FARM CHICKS 2011 - THE REVIEW

Yes, I'm a vendor, and am I allowed to say "I'm pooped"?  What a whirlwind of four days of activities, starting with Thursday and packing up all our stuff and heading to Spokane, WA and ending Sunday afternoon with having to disassemble our booth and happily, only pack back up about half of what we brought.

As expected, Saturday was the big day, when the line of  people waiting to get into the fairgrounds starting forming almost two hours early.  Craig took a couple of photos of the front gate on one of his many trips out to the moving truck.  It didn't take long before the aisles were packed with like minded people with the love of all things vintage.

I have to tell you, the biggest surprise and one of the best memories of this event was when I was approached by a young couple who asked which one of us, Cori or I had the blog.  I assumed they were asking about Cori's blog, which has the same name as our business, and started to introduce them to Cori, when they said it was the truck driving blog.  I couldn't have been happier meeting this couple and getting the chance to see face to face the wonderful people that read my blog.  Although the husband had enjoyed the truck driving side of the blog, the wife was enjoying following my adventures in the junking world.   Honestly, it made my day!

There were so many enduring stories that come to mind when I think about this past weekend.  The one that continues to warm my heart and give me chills, was the woman who was looking at an old baseball mitt we had for sale with a baseball in the glove.  When she picked up the ball it had the name "Mo" written on it.  She said that was the nickname that her husband's Father always called him when he was a boy, and that it was most definitely an omen for her to purchase it for him for a Father's Day present.

Or the older couple, who have a 35 year old son, who as a boy, would sing the Davy Crockett song over and over.  When they saw the old vintage Davey Crockett suitcase we had for sell, did not hesitate to pick it up and buy it for their son to remind him always of that childhood memory.

It was exciting for us to have our first sale on Saturday morning, and it did not disappoint.  A lady was in our booth and noticed a small metal windmill.  She snatched it up quickly and said that was exactly what she was looking for, and that if she bought nothing else all day, she would be going home a very happy lady.

We had so many people taking pictures of both our dress forms and the hanging light that Craig put together for us.  It was nice to get the feedback on all those items, and the items we had worked hard to create, like the thermos lights, and the soap dispenser mason jars. 

By the end of the show, we were all physically tired, and Cori and I could not have been the success that we were without the endless help of our husbands, Craig and Mike.  They both took vacation time to help us with our first Farm Chicks vendor experience, knowing full well that they would have rather have spent their vacation time with a bit more relaxation than work.  I am eternally thankful for the love and support you both showed us this weekend.

FARM CHICKS IS HERE!

Farm Chicks Antique Show has finally gotten here, and I think we are as ready as we can be for first time vendors at one of the biggest west coast shows in the junking world.  We loaded up all of our products on Thursday and drove to Spokane, and after a nice relaxing evening at the hotel, we hit the ground running this morning by setting up our space and hoping for the best outcome come Saturday morning when the doors open for business at 9am.

We only have a 10X10 space, and after trying to fit in most of our stuff, we soon realized how much nicer it would have been to have two spaces.  One of our neighbors at the show has five spaces.  WOW....that's a lot of space and a lot of product to have on hand.  We have plenty of good stuff left in the truck to bring into our space as stuff sells, and with a lot of good fortune, we will sell most of what we brought.

It will be a long 10 hours tomorrow, in what other vendors have told us will be chaos, with thousands of people clamoring to buy what is being offered to sell throughout four very large connected buildings at the Spokane Fairgrounds.  After a full day of setting up our little space, we sat back and were very proud of what we created to entice buyers into our space.

By the end of this weekend, I'm hoping to be enthusiastic about venturing out and applying at several other antique/junk sales in the area.  In fact, we were already invited to join a show which is slated to be in Walla Walla, WA on October 8th.  Who knows, you just may see us there!

ALL SIGNS POINT TO FARM CHICKS IN SPOKANE

One week from today, hoping the backs of four people in their 50's hold out, we will be packing a 26 foot U-haul truck and heading to Spokane, WA for the Farm Chicks Antique Show. This truly has been a work in progress for the past 6 months, since we first sent in our application to be vendors, never thinking that we would be accepted to join the talented people that put on this show every year.

