I'm For the Birds

If you've listened to Miranda Lambert's newest album  The Weight of These Wings, on repeat like I have, you've probably heard the song 'For The Birds'. I've decided it fits me pretty well and has inspired a spring line up of items, that you'll find at the Backwood's Marketplace April 8-9 and available online after the market.  

I'm against the days
When the skies stay bummer-grey
And the cake just tastes okay, okay
Well I guess I'm anti-yuck
Against the stuff that sucks
Pulls the life out of your soul 
And shuts it down

(Yes, yes, yes...bummer-grey skies are so depressing - I'm definitely solar powered by the sun and who wants just okay cake? I've never been a big fan of the color grey and I think its because of bummer-grey skies. I try to avoid the stuff that shuts down my creative soul, which is one reason I listen to music while working and not the television.)



I'm against the doc
Letting good tomatoes rot
Being someone that you're not, when you're not
Well I guess I'm anti-hate
Cause that ain't what it takes
It's love that makes this crazy world go round

(Be yourself and this world is way too full of hate right now.)

I'm for the sun, I'm for the breeze
Old dogs sleeping at your feet
I'm for the girls with the curls and the curves
I'm for questions
I'm for freedom
Celebrating every season

(YES, on all accounts - I just wish I has some curls!)

For the bees and the trees and the dirt
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)


I'm against the notion
Of drinking with cheap potion
And causing big commotion
You know son
I guess I'm anti-confrontation
I'd rather have a conversation
About nothing in particular at all

(I prefer the drama free, no confrontation, discussion about nothing  in particular at all...)

I'm against them feelings
The once that get revealing
Slamming hearts right in the ceilings
You feel me
And I guess I'm anti-tears
I'd rather sip an ice cold beer
Listen to some country music until dawn

(I'll sip on ice cold tea...)

'Cause I'm for the sun, I'm for the breeze
Old dogs sleeping at your feet
I'm for the girls with the curls and the curves
I'm for questions
I'm for freedom
Celebrating every season
For the trees and the bees and the dirt
I'm for feathers
I'm for wings
I'm for Tweedle-deedle-dee-dee-dee

For what it's worth
For what it's worth

I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)

Tweedle-deedle-dee-dee-dee



Take a listen to For The Birds audio from YouTube

Since the album came out and I've fell in love with this song, I've been finding bird related items on all our junkin' trips, so it all just seems meant to be. We will have a collection of wings, bird cages, bird houses, art work, tin birds, etc at the Backwood's Marketplace along with a lot of other items and our spring garden center!

Roots and Wings at the Backwood's Marketplace

Roots and Wings ~💗~

Our Roots ~ make us who we are, those ol' timey community churches we were raised in, our history, our story, our family... 

Wings ~ you can know where you're from and still want to fly....

We are working on some new items for the Backwood's Marketplace, April 8-9. Our area will have a Roots and Wings overall theme and also feature a spring garden center! Yes, you read that right, we will also have plants for this market! 

 

Roots to plant and Wings to decorate with!

There will be items repurposed from the barns our grandparents built, vintage treasures from our past, paintings of churches, with long standing history in our local communities, and of course lots of fun junk!

So far, I have paintings of  5 different historic churches, all located within Upshur County. The painting is Hopewell Church, (I've actually got two different versions of this church) located just down the road from the market. It reminds me of a Little House on the Prairie type church and one room school house. 

The one on the board is LaFayette (pronounced luh-fet, not like the town in Louisiana) and it's the community church, where my family comes from. Our roots... I'm calling this collection "Another Sunday in the South" and the art will be available in several different mediums. 

I listen to music as I work and it inspires me. (I seldom turn on the racket of the tv.) If you've listened to Miranda Lamberts newest album, you may recognize the lyrics from her song "For the Birds" 

Cause I'm for the sun

I'm for the breeze

Old dogs sleeping at your feet

I'm for the girls with the curls and the curves

I'm for questions

I'm for freedom

Celebrating every season

For the trees, and the bees, and the dirt

I'm for feathers, I'm for wings, I'm for twiddle-le-de-de

For what it's worth, for what it's worth

I'm for the birds, I'm for the birds, I'm for the birds

I'm for the birds, I'm for the birds, I'm for the birds

I'm for the birds

Twiddle-le-de-de

Part of our booth will feature all things "For the Birds" - tin bird yard stakes,  bird cages, houses, artwork, wreaths with birds, etc. Every week, I find something bird related, while we are out junkin' and of course it goes with the spring garden theme! 

Wings...several different styles of rustic tin wings will be available at the market and they have roots in my past. The tin was salvaged from my granddaddy's hay barn. The mangled pieces of tin no longer work for roofing, but they will carry on in new ways. I certainly plan to add a pair of wings to my yard decor this spring. 

We've got about 9 million projects in the works, ok, maybe not quite that many, but I've got lots of things to finish up before the market, so stay tuned to for more sneak peeks and make sure you mark your calendars for April 8-9! 

Gone Junkin'

It's no secret that I'm self employed, work from home and that I love junk.

Working from home is quite (I hardly ever turn on the tv - I can't stand that racket) and I missed the conversation with coworkers and friends, so occasionally we would eat lunch and catch up. Then we started doing the shows with Angea and the occasional lunch become "business meetings" or "board meetings", discussing our ideas and booth set up visions. Last spring, we started meeting early on Thursday mornings to go Junkin' and we've only missed a few weeks, due to time sensitive work, Angea's vacation, or medical situations. Our peeps have learned that Thursday morning is our early morning and don't make plans to conflict with our junk!

