My Weight Loss Journey

Thursday, May 28, 2009

New Creations And The Country Freckle Gets a New Look


Today I finished up the primitives I have been working on this week and brought my creations to the Country Freckle. Joni and I have been talking about trying to bring out a more primitive look to her the front of her store....so today was the day we dug in and got it done.

I really LOVE this little gal....she is so precious and sweet, the tag that is hanging off the lighted candle says "God Bless America". This has been so heavy on my heart lately....Jesus, please bless this land that I love and your people!!!!!

The little gal was made from a pattern by Drakestone Primitives

I decided I was in the mood to make some crows....so I looked through my patterns and found what I was looking for. This picture is a bit dark but I wanted to show how cute they look hanging.

I found these little flags at the dollar store and LOVED THEM. I coffee stained them and baked them in the oven and positioned them so they when they dried, they looked like they were flapping in the wind....love it!!!!

I left this guys beak dark....I guess I like them done both ways dark or yellow. I also have a tag hanging from his mouth that says "God Bless America" AMEN to that!!!!!!!

On this one the tags says "Welcome Summer". This pattern is from Tennessee Ridge Primtives

I had to make more cats all the other sets I made are gone

Cat's For Sale

Now for our Freckle make over.....Here is the before picture, we had the doors all laid out and ready for action.

We didn't really have a plan...we just knew that we wanted to hinge the doors altogether and prop them up along the front of the building and from there we would create as we went.

Joni even bought a new power drill for our project....she is putting it through the moves here....a woman with a power tool....things could get dangerous :)

Here we got the first 2 doors hinged together and the rest of them standing up right but then we had a lull in the action because we got a few customers. We had worked around the business today....got to keep the money rollin in.

Getting closer to our finished look....the doors are all hinged here and the rest of the project just kinda came together as we went along. But I will tell you that tip on the power drill took a big hit. By the time we finished screwing every thing down and I mean everything down..... that tip looked like someone had chewed off the end....it was pretty funny....that thing got worked over!!!!

Finished....we were pretty happy with our final look

I think the front of the store screams...."come and see what's in here" and that is what we were trying to achieve.

I don't know about you, but the outside of a primitive shop draws me in first....it peaks my interest as to what treasures could be waiting for me on the inside and believe be, Joni has some awesome treasure inside this store!!!!

Well, that is what I was up to today....doing what I love...creating and decorating on a beautiful sunny day.

Tomorrow I am heading to Minneapolis, Minnesota. My nephew is graduating from high school Friday night. Our family is going to go and cheer him on and enjoying spending time together. And then on Sunday, my daughter Alyssa is running in a half marathon (13 miles) in Minneapolis, MN so I am going to go watch her enjoy her passion....running.

p.s. she didn't get running passion from me :)...I'm lucky if I can run down the end of the driveway and back.

God Bless....Rhonda

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

To Market We Will Go....And We Went

We are home from market.....actually we were home a week ago on Monday but I have been really bad about updating my blog lately...sorry. I have been busy planting flowers, doing laundry, cooking dinners, moving my daughter from college, and last but not least making dolls like a mad woman.

Back to our market trip. We had a BLAST!!!! I have never seen so many trinkets in one spot in my life. It's like giving a drink to a drunk while you are there because you have to suppress your will to want to buy EVERYTHING.

Here is a picture of inside the coliseum where the market was held. I snapped 3 pictures before I was told that I could not take anymore. I understand why though....she said some people take pictures and then go home and copy other peoples ideas. But I just wanted my pics for my blog so I could share them with you all...but I totally understand why they don't want pics taken.

Another pic inside the building

These pictures do not even begin to show how full of vendors this coliseum was.

A pile of straw filled primitive bears...Joni bought some of these beauty's

Well anyway....not one told me I could not take pictures outside while vendors were unloading so I had my own little photo shot out there, here it goes.

Here is some of the furniture Joni purchased. This furniture is all homemade near Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Doug, the owner of the shop and the creator of this furniture, is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet!!!! He is soooooo talented and his shop is sooooo AWESOME!!!!

We spent the day before the Market show at Doug's shop. He has antiques splashed in with his handmade furniture. I bought 3 beautiful antique pieces from him and a couple of his handmade furniture pieces and I LOVE them all!!! I would take a picture and show you them but they are in storage right how because this rental is too small for anymore furniture. Someday soon when we get our new house (I still have faith for our house) I will enjoy them.

I passed on a gorgeous antique shelve he had in his shop and I am still kicking my self.....I have learned that when you see a antique you like....BUY IT!!!! It's not like you can just order another one like it up...oh well.....live and learn. Here is Doug's website if you want to see his awesome furniture and his adorable shop.

Lisa and Joni are busy here loading up the truck. We had the whole trailer filled.....you couldn't have fit a hair in there after we the guys loaded it with all our goodies.

