Spring Nesting at The Vintage Marketplace at the Oaks

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This past weekend I was delighted to be a vendor at the Spring Nesting show at The Vintage Marketplace located at the Oaks Park in Rainbow, CA. I showcased my items together with more than 60 other vendors selling vintage and antique treasures, inspired garden goodies, lace and ruffled items, shabby chic yumminess and the most creative repurposed items.

Infused with the scent of lavender, the theme of my booth was Flora and Fauna, with Flora being on the right side under the white canopy and fauna was on the left side with my vintage 1968 Scotsman trailer, Fiona.

Inspired by Spring, adorable birds, speckled eggs and organic nests I got to work early this year, pinning images to Pinterest and taking notes in my journal. My friend, Julie Weller, and I took a buying trip up to the Bay Area in February and brought back some of the treasures that you’ll see in these photos. I still have some items set aside that will be for sale at a later date and I can’t wait to show those to you!

These are some pictures from the Flora side of my booth. Enjoy!

 

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Thank you for stopping by my blog! I’ll be posting more photos soon, featuring the Fauna side of my booth.

If you’re interested in staying in touch with me on Facebook you can find me here.

xo,

Christine Barker

 

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Field Trip: Come over to my new blog to see what’s new!

Hi!

I’ve moved my blog over to my own domain and I’d love for you to join me over there. I don’t want you to miss any of my field trips and there have been so many lately!

My most recent trip was to a Textiles and Tea event, and before that I have quite a few posts about our vacation to England and pictures of the three markets that I visited while there.

Come on over and subscribe to follow me. I’m going to have a drawing for my subscribers coming up soon and I don’t want you to miss out!

Join me on the NEW ScarletCalliope Blog, sign up to Subscribe and you’ll be entered to win a fabulous gift!

xo,

Christine Barker

I’ve Moved! Come visit me on my new blog!

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We’ve Moved!

 

 

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And I sure wish it was to this beautiful manor!  No, actually it’s just that I know you probably get a lot of mail in your inboxes so you may not have noticed that you weren’t getting any updates from me.  The reason is because I finally moved my blog over to my own URL, www.ScarletCalliope.com, and you’re invited to visit!

I’ve been updating my blog with pictures from my trip to London in August and you might enjoy seeing what we were up to, it was quite the adventure! I just posted photos today of our visit to Oxford and the Cotswolds and soon I’ll be posting the pictures from our Downton Abbey tour. YES!  I am such a lucky lady that I got to go to Highclere Castle, where they film Downton Abbey. We also got to see Bampton Village, which is used for the village scenes in Downton Abbey.

Soon I’ll also be posting pics of the extravaganza that is Roger’s Gardens Halloween Shop and it’s so hauntingly beautiful, you’ll be inspired all season long!

So, head on over to my new blog home, Scarlet Calliope, to see what I’ve been up to and don’t forget to subscribe to my blog over there so you don’t miss a single update!

xo,

Christine Barker

Field Trip: Tottenham Hotspur Camp

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Hi!  Welcome to Day 2 of my posts about our trip to the UK. Today I’m going to show you the beautiful campus of Haileybury College in Hertford Heath, England where our son, Trevor, went to soccer (or football if you’re from anywhere outside the US) camp hosted by the Tottenham Hotspur organization.

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We rode the train from Stratford, London up to Hertford Heath and had a cab drive us from the train station to the college. This is the incredible view that greeted us.  Just look at that beautiful patina on the chapel dome!

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There is a gorgeous tree-lined lane leading up to the main entrance of the school. I just loved walking around this campus, it has such a sense of history and purpose. There’s really no buildings in my area of California that have such wonderful age and architecture like this. I’m sure the other parents dropping off their sons thought I was mad for taking so many pictures of the buildings but I just had to take in and capture the experience.

 

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Once you’ve gone through the archway there’s more amazing architecture at this college that was founded in 1806 by the East India Company. Here’s my favorite son, Trevor.

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Can you believe how beautiful the campus of Haileybury College is?  This pic was taken with my iPhone, wow!

 

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The dining hall reminded us of something you might see in Harry Potter. We kept looking for the sorting hat!

