Bungalow Betty

It's Estate sale Thursday which usually means that I'm getting ready to brave a mob of fierce competitors on the hunt for lost treasure and vintage bliss. Well not today nothing peaked my interest enough to brave the elements (it's cold here in Michigan again) and the seasoned hunters who will do almost anything for a good buy. 

So I sit in my cozy house with a warm cuppa looking out my window to a meadow of heavy wet grasses and chilly raindrops and remember a few weeks ago when we were having unseasonably warm weather and I dressed in my usual estate hunting garb to attend a funky little sale of retro treasures and provocative art. Luckily I wasn't alone. I was accompanied by a very stealthy and sometimes ruthless hunter who unlike myself wears sensible shoes that allow her to run thru the premesis and score the coolest find of the day. Unlike my stealthy friend, that I will call Dee Dee for this article, I have a ritual or obsession with getting dressed in just the right attire for a day of treasure hunting. I say right attire but honestly there's nothing right about it. I don't know why or what it is about sale day that makes me gravitate to my chunky old  ( more like clunky) pair of clogs with 3 inch thick wooden soles and what was once cream colored suede uppers but now resembles a paint splotched mess. They look like something right out of the eighties and they're not far off I think I've had them for 15 years or more. Crazy I know but I  think it's something like carrying a lucky rabbits foot or wearing a lucky fishing hat. I don't feel ready for the sale unless I'm wearing them. 

Well now that you've witnessed one of my many quirks, or eccentricities which a little sounds better,  let me tell you why the shoes are a bad idea. It has to do with my pushy competitors and the fact that many of these sales take place in old houses with very steep stairways and rickety floors that have you walking or usually running down hill. I have been pushed down the stairs and almost trampled at some of the heavily attended sales. The shoes of course survived. 

So by now you may be asking "what does Bungalow Betty and the picture above have to do with this story?" Well, you know how I mentioned Dee Dee and her sensible shoes? She was my saving grace at the funky retro sale and the very reason Betty now has a prominent place in my "Studio Pink" office. 

Here's the story that I've been trying to tell, I am easily side tracked; Dee Dee and I arrived at the sale early and put our names on the number sheet that one of the other veteran hunters had created. We waited in line patiently, I think we were about fifth or sixth in line, when an unfamiliar competitor showed up wearing her lucky hat with a logo I can't mention for fear of being banned from a certain well loved vintage store that I haunt from time to time.  This lucky hat wearing woman that I will call #47 showed up with attitude. She was late which put her at the end of the list but after signing her name and taking a look around she placed herself in front of me in line and started complaining about how unprofessional some estate sales were run. All the while #47 rambled on I was thinking "how dare she cut me in line and act like her hat made her entitled to go first."  I was stemmed and trying to come up with something clever to say about her place in line when it hit me. She is after the very same thing that I got up extremely early for and skipped my morning shower to simply drag a comb thru my what was now a bit on the wild side hair from all the unseasonable humidity in the air. She would be headed to the basement to snag my Betty from the vintage dress form pictures I drooled over in the estate sale ad. I knew it had to be so because Betty would have fit in beautifully with all the other kitschy cool merchandise in her shop. 

I whispered to my friend who unlike me tends to speak her mind and was just about ready to blast #47 with an earful when I suggested that we not let on about our interest in Betty but instead stealthily beat her to the basement. I thought for a moment as I looked down at my shoes and realized that there was no way that I would be able to outrun even an 80 year old woman to the basement wearing these shoes let alone this forty something woman with shall I say I strong stature and a kill or be killed attitude. 

That's when I turned to my friend and said " I'm counting on you to beat her to the punch and pull Betty's tag." Dee Dee loves a challenge and because by this time she was pretty annoyed by # 47 and her audacity to cut the line. Dee Dee was ready to put #47 in her place and win the hunt. 

Well since you know that Bungalow Betty is mine you know that Dee Dee managed to throw a block in the stairway and dive in for the kill (I mean tag). It was all over in a matter of minutes and I was quite pleased to be able to stand in the check out line with Betty at my side flashing a grin over to #47 who looked rather disappointed with a measly gold frame in one hand and chunky beaded necklace in the other. 

Dee Dee and I happily pushed Betty down the sidewalk to the car and then drove off to a little diner for lunch, on me, of course!

Happy hunting,

Kelly

Nashville or Bust photo shoot

I had a blast creating this gypsy photo shoot. The girls did a great job!

What I love today

I think we made it. Made it through the winter, that is. I'm loving the sunshine of spring.  It has been much needed and anticipated. 

I'm also loving this totally awesome dream catcher necklace from Cloud 9 jewels at Etsy.com

What are you loving today?

Feeling like Spring

Did a little spring cleaning and redecorating this weekend. 

I can feel the tickle of spring as the warm sun fills the spaces inside my home. It's just a faint whisper but can definitely be heard. I need warm sun and green shoots. I need blue skies with chirping birds overhead. I need spring!

Spring brings promise of sunshine and blooming plants and it also brings opportunity to hunt for tattered treasures that beg for a breath of new life. Estate sale listings are beginning to hit my inbox.  I'm on the prowl for something with good bones or sexy legs to refinish.  

