Prairie Thistle: Garden Shows

Showing posts with label Garden Shows. Show all posts

March 7, 2011

Bottoms Up Debut - Kansas City

I thought I would share some photos of my new Prairie Thistle space at Bottoms Up in the West Bottoms of Kansas City. I only had two weeks to prepare for the show so I quickly put together a booth design for the show. This venue is open the first Friday and Saturday of each month. I had such a lovely time at the show I have decided to join in again in April. I hope you can join me there, if you have never been to Bottoms Up you are in for a delightful shopping experience.

I will have a bit more time to prepare for the next show and plan to bring in more jewelry, antiques and French inspired goods for the home and garden.

One of the necklaces that I put together for the show featuring a large vintage shell button with a tiny sparrow wired to blueberry lace quartz.

I adore my sparrow cabinet that I had custom made to display my jewelry. It is four feet wide and five feet in height and features a hard rock maple top. It holds an enormous amount of jewelry, but would also be perfect for linens and lingerie. My Master Cabinet maker has agreed to make more of these cabinets by order. Send me an email if you are interested and would like more information.

It was a fun show with a lively crowd enjoying the lovely offerings of the antique vendors.

This was the first mannequin that I purchased long ago. It is actually a boy mannequin torso that I always try to disguise with lots of lace strategically placed creating a more feminine shape.

I also brought lots of antiques for the glass case in my space. This is a lovely Italian figurine of a family of Blue Jays.

Hand carved wooden statues of Jesus are exquisitely detailed.

A vintage beveled glass silver Victorian hand mirror and a white beaded purse with a tiny mirror in the clasp.

Purchase Here

A pair of white leather Mary Jane shoes - too sweet.

Our leading lady of Bottoms Up, Gwen McClure. She's a lovely person and you can hear her laughter all day as she greets her returning loyal customers.

This is a photo of Gwen's lovely French inspired offerings.

Another booth filled with wonderful European antiques. The two consoles in the front have silver leaf tops.

There are no words....

What a wonderful weekend and I am so excited about the show next month and I hope you can join me.

Bottoms Up

1200 West 12th Street

Kansas City, MO 64101

Related Articles and Links

Jenny Steffens Blogspot

West Bottoms Business District

Bottoms Up Facebook Page

French By Design Facebook Page

Beth Leintz Blog

June 26, 2010

A Mid Summer's Dream Show

Hi Everyone! I wanted to share the photos from my booth at the Mid Summer's Dream Show I participated in last Thursday at Seven Acre Farm in Olathe, KS at the lovely home of Tina and Craig Hoover. It is a lovely venue, with loads of mature shady trees, a lovely old barn and a couple of horses in the corral.

We enjoyed the coolest day of the week and clear sunny skies...it was a beautiful day to be outside.

My favorite mannequin with a great old corset that I found recently that went perfectly with the eyelet skirt with tulle beneath. Isn't it a great way to show off one of my necklaces with huge blue stones?

This is the invitation for the show, isn't it well done? I'm not sure who to give credit - but it's fantastic!

A closer view of the necklace and my corseted mannequin.

We set the big pieces the evening before, and arrived bright and early to add all the littles and jewelry. I loaded my booth to the brim with not only jewelry, but antiques, primitives, silver, glass, and garden goods like tools, hats, bird feeders, garden stakes, mosaics, and more still...

I put together a few bucket lamps using old galvanized nail buckets, and beaded glass dangles wired with a light fixture. I have one in my screened in porch and I love it! It's so pretty during the day as the sun hits the glass beads and at night with the light casting soft light. Very romantic.

Venus is modeling another one of my necklaces that I put together for the show.

Closer view of the necklace.

Sweet little girls provided cold drinks to us from their little red wagon with a cooler inside throughout the day. They were such good girls. They received parasols as a thank you for all their hard work.

Tina provided a lunch for all of the vendors - she is a fabulous chef and I had the best chicken salad filled with grapes and mandarin oranges on a croissant. Delicious. I wonder if she would share the recipe with us? I'll have to inquire.

The Seven Acre Farm is located in the middle of the city and has that unique quality of seeming to be secluded in the countryside far away from the bustle of the urban living. It's really the best of both worlds. Close to the convenience of shopping, restaurants and activites with plenty of room for horses, vegetable garden and flower gardens.

We listened to the birds sing overhead in the huge shady trees all afternoon.

Of course, my booth had to have a bouquet of thistles...since my jewelry line is called Prairie Thistle. I loved them in the booth so much that I am drying some for my upcoming show this Fall. I just love them - always have. Maybe it's that smidgin of Scottish blood that runs through my veins, maybe it's my love of Joan of Arc, from the Order of the Thistle...