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Incredible statuary was plentiful around the school.

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This sweet angel was waiting right outside the dining hall.

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Here’s the boys, in their Tottenham Hotspur track suits, on the last day of camp. The boys were grouped in their dorms with younger ones sharing halls (but not rooms) with the older boys so Trevor ended up with about 10 “little brothers”. When Trevor was called up to receive his certificate and his medal, the boys from his group chanted his name. It was so darn cute!

Thank you for stopping by to see my pics. Come back tomorrow to see our trip around Cambridge.

xo,

Christine Barker

 

Field Trip: Portobello Road Market

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Hello Friends!

I’ve been neglecting my blog and I’m so sorry but we took a trip to London and I’m finally just getting caught up with High School Registration for my son, taking our oldest cat to the vet for a potty problem and don’t even get me started about the mail!

Anyways, I’m finally going through my pictures, all 827 of them, and trying to figure out the best way to share them. So let’s start off with the Portobello Market in Notting Hill. We went on a Saturday morning specifically looking for antiques. Let me tell you that there was a lot of looking and not very much buying from me, because the exchange rate between the British Pound and the US dollar is not very good!  I did, however, find a couple things that just had to go home with me.

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The instructions to find this market were to get off the Underground train at Notting Hill Gate and follow all the people. Um. Yeah. There were hundreds of people all going in different directions at the station so that really wasn’t helpful at all, especially since this was our first day ever riding the tube. Eventually we picked a direction and were so happy to see this Portobello Road sign!

 

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Looks like we found all the people!

 

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Yes, we’re on the right road!

 

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Aren’t these flats pretty?  I just adore the pastel colors!

 

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We had to fight through this crowd to get into the shops. Saturday is not a good day to go to the market if you’re claustrophobic, it’s ridiculously crowded both inside and outside the shops. I felt like I was in a bee hive with the people buzzing all around me!

 

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The street is lined with Antique shops full of all sorts of treasures and bric-a-brac. Let’s try this one!

 

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Antique and vintage camera’s are a great start!  What else can we find?

 

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The outdoor stall dealers were more willing to make a deal. You wouldn’t believe how much Wedgewood they sell there. I think it was just about in every booth!

 

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Wow, gorgeous!  Can I have one of each, please? We’ll take the drum for my husband, Phil.

 

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And then there was this gem of a stall, hidden within one of the indoor antique shops. I finally hit the jackpot! Wait til you see what’s in the next case!

 

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Can you believe this wedding finery?  I swooned over these tiaras, headbands, wax flowers and pearls.

 

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I brought home some pretty antique glass buttons, vintage french black and white buttons and some delicate lace.

 

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Some Moon shaped gold bullion-embellished costume decorations.

 

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And more beautiful lace! (Can you hear Mr Bennett from Pride & Predjudice saying “No lace. No lace, Mrs Bennett, I beg you!”) And, there will be more pictures of luscious lace when I share my treasures from the Old Spitalfields Market, I promise!

 

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After fighting the crowds (literally, i was yelled at by some lady for hitting her with my purse. I think maybe it brushed past her, but who could help it in the crowded mess?) we headed for a restaurant to have a quiet lunch.  I adored the flowers and the romantic candles in this sweet cafe.

So, that’s what we did on our first day in London. We would have done more but there was a protest in the park and because of that the bus stops were shut down in Notting Hill so we just got on the Underground and headed back to our hotel to regroup.

I’m trying to decide what to share with you next. I went to two other markets (Greenwich and Old Spital Fields), attended a Tottenham Hotspur soccer game, dropped Trevor off at Soccer camp with a dining hall that looked like it came straight out of Harry Potter, toured London in the rain on a hop on, hop off bus, saw the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London, visited Oxford and Bampton Village, spent an afternoon eating scones with real Devonshire Cream and sipping tea at Downton Abbey, went to the Victoria and Albert museum to see the Wedding Dresses exhibit, visited Selfridge’s, rode around in cabs, double decker buses and figured out how to read the Underground maps, visited Cambridge and Greenwich, rode the Emirates Air Line, discovered the charms and helicopter pad of Charingworth Manor, and enjoyed an afternoon with Phil driving on the wrong side of the road (I suppose it’s the correct side in the UK) while sipping copious amounts of cappuccino throughout the Cotswolds and ended that day sipping champagne and enjoying a deluxe afternoon tea in Bath.

