Poppy and Ivy

Ready, Set...Bring It On!

 Charts have been made (I did not do that). Vendors are set up (I didn't do that either). Posters are up. (I had a hand in that!). Postcards are out. (That was my children.) E-mail blast have been sent out. Wait...I didn't do that either.....WHY am I SO dang tired!!!!!!

It's all good.

Come on 2nd Friday....Bring It On! Our event is planned, the ball is beyond rolling.

And on top of all of the stuff above (that I didn't do), I am going to tell you it's HARD being the mother of a Debut Artist. Cole is getting edgy about 2nd Friday. I have to keep reminding him he needs to make more art, that it's a TWO day sale and now we're at the point of pricing his items. He has NO concept of money (he's just a kid!) so it's a struggle. I will say "2.00 for that" and he'll say "I was thinking 8.00". Really? Then he'll say "3.00 for this" and I will say "That is more of a 10.00 items" and he'll say "Are you nuts?"

You DO see why my days have felt so long...right?

I took him to SCRAP(again) to get the juices flowing...he's on FIRE with these tiles he is making. And they are FUNNY. He scored some paint, more Photo shop books and I scored old music sheets for crafts. That never gets old. I will be buried with dictionaries and sheet music 50 years from now...the kids shaking their heads and shrugging the entire time...

Check out the loot he scored!

 

Big tiles, little tiles and he now has 10 big tiles finished as well as5 medium and 8 tiny tiles. Dude is workin' hard! He is earning those Slurpees!

He has some adorable crow art he's working on....I might buy this stuff! But don't tell him that....

On the Poppy & Ivy front (oh yeah....we have a shop....) I received my Old Wood Sign order JUST in time! This companyis fantastic. Family owned and the BEST to work with. I have done 5 orders with them and every one has been great. It's a company I enjoy signing a Visa with VERY much. They refuse to sell their signs for more or less than you do and they ask the same in return. They personalize signs...for example the signs I ordered said "Vermont Shores" or "Atlantic Ocean" in the catalog...but I can make it say anything. (I am magic!) I did a few Oregon Coast, Portland waterfront and Oregon golfing signs. One Maui thrown in for good measure!

 

Back to 2nd Friday chart making. Actually....I just stand behind John and watch...he's the graphics whiz. I say "I like that"..."Oh....don't like that". Planning a 2nd Friday is JUST like marriage.

Happy Thursday night!

2nd Friday & Summerfest...wait..did I already mention that?

I am a crazy running FOOL today. I am trying to process ALL I can to fill the shop with new goodies in time for Friday's Summerfest.

My old wood signs MIGHT make it in time....I got a bunch of Oregon Coast and Maui signs. Fingers crossed on THAT one!

I FORGOT to place my Blue Q order. The saddest part of that story is I thought I sent it to my rep...but I found it saved in drafts on my laptop....so that will be for August's 2nd Friday. Drat. I remember the days that I could keep it all lined up in my head...ding, dang, dong. Those days are LONG gone. Now we won't have "Morning Sucks" soap....Deep sigh.

No worries....I will get it in here soon.

I have kept my thumb on our Artist in residence One Funky Chicken. He is like a flea on a griddle....I keep finding him playing Facebook games, jumping on the trampoline...I keep dragging him in to "Make Art!". I am the meanest Mom EVER. I want the kid to earn his Toronto money! I mean....rumor has it there is a candy store just a few blocks away from where we're staying!

 

 

And I found a HUGE pile in the back of our garage of estate sale finds from when JOHN decided to move all my stuff without telling me and annoying me to the high heavens clean the garage. I guess he forgot to mention that! My annoyance is YOUR gain!

 

I would love, love, love to sell the letters individually, but they have pins on the back....I am afraid someone will hurt themselves digging around for a letter. Or do I just open the box (as shown) and sell them individually? Love this set! I am an alphabet FOOL.

I am going back downstairs to iron, iron, iron. I found piles of dishtowels, aprons and pillowcases! John's clean freakishness paid off. Maybe later I will go into HIS closet and move things around......

All this running around we're all doing is REALLY stressing out my Oliver Kitty. Poor guy.

 

Happy Tuesday!

This week is 2nd Friday!.... and friends I have met---

I am working like a crazy fool to prepare for 2nd Friday. Posters went up today, postcards arrive Wednesday and I have to try to convince two VERY lazy kids to distribute 250 postcards to the neighborhood.... and we have the updated artist links for the website, but my husband just crashed asleep....and he has all the info! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......