Silver spoon necklace with a tiny nest.

My booth neighbor's were two of my friends, Marcy Lally and Kim Morenz. Marcy also creates beautiful jewelry and Kim is a potter who makes lovely pottery. We had a pleasant afternoon sharing snacks under the massive oak trees. We nibbled on fresh strawberries, humus, mango, sugar snap peas, blueberries and grapes. Yummy.

Tina and Craig's horses in the corral seemed to enjoy the show.

Seven Acre Farm - For Sale in Olathe, KS

The gorgeous manor house was built in the early 1900s is so beautiful as you approach from the long drive that leads to the house. It's a lovely setting.

The inside of the house was staged for the show by Kelly Littman of Farmstead. She did a fabulous job, don't you think? I love the mix.

It was a long day, full of laughter, commarodery and great people who popped in throughout the day to say hello and to do a bit of shopping. I saw so many familiar faces from my shoppe days which is the best part seeing old friends and making new ones at the shows.

A wonderful gal from Des Moines, Iowa was so kind to me, her name is Marcia and she volunteered to help us load the truck at the end of the day when it was time to pack up and head for home. I can't tell you how touched I was at her kindness and generosity. Good people are everywhere.

This will be my last show for a bit, whew... I did four shows in 45 days. I am ready for a break and looking forward to getting back to my blog and etsy shop once more. It's time to start preparing for the Fall Show Season which will be here before you know it. Is Summer going this quickly for everyone?

Blessings - Julie

May 19, 2010

White Bloomers Show - Gratitude

What an amazing couple of weeks spent in the shoppe surrounded by fabulous women who came to shop and offer me well wishes, smiles and hugs. I have never felt so fortunate - and I am so grateful for the sisterhood of women. Where would we be without the encouragement and support of our friends?

My sweet sister in law, Laurie and energetic Karen, who has more energy than the two of us together...made the show possible and I am so grateful to both of them. I feel so blessed and just plain LUCKY.

So, the final word on the show is that it was a HUGE success and sales were good, too.

Now, the shop space will be dismantled over the next few months...an end of an era for me. It is a bittersweet process putting a dream to rest. After the last customer left the shop and I turned out the lights, I felt a huge lump in my throat as I closed the door. It is time to move onto new endeavors. No one said that it would be easy...

So, I am staking claim to the finished basement in my home here in the city - the whole thing. I plan to create a magical studio space and welcome those same fabulous women into my studio hopefully in early Fall. The idea of welcoming these lovely souls into my home, studio and gardens makes me happy and feels like the natural thing to do. So, here I go....walking down a new path.

Today, I will deliver the jewelry that I have made over of the past week in preparation for the Friends of a Feather show. Back to back shows....what was I thinking? It's been a challenge, but I work best under pressure and I have created some pretty wonderful things to share... I'll photograph today and share with you in the near future. It will be a fun show and I am looking forward to it.

Friends of a Feather Show

After this weekend I will be heading back to the farm...to relax a bit.

I need to check on my trees that I planted a few weeks ago... twenty-one of them. Now you know why my Dad brought his tract loader with the backhoe attachment over to help with the digging. The guys were preparing a new home for a lovely Crabapple tree that will be just outside my studio windows on the front side of the house. I can just hear the birds singing from it's branches as I hammer away in the studio...bliss.

Angus was bored by the whole thing...he dozed on the porch in spite of the backhoe making all kinds of racket just a few feet away...as the Crabapple went into the ground.

We planted Japanese Cedars which were my favorite, White Pines, a Pear Tree, White Lilac, a Weeping Cherry, Mugo Pines and my Crabapple Tree. By the end of the day, we were covered with dirt, barely able to make it up the stairs for a shower, but we were really.really.really happy.

On our next visit, I will finish planting my vegetable garden and seed my Zinnias and then go over to my Mom and Dad's house and plant a bed of Zinnias - Giant Red Zinnias for my Dad - they are his favorite. My Dad will never accept any form of payment for helping us at the farm, so we take it out in trade - this time a planted bed of Zinnias. He'll really enjoy them this Summer and the thought of that makes me smile.

Blessings and a Hug - Julie

May 14, 2010

White Bloomers Show

I wanted to share with you what I have been up to for the past few weeks in preparation for our "White Bloomers Show". Venus watches over the shoppe and one of Laurie's lovely potted containers in the foreground of the shot - beautiful.