I went on an art buying spree....

which, I have to say I do more times than I should.  I bought 6 pieces. Three will go out for sale (one has already sold actually) one I might keep, and two I will be keeping..... so here we go...

These first two are by Mervin Jules.

The above print is a proof, it's  "Child blowing dandelion" 

This one is Boy playing flute. Both are signed. They are wonderful, I love the top one, the bottom one I am undecided on. It might go well with the yellow sofa.... 

The yellow woodblock print is from 1969. It's signed and named, but the print has slipped so I can't read it. It needs to be re matted so that's going to happen soon. I love this and it is going to go up in my house when it's straightened. 

This is a Saul Rabino print called "refugee" There are colored versions of this, and uncolored. It's signed in pencil too.... I do not like this, and it will go out for sale. 

In addition I purchased two Wallace Nutting  original hand colored photograph prints - I sold one this past weekend, and the other is going out so I don't have a photo of it at this point. 

I have decided that at this point I have so much art- so much of it actually worth some money, that I need to catalog it- so more pictures might end up here at some point. I can't stop buying it, even if I have little to no wall space and the storage room is filled . Oh well, at least it's better than being knee deep is crap I bought from HSN or QVC.....right? 

Stow Davis leather office furniture from 1966 - or How to decorate around a big old yellow sofa?????

As I have written about before, I lucked into a three piece set of vintage furniture for a price that was unbelievable. The issue? I have to redo the basement now so that these pieces can sing.  Not only are these pieces in my basement, but so is a 9 foot pool table, a foosball table, and a huge Ethan Allen bar. They all have to remain. The open concept basement room is about 22 ft wide and about 30 ft long or so...it's a decent sized room and they will all fit if I'm careful and have a plan that includes them all so they flow together and don't fight each other..... 

This is what it looks like now (the furniture is more of a deli mustard yellow/brown, not as much green as in these pictures, but that's what you get when you don't have the proper light to take a photo.... 

The white wall behind the first picture is going to have to be painted. The paneling behind the second picture is NOT going to be painted....I'm going with a very heavy 70's vibe down here. The red rug is already gone, along with all the other assorted pieces of furniture. The bookcase you see is a built in floor to ceiling one. The natural wood you see in the first picture is actually a barn door covering the sliders to outside. This room actually gets a fair amount of natural light.  

At first I was thinking safe and thought about going with a light tan color, somewhat like the floor. It would go with all the dark wood in the room, and be ok with the furniture. But now, I'm thinking BOLD. DARK. 

so, not so much this.... 

But this.... 

or this..... 

  I really like how the yellow just jumps out at you... and I'm wondering since the rest of my room is very dark and neutral, can I got semi crazy with the one wall? 

Childrens rooms to theme or not to theme, that is the question.....

Honestly, I don't like theme rooms. Even vague themes- like beach or cabin- only work for me if you are actually at, say the beach or a cabin in the woods. If you live in a downtown or urban area, and your house or condo is  totally set up like a hunting lodge in Montana, I find that ridiculous.   I don't even like theme rooms for kids, not really, but it is my downfall.

I have had many themes for my boys room...


As a baby, he had a dog themed room- mainly so when the family would ask me what to buy I had something to say. Dogs. Dogs are good.

When he got to around 3 or 4 it was movies and pirates. Especially movies about pirates. Then he started to add in Star Wars stuff.... and it got......odd. Very Hodge podged .....

Then he decided he like safari stuff..... 

That then lead to cowboys. 

 Then for a while, it was nothing. Now, he's back to geek central. I painted his room a dark grey, put in new blue carpet, and cleaned out his stuff. But,  now, he has a Tardis Door. 

The entire thing cost me about 15 dollars- and that includes the paint, the stickers, the wood, everything. He loves it, and better yet, when he's done with it, I can easily repaint it to be a normal door.....

He is supposed to be cleaning his room as we speak, but he is cleaning like a 10 year old boy, so no other photos today. Maybe tomorrow? Then I can show you his packing blanket curtain (which is awesome when  he has to go to sleep and it's still light outside....) more later. We're off to golf camp now. 

Beating the odds and doing what I love all at the same time

Beating the odds, one day at a time....

Today is the start of year 12 of my marriage. It's been a good run all in all so far. We're looking forward to many more years (hopefully as good or better than the last 11)! 

