Deer Antlers and Vintage Blue Bottles

One of my favorite rooms at the farm is an upstairs nook with a comfortable chair for reading.  I found this great white deer skull with antlers at a flea market and knew it would be perfect for the wall above my white cupboard where I keep some of my favorite books.

On top of the cupboard are vintage glass bottles in varying shades of blue that look beautiful on top of the white cupboard under the deer antlers.  I can't keep from picking them up when I find them in antique and flea markets - I just think they are beautiful.

I had lunch with one of my pals, Marcy today at a new eatery called BRGR Kitchen.  They have a salad called the Al Greens with cranberries, red onions, cucumber, grilled chicken and a great sweet poppyseed dressing.  Delicious.  It is across the street from the Mission Road Antique Mall were Macy has a booth called the Black Curio.  We dropped a few things off at her booth and I went to find the tiny dice that I had seen there.  I think they will find there way into some new jewelry I have been designing.

The deer skull and antlers have been an ongoing conversation I have been having with my husband.  I think it is beautiful and I just love the way it looks in the reading nook.  Dan has a different opinion, he thinks it is a little creepy.  I guess it's just the science geek coming out in me...I love fossils and natural elements.

Marcy and I have decided to share a challenge called "Up to No Good" where we go into one of our favorite junking shops, make our selections and then put together a mixed media piece using only what we found, paint, and wire, screws, etc. to join the pieces together that represents our theme of - Up to No Good.

We had alot of fun browsing and putting together our elements for the mixed media work we would put together.

After our junking jaunt, Marcy and I went down to the Hobbs Building in the West Bottoms of Kansas City to see studio space she is considering for her sculpture work.  It looks like the perfect space for her.

We then stopped in for a late afternoon cocktail at a local eatery in the West Bottoms.  I had an Elderflower Spritzer - it was elderflower liqueur, pinot grigio wine and spicy ginger ale.  Delicious and very refreshing.

We had a fun afternoon together in spite of the high temperatures in the 100s we are experiencing here in the Kansas City area.

Tonight, we went to our favorite BBQ restaurant - Oklahoma Joe's.  They have this fantastic sandwich call the Chicken Z Man, and it is delicious.  A smoked chicken breast, two onion rings, mozarella cheese, mayo, and BBQ sauce on a toasted bun.  It's heaven on earth.

Fabulous Finds From the Weekend

Do you ever think to yourself - Where did the week go?  Last week I spent a two days working in the shop in preparation for a Mother's Day weekend show with two other remarkable ladies, Karen and Laurie.  Karen's specialty is primitives, wicker and Swedish design - her offerings are amazing.  Laurie creates the most unique potted containers using primitive and antique vessels - gorgeous.

I also spent time designing our post card for the mailing that will go out later this week and tags for the finds for the show, it's a fun process.

French Vintage Readers - Purchase Here

Yes, these are vintage readers from France in creamy white with just the right amount of rhinestones at the corners with two different magnifiers and the best part -  they are from France.  Fun, romantic and useful - it doesn't get any better than that!  Don't need readers.  Look how fabulous they look just tucked into a display...sitting on top of a vintage guide book of Paris....ooh la la.

I also spent time packaging jewelry and vintage goodies to be shipped within the US, but also to Australia and Finland.  I love to package my offerings in a special way using lovely tissue papers, ribbon, and then tucking in a truffle, a saint charm, holy card or other vintage goodie to surprise the recipient.

Jeanne de Arc Living

Vintage Rosary from Italy - Purchase Here

Of course, I have to squeeze in a photo shoot for the week's fabulous finds and get them up online for you to browse each week.  It's alot of fun setting up the shot and then working to get a good pic for the blog.

I also squeeze in a bit of time searching for the goods...it's something I enjoy and it gets me out and about in this beautiful Spring weather we are having.  Special requests are always welcome from those that collect things that aren't readily available in their city.  Let me know what you collect and I will add it to my list of items that I look for.

Vintage Silver Creamer and Sugar - Purchase Here

The weekend was spent at the farm in the country...it was sublime...the birds were singing and the honeybees were buzzing around the blossoms on the fruit trees.  I cleaned out a flower bed, planted three white peonies and prepared the bed for annuals to be planted in the upcoming weekend.

Potatoes, red and white onion sets and sweet peas were planted in the vegetable garden.  A strawberry patch was planted at my Dad's house in his garden.  We tucked 125 strawberry plants into the bed on Saturday morning with my Dad, crawling around the patch on hands and knees while shooing Lucy, the black lab away whenever she tried to get into the patch with us.  She's the sweetest dog, but has no true appreciation for little green strawberry plants - plopping down on them wagging her tail in the process.

Hand Forged Square Nails - Purchase Here

I love vintage hand forged square head nails which are harder and harder to find these days.  They are perfect for altered art projects and fun to tuck into altered art books, collages, and assemblage art pieces.  Use them for the legs of an assemblage doll, use them horizontally as a hinge or a book, or allow them to be part of a dangle.  They are charming and nostalgic and represent a simplier time.  These nails are three inches in length.

