Results of my search for gray

Well, I searched my stash for lace and trims that might already fit into my off white, gray and black idea pile.  Here is what I found all ready to go.

Had the black and gray rayon seam binding already crumpled and ready to go.  Found this lace piece that is a dirty white that looks like old and gray.

Tuesday I found some "gray" fabric dye at Wal Mart and tried it yesterday.  I was amazed at the different shades I got with different pieces.  The ones at the very top didn't even take the dye once I rinsed them out.  Probably total polyester fabrics.  Serves me right!  But some of the pieces are too dark and others just didn't hold enough of the dye.  Hmm!  I've ordered some Rit dyes from Joann's and they should arrive next week.  I will try again.  In the meantime, I am going to stamp and decorate some large tags and vintage album pages to what I can do with these bits. 

I found this little knit bag at an estate sale yesterday.  I thought it would make a great door decoration!  Stuffed it with paper and then plopped in the purple flowers.  Probably should put in some red, too, but I liked it just this way!  You could change the flowers or even use real ones if you put a jar of water in the bag. Just too cute to pass up!

Fluffed my booth today.

Part of the center display area in my booth at Merchant Square sold yesterday.  So I had to get up there today to redo it and take some new items in as well.  Check out my displays.

This is the new display in the center of my booth.  A lot of vintage items plus a few newer ones.

This great Eiffel Tower has crystals all over it.  It really sparkles in the light!

 Got the peacock feathers bundled for sale and tidied up the top of this cute green desk (which is one of the pieces of furniture I think sold today). 

This is actually a large, wood carryall made by hand.  I filled it with burlap ribbon, a wood basket and a wood tray.  Love the rustic appeal of it.  That carryall would make a great garden piece!

Old box, twig chair, rusty bed spring, shoe brush and an old book.  

Love this little display shelf.  It holds a lot!

This is my rustic display.  I think it turned out pretty good!  Love all the wood boxes and trays.  They are so great as display pieces.  Be sure to visit my Facebook page, Judy B.'s Shabby Chic for more pictures.

Raw & Re-Find Part 2

Here's a few more pics from Sweet Salvage on 7th this weekend.  There are still two shopping days at this event -- today and tomorrow!  I heard they have even restocked!  If you haven't visited, there's still time!

This table was set up like an artists studio.  And there's the lamp with that wonderful shade I shared in yesterday's post!

This is definitely raw and refined!  Love the glitz with the old and rusty stuff!

I love this cake stand with the wire lady's shoe in it!  Thought the suitcase was wonderful with all the vintage items displayed on top!

You even had to check underneath things to see the displays set up there!  Love those mossy "rocks"!!

This old typewriter is just cool!  The whole display looks like it's from Paris!

This whole display makes me think that each event at Sweet Salvage is another bit of water to nurture the soul of those of us who love decorating, vignettes, and refining our homes or booths!  Thanks so much to everyone at Sweet Salvage on 7th!

Sweet Salvage Raw & Re-find

 Well, the ladies and gentlemen of Sweet Salvage did it again!  This month's show was called "Raw & Re-find" and it was wonderful.  I took lots of pictures to share with you today and tomorrow.  Hope you enjoy your pictorial tour of Sweet Salvage on 7th!

I love this great candelabra, the heart shaped clock with jewels and the yellow daisies!

Great lampshade!  Love the little gold bust and the old basked full of burlap ribbon!

This display was so pretty because it used real plants!  The boards on the left with the bird and the flowers is a winner too!

Fabulous cubby!  Look at all the tiny treasures held within!!

This lampshade was so wonderful.  I know my friend, Dawn of Bohemian Valhalla bought this one!  Lucky gal!!

 A nice rocking horse found a new home on Thursday!

Baskets galore!  Love the old clothespins in the basket!

Another wonderful Sweet Salvage shopping experience!  More tomorrow!!!

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Centennial to Arizona!

Wishing all of you a Happy Valentine's Day!

Also wishing the State of Arizona Happy Centennial!  Arizona was admitted to the Union on this date in 1912 as the 48th State!

Did you know that our state tree is the saguaro?

 We are also The Grand Canyon State.

Nor can we forget beautiful Sedona and its amazing red rock formations!

Finally . . . .

We have the most beautiful sunsets here in Arizona!

Dyeing with avocado skins

I didn't think it was the least bit possible.  Using avocado skins to create a soft pink dye to use on laces, fabrics, etc.  Yet I had seen on several blogs that people were doing just that.  So I gave it a try a couple of days ago.  Made delicious guacamole from scratch and then put the avocado skins in some water and brought it to a boil.  After the water turned pink (yep!! it actually did) I turned off the heat and let the skins sit in the water overnight.  After straining, this is the resulting color of the dye.

 I know this looks orange-y, but it is pretty close to the right color of the dye.

I dyed some cheese cloth and a bit of tatted trim.  The original cheese cloth is underneath the two pieces.  The tatted trim was about the same color.  So, it does work!  A nice soft pink. 

Am going to try this again next week using a little less water to see if the dye gets stronger and darker.  Got more things to dye and am looking forward to it.  Stay tuned!!

I have old keys!!

