christmas themed charms and tokens. Here are some of the lovelies.

A couple of swappers brought other fabulous tokens instead of charms.

This is my heap of swapping loot. Looks like Santa came early!

Christmas Charm Swap Preview

This morning, Lisa and I are headed to a Christmas charm swap with a dozen friends. I’m packed and ready to start thawing out my car. My potluck contribution is a pineapple cake that will taste better than it looks (I hope!). A customer friend made it for us recently. I couldn’t wait to try it because it only has three easy ingredients and you get to put Cool Whip on top of it.

Hostess gift – check!

Charms – check!

Bracelet to wear made with last year’s charms – check!

More pictures of all the charm fun coming soon.

A grand Sunday at Sand Point Antique Market

Lisa and I had such a good time on Sunday doing the Sand Point Antique Market. Thanks to all of our customer friends – new and old, for stopping by our booth and buying our stuff! I am going to be able to fit my car in our garage for the first time in YEARS as a result of lots of inventory going to Sand Point, and less coming back. I’ll post a picture of both of cars INSIDE our garage early next week. (We are in the middle of new tile floors going in two bathrooms, so the tile guy’s equipment and supplies need a safe place to be this week. And if you are looking for a great person for tile work, I’d be happy to recommend Florian.)

So now Lisa and I get to focus on our personal Christmas preparations and celebrations for the next several weeks. Baby Claire will be here in 11 days!

Sunday - It's the Sand Point Antique Market Show

We realize it's such an extra busy time of the year with so many fun things to fit into every weekend, but we hope you’ll be able to join us at the Sand Point Antique Market this Sunday, December 6, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. We’re bringing all our Christmas 'good stuff', as well as a sleigh-full (well a ¾ ton truck and two cars’ full) of items perfect for gift giving, decorating and entertaining. Lots of newly repurposed and vintage treasures will be waiting for you!

More NYC Adventures

Visiting New York City during the holiday season is magical! And better yet is having a navigator on your team to help you get to all the shops and neighborhoods you want to visit. Our son Morgan steered us through the streets and onto lots of subway and bus rides. We saw new areas, and visited a couple of favorite shops. And the level of creativity in NYC is non-stop, over-the-top inspiring! Besides seeing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, I had my sights set on a pilgrimage to Tinsel Trading Company. The picture above is a wall of vintage and newer millinery flowers. A wall.
These beauties are under lock and key. They are sold by their weight, not length.

Intriguing drawers were filled with tempting treasures throughout the store. Tinsel Trading Company is dreamy.

Bergdorf Goodman had my favorite window displays. I could have spent hours on the sidewalks studying each of them. So many details, and mesmerizing combinations.

Barneys is well known for their window dressings, and did not disappoint. They had a tribute to 35 years of Saturday Night Live.

I got a bee in my bonnet to get a Christmas shopping bag from Bloomingdales, after seeing hundreds of their hip, neon, retro bags on the arms of other shoppers on the streets. Along the way, we had some fun with this window camera.

The outside entrance to ABC Carpet and Home was dripping with crystal chandeliers and festive paper garlands. My picture doesn’t do it justice. One window had this heap of silver paper chain. It was perfection.

Our visit could last through Saturday this time, since there was no studio needing me to be there. We high-tailed it to two flea markets in the Chelsea neighborhood – The Garage and the West 25^th Street fleas. I enjoyed both of them. We even popped into a Goodwill across the street from The Garage.

We’ll be returning to NYC next spring for another visit. Can’t wait! -- Beth