I'm not sure if you can ever be totally prepared for a show like this, especially on your first show, but Cori and I have checked our list, crossed off the many projects we had to complete, and with only a list of tools and equipment left to pack away to take with us, I do believe we are ready to throw caution to the wind, jump in with both feet, hope for the best, and most of all ENJOY the experience.

With Cori away in California until Monday afternoon, I've had the garage to myself, music cranked up, and in search of making something out of nothing. Yesterday, I found an old board which I managed to bust in two separate pieces. The largest of the two, I dry brushed with some red and black paint on it and then painted "boulangerie" on it. A little waxing and distressing and I quite like the way it turned out. The smaller of the two pieces was dry brushed with some blue and black, and "Paris" was painted on it.

With those two pieces done, I found a couple of more odds and ends of wood lying in our wood pile, and decided to stay on my roll of making signs and produced another "Paris" and another with a graphic design along with a "1902" and some lettering across the top. Both pieces of wood had holes near the top, so I put in some antique bronze screws, fastened some wire around them, and then using a grinder, ground down the screw to a flat end.

But the one item that was really a transformation was the little blue table. It was a Church Sale find this past Tuesday. An obviously home made piece, but with a throw back to the 50's with a Formica top and the silver trim around it. I painted with the last remaining bits of grey and blue Anne Sloan Chalk Paint. I added the wreath stencil around the handle and thought it could use a strip to give it a more angular line with all the curved edges. After a little distressing and waxing, I think it turned out pretty good, and that's what I'm hoping our Farm Chicks experience will be....pretty darn good!

SOME GREAT FINDS AT THE CHURCH SALE

I wasn't planning on going to the Church Sale this morning, as neither Cori or I have paid them a visit in quite a few weeks, as we have been busy trying to finish up all the incomplete projects we have sitting around.  But as I made my way to the Home Depot to pick up some paint for some side chairs, the pickup just naturally veered towards the parking lot of the Church, and I very happy that it did.

Immediately I spotted the old rustic chair, for only $2.00 and the metal canister, which I was told was used previously to carry the cream from the whole milk from the diary.  Don't know if it's true or not, but I do know it will look great holding some vintage croquet mallets and some walking sticks we will be selling at Farm Chicks.

My next great find was the suitcase.  It was shoved under a shelving unit, and pushed all the way back to the wall.  What first caught my attention was the great color, and when I pulled it out, found it to be made of metal instead of leather.  The inside is in great condition, and it even had an old airline tag still attached to it!

Once inside the main warehouse, I snagged the old metal lunch pail,  the two old thermos', and the two large frames.  All in all it was a great thirty minutes spent collecting some great finds that will no doubt make someone else's heart skip a beat when they see them in two weeks in Spokane.

QUEEN BEE

Cori and I have been so very busy lately trying to finish up projects to take to Farm Chicks Antique Show in two weeks.  Our storage area at the Consignment Store is almost at over flowing and we are questioning what size U-Haul truck to use to take it all to Spokane.  Having never been involved in any show, let alone one the size of Farm Chicks with thousands of people coming from all over the State and surrounding area, if we let ourselves, it can get a bit over whelming.

We want to be able to showcase our dress forms in our small 10x10 space, and have settled on having three different types of dress forms there, along with order forms for custom orders.  Our latest design has us using a new form called a wasp waist.  It is a throw back to a more vintage looking dress form and we decided to design it with that in mind.

We went back to using vintage sheet music, and chose the portrait neckline with a beautiful lace trim.  For graphics we used a "bee" theme and named her Queen Bee, also known as Beatrice.  For an added little bit of fun, we designed a faux corset closing in the small of the back using different sizes of buttons, burlap webbing, and a tea stained linen ruffle.

We are so excited to offer this new dress form style to our future customers and hope that they fall in love with her as much as we have.

DIAMONDS ON MY MIND

I'm not talking about the sparkly diamonds, as I've never been much of a jewelry lover.  No, I'm talking about a classic harlequin pattern, to which I have been addicted to lately painting on furniture and other items.  It all started with this old cupboard door which we purchased back in February during our little picking trip to Heppner, OR.  It has been just sitting in the garage waiting for us to give it some attention.