Lila Blanka

Make a garland from vintage tiny bottles and vintage clips for a mirror - tuck in a few blossoms from the Spring garden and you have the perfect welcome in your foyer or guest bath.  Or hang in your child's bedroom window...so sweet.

Vintage Receipt Spike - Purchase Here

Old receipt nail in vintage metal in just the right shade of blue/green that would be perfect on your desk, in a window or on a shelf...use them to hold a to do list, write 25 things you are grateful for on small squares of paper and place on the spike - then pull on off each day to remind yourself of what's really important in your life...  or 25 things you love about your spouse, kids, etc.

Vintage Skeleton Key - Purchase Here

Vintage skeleton keys are always a favorite and look great wired to a vintage bottle, suspended in a sunny window, or use them in your altered art, assemblage and jewelry making endeavors.  You can't go wrong with an interesting skeleton key.  I have a friend that uses hers for a key ring...

Lilla Blanka

Vintage Brass Hose Nozzle - Purchase Here

Vintage brass hose nozzles are another of my favorite things that make me happy.  I tuck them onto shelves in groups, insert a copper wire with a hook at the end into the top for a charming stand for rings in the kitchen, or put them in an ironstone bowl as a fun garden inspired bowl filler.

I hope you enjoy this week's offerings and that you have a week filled with fun Spring projects.  I am off to buy trees this week to plant at the farm.  I am looking for white pines, a honey crisp apple tree, an anjou pear, a dogwood tree, a few ornamental pines, pin oaks, a tulip tree and a dark burgundy maple.  We are having a tree planting party at the farm over the upcoming weekend and hope to plant 21 trees!

Then we will work on filling the vegetable garden with seeds...

What Spring plantings are going on at your house?

Copper Cuffs and Bracelets

These something mystical about horses - their grace, elegance, and power seem to enchant us. I often rode when I was younger, even riding in our annual parades in the small town where I grew up. But, my driver's license, High School sports (I played volleyball and ran track), my first job and boys put an end to my riding days. Why didn't I date a cowboy instead of that football player?

I have often felt like an ODD DUCK in my life. Living in the city after growing up on a farm can be difficult at times when it comes to relating to my girlfriends that grew up in the city. They haven't worked cattle, rode a horse, swam in a creek, hauled hay in the Summer, or gone on hayrides in the Fall. Being somewhat of a tomboy doesn't help either, they certainly didn't spend an entire day pretending to be on an archeological dig. I don't think digging a large hole in the lawn would have been tolerated, but when you live in the country there's plenty of room to dig outside of the yard around the house. They think my country upbringing sounds pretty awful - like a lot of hard work. It was hard work, but I can't imagine growing up any other way...

One of my favorite things about the Midwest is the wheat on the prairie, miles and miles of it swishing back and forth in the breeze always takes my breath away. I am always sad when I hear that wheat prices are down because that means farmers will be planting more soy beans and corn. No swishing wheat.....sigh.

One of the leather cuff bracelets with a little bird on a branch that is riveted in place that I really loved making with etched copper. I think it has a tuff feminine quality to it that I love. Women aren't all lace and pearls, you know....


Nickel silver buckle gives the bracelet a cowgirl feel that I like and is functional allowing for adjustment to smaller or larger wrist sizes.
I love to hammer and shape metal. Why is that? Is it the physical effort, the sound of the hammer hitting metal or the end result? Whenever you bend metal to your will, you put a bit of yourself into the cuff - forcing the metal into the shape you desire. You take an ordinary copper rod and create a fun piece of jewelry - I love that!

Gears are fun to work with representing the industrial age when gears were used in factories, cars, clocks, tools, and endless other ways. Refining of the wheel into a working gear...human ingenuity. Add the brass micro bolts and nuts and the brass gears are connected to the copper cuff.

This bracelet has good heft to it and feels substantial on the wrist without being too heavy. My love of solid jewelry with a little heft says something about me and my nature. The gears actually turn together on this piece making it a mechanical art piece. My resourceful husband is a CPA by trade, but can handle any project around the farm from roof repairs, to plumbing, repairing the lawn mower, or building a piece of furniture. The kids are always included in the projects around the house and farm. It's a Midwestern thing. Ryan is different from his friends in the city, he uses power tools, builds small furniture pieces, and makes his own skateboard ramps. A chip off the ole block...

Another cuff this time in tooled leather with pink rhinestones to add that little touch of feminity to soften the stamped metal plate and rivets. "There's more here than meets the eye." is stamped onto the copper plate on the front. The woman's mantra...

Here's sweet Molly and Angus, my terriers riding with me in the country with the windows down and noses in the breeze as we crunch along the gravel road to the farm. My little buddies that I can't imagine life without.

It's beginning to feel like Fall with cooler temperatures and the leaves are just beginning to fall to the ground and make a wonderful crunch under my feet....xo Julie