Spring?

Here in the pacific northwest, we get spring about every 4th or 5th day. I happened to have had a day off on Saturday and managed to get a lot of yard work done at my home. We have a large piece of property and I have had a difficult time finding the energy to get it all done. My passions seem to go in different directions as I get older. In my youth, (30's and 40's) I had endless time and energy, or so it seemed... and everything needed to be perfect. Now I look at the weeds and wonder...do these flower? and if they do, maybe the color will be a nice addition to the other overgrown, lanky, wild growth of landscaping that I have. I am taking it all in stride and really looking forward to getting my garden MOJO back! I will post a few pictures of some before and after projects that I have around the house...
I have many new spring items in the shop and have been hunting and gathering the local estate sales and garages sales over the last couple of weeks. This Saturday the 21st is our antique faire here in Snohomish. I think the weather forecast is a good one, but I'm not holding my breath!

Great Garden Stuff!

Cotton lace trim tied in bows around a simple old wire lamp shade frame. I did put a smaller shade under this one so that the light bulb does not touch the trim...Safety first :)

I will be taking a little trip to Phoenix with a friend of mine soon and I would love it if you let me know where you love to shop for your home and garden treasures....

3rd Annual Antique and Arts Faire

One of our vendors from last year...How charming!
Local resident Rick, crooning the passer-bys.... Faire hours May 21, 2011 10:00 to 4:00
(We won't throw you off the street if you show up earlier:) )

Our 3rd annual Snohomish Antique and Arts Faire is just a couple of weeks away. This year it will be held on Saturday May 21st. Snohomish is know as the "Antique Capital of the Northwest" and we have been working very hard to get the word out that Snohomish is coming back to her glory. Most of the once vacant store fronts are now filled with new shops and restaurants. The excitement of the new shop owners is contagious and we are all looking forward to a wonderful tourist season. We have a great lineup of vendors this year. Many of them are returning for their 3rd year and we are so thankful to them for being part of this ever-growing event. We have also expanded the variety of goodies to be sold. We have some wonderful handcrafted items, re purposed garden art, jewelry, yummy treats and of course a huge variety of vintage and antique treasures. I am optimistically predicting 70 degree weather this year...the last 2 years were perfect and I expect NOTHING LESS!!!

Make it a day or a weekend. There's plenty to do in beautiful Snohomish County!http://snohomishvic.com

There is a Sun...There is no Sun!

This is exactly how people from the pacific northwest feel. We are giddy with joy when the sun comes out for ONE DAY!!!! Then, the next day it's back to October.. We really do love it when the sun is out. You would think we live in a cave or something. My husband and I went out for a lovely dinner on a local lake, and kids were out wading, dogs swimming after balls and everyone exposing their oh-so-lilly-white northwest legs.. it was great. It's only May 2nd and I am hopeful that May will bring more sunshine. We deserve it!
Dress up your plain lamp shade with some ribbon or old pieces of lace. It just breathes a little more life into it.

Faux flowers are sooooo easy to care for. I love fresh flowers but they are not practical for me here at the shop. I think craft shops like Michaels have great prices and if you pack enough of one kind of flower together, they look remarkably real.

I love this shade of green. I use it for my Christmas holiday decorations, but this spring in my house and shop I find this color really gives a great shock of spring.

Gather up some simple items that are just laying around and put them all together either in a basket, big bowl or something like this wonderful 5 foot basket shelf. Can you imagine it filled with fruits and vegetables and some lovely loaves of french bread!

I hope that this spring will be bright for us all. I am looking forward to all the garage sales and flea markets that this weather brings. Here in Snohomish we are excited to be holding our 3rd annual Antique and Arts Faire on Saturday May 21st. We close our main street here in town and welcome thousands of people for this one day event. Tents will be put up and tables set with so many great vintage treasures. We have a variety of hand made jewelry and local artists displaying their creations. If you are in the area, be sure to stop by and say hello. We'd love for you to visit Snohomish for a day or a weekend!

I Know It's April But I Wrote This in March ....

So much has been happening since my last post. I know I keep promising to update and add pictures, but it just didn't happen.