We have our normal starting place, where we meet, we shop there and then hit any garage sales in town. We might venture to a nearby town, run some random errands, go get supplies at Hobby Lobby, etc., but we almost always end with lunch. Since we started out booth in Mineola, we venture that way at least twice a month to restock our booth and see what we can collect along our way. 

In the winter, there hasn't been many garage or estate sales and we've been going through some junk withdrawals and we've been anxiously awaiting people starting their spring cleaning and garage sale season! With the weather being so nice, we were hopeful for today's adventures. 

It did start out a little frosty early this morning, but it quickly turned into a gorgeous day! 

Our second stop turned into a Junkers high! I've never see Angea snatch up something so quick - she grabbed up several stacks of buckets like it was a Black Friday Christmas sale! I got the big tub and rooster, and she got the others, but we combined them to haul across the highway. 

My initials in stamps... Didn't get them though. 

Angea, the Junkin' Queen! She passed on the crown as well, but I had to get her picture. 

We made it to Uniques and Antiques and added some items to our booth and rearranged things to give it a fresh look. 

Here's a few new items that I have been working on lately. You might remember my struggle with the church boards - well here's two of them, from my "Another Sunday in the South" series and a rustic, shabby photo holder. 

Roosters! Between the two of us, we've got several rooster items in our booth. 

After lunch, we headed back towards home. We go one way and come back a different direction, so we will have a greater chance of finding sales along the way. We take turns driving and this week Angea drove her car. Now do not let her little fuel efficient car fool ya, she can pack some stuff in there! That's an awesome table she grabbed up.  We laugh and have so much fun together! Angea is such a happy, upbeat friend to be with and I love our Junkin trips!  

We got back to town, I got my truck and we both went back to a sale were we found the buckets. We each found a few more things and I decided the bike must come home with me. I haven't came home with this much good junk in a while! We have visions of transforming and decorating with lots of it at the Backwood's Marketplace next month. Seriously, you don't want to miss it, because we are going to have some awesome stuff. 

I nearly bought knobs at a big name store last week, but I held out, because I thought I might could find some old ones, instead of the imitations. So glad I did and I've got plans for these babies! 

It was just too pretty of an afternoon, when I got home, that I just couldn't go indoors to work, so I didn't! I worked outside, "For the Birds". (Did you see my new cutter tool and completed birds on Facebook or Instagram?)

Today ended with a pretty sunset and tomorrow I'll be back inside working on wedding orders, but for today, we had to enjoy the junk and bask in the sunshine. 

The Month of Navy Blue

In the last couple of weeks, I've made and shipped items to four countries! Now that's not an every day occurance (and my shipping bill this month will be crazy), but it is exciting to think about my handmade items being delivered to places all across the globe. 

For this girl who often stresses over her business and struggles with self confidence, I'm so thankful for everyone who puts their trust in me and let's me be a part of your weddings, decorate your events, homes, or  wears something I have created. Y'all are the best! I think about my small home based business, located on the back roads, outside a small country town and through the power of the internet (thank goodness my data is working again) I can connect to people all over the world. It really is amazing!

Navy burlap has been the most popular color this month! Almost every order has navy in it, although there have been several different color combinations. This red, tan, and navy bridal bouquet with rhinestones and pearls is on its way to Canada. 

Navy, wine, grey, and white bouquets are Italy bound. I'm also seeing more request for grey burlap included in bouquets.

Navy with white lace has been the thing lately. Usually it's ivory lace 90% of the time, so February was a flip flop on that scenario. 

Now, if you see me around town and think my hands look ridiculously dirty and have lots of brown spots, please know that I have taken a bath and washed my hands plenty of times, it's just a sign that I have been using eucalyptus recently. After I use the eucalyptus in arrangements, our well water (high in iron) has a reaction to it and I get these spots, wherever it touched my skin. It's kind of crazy. I can wash my hands in "city water" without spots, but when I come home and take a shower, the spots appear for a day or two. Anyways, long story to explain the spots on my hand while modeling a wristlet! Any scientist out there want to explain my reaction?!?
 

Here's the culprit - a retirement party centerpiece. I love all the different types the euc and it holds up so well, that I overlook the spots it causes. 

If you've ever wondered about size comparison between a fresh red rose and a burlap rose boutonniere, here is the line up. Fresh Corsage and boutonniere, 2 mini rose groom's bout, burlap rose boutonniere.

The burlap rose is smaller that an average size red rose.

Vintage cowboy pillows shipped to the land down under, Australia.  

Navy bridal and small bridesmaid bouquet with a touch of blush burlap.

A wreath to honor a veteran... Always sad to make....

Red, white, and navy bridesmaid bouquets.

Large bridesmaid bouquets (this bride chose the bridal bouquet size for her bridesmaids to carry.)

Now for a couple non-navy bouquets! A medium size coral burlap, lace and tulle bouquet. 

And a camo, sage, tan, brown, and white burlap bouquet, without any lace. It's really hard to believe that I didn't make anything with turquoise this month.

Love y'all lots and thanks for your support! As always, custom orders are welcome and I look forward to helping be a part of your special days!