We woke up a little later today and made my way out to the street with the goal of going to the  GreenFlea event.  But we got waylaid with a huge farmer's market happening right outside the hotel.  It was 10 blocks long, both sides of the street so what could we do but enjoy this first!

We enjoyed some fried chicken, peach cobbler, sliced up watermelon, fresh lemonade, and then went on to shop and got some cute t-shirts for the girls.

Then we hopped on the subway up towards Central Park & walked all over the GreenFlea event.  It was really hot so I had a frozen mango (dipped in dk. chocolate of course), and lots of water.  Scored a couple of manganese glass pieces for our collection.  There were 2 people selling painted furniture, not shabbied, but the prices were so much more than I could have imagined.  There was a beautiful vanity with 3 full size mirrors & 2 sconces for $1400, a nice curly full size white iron bed frame for $1200, and a great white hat collection - $65 each.  A little more than my pocket book can support so I moved on to the map booth.
This booth had a nice collection of framed maps, wall maps, and globes, very similar to what we have at the store right now.  The prices at this booth were also higher than i expected, with globes selling for $100+ and wall maps at $300.   Although I didn't buy anything from these 3 booths, it was fun to see what was popular in NY was the same as at our store!

Then we walked over to Central Park and just enjoyed the day - sunny with a little breeze!  It was a busy day at the park with lots of bikers, joggers, and rowers. 

This picture was taken just before they all crashed into each other!

There are so many things that I love - things that make me smile, things that I love to touch, look at, and share, that I thought I would share a few:
I love mirrors!  Round, square, small, big, metal, wood, resin - I love them all!  I especially like layering them and creating a collage.
I love old bottles!  I had a collection of them so I painted them with chalkboard paint, added a few vintage buttons and keys and created these wonderful bottles that look great on your vanity or tucked into a bookcase.  Tuck a message inside and you've created a unique wedding favor.
I love vintage cameras!  First off I love the color - black and silver, and then when you place them around people love to touch them.  Since they don't usually work, there is no danger when kids want to touch them and they are great conversation pieces - can you believe we used to take pictures with these!

I think that's all for now from me, what are a few of your favorite things?  What things do you put on your shelves that get people talking? touching? and reminiscing

I just finished up the most beautiful piece!  First off - I love RED!  and, I love windows!  A customer had bought this cabinet from another wonderful store in Sutter Creek and she wanted it red.  She had painted it herself but didn't like how the paint had dried and it hadn't sealed to the wood very well so it was peeling off in places.  So, I took on the project.  After stripping, primering, painting, curing, and I started the shabby process. 
I spent about 8 hours, over the course of 3 days, strategically sanding the piece down, applying a satin finish, then sanding between layers. I learned a new technique for my 'tween layer sanding that made a huge difference.  The cabinet has turned out so beautifully, with an amazing smooth finish, every time I walk past it in the garage I rub my hand across the top.

I can't wait for the customer to see it!  She plans on using it for a dresser - it is going to look great filled with sweaters and baskets.

 
Recently one of my Not Too Shabby Treasure Hunters asked me to put together a donation for her to donate to a local Folsom school auction.

So today the Gift of the Basket was created.

My Treasure Hunter took some of our AMAZING French soaps. They retail for $7.50 and make a wonderful gift by themselves. It’s amazing how long one bar of good quality hand soap will last. And they make a gift basket smell fabulous!!!

Then we added the sparkle of silver Mercury glass to add a luxury look – a wonderful pair of candle holders and a versatile stand. The stand makes both a lovely centerpiece OR cake stand.

Together we decided shells would be a great idea for an auction item, appealing to a few styles and tastes. Some large shells and starfish later and it looks amazing!!!

You can bid on the basket at:

Empire Oaks 3rd Annual Crab & Pasta Feed

http://www.empireoakspta.org/

Friday, April 8th

Folsom Community Center

52 Natoma Street, Folsom

5:30 – 11:00pm

Or stop in the shop and I can make one up for you to purchase. Bring in a basket and we can customize it to fit your special recipient together. The Gift of a Basket is always FUN to put together!

I love the beginning of the year, when everything seems fresh and full of possibilities!  This year is especially poignant because the end of 2010 was a challenge from both personal and business perspective. 

First, Not Too Shabby, my amazingly cute store located in Historic Folsom, has had a HUGE construction project.  This project has ripped up the main street, side streets, sidewalks, trees, and building overhangs.  An unfortunate side effect of this huge project has been the closing of multiple businesses and restaurants due to the decrease in business.  So, it has been a challenge keeping the store fresh and exciting when there are huge trucks outside ripping up the street.  When the construction project is done, the whole district will be amazingly beautiful and much more accessible for all with the ADA ramps and wider sidewalks.

From a family perspective, my sister-in-law was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.  An eggplant sized tumor was wrapped around her right kidney.  She has 2 kids (14 & 21) and as our family is small, all of us must help.  Well, it seemed no matter how aggressive the chemo was, the cancer was more so and spread throughout her body.  Right when I am the busiest at the store with the holiday season, she is doing the worst and needs family. 

So, Christmas day I packed my kids off to their Dad's, caught a flight to Buffalo NY and I am here to help her through the last of the dialysis & chemo treatments.  The Wednesday after I got here, her primary cancer doctor took her off dialysis and chemo and we are now at her home working with Hospice, wrapping up her life.  We are having fun reminiscing and visiting with friends who stop by (often), and not so much fun planning what to do with her house, car, and kids.

So, while I know that being in Buffalo right now is the right thing, and I can't imagine Terri not here, I am looking forward to a new year, fresh start, and all that excitement.  For the first time my New Year's resolution aren't the usual ones I tend to break.  Instead Terri, Pam, and I have been talking about doing more things that make us happy, being more creative, spending more time with people who make us laugh, and appreciating those around us more. 
I wish for all of you a year filled with wonderful blessings, great ideas, and laughter.  Lots and lots of laughter!

Then we took some vintage tongue & groove flooring and created the back for the top of the cabinet.  This took a lot of hand work as I had to sand down all 4 sides to make it slim enough to fit within the grooves of the center support and tops.

Then we mounted the bottom of the top back on, and had to use some wood putty on the sides to fix some previous repairs by others.  I've left it to dry and get solid for a few days.

Jimmy then cut wood for the shelves inside the top.  They rest on the existing wood side brackets.

The next part is to fix all the trim.  For some reason all of the corner trim pieces are missing.  The trim is wide/deep that is difficult to recreate so Jimmy took a side piece and we cut the necessary corners out of that piece.  It will be easier to mimic the trim on a long side piece rather than the 6 corner pieces we needed.



Jimmy also came up with a great idea for the center of the cabinet doors, we bought some beautiful copper backsplash pieces and cut them to fit.  It was a little more than I wanted to spend as we decided we needed to double up the backsplash so you see it from the front and when the doors are open.

Next steps:  glue/attach all trim pieces, add 4 feet to the bottom (so it won't damage any trim when moved), finish gluing the doors and cutting the door trim, mount all door hinges, repair drawer (I need to get help with the router cuts need for this part), cut the back splash for the cabinet doors, clean, sand, varnish the inside, paint the outside (I''m leaning towards a light blue over yellow gold, which I will then sand almost all off).  I think another 2 weeks of labor then 2 - 3 weeks of drying time.