Went out to a gentleman's home last week to shop for stuff!  You know, stuff!  His wife wanted him to clean out.  Among other things, I bought lots of keys!  Old keys to sell!  Old keys for making jewelry!  Some come with vintage tags with them.  So, you artsy people, I will have keys in my booth sometime today for you to search through to find the perfect keys to make jewelry with or use in your mixed media artwork.

Car keys, house keys, all well aged, grungy and dusty!  Wore gloves to separate them out from the dirt and the boxes they were in.

Colored keys, luggage keys, bank keys.

Check out the tops to these vintage keys!  I think they are artful just as they are!  Keys, keys, keys!

These keys come in bunches and are all priced and loaded into this shabby silver pedestal dish ready to go to Merchant Square.  I will be taking them in this morning.  Varying prices and types of keys are available.  More individual keys in plastic bags will be available next week.  Got to price them over the weekend.

I am keeping some because I want to add jewels to some for necklaces or artwork.  These won't last long because so many people are using keys in artwork.

It's time for the Dress Form Party!

I recently discovered the blog The Polka Dot Closet and have added it to the Blog List on the right side of my blog.  I also just added a button on the right side because I am going to participate in her first Dress Form Party beginning on February 7th!  Well, as you probably know, I have a bunch of dress forms (four to be exact.  I recently sold one) and constantly use them in my booth at Merchant Square as well as in my home.

So join me in as I take you from my home to my antique booth.  I have pics of the dress forms in various states of "dress"!  Here is my absolute favorite dress form.  She resides in my bedroom.  She has the steel skirt at the bottom and is on a stand with wheels.  A great buy from a good, good friend who is also an antiques dealer.

She is dressed in two vintage petticoats topped by a more recent lacy skirt with a vintage voile party apron.  On top she has a lovely vintage collar, a new scarf, an old rose corsage, several new necklaces, pearls and is topped with a crown.  I love this dress form and she is a keeper!

Next up are two more dress forms that I use regularly in my booth at Merchants Square.  I continually dress and redress them depending on what clothing I either create or find.  I love vintage clothes!  But they are getting hard to find.

The dress form on the left sports a square dance petticoat, pretty gray silk scarf, a corset I embellished and lots of pearls -- a favorite of mine!  The dress form on the left is wearing a black slip dress I made by embellishing a black slip with vintage lace and fabric roses.

Here's a close up of the altered corset over a very pretty Scaparelli slip I found.  This was taken in my studio where I was working up the display for my booth.

Here's a close up of the altered slip dress and the necklace I embellished.

Last is the torso dress form where I try corsets as I pick out embellishments for them before selling them.  She also goes into my booth from time to time for displays.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my dress forms and all their decorations!  Please feel free to click on the pictures to enlarge them for viewing (I think you can still do that??!!).  Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Sunday morning

This morning I decided to check out this clock I bought on Friday at an estate sale.  I really liked it but was not real happy that it didn't run and I couldn't see how it could possibly run.

This is unusual for an old GE clock.  However, when you know that the house it came from was occupied by an artist that painted every wall in the house a different color (and I'm not talking soft colors!!), painted furniture odd colors and then added his/her own touch (such as a pink flamingo on a turquoise chest of drawers), you can understand that this isn't a GE clock out of the box.  It's one that was repurposed by someone who thinks outside the box!  I even think they painted the hands of this clock turquoise to match the original numbers.

Here's the back.  All indications told me it was once an electric clock.  But once I removed the back I discovered that the hands were run by a more recent clock battery unit you can by at any craft store.  The battery was dead, so I replaced it and . . . the clock works!!  Whew!  I thought it was a loss for me!

Another nice piece I bought last week. This is just beautiful!!  You can tell that the person who painted it couldn't see well because the edges are fuzzy.  BUT!!  I love the softness of the edges and this whole plate in general.  It's headed for the wall in my bedroom.

Vintage finds

Here are a few more items I found recently that are just so vintage, and so beautiful!

These two drawstring purses are soft and lovely!  The one on the left has beautiful shabby silver beading.  The one on the right is crocheted and has beautiful clear beads.  Wonderful!!

Here are three autograph books from the 1880's!!!  Beautiful handwriting, wonderful sentiments, and some artwork!

Isn't this just beautiful?!!  Oct. 22, 1882!  Amazing!  This drawing is in the autograph book with the robin flying to her nest to feed her brood!

Out shopping for my home and my booth.

I have been looking for a long time for the perfect lamp for the dresser in my bedroom.  I found it yesterday at Not Too Shabby!  It is perfect!

Found these old well-loved books this morning at an estate sale.  Just the ones that are on the right of the ironstone pitcher, not under it.

Here's the covers of four of them.  I love the artwork, the colors and the gold and silver touches.

 Here are some other finds this week that are so cool!  Two old electrician books that have soft, embossed leather covers and lay open so beautifully.  That old lamp base just spoke to me!  Rusty and wonderful.  It's a keeper for now.  Then there are the beat up black ballet toe slippers.  Bought those because my name "Judith" is written on the bottom of one of them!  I never took ballet lessons, but who cares!

All great finds!  More tomorrow!  And, I am still shopping to load up my booth after the wonderful sale last weekend.