Just a quick update since October. We had a wonderfully busy holiday season and which I was very grateful for. My husband and I managed to take a little vacation to sunny Palm Springs. We were enjoying ourselves until we both picked up a nasty flu virus that sent us to bed the last few days of our trip. The worst part of the flu, was the fact that this was a driving vacation and Palm Springs to home IS A VERY LONG DRIVE when you have a fever and cough. We must have looked like the couple from HELL as we drove up I-5. Anyway, we made it home, and didn't really start feeling better until a couple of weeks later...

I also have opened another shop here in Snohomish with a partner. Timi has been successful in her business promoting shopping trips to the Farm Chicks Show in Spokane Washington. http://www.blogger.com/www.thefarmchicks.com She also developed a great shopping event here in our area called Ruffles and Rust. There have been 2 shows so far and each one has been an event to remember...anyway she asked me if I would be interested in bringing a smaller version of that show to Snohomish. I didn't give it much thought, and in a matter of a couple of weeks, we decided to jump in!! OMG..another store, am I kidding?? Actually, it worked out pretty well and Timi will be working the shop hours most of the time. We opened on March 1st and it was a hit.
I will try to post a little more often and get pictures loaded. I have changed the look somewhat and not sure what it will look like the next time.

Ok. This one is under my belt and I will work on another post later, along with some more pictures.

Best in Western Washington!!

Wow...I am so happy. My shop won for best antiques in western Washington....I can hardly believe it. I am very thankful to all my customers, friends and family who voted for the shop. This is one of those events that isn't about money or what you buy or have, but how people feel about you and what you've accomplished. I feel wonderful..I have worked very hard along with my friend Mary, and my husband Vern, to have the kind of store that I dreamed about as a little girl.. This was a good week for me and I thank you....
I hope you all got a chance to go the the Ruffles and Rust show that Timi produced...it was fabulous. I hear that a spring show is a possibility and I will want to be in that one FOR SURE...I don't know how all you gals, and guys do these shows 2 or 3 times a month....it is a lot of work. I think I would only be good for maybe 1 or 2 shows a YEAR!. All of the booths were amazing and the atmosphere was electric...I think Timi's got a good thing going on here...
Stay with me on this blog ..I will be attempting to keep it a little more current...
Thanks again for all the support!
Be Good
Annie

It's Time...

What a fabulous day we had...the weather was perfect, about 74 degrees, a little breeze in the afternoon and plenty of neighborhood garage sales. It's always exciting to be out treasure hunting, but then you have to load it, unload it, clean it, store it and sometimes wonder what the heck was I thinkin when I bought that!!! So many times I have purchased something only to get it home or to the shop and see that it's broken or repaired...it's my own fault though. Today I was pretty happy. I got home in time to do a couple things in the garage and I finally did a project that has been on my mind for some time..(get it?) I found a very large metal disc (46" diameter) this last summer and decided that it needed to be a clock. It's not a working clock but it is cool....It will either go to the shop or Timi's show Ruffles and Rust http://comejunkwithus.com/ in October. Mary and I are really looking forward to this show. I don't do many shows, but this is a must. I think it will be one of the best events of the year...We have tickets on sale at the shop for the bloggers ball on Friday the 22nd. This is a dress up gala, and I still don't have a thing to wear :). Ok, that's just a quick update for now. Please be sure to vote for our shop on http://best.king5.com/. We are in the shopping category under antiques....Thanks

Bring on The Fall !

\ This is such a super busy time of the year. I am always excited about the changing seasons, but this fall really kind of snuck up on all of us here in the Pacific northwest. Our summer started, as usual, around July 6th or 7th, but it ended in August this year...I barely remember it now....I do recall it being either 90 degrees or 65 degrees and raining...

Well, what do we do??? I, for one, am going to grab it by the horns and meet it full on..I will welcome the rain and gray skies with open arms and my feet covered in the cutest (leopard print) rain boots ever, from Joyworks !!! http://joyworks-shopgirl.blogspot Fall...I am ready for you....bring it on!!!!
Our industrial "section" is very popular. Don't be shy about adding a piece or 2 of something out of the ordinary...

Here's a 19th century settee mixed up with some wire, wood and cement accents.

Old farm stand signs and rusty baskets make you want to get inside and bake something!! In my case, I run down to Albertsons and get the frozen stuff...it still smells good!

Wine, fruit and fighting brass chickens...what says fall better than that :)

I hope your fall season is filled with fun days and cozy evenings!!

Be Good

Annie