Let me know in the comments what you want to hear about next?  I’m sure it will be Downton Abbey, but I’ll be saving the best for last!

Cheers!

xo,

Christine Barker

Special Event: Love by Design – An Artful Charity Auction is Going On Now!

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I’m reposting this because the Love by Design Artful Charity Auction has begun and runs now through Sunday, August 3. Head on over to see all the pretty art that’s available and start placing some bids! I’m sorry to let you know that after the post below was originally created, Donald Brorsen lost his battle with cancer and now more than ever this family needs all the help that they can get to deal with the overwhelming medical bills that they now face.

Thanks for stopping by, friends.

xo,

Christine Barker

ScarletCalliope Chalkboard Love by Design

 

My friend, Carrie Harney, has a heart of gold and recently reached out to her creative friends to ask for our help for an Art Auction that will begin on Facebook on August 1. She shared that her friend, Cheri Brorsen and her beautiful family, are experiencing one of life’s most crushing trials. Tragically, Cheri’s husband, Donald, is fighting a battle with cancer and Cheri and her four children are facing a rough road ahead. Some of you may already know that I lost my mom to Leukemia as a very young girl and my heart just hurts for this family who will be experiencing the loss of a husband, son, father and friend to so many.

 

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Cheri and Donald Brorsen

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 The Brorsen Children

 

Carrie asked if we could help her raise some money for her friend to help pay some of their medical bills.  Do you ever have those moments in life where you feel like something you do can really make a difference? This was the call to action for me and my creative mind finally turned on, after a brief hiatus, and I started thinking of things I could make for the auction.  A lot of my creative friends are involved and the items they have created are stunning! And, Terri Brush has even donated a spot in her amazing Art Camp!

Go to the Love By Design Auction Page and LIKE it NOW and check out some of the wonderful items that are going to be available. More handmade items will be added each day to give you a chance to see them and choose your favorites. The auction action begins on August 1 and you won’t want to miss it! Mark it on your calendar so you don’t forget!

 

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I created a mermaid-inspired pink and silver wire-wrapped bead necklace with a soldered pendant featuring a Swarovski Crystal bedecked sea star floating in a sea of pink. Dangling from the pendant is a gorgeous pink lamp work bead atop a sparkling tassel of chains, beads and pearls.

 

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Inside the miniature shadowbox pendant you can see a peek of silver German glass glitter. Above the pendant is a pink glass heart-shaped bead and some petite pearl beads and sparkling crystal rondelles.

 

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The necklace also features vintage pearl colored beads, more delicate glass beads, and silver accents.

 

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The pendant can be worn with the starfish facing out or the Life of the Sea side facing out, with its delicate sprinkling of silver German glass glitter.

 

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Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the Love by Design auction, beginning on August 1 and LIKE the Facebook page now so you don’t miss out on any of the details!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

xo,

Christine Barker

 

Field Trip: Long Beach Antique Market

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Last Sunday I took a field trip to the Long Beach Antique Market with my good friends, Julie Weller and Tanya Peacock.

 

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We found some wonderful treasures and shared some giggles and I thought I’d show you what I brought home. Check out this eye candy. It makes me Swoon!

 

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Some gorgeous beads and some metal angels and hearts.

 

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Some sparkling rondelles filled with crystals and a piece of lace that reminded me of spiderwebs.

 

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A unique rosary chain from Italy.

 

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And dreamy, hand tatted lace.