 I finally did some research on the easiest way to create this classic design, and thought I had it all figured out.  That was when I had to put in an emergency call to Craig for his assistance.  As he walked me through the calculations and dimensions, I took detailed notes, and when the phone call was finished I went to work.

It's all in the prep work on this pattern, with a lot of lines drawn here and there, and then dots placed at mid points of intersecting lines ,connecting those points , and you can see when it was all completed, how it could get confusing on which area needed to be painted.  But slow and sure wins the race, and the end product was this great coat/hat holder which would look great in a mud room or entry of a house.

So I was on a roll and didn't want to stop, so when I purchased this little table at Goodwill for just $6.00 I knew the little drawer front would look great with the harlequin pattern.  This time I was able to figure out the math equation without Craig and went to town painting the drawer front a mix of red and gray.  Then I painted the rest of the piece red, and finished it off with some brown wax.  I couldn't be happier with how this little table turned out.  I'd love to take it home with me, but it will be for sale at Farm Chicks in just three weeks.

My next quest was to do something with this old ironing board that we found.  Sure it's cool on it's on, looking all old and vintage, but Cori suggested doing a harlequin pattern on it as well.  She didn't have to tell me twice, and I had my pencil and ruler out marking all my lines, and by the end of the day, we had a pretty snazzy looking vintage ironing board, which will also be loaded up to take in Spokane.

Now it's time to get back into the workshop and get busy on the last remaining items we need to finish up before heading to the big show!

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REMEMBER THIS CHAIR?

Does this flashback to the 70's upholstered chair ring a bell with you?  I blogged about it when I snagged it at the church sale a few months ago for only seven dollars.  I fell in love with it then, and I'm head over heals in love with it now. 

 Before I left for California, I shipped her off to be recovered.  She returned to me this week just in time to load her into the pickup and take her home with us this morning.  I'm happy to report that I'm sitting it the chair as I type this entry now, and if I do say so myself, I think she fits perfectly into our little house.

As easily as the whole process was of getting it recovered, I'm now going to be on the lookout for another great deal on an old chair with "good bones". 

Speaking of something with  good bones, check out this old Stanley thermos Ruth Ann from All Things Bradbury sent to me and was waiting at the Post Office when we drove home.  Ruth Ann was a sweetheart to send it to me, and knows how passionate I am about all things vintage.  She also knows exactly what I have planned for it to give it a new lease on life.  The rest of you will have to wait to see the final outcome in the very near future.

TRYING TO PREPARE FOR THE FARM CHICKS ANTIQUE SHOW

                         

After spending the last two weeks of April in California visiting with my Mom and Nieces, I knew it would mean when I got back to Walla Walla, that there would be a lot of work to do in order to get ready for the "Farm Chicks Antique Show" the first weekend in June.  Working is exactly what Cori and I have been doing the last few days, not that we haven't been prepping for this show since we learned we were accepted as vendors back in late December 2010.

All you have to do is take a look at our storage space to know that we have got quite a bit of inventory to take to Spokane for the show.  It has taken us a couple of days to just price it, and we still have another day's worth of pricing yet to do.  That doesn't even take into account the supply of candles, mason jar soap dispensers, and home made laundry soap we have to finish up, label and price.  Sometimes, I think both Cori and I ask ourselves, what we have gotten ourselves into, but we know without a doubt, no matter the outcome, it is going to be a great experience for us.

I started on a project today that I have been wanting to do for some time.  We have an old door, and I wanted to paint a harlequin pattern on it.  Well this morning I took it to task, and started trying to pencil out the pattern on the door.  It didn't take long before I had to call in the reinforcements, and a phone call was placed into Craig, who in a matter of seconds, gave me the math equation to perfectly space out my diamond pattern on the door and start my painting.  I'll have some photos to post of the progress of the project in the next few days.

 After a half day of work on Thursday in Walla Walla, I'll be heading up to Spokane to pick up Craig for a few days of home time.  He is graciously going to use a week of his vacation for his next home time, the first week of June, to help Cori and I load up our inventory, and head to the "big show".  Both Cori and I are very thankful not only for the help that our husbands will be giving us that weekend, but the support they have given us over the past 5 months as we work towards one of the biggest events of our little business history.