Bridal Bliss

At our age, there aren't many invitations to bridal showers for your peers. But leave it to our friend Lois to break all the rules.

She is a long-time garden club/crafting friend who is getting married in July. Today, our friend Pam hosted a bridal shower in her infamous garden of boisterous roses, sturdy hostas and perennials galore. Pam also loves quirky garden art (of course!) and I took a few photos of what caught my eye today...

A chair Pam bought at the studio. This blue is terrific in the garden. Those roses aren't too shabby either.

Planted pots of sedum in vintage drink holders. See the tryke peeking out from behind the poppy heads?

A rusty metal floral medallion tucked behind a lovely orange rose.

Some of the attendees admiring gifts.

Enjoy your garden...and your friends! -- Lisa

Mon Dieu! Look at this Garage Sale!

I received some fun pictures from my friend Jill of LeTrip this morning. Vide grenier season in Provence is in full swing! (A vide grenier is a community garage sale.) During our March visit to France, we only had a chance to visit one, and it was a sorry one. These photos were taken in Aix en Provence – just a block from the hotel we stayed in. I’d like to look through that basket of white linens and bring that basket back here while I’m at it!

If it’s any consolation, Jill reports that “a lot of the sales have been happening in hurricane type rains, but once in a while it gets dry here.” Sounds familiar! -- Beth

Sunday at Sandpoint

Hope your Sunday morning was as fun as mine was! Four of us did the early morning admission at the Sand Point Antique & Design Market in Seattle. It wasn’t as crowded as the last time I attended, and there were fewer vendors. But we enjoyed the extra elbow room and found plenty of good loot. Plus we ran into a bunch of customer friends and had a great time visiting with everyone.

Of course, a moving dolly had to be borrowed to get the biggest finds to the car. Here’s Judy, Colleen, Jena' and Lisa with two beautiful chairs headed to Colleen’s house. Jena' owns Barfield’s, (206) 226-1962. Her perfect tag line on her business card is “If you’re looking for ‘pots and pans’ don’t come to me. I have what you want, not what you need.”



Next up, is Lisa, Colleen, Virginia, Judy and Beth with the addition of a pretty blue shelf (hiding), Lisa holding her new plant stand (that she is turning into a table base), and a box of pink Christmas decorations extraordinaire found in Virginia and Frank’s booth, Home Shop.



A picture of all my loot assembled on a modest tray. In the spirit of “less abundance”, I bonded with small items. May I also add I was able to carry said less abundance to the car in one hand!

A close up of some very swell drawer pulls. I’m keeping my fingers crossed they are Bakelite. To the right of them a nice pile of watch bands with a future as components in bracelets and necklaces.

Vintage millinery flowers, several handmade.

And splendid small photos for some future soldered charms with an assortment of leaves and stamens in their original packages.

The next Sand Point shows are August 24, Oct. 12 and Dec. 7th. -- Beth

Button, Button, Who's got the Button?

What a delightful group we had on Saturday at the salvage studio for our Button Bracelet workshop. I love teaching this project; although teaching is a misnomer. I provide piles of buttons; a needle and thread, brief instructions and the attendees do the rest. The beautiful creations speak for themselves. -- Lisa

Thank you kindly!

Here’s one of a couple of thank you gifts I wrapped for two friends of ours. The gift inside the glassine bag (wax paper bags would work equally well) are a small variety of vintage French millinery leaves, with one doing double duty on the outside of the gift. Just fold the top of the bag over and punch two small holes sort of in the center or wherever the mood strikes you. One section of ribbon gets threaded thru the holes, and ties the other pieces of ribbon, lace, leaf and gift card together. I save small segments of ribbons in plastic bags, separated by color. These bags live side by side stored in a big (boring) plastic box in my studio closet. Right on top of the heap. Easy access and a system that works for me. When I receive special ribbons, it is easy to “file” them away – all I have to do is jam them in their color’s bag. I really like the look of crinkled ribbons. I’ve noticed some vendors on Etsy selling ribbons they have crinkled on purpose! The gift tag is a vintage bridge tally card – love those muted colors. -- Beth

On the Road

Besides writing, teaching and selling things related to re-purposing and recycling, we also do public speaking about it! The King County Library System has invited us for a return engagement to speak on Garden Art from Found Objects, Salvage and Really Good Junk at five of their libraries. Our first stop was the Kirkland Library at the beginning of the week. We had a terrific turnout and enjoyed our time with them.

Next up:
June 3 Newport Way 7 p.m.
June 11 Kent 12:30 p.m.
June 17 Carnation 6 p.m. (in conjunction with the farmer’s market)
July 20 Vashon Island 1 p.m.

For addresses and helpful directions, please go to www.kcls.org. We’d be happy to see you! -- Beth, Lisa and Amy

The Book!

Hi all! The book is now available for pre-sale on Amazon.com. We have provided a link to it on the right side of our blog page for your convenience. Amazon doesn't have a photo of the final cover yet...But we do!

Drum roll please!