 

But my favorite items that I brought home were 3 GIANT, and I mean HUGE, vintage ledgers from France that I bought from Trino at Atelier de Campagne. You can see the beautiful pages underneath my treasures. I can’t wait to use these ledgers for some collage work and mixed-media projects!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

xo,

Christine Barker

Special Event: Love by Design – An Artful Charity Auction

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ScarletCalliope Chalkboard Love by Design

 

My friend, Carrie Harney, has a heart of gold and recently reached out to her creative friends to ask for our help for an Art Auction that will begin on Facebook on August 1. She shared that her friend, Cheri Brorsen and her beautiful family, are experiencing one of life’s most crushing trials. Tragically, Cheri’s husband, Donald, is fighting a battle with cancer and Cheri and her four children are facing a rough road ahead. Some of you may already know that I lost my mom to Leukemia as a very young girl and my heart just hurts for this family who will be experiencing the loss of a husband, son, father and friend to so many.

 

ScarletCalliope family 1

Cheri and Donald Brorsen

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 The Brorsen Children

 

Carrie asked if we could help her raise some money for her friend to help pay some of their medical bills.  Do you ever have those moments in life where you feel like something you do can really make a difference? This was the call to action for me and my creative mind finally turned on, after a brief hiatus, and I started thinking of things I could make for the auction.  A lot of my creative friends are involved and the items they have created are stunning! And, Terri Brush has even donated a spot in her amazing Art Camp!

Go to the Love By Design Auction Page and LIKE it NOW and check out some of the wonderful items that are going to be available. More handmade items will be added each day to give you a chance to see them and choose your favorites. The auction action begins on August 1 and you won’t want to miss it! Mark it on your calendar so you don’t forget!

 

SC Necklace 3

 

I created a mermaid-inspired pink and silver wire-wrapped bead necklace with a soldered pendant featuring a Swarovski Crystal bedecked sea star floating in a sea of pink. Dangling from the pendant is a gorgeous pink lamp work bead atop a sparkling tassel of chains, beads and pearls.

 

SC Necklace 1

Inside the miniature shadowbox pendant you can see a peek of silver German glass glitter. Above the pendant is a pink glass heart-shaped bead and some petite pearl beads and sparkling crystal rondelles.

 

SC Necklace 2

The necklace also features vintage pearl colored beads, more delicate glass beads, and silver accents.

 

SC Necklace 4

The pendant can be worn with the starfish facing out or the Life of the Sea side facing out, with its delicate sprinkling of silver German glass glitter.

 

ScarletCalliope Necklace 1

 

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the Love by Design auction, beginning on August 1 and LIKE the Facebook page now so you don’t miss out on any of the details!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

xo,

Christine Barker

 

Altered State: A Round Up of Altered Books

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ScarletCalliope 4 up altered books

 

Altered Books, Art Journals, whatever you like to call it I call them amazing!  You can take any book, paint it, collage it, fold it or tear it and make it yours. Add some swatches of fabric, paint chips, some vintage ephemera and you have a great piece of art to enjoy that you personalized and created on your own.  Here’s a round up of interesting, eclectic and artistic altered books for you to enjoy.

At the end I’ve posted the name of the winner from my last post! Maybe it’s you!

 

 

1.  This is a pretty incredible example of an altered book way before Altered Books became cool.

 

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This great blog post is brought to us by CappuccinoAndArtJournal and you’ll want to check out the other pages that she has posted from this antique journal, great stuff!

 

2. How incredible is this?

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This book was taught at the MacLean County Arts Center in Bloomington, IL a year ago. How amazing is this?  I would love to take this class!  “Bring in some of your old books and turn them into art by cutting, drawing, gluing, collage, and just about anything you might think of to alter the state of an almost forgotten form of literature.”  WOW!

 

3.  I love the whimsy of this incredible book by Raidersofthelostart.

 

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It’s available for purchase in their Etsy Shop.

 

4. Setting Them Free Altered Book by Sharen Chatterton

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This is a stunning example of objects bursting out of the page, so lovely! The contrast between the plain images in the book and the colorful dimensional butterflies is wonderful.

 

5. One of my favorite artists is Ingrid Dijikers. I feel very fortunate to have taken a class with her at Art & Soul in Portland, OR several years ago. We created the beginnings of a book in her class “Through the Rabbit Hole”.

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All of her work is so incredibly artistic and even her doodles are perfectly placed. Check out her blog to see more of her amazing work!

