August Recap

I'm like the little emoji girl that has her arms held up and her hands turned out. You know the one that means " I don't know?" That's how I feel as I sit down to blog. Where has this month gone and what should I say??? This month has been non stop and we are just trying to make pretty things and keep up with all the critters at the farm and oh they are a mess (cute animal pics included!) Throw in some fun junkin' along the way and well, I guess that's were August went. 

So here I am saying Hey Y'all and jumping back in the blogging world! I'll share a few things from this month... Ok? and I'll try to blog more in September! 

Sweet Flossie the Donkey...She was giving me some loving after I give her some treats. Earlier in the year, Jeff bought a bag of horse treats and let me tell you, the donkeys love them better than their feed and now they are a staple in the barnyard! 

So we painted the camper at the end of July and first of August and got back out on the road with Miss Gussie for our first show of the season. 

Lots of new clothing items were added to my etsy shop! I'm ready for flannel season - distressed flannels, flannels with lace...

flannels with old trucks and loads of pumpkins...

Santa flannels... yes we are ready for cooler weather (and lots of rain.)

Fun new tumbler wraps are also in my online shop! 

The lace on several of these jackets was cut from a vintage wedding dress! The dress had a few rips and stains, but so much gorgeous lace to make pretty things with.

More flannels with vintage, heirloom linens and lace and some dream catchers made with doilies and lace. 

I helped with flower arrangements for several events this month...

This one was for a 101st birthday party! 

Cemetery flowers...

and of course burlap wedding bouquets were created for several weddings! This one has teal burlap and was shipped to Canada. 

Navy is still a popular color for wedding bouquets. 

This was a new color combination with lavender and navy burlap. The wedding isn't until the spring of 2019, although she is having bridal portraits this fall and ordered early. Since the bride will have a burlap bouquet, she can use the exact same bouquet for her pictures, carry on her wedding day, and have a keepsake for many years to come! (That's pretty economical and budget friendly.)

 Another bride ordered additional turquoise bouquets for her September wedding, including a toss bouquet, and 2 bridesmaid bouquets and boutonnieres.

Now for a few fun farm pictures! Meet Smidgy! She's a sweet little baby who needs some extra loving. 

My shirt should read "All you need is love and some cows... and some donkeys!" That's Ronnie D on the left and Flossie on the right. (No relation, even though they look similar.) 

Ronnie D loves his donkey treats! He's become a ham this summer and wants all the attention he can get! 

We were headed out the gate one day and Ronnie started chasing us and braying. I think he was saying "I want more treats!" (don't worry, he did get a couple extra treats and petting!)

One day I was at the farm by myself. I stopped my truck in the back forty and got out to check on a few cows. Got back in and my truck wouldn't crank... Oh $#!+... I was on the phone with Jeff and he told me to wiggle the battery cables and it didn't work... It was so hot and it would have taken him 45 minutes plus to come to my rescue. He said "Hey, you got your jumper cables?" Well of course. "You can jump yourself off." Say what??? Well it worked because my battery had top and side post and I made it home safely! We did a video and I'm trying to get it uploaded to YouTube, showing and explaining how that was possible. When I tried to upload a 3 minute 19 second video, it said it was going to take 168 hours to upload, so hey by the second Tuesday of next week, maybe it'll be uploaded! ;) Really I've got to try again, but I haven't set down long enough to try. Once uploaded, I'll have a blog post devoted to Jeff's trick. My friends in Mineola call Jeff "MacGyver" because he can fix something, with nothing or some random things he has on hand. (Remember the time he fixed the clutch with a pair of pliers, a hammer, a cardboard from a clothes hanger found in a parking lot, and a few other random things, when we were a 100 miles from home? Read about it here! ) 

We've had extra chores at the farm this week and we've spent a lot of time in ol' red, the feed truck. Anyways, Thursday morning is our junkin' time, but I needed to go with Jeff to the farm. Well, we made a compromise and he went junkin' early with me and then we went to take care of the critters. When you are in a single cab flatbed truck, instead of 4 door truck that I'm used to (with the back seat laid flat to hold all my stuff,) you have to get creative with how to haul your finds. Jeff said, we can put stuff in the feed hopper, since it wasn't completely full of feed! Well ok... Junkin' and Farmin' and shipping out orders!

So there you have a few highlights from August. Thank you to everyone who lets me have a part of your events and chooses to support my handmade business! Y'all are the best! 

I truly hope that September is cooler and has more rainfall. The drought situation is getting really bad and we need the rain...

We are looking forward to the September show at the Mineola Antique Fair next weekend and we have a few events on the calendar. We've been working on new fall and Christmas items that will be launching soon, so stay tuned for those and of course we are always available for custom wedding bouquets! Send me a message today, so we can discuss your ideas! 

Miss Gussie the Glamper Got a NEW Look!

Whew, where has the time gone??? It's been a busy month and a hot minute since I set down to blog. 

If you've been following along on Facebook or Instagram, you know that in between everything we've been working on, I busted out the paint brushes and Miss Gussie the Glamper got a new look and she went back out on the road after a year and a half of being parked at home! 

My favorite brushes - just the cheapest straw brushes that can be found...

My sweet doggie loves the camper and insisted on being outside with me the entire time I was painting! She was upset when I left out Friday morning and she didn't get to go with "her" camper. (There's a no pets rule at the Mineola Antique Fair and honestly as cute as she is, she's not people friendly, so she would have growled at everybody who came near and we can't have that.)

I've had a sketch in my planner for a while and finally made it happen - Miss Gussie joined the cactus craze! It's been a little over 3 years since I originally painted the camper white with the turquoise lace stripe and the heart with wings. I knew at the time I painted her, that I would eventually want to repaint or add to, so we did just that! 

She's got cactus and succulents painted all over her! 

We decided that Miss Gussie would get back out on the road some this fall and her first appearance was at the August Mineola Antique Fair. We had rain and drizzle on both days, so we had to be careful with where we positioned everything and we left some items inside the camper plus we have an indoor place as well. (We will not complain about the rain though - we are in a drought situation and need every single drop we can get!) 

Her next scheduled appearance is September 7-8, once again at the Mineola Antique Fair! Come see Miss Gussie in person and get a tour! 

For those who are wondering what type of paint I used to paint the camper - originally (2015) I primed and then painted with white barn paint from the hardware store. As the lady at the paint counter told me "you are basically painting a tin barn on wheels" so we rolled and brushed barn paint. I used a good quality turquoise and brown paint, but I can't recall the exact type. This is the paint I used to add the cactus (plus a small can of red.) I simply washed the camper before painting this time and went to painting one afternoon. Concerning my original paint job and how well the DIY paint job held up - I've notice a few tiny places where the paint is chipping off, although nothing major. My original paint job cost less than $200 ($50 of that was for the lace stencil I ordered) and I simply wash and scrubbed with a sanding block beforehand. The camper has set out in the weather the entire time. Honestly, the camper skin was not smooth before painting, so I'm still tickled with how my paint has held up. I knew I would want to paint and change her up periodically, so if the paint really gets to chipping off, we will just paint a whole new scene! The local body shops all refused to even consider painting her and even if they would have, their paint job would have cost way more than I paid for the camper. I love being able to change and alter the look from time to time and it didn't break the piggy bank! 

Every artist has to sin their work, right?! JE'18

P.S. The tin signs, most of the clothes, and all the dream catchers can be found in my etsy shop and I ship worldwide! I'll be adding more clothes and new items in the coming days, as well!