Something like this,,,,

Definitely this,,,

Or maybe this,,,,

I'm ready to work my magic with a few coats of chalk paint and a little bit of elbow grease. It's not always easy to find the right piece. I love the hunt almost as much as the repurpose. I'm looking forward to the next few Friday's scouting the tag sales. 

Happy hunting!!!

Kelly

The lust and the lure of Anthropologie and a little mystery

You had me at Anthropologie. I'm easily sucked in and swept away by the view or atmosphere. This makes me a very dangerous shopper. Unlike most of my savvy shopping buddies who look for the best deal or things they really need and can afford, I am an emotional shopper becoming hooked, more like attached to anything and everything that makes my heart skip a beat or promises to make cool or beautiful. I fall hard for good marketing and stores that have a certain dreamy or extremely cool atmosphere. I know my weaknesses but still I can't help myself. It's an addiction or what I like to call passion. I'm sure my husband calls it something else.

    Anthropologie is such a place that sucks me in the door and takes over my soul. I wander the store in lust for hours only to exit the store with a cool purchase that I love but don't need. My latest such purchase was a book titled "Gypsy a world of colour and interiors. I pour over the pages and devour images like this one...

 

I love the rawness and organic vibe of this room. From the chippy paint on the block wall to the pond sailor on the wall, I'm hooked. I can envision myself spending time sitting on that lovely blue settee or gazing out the window with the fabulous fishing net window treatment, love that!

     I am drawn to a design or piece by the emotion or memory evoked in me. I haunt swanky little decorator shops and juicy antique stores. One of my latest obsessions is vintage photos, not the posed portraits just the candid shots that make you wonder about the story behind the image. I recently designed an art piece "Lost at Sea" using some really extrodinary photos of children by the sea. I can't help but wonder who were these children, where did they live and what was their story. 

The untold story and the mystery behind the photos are intertwined with the awesomeness of each and every tiny shell and piece of garbage that gets lost and washes up on the beaches I wander. I love the mystery and the wonder of it all. I'm a curious girl who can't get enough of the romance of the sea and the lure of ambient interiors and love at first sight. Yes, you had me at Anthropologie!

Channeling Marie Antoinette

Hey, I found this really awesome Etsy listing at https://www.etsy.com/listing/224073150/channeling-marie-antoinette-art

Lost at sea

Hey, I found this really awesome Etsy listing at https://www.etsy.com/listing/224016923/lost-at-sea-altershrine

Loving the light

I felt blessed to have witnessed the magic of morning light as it danced thru the trees and kissed the frosty flowers. This photo was taken on a morning of below zero temperatures. The light sparkled brilliantly across the landscape as it warmed the earth. I love the way the light fractured thru my lens and blurred the image. It was pure magic and worth a few moments of wading thru deep snow and the feeling of frosty toes. 

Love....

Inspire me if you dare!

The light, the yummy colors,  the earthy feel and pure organic vibe of this room makes my heart skip a beat or two! I came across this inspirational image on Pinterest (http://johanna-vintage.blogspot.nl/) and fell instantly in love. It got me thinking... if only I had a room like this. I would create, write, and  get lost in a daydream or simply just be. Inspiration and ideas would flow onto the page, the canvas, the room. This space is so raw and inviting. I could definitely spend some here. 

I pinned it, downloaded it and then shared my enthusiasm for this lovely space with my husband. He wrinkled his nose and said "huh, why?") at first I felt crushed and a little hurt but that got me thinking, why do I feel such a visceral connection to this image. After a few moments I realized that this room reminded me of the basement of my grandparents dilapidated barn. I spent hours collecting rusty old implements, making vignettes with an urban loft kind of feel ( this was way before anyone would have dreamed of living in that kind of space) running up and down the crumbling brick steps and sitting against the moss covered stone walls to eat my lunch. It was raw, magical and my secret place.

Do you have a magical space that begs your creative self to come out to play?

Hugs,

Kelly

Creative juices and hello 2015

This year I made a promise to myself. No more thoughtless gifts. This year everything I gifted would be carefully planned and creatively put together with a little piece of my soul. I'm happy to say that I was pretty successful at keeping that promise. The homemade puppet theater was creative with salvaged and newly bought materials. It came together beautifully. A star was born on Christmas Day. Princess Fairah and her friends have since debuted in many crafty productions. It was as much fun making this project as it has been watching the show. It's nice when an idea comes together and actually meets my expectations. 

       So now that 2014 is behind us and we are standing on the doorstep of a new year, new hopes, new goals, I ask myself, "what do you want to accomplish in 2015?" I don't do resolutions because I feel like that only sets me up for failure. I use the concept of goals, dreams and focus, somehow these terms seem real and more attainable to me. Hmmm, I got nothing! I guess I'm not quite ready to make a declaration for the new year. 

   Here's a fun little piece of trivia... 2015 was the year Marty Mcfly traveled to in Back to the future, I guess I will have to revisit this movie to know how much they got right about the year 2015.

Hello Mcfly I don't see kids riding around town on a hover board, " what's up with that?"

Happy New Year to all

Kelly