 

6.  This is super cute!

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I found it on Tumblr so I’m not sure who to give the credit to. If anyone knows, let me know and I’ll update this!

 

7.  This gorgeous altered book was created by tarnishedandtattered

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SWOON!

 

 

8.  Tarnished and Tattered also created this gorgeous Wedding Book as a present for her cousin.

 

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Unbelievably gorgeous!

 

 

9.  I am also loving this travel book by Melissa Thiese.

 

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I’m planning on borrowing some design elements, (like the folded over page to create a pocket!) from it to document my last couple vacations when I finally get around to creating books about them!

 

 

10.  And this heart shaped book is stunning. I believe it was created by FlyinPurpleMunkiez.

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I love how it has hidden spaces to keep treasured items!

 

Thanks for joining me on this journey through altered books!

Have a wonderfully creative week!

xo,

Christine Barker

 

PS:  The winner from my last post is number 8, which is Patty Antle!!!  Congrats Patty!  Please visit my Etsy shop and choose one of the Pin Cushions priced at $15 and email me at kryztyne @ gmail.com (remove spaces) to let me know which one you’ve chosen. Thank you to everyone who left a comment, I appreciate you playing along!

Flea Market: My first booth at Behind the Picket Fence

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It’s taken me years to feel brave enough to have my own booth at a flea market. I have a collection of things that I’ve been collecting for years, (plus a couple collections that I’m ready to call it quits with), all with the intention of selling them in my own personal boutique at a flea market. When I heard about the Behind the Picket Fence Marketplace, I just knew I had to give it a try. Well, first I thought about it and changed my mind a bunch of times, but in the end I made the leap and I’m so happy that I finally did it!

 

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Thankfully I had a petit army of people to help me with my state of mind and artfully arranging my booth. Going into this event I was scared as could be, but knowing that my sweet husband and son would be there to help me set up and sell gave me some peace of mind. They were spectacular helpers, setting up the booth, doing the heavy lifting, greeting customers as they stopped by and handing out my business cards. Trevor even had a side business going selling some of the hundreds of burlap coffee bean bags that I had for sale. (If you want some, please just let me know! I have a few left!)

And I’m so thankful for my friend, Deb Kennedy, who’s an extraordinary Writer, Stylist, Designer and Speaker based out of Orange County, CA. When I put out the SOS for help to foof up my booth and give it some decorator savvy, she answered the call. I was petrified that I would set up the booth and it wouldn’t look like the picture that I had in my head. Deb came to the rescue and got right to work, rearranging items, placing them just right and using items in ways that I NEVER would have thought of. Plus, she took all of these beautiful photos!

 

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Left to my own devices I would more than likely just put things out on the table but Deb knew just how to display things so that they would be shown to their best advantage. Like the vintage fruit picking sack, and the dress form, and the shabby chic tea pot with gloves.

 

 

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I also had a selection of my handmade Union Flag aprons and pillows, burlap pillows, and fancy pincushions available for sale.

 

 

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I created a variety of decor to give my booth my style so that people would know as soon as they saw it what I was all about. Several people asked if I would sell my fabric garland but I told them I’d have to charge them over $100 since it pretty much took me an entire day and too much fabric to create. I can’t sell it, it’s too pretty!

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Burlap and rose decorations.

 

 

 

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Petticoats on a parasol.

 

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And, I hand painted a sign with my name to let people know who I was.

 

 

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And finally, I had a photo booth to take pics of some willing shoppers as they stopped by.

 

All in all it was a wonderful day!  I felt great because I finally conquered my fear of participating in a flea market, I cleared out some of my inventory and I got to spend the day with some wonderful people. It meant so much to me for people that I knew to stop by my booth because it was so nice to see familiar faces and when they gave me compliments about my booth I was over the moon! I think I’m ready for the next challenge now, I’ve got this!

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Thanks so much for stopping by! I have some of these items and more listed in my Etsy shop if you are interested in purchasing them.

 

Also, this is my 125th post so I think that’s a reason to celebrate!  I’ll be giving away one of my pin cushions to one lucky person who likes this post and leaves a comment here on the blog. Who wants to win?

xo,

Christine Barker