Busy Bee

Lately, my life has been a bee hive of activity. Slowly, I've been moving stuff into the new space I've taken at French Hen Antiques. Moving into such a large space has been a combination of complete exhilaration and mild panic. I've just had my head down and my nose to the grind stone. Hard work does pay off right???

This time of year everyone in town is "buzzing" with anticipation for the semi-annual Petaluma Antique Fair. This is a great show that takes place on Kentucky St. in historic downtown Petaluma. April 28th and 29th actually make for quite a busy weekend here in town. Saturday, the town gathers to enjoy the infamous Butter & Eggs Parade. Petaluma, used to be the chicken capital of the world. So we take chickens...and eggs for that matter, very seriously around here!

This all adds up to a lot of activity for our town, which is a welcome boost for the local economy and great incentive for us shopkeepers to load our stores with our best for the upcoming festivities. That said, it's really putting the pressure on to have both my spaces filled to the brim and fabulous!

Tomorrow, I'll be taking a buffet, bed and picnic table in. I have to work on two window displays, attack a small mountain of laundry, paint, price, shop for more items, wash the other half of my dishes (gave up at the halfway point tonight), coach Brooke's softball game, help with homework, cook a dinner, pay some bills...is that all? Like I said, I'm a busy, busy bee.

Long days, short nights

I've been burning the candle at both ends lately. Over the last weekend I shared a space at the Alameda Point Antique Fair. It's been well over a year since I've sold or shopped this show and I think it's changed a lot. People seem a little more content to soak up the experience of being at the show versus buying a little part of the "show" to take home. With over 700 dealers, the competition is fierce, but there is truly something for everyone. I think for right now I'll be doing shows a little closer to home.
Since nothing in my household gets done until the LAST POSSIBLE MINUTE...I was still painting a few pieces to take at the eleventh hour. Thankfully, they both sold at the show. My space partner/bestie Gen and I were up until 1:30am on Saturday night, only to get up at 3:45am Sunday to head to the show. Makes for a looooooong day! I'm glad I snapped a few quick photos of the pieces I took, since they both found new homes.

My daughter Brooke took the photo of this buffet. I purchased this piece for $20 at our local recycle center, A.K.A. the dump. One man's trash is truly another man's treasure! I painted this piece with a 2/1 mix of Paris Grey and Pure White. Using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint which I conveniently purchased at Summer Cottage Antiques. After the first coat dried I lightly sanded it, then added some water to my paint mix, another splash of pure white paint and gave the piece a grayish-white wash. Another sanding and a coat of wax to seal. Here's the after:

I also brought a little dresser that I had picked up at Sack's Hospice. This piece had pretty hardware, so I chose to highlight it with different shade of grey, French Linen, also an Annie Sloan color. French Linen, has a taupe quality to it. Here's the before:

I got lucky with this piece...I only painted it with one coat of paint! That's all she needed! The piece had great lines and natural wear patterns that looked best with less paint. After the piece had dried, I sanded and waxed it with a mix of clear and dark wax.

My iPhone photo's don't do these pieces much justice, but the transformation was pretty good considering I did both in one afternoon.
Gen and me spent Monday at the shop fluffing our space and getting ready for the shops Anniversary sale. It's all a lot of work....but I would be lying if I didn't say I'm having a blast doing it!