To say it is CRAZY time doesn't begin to cover it. It doesn't help that one of the vendors for next week is m son and getting him to produce art work is like nailing Jell-o to a tree. I feel like I am babysitting EVERYONE! Ahhhhhh....

Today was Family Adventure Monday #3. Owning a small business requires devoting time to the family...non-work, no cell phone, no lap top time-- so we have taken to getting OUT of town all together on Mondays. It's easier. I have to remove my body from thehouse or I will keep answering e-mails, placing orders, making stuff, thrifting, processing, painting and looking up new vendors...

Today we headed out towards Hood River again. It started with 2 visitsto Les Schwab Tire Center (two separate locations, tires and times). A screw in the front tire... and a nail in the back! Sheesh! We finally hit the gorgeous Columbia Historic Highway (that got too windy for the kids and required Dramamine, so back to Interstate 84) had a hike at Mitchell's Point, a yummy lunch and headed home. A small getaway...but another much needed get-away.

 

We climbed this.....kinda.

 

My son can never resist a good photo of a Oregon Park Restroom! This one was not bad!

 

Apparently my son prefers his beer not so hoppy.

We sent the kids into the downtown area to a little toy store. Wow....the "treasures" that emerged...you can't tell but they are SKIPPING out of the toy store!!!

 

Next stop....cherries! But aslas...we far too late (darn tires!) and cherry picking was closed so we picked blueberries and bought pre-picked cherries. Such a bummer.....I have STILL never picked cherries! At age 38!

 

Estate sales shopping this week scored me a few DARLING vintage dresses, a few vintage metal trays and some lovely glassware. I will shoot some photos tomorrow.....too late to get any good shots whatsoever.

Over the course of "The Life of My Shop", I have "met" some very fun blog/internet/etsy friends.....they are cheerleaders, people of GREAT support and providers of inspiration. It's NOT easy out there folks...it's time to support local. I know I repeat that so, so often.....but when I close my eyes and imagine that the ONLY place I could buy a card, a piece of jewelry or "fun" home decor was at a big box store....my heart BREAKS. My shop is a product of Big Box Stores. I worked at a craft store that was being smothered by Big Box Stores and On-Line Shopping. I could see my job was slipping away and figured I'd better strike out on my own. WHO saw the next 3 years coming? Ahhhhh......

Here are a few more folks to watch, support and enjoy!

Tracie at Found Home Design.

Kristi at Grandma's Attic in Omak, WA

Pam at One Gal's Trash in Portland, OR. The chick is going places....even if she is contemplating The Life of a Plant Thief. (Love it Pam and DO IT!!!!!!!!! I will HELP you steal those plants!!!)

These are just THREE out of tons, tons, tons......but I am getting loopy and I have to go help a CERTAIN artist finish his last obscure tile for the night.

Happy Monday! I hope YOU had a Monday Adventure in your life!

Getting all patriotic & stuff......

HOW did it become July 1st in just a blink of an eye? Didn't Mother's Day just happen? (Wait...that was Father's Day....) and didn't the kids JUST get out of school? It did fly. The time went....woooosh.

I now have 20 days to get my stuff together for The Big Vacation. I have 20 days to figure out if I will be open for the Vacation! I am on the fence. I need to get OFF the fence and DECIDE. We DO pay rent....but employees are costly too! Grrrr.............

And I have 3 days to get ready for 4th of July. We usually do a big shin dig, parade, the works...this year not so much......so frustrating. I have a good head for business...but this vacation is making my poor head SPIN.

But I DID get the red, white and blue on at the shop! I am all about making it easy for you!

 

 

 

 

Happy Almost Thursday!

Where DOES he get it?

In just 11 short days it's Summerfest on Lower Fremont. I feel a slight panic coming on. I wonder if I bit off too much. I am hoping posters get printed and up, postcards get out, I hope that all the vendors show up, are happy, that hot dogs gets cooked and out.....and that is without putting much focus/advertising on my own shop which HAS been pointed out to me by various friends. They said I am putting all my energy in the Lower Fremont stuff and forgetting my own shop being highlighted.

Balance sucks. And I am not very good at it!!!

We have a new artist coming into town....One Funky Chicken.