Joni was busy shopping outside while the vendors were unloading
The early bird gets the warm....you snooze you loose....the squeaky wheel gets the grease....all these apply while you are trying to get the first pickins :) The vendors were actually happy to let us shop outside, they said the more we buy the less they have to haul in. They are on a mission too....SELL, SELL, SELL.

Joni trying to decide which one will be the BIG SELLER

This chair is absolutely gorgeous in person....Joni bought this beauty and it is sitting in shop as we speak. This chair would have been prefect at our house (the one we sold) sitting under our covered porch. Some day I will have a cover porch again and I will have one of these beauty's sitting under it :)

The furniture was lined up and ready to load

Some of the vendors unloading their goodies

Load em' up and move em' out

We tuckered this poor fella plum out

Doug's guys, sleeping Butch is one of them, were so nice...... they loaded all our furniture in the trailer and truck for us. After we ALL thought we were all done shopping the trailer was shut and ready to roll.....we just had to make a few more swoops through the coliseum, just in case we missed something ya know. Well of course, out we came with more goodies in our arms and you should have seen their faces.....priceless!!!! You could just read their minds saying "how are we going to pack that stuff in the trailer now"......."stop shopping!!!!"

Well after a long but FUN day we started our 8 hour journey back to Wisconsin Rapids. Joni did most of the driving. She had never pulled a trailer before and she was a little nerves, but she did such a good job.....I was so proud of her.

The only spot that was a little nerve racking was in Chicago. She DID NOT want to go over this bridge.

I looked over at her hands while we were going over the bridge and she was white knuckling it the whole way over....of course I had to pull out the camera and snap a pic, she is such a good sport.

Here is Joni pulling that trailer like a pro!!!!!!!

Lisa in the back seat all smiles

I could NOT believe all the tolls we had to go through....talk about highway robbery. The roads where the tolls were set up were the bumpiest roads we traveled....our tax and toll dollars at work...NOT.

I was horrified at the traffic in Chicago

We hit Chicago during the worst time...rush hour, it was bumper to bumper for MILES..ick!!!!!

I don't understand how people live in this everyday....I guess I am a country girl and always will be!!!!!! In Spooner, Wisconsin my hometown we have rush minutes and that's the way I like it!!!!!

The tall building in the back ground is the Sears Tower....I had to snap a pic.

Well, that's about it. I had pictures of the day we spent at Doug's shop and some pictures of us in the hotel but somehow I erased them. My disk was full and I was trying to make room so I could take pictures at Market and some how they disappeared....I was SOOOO mad. I learned a lesson....slow down and watch which buttons you are pushing!!!!!!

Thank you Jesus for the safe trip and for letting me met and spend time with such awesome friends. I am a blessed woman!!!!

Rhonda

Friday, May 15, 2009

I Crossed The Finish Line

Today I finished up my work-in-progress projects and wanted to share them with you.

Here is a cute cat family waiting for a new home.....Mama's tag says "I Love Cats"

This Mama's tag says "Cats For Sale"

This is the first time I tried sculpted hands (made her real fingers) and am pretty happy with them and think it adds a new twist and variety to my dolls.

I went to an Estate sale a couple weeks ago and found some crystal vintage clip-on earrings. I used one of them for the closure pin on her lace shawl.....LOVE the sparkle, sparkle, sparkle!!!!

Here she is sitting on the couch resting a spell.

And here she is hanging on the wall, but she would also look adorable hanging on a door as a door doll.



A primitive horse

These horses can hang anywhere you want a primitive simpler time look

I really like these horses, they are a tribute to our 3 awesome Quarter horses Bo, Malachi and Gretta and the wonderful years my daughters and I had together showing them at horse shows. Those are years that I will always cherish in my heart and miss those good ole days so much!!!!!

Here are some song bird pinkeep cushions I finished up...LOVE THEM!!!

How CUTE!!!!

They would look so cute sitting on a shelf or tucked away in a prim cupboard

They are ready to fly off to the Country Freckles

Here is everyone loaded up in my totes and they are Country Freckles bound

Speaking of Country Freckles......I am going with Joni, the owner of the Country Freckles, to market this weekend. It is in Fort Wayne, Indiana an 8 hour drive one way from here. We are leaving Saturday night around 7pm and are planning on getting back sometime on Monday. We are pulling a trailer and I am sure it will be filled to the top with goodies for Joni's shop. I have always wanted to go to market and for sure will be bringing my camera and will share as much of this experience as I can with you all. I am sure I will see all kinds of things I will want, but I have to resist the temptation because we live in a rental right now and we can't fit anything else in the storage building.

That's it for now...I finished my goals for the week and am very happy about that and now I am heading to bed....God Bless....Rhonda