Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The June Flea Market

Yeah I know .... little late on the posting ... LOL ... anyway here are a few things that sold last month at the Nashville Flea Market.  LW isn't going to the July one, so I have an extra month to get some stuff ready.

flower pot topiaries - $5 each





shabby frames w/ rusty wire and vintage photo clothespinned to wire
$10 each


Last weekend we went w/ friends to visit the Belleville IL flea market.  Pretty nice flea market, little closer to home than Nashville, so I told LW about it.  She's already scoping it out, has a friend that vends there and was told by him she could set her tent up outside his bldg, so looks like Moss Creek Lane will be at Belleville in the coming months!  Exciting!

I have a couple of cool ideas in the works for projects ... and of course by the time LW is at the Belleville market it will be time to have Christmas stuff ready to sell (gads is it possible?!?!?)  Thankfully I have quite a supply of holiday decor ready to go ... 

I also think I'd like to work the Belleville market w/ LW - it's close to home, I'd like to see what it's like to sell at the market, AND I kinda feel like I 'owe' her for schleping all my stuff around and selling it for me ... she has NEVER asked me to help out, but I think I'll give it a go this fall!  I'm sure the fall markets are crazy busy ....

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Moss Creek Lane Studio

 Joining up w/ "Where Bloggers Create"

 
So here is where it all began. 

One Christmas I decided to make some decoupage tile coasters for gifts.  I set up these two tables in a basement bedroom ... and thus the humble beginnings of what was to become Moss Creek Lane Studio .... a place for my creative juices to pour out ... a place where I could make a mess and not have to clean it up because dinner was going to be on the table where I was gluing and cutting and painting.




I could not have done ANY of this w/o the wonderful man I married almost 7 years ago!  He has been my champion, my supporter, my 'push' to start a business.   He has helped me shop for and install all the cabinets and counter tops in the studio.   He TORE out the closet he had put in that bedroom just a few years ago, and added in the corner work station when I decided I just "had" to have more room!   He measured, cut, installed, and leveled all those white open shelves that go over the corner work station (he doesn't consider himself a woodworker, but I could not be more pleased!!)  ... and w/ the help of a friend, installed TONS of electrical outlets for glue guns, drills, heat guns, my sewing machine ... AND they put in new lighting for me too!

He found wood pieces from an old glider swing and made shelves on the wall for my stamps 
(oh yes i have outgrown it already!)


There is a rough-in for a bathroom down there, just outside my studio door ... when we re-did our master bathroom 2 years ago, we had our son-in-law cut the old vanity in 1/2 and put it down there and hook it up to the water line .... WATER supply just steps from my dirty paint brushes!!!!  (as you all know, that was life changing!!)





And when my 'pending projects' outgrew my studio and became such a mess that I didn't know WHAT I had, he graciously let me take over 1/2 of the unfinished portion of our basement!  We bought 4 sets of plastic shelving from Lowes (and an unused desk) and set up an inventory area.  That's where I store all my treasures I find to re-purpose.  Wooden boxes, jewelry boxes, frames, bottles, random pieces of wood, fabrics, stuffing for pillows ... sooooooooo many projects ..... sooooooo little time .....

Thanks to my sister-in-law, I am able to sell my creations at the Nashville Flea Market (the 4th weekend of the month).  She has a booth and travels down there each month w/ a box of my stuff, adding to the collection she already has!  I don't make alot of money, but the goal is just to be able to create things and have a place for those "things" to go (besides stacking up in my studio!)  Yes it's very hard to see them leave the studio, but I take pics before I send them off for a photo history of my creations.

Sadly, Moss Creek Lane is not my full time job ... I still work full-time outside the home (difficult to replace that income at this point!) so it's tough to find time in the studio .... but when I walk in there my mood changes, I exhale ... smile and say "I love being in here!"

Here are a few more pics ... enjoy!

 ribbon collection (oh man that "S" is crooked)



 stamp supplies, etc stored in vintage suitcase


 shelf unit for paint, gesso, stains, plastic gloves, rags



various "collections" of supplies


Thanks to Karen for this fun event ... I have been "looking over her shoulder" for a couple years now, soaking up her creativity, and getting inspired by the artists that participate in  "Where Bloggers Create" ... finally decided to take the plunge.  Forgive the 'basicness' of my post ... I really did just start doing the blog thing!