Honey, I'm Home... from Creative Heaven!

The Creative Connection... that is.

It is good to be back home and blogging again, I just want to say I have missed all of you and your blogs. My life has been a whirlwind the past few months and it will take a little while to catch up but I have so much to tell you and show you!

I am so excited to share all that I have learned and all that I have experienced this past summer and of course at the Creative Connection. 

We will start with the Creative Connection trip and post backwards... because that's just about how I am roll... backwards. This will be a two part post on the Connection, part one will be our booth and part two will be on friends I met, other artists, displays and some festivities we attended.

I spent a week in Mpls. my hometown, I have family there so the show was twice as fun for me. Jo Packham and Nancy Soriano at Where Women Create put this together and did such a fabulous job! There were tons of workshops, book signings, panel discussions and festivities for every aspect of art, crafting and business. Plus the fabulous artists they lined up for the handmade market. 

As you know I had closed my shop a week prior and had been working on the set up the week before fighting vertigo. My son James helped me the night before on the technical aspect of the display and he loaded the truck. I have been asking a lot of him lately and I just thank the Lord for such a wonderful son and family. My daughter Jody drove from WA with her hand-mades and I brought hauled our treasures to Mpls. on Tuesday. We got in line at 6 am on Wednesday for set up. Not knowing what to expect it was a little tense. We had a pickup truck and 2 other vehicles full! We got in around 7:30 and quickly started set up as their was a pre-view show at 6 that evening. We also had wonderful help from a friend and we couldn't have done it without him, thank you Eddie.

I painted the tarp to look like a French shop or atelier. I didn't have a lot of time to paint this and I ran into problems with the coarseness  of the paint tarps I used, so don't look too closely and I will have to work on it some more if I am to use this again.

The old doors I have had for display in my last two shops. They are one of my all time favorite display pieces.

We had a lot of dress forms between Jo and I. Some are available...

 I will be putting them up on my blogshop later this week along with merchandise from the show.

Here are some shots of the booth and our displays, if you see anything that you like just email me... it is for sale! :)

I will insert a little break time here... go get a cup of coffee and a cookie... I am making up for lost blog time. 

I haven't taken pictures in a while and I did go a little nuts with the camera.

Jody shopping...

And I did some myself...

But more on that later in the week when I do part two on the Creative Connection.

Thanks so much for all your support through out my many changes and it is good to be back!

I would appreciate any tips from you show gals out there, as I can use all the help I can get. I also am looking for more shows to participate in for the fall and Christmas, anyone know of any I should try and get into???

Thanks so much and as always I love hearing from you, and appreciate all of you.

Many Blessings

Rebecca

Packing My Bags...

It is count down time for the Creative Connection!  

I am packing my bags, boxes and anything else I can find and loading up the truck and heading north to Minnesota land of 10,000 lakes... and incidentally my hometown.

Paper

I am so excited about this show that Nancy Soriano and Jo Packham at Where Women Create has put together. This is the first year and I am honored to be a part of it. There will be wonderful workshops for just about all tastes and the hand made market that I will be a part of.

I have already made two trips to Mn with my SUV loaded and Tuesday I leave with the truck.

Pockets

It has been really hectic for me just closing the shop last week and now trying to get ready for this show. I have been frantically painting a drop cloth for display but came to a screeching halt the last few days  because of vertigo. I am trusting all this will come together... and what doesn't, well I gave it my best shot!

Journals

Bottles 

And of course lots and lots of odds and ends...

I hope to see you there... and if not I will take lots and lots of pictures! 

It will be good to be back in blogland again, I just haven't had a chance to make it around to all of you, so I will have a lot of catching up to do!

Many Blessings

Rebecca

New Beginnings...

With endings comes new beginnings, with sleep comes an awakening, with death comes new life... look all around and see the design that God has created. Every tree, flower and field knows this simple circle of life. The old me must die so that I might be born a new and become the creature that God has designed, I am sure the butterfly does this with much more ease than I.

And so I enter a newness of life that God has set before me and I wake each morning with new expectations of what He has for me.

Closing Vintage Living is finally done and it was more work than I had anticipated. I have a lot more work ahead of me trying to find a place for everything. (my kids have threatened to put me on "Hoarders")

My Helpers...

Last Load...

I have to thank my guys Tim for traveling and giving his weekend to break his back and especially James for working hard in the heat and giving up every weekend for the last month.

Tim my son in law and James my son

Helping me start again...

My new studio space at The Water Street Studios. I am a resident artist at the WaterStreet art gallery.   I look forward to getting to know all 30 artists here in this creative community. It will be fun putting this studio together and learning more wonderful ways to create. There are many great classes to take and one of my first classes will be welding and portrait painting! Sound fun?

The gallery is open to the public and there is many events planned this year. I am so thrilled to be a part of this and look forward to challenging my art.

Thank you, to so many people who have supported me through this transition with word and deed.

I have missed blogging and I have missed visiting all of you... I will be really busy getting ready for the Creative Connection in Mpls. on September 16 - 17 -18

I will keep you posted but I am down to the wire on this one! 

Yikes...

Blessings

Rebecca

Last Call....

Hello... no I haven't fallen off the planet, it just feels that way.
I am still closing up shop.
I have the rest of this week with regular shop hours 10 to 5 through Saturday.  I am still wheel'in and deal'in!
I have my guys coming to haul some bigger pieces to storage on Saturday. And then the following week I will be in the shop in the afternoon packing and getting ready to tear down on the 27th.
Everything is at least 50% off and I am just in the "get rid of it" mood.
I still have some nice display cabinets left and I have had quite a bit of interest in the 16 foot counter but as of today it is still available.

This was the front desk from a hotel in Manistree, Mich. built in 1800, it closed in 1850 and became the Lumber Baron Hotel until the turn and then this was put into storage. The paint on it is fabulous.

Here are some other display units that are still available...

This could be a great island in a kitchen.

The fireplace surround is wonderful and I have it  $650 less than what I paid for it.

This white case came from France, I love the iron legs.

The slanted front case is wonderful and would look great in a kitchen... maybe mine :)

Vintage Living will be officially closed by September 1.

If anyone is interested in any of these pieces please call the shop at 630-545-0115

I have had several comments on the fact that customers had heard I was closed already, so I thought I would post this to give you the real date.

Thank you so much for all your support and good wishes... I will miss you and hope to see you another time.

I have some great opportunities that have opened up and I can't wait to share them with you. I will be posting the move and what I have up my sleeve after closing.

I miss all my blogging friends and hope to be back in blogland soon, thanks so much for checking in and emailing me... you are all so appreciated.

Blessings

Rebecca