 

He is a hard worker....and loves to make messes and BLOW through paint brushes.

 

One Funky Chicken is my SON! He is making art and getting ready to have his debut at Lower Fremont Summerfest. He is one busy little dude. He is making cards, decorative tiles, collages, felt/fake fur bird dolls....he is BUSY!

Yesterday was AMAZING at the Oregon Coast. Happy dogs, happy kids and BLUE sky!

 

 

 

A little bit windy....making Pepe look like Bat Dog!

We parked at our favorite spot called Arcadia Park, then drove around into Arch Cape, Cannon Beach and then into Manzanita. At Manzanita we discovered homes are being sold at RIDICULOUS prices. We did some math and realized that it might just be time for a beach home! Insane time on one hand...but very smart on the other. NOW is the time to invest in property...especially property that could MAKE money! Shop...beach ..shop...beachhouse....shop at the beach??? Hmmmmm....

Today is my "Sunday".....tomorrow is back to the shop, so some garden time was called for....

 

Weeding around the bird bath and then filling it back up. The birds come to clean themselves, but the dog drinks out of it! It's always empty!

 

 

 

 

Happy Tuesday!

Lazy Days of Summer

Summer, summer. It was the start of my last post as well. I think I am craving some sun and fun!

The summer weather is back after some GREY days and weeks. And that means people are far more interested in parks, lakes, rivers and outdoor sports. All good. I had my regulars come in for birthday & wedding gifts....for that I can be thankful! It gave me time to get all busy. I posted on Etsy, got the photos ready to continue posting at home, I moved some stuff, clearance a bunch of goodies and I got my Deb Funches jewelry updated and refreshed!

And my baseball team coach came by and dropped off my hat. I sponsored a Little League tee ball team again this year.

I got a few fun finds out on the floor. I could be wrong, but it seems like they'd do better on the shop floor verses in a box in my dark backroom. Call me silly....

A vintage hooch bottle  (which I am selling about 75% less than this--sheesh!) and pearlized chopsticks.

I found a haul of about 10 state trays. They always seem to find their way back into someone's hands that will love them, or they remember their grandparents/aunts/cousins had these on their walls in the 50's and 60's.....I found great states too...harder to find states that is. California, 2 Hawaii, Florida....SUNNY states! It always comes back to the sun now....doesn't it?

I got a little red, white and blue action gathered, reminding me that I need to find Laurie's Hat (my favorite decoration), and get MY things up at HOME! Hot diggity dog I do!

Happy Saturday to you!

Summertime, Summertime

Ahhh...I am a great fan of summer. I love the loosened up schedule, the sun, spontaneous beach trips, the flowers, late night walks or bike rides with no worries of a specific bedtime for the kids.

I get much less of that now-a-days with shop responsibilities, but it makes me love those moments even more.

This week has taken a weird turn with the kids going to Grammy and Poppy's house for the last few days. It all kindof happened suddenly. My son is a homebody and doesn't EVER leave the house for overnights or anything, so when he agreed to hop in the van and head away with my parents, I was shocked! It's an odd feeling. That guy has been at my side daily for 10 years! 

With no children in the house, other odd things are taking place. There are no glasses and wrappers all over, we have perpetually clean counters, no shoes left on the floor for the puppy to eat....and the QUIET. That is just.....so different. I am waiting for the neighbors to call the police to do a welfare check on us.

They would find that we are just fine. Well rested. Getting lots of work done. Reading book after book. And partaking in movies! JOHN and I saw I Love You Man  on Monday and The Hangover last night. WOW. I could watch 8th grade school boy humor ALL the time. Not really proud of that, but everyone could use a good laugh and those two movies delivered. With The Hangover, I was ASHAMED to be laughing half the time....that was a FUNNY one.

I also have been thrifting quite a bit and processing MORE of the never ending garage. It's like Christmas in June! I keep finding bags from Estate Sales that I never even OPENED!

 

 

 

And I love looking back once in awhile. I love going back to exactly one year ago and see where I was, what I had on hand, what new things were coming in and how far I have come! It's been one INSANE ride this last 2 and half years. The economy is only half of it! Last year at this time we were reeling from the tragic death of our friend's son. I just looked back on my June 2008 photos and don't even recognize some of the photos or items. We were just on auto-pilot. Opening the store every day was so hard....I just wanted to HOLD my children!

 

 

Ahhhhh...it IS nice to look back. Last year at this time we were in gorgeous Alaska having a BLAST with my in-laws. Good times, good times. Except for those big black bugs. UG.

Happy Summertime to you!

 

 

Food, Paper, Vintage Finds...Need I say more?

French dinner group this week was AMAZING and per my usual Modus Operandi, I Googled my recipe 48 hours before dinner group. That would be about 24 hours sooner than I typically pin down a recipe. So I was appetizer and thus Googled "French Appetizer" and even threw in the word "easy" for good measure.

Knowing that Frog Legs and Escargot were NOT options, I went the Brie route. I mean....why NOT? And so the creamy, lovely discovery of Amaretto Brie was made. All on a whim. And a great whim it was.

 

This Plate Full of Love is the before picture. "Before" 15 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees. So this got MELTY. Yes....it really did. And I believe had I actually had my camera available, there would have been no point in taking a photo. It would have hampered my chances at getting one dang bite of the stuff. It FLEW!

Want to wow your friends tomorrow at a Father's Day dinner? Do this.....

Amaretto Brie

In a sauce pan melt:

1/2 butter

And add:

1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar.

Stir these together over a medium heat until it gets slightly thick. Remove from heat and add a dash of nutmeg and a dash of cinnamon. Add one ounce Amaretto (I'd do less...mine was really thin) and stir. Pour over one wedge of Brie. Sprinkle slivered almonds over the top. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until softened & warm through out.

Serve with green apple wedges, crackers or baguette.

Mmmmm.....I salivated just TYPING that!

Yesterday my son and I hit our favorite local hangout.....Scrap. We walked away with wood pieces, a grab bag, glass vials, cigar boxes, maps, postcards, vintage wallpaper, fake grass for my friend Suzanne of Mugwomp and a tape dispenser. My son laid his grab bag out on the floor in his work area and was creating ALL night long! His grab bag was all of 3.00 and I have seen magnets and collage pieces come out of the craft area. 

 

And here are my finds!

 

Then we went on to collage on Alberta. I dropped off a typewriter key that a gal had bought, but needed the back ground down. She was taking a class there and I knew I would run into some trouble and end up NEEDING something there...but who knew I'd find a stamp set with a terribly naughty monkey on it? I didn't see that one coming....

 

The monkey is in red...on the right. He's a monkey in a Fez and he is running away. Because he is--like I mentioned already--- a terribly naughty little monkey.Sorry the photo is blurry, but I figured Fans of the Monkey would be cool with that.

Also found....12x12 paper that I could wallpaper a room with...LOVE IT.

And these tags. My eye instantly went to the word "breathe"...mainly because I forgot to do that on a daily basis.

 

And I even made a little sumpin' sumpin' yesterday. Feeling the crafty mo jo creeping back into my life. I am definitely missing that part. I am so busy balancing business, checkbooks, bills, orders, reps, cleaning & processing the vintage finds, that I drop the ball on the creative part. Cards are low, wall pieces are low.....I JUST need an 8 day week with 32 hour days. THAT would be so helpful.

 

Off to clean this little shop up. All the construction is coating me with a constant layer of dust. Things I put out 2 days ago have been coated! It will be good in the end. New neighbors, fresh storefronts..all good!

Happy Saturday!

Busy Fun, Busy Fun

The last few days off were a fun whirlwind! Trying to get into the summer schedule is certainly trying. There certainly are no lazy days off from work...we just go, go, go!

Berry picking....

 

 

 

 

Makin' stuff.....with old stuff.

 

 

Buyin' more old stuff.

I have no clue why I am droppin' my "g"s. Hahaha....

 

 

Off to therapy dinner club. The theme is French and the food sounds fantastic! Oh La la~Happy Friday!

2nd Friday is here again????

My math is OFF.....I felt like I had another week! So, after coming out of the HAZE of twograduations (a 5th grade & an 8th grade one) and having FIVE DAYS OFF IN A ROW it is special event time!

In those LOVELY 5 days off, when I wasn't running 14 year olds TO graduation, making decorations for the 10 year old graduation or feeding family and animals....I did get some estate shopping in!!!! And I am in FAST and FURIOUS mode to get the goods on the floor and YOU get a sneaky peek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to cleaning, scrubbing, painting, gluing, merchandising, labeling, listing and enjoying some fantastic finds!

Happy Thursday!