We ate out, went to the beach, and some small town festivals. We ate fish and baked goods created by elderly church ladies.  We had a FANTASTIC pizza one night......and we even gambled at a casino- and won!  All in all a success all the way around.  

So first, here is some of what we looked at... 

our view from lunch..... 

pretty cool huh? We're so lucky that we live by some of the nicest beaches in the state..... 

We also went to see Murals made by WPA workers 

and then we saw a big yellow dino wandering around.... 

BUT 

it wasn't all fun and games. We did do a bit of pickin along the way..... 

I got a wonderful Turkish rug

a very scary evil oil painting, 

a concert poster from Widespread Panic 

a cool vintage typewriter

a VERY busted up Selig chair from Denmark (for free) that will be my newest project chair

and a rustic wood folding table with some rug beaters and other assorted metal things.... 

(ignore the saw and stuff, we're building a new porch) 

All in all, a very fun, successful weekend !! 

oh- I forgot- two vintage Steelcase end tables too.... 

sorry that's a crappy picture! 

posted on my other blogs too..... 

Beating the odds, one day at a time....

Today is the start of year 12 of my marriage. It's been a good run all in all so far. We're looking forward to many more years (hopefully as good or better than the last 11)! 

We ate out, went to the beach, and some small town festivals. We ate fish and baked goods created by elderly church ladies.  We had a FANTASTIC pizza one night......and we even gambled at a casino- and won!  All in all a success all the way around.  

So first, here is some of what we looked at... 

our view from lunch..... 

pretty cool huh? We're so lucky that we live by some of the nicest beaches in the state..... 

We also went to see Murals made by WPA workers 

and then we saw a big yellow dino wandering around.... 

BUT 

it wasn't all fun and games. We did do a bit of pickin along the way..... 

I got a wonderful Turkish rug

a very scary evil oil painting, 

a concert poster from Widespread Panic 

a cool vintage typewriter

a VERY busted up Selig chair from Denmark (for free) that will be my newest project chair

and a rustic wood folding table with some rug beaters and other assorted metal things.... 

(ignore the saw and stuff, we're building a new porch) 

All in all, a very fun, successful weekend !! 

oh- I forgot- two vintage Steelcase end tables too.... 

sorry that's a crappy picture! 

We're beating the odds......

Saturday is my 11th wedding anniversary. We're going to go up north, see the sights, eat out, maybe go to the casino and head to the beach...... a picnic is also planned, along with maybe hitting a few garage sales and a festival or two........ we're going to the dunes for sure...

when we return I'll have much more pictures of some of our stock for Allegan- because it's the following weekend and I am certainly not prepared for that!!

How I feel today.....and tomorrow too while I'm at it.

Danish Arne Hovmand Olsen lounge chair

They sell for a lot on sites like 1st dibs etc...but this one needs a bit of work. It has no seat. No webbing. I have cleaned it since I took this picture...... but not much else. I think I"m going to take it to Allegan antique show and sell it, as I have a lot of these lounge type chairs and really, I don't need this one. No matter how nice it is......

I bought the inventor of the lint roller's leather office furniture - Stow Davis from 1966 !

Apparently, he donated the furniture to a church sale. The man we bought it from bought it there, and kept it for quite a while in storage.   The corporation was Helmac and the inventors name was Nicholas Mckay .

The furniture itself is labeled with Helmac corporation tags...and it was made by Stow Davis in 1966. The pictures aren't especially good...they were taken in my storage area and the light was off. They are a mustard yellow, like the club chairs and sofa at the link to 1st dibs, not a green like it appears (although, they did make this particular set in green leather). They are in good condition, in need a cleaning etc...but in good shape since they are 48 years old!

These are going to be for personal use I think. I have plans on making a VERY retro basement area for the family..these might just do the trick. 

Somehow I lost my way

I used to blog religiously. I used to facebook, pinterst, twitter and tumblr. Instagram was my friend. I jumped on the vine……. now. Nothing. I use my Flickr account a bit, and keep up with family on Facebook. Real life got in the way..and I am NOT sorry about that.

We started a small business- selling vintage furniture and fabric- that is taking off.  I taught elementary art classes last year. We did some work to our home. I traveled a bit. But the big thing, my son is going into middle school. MIDDLE SCHOOL. How that hell did that happen? I don’t know. Time flies. 

I can’t say if I will blog again. I might. Winters are long here, and my days are going to be empty. No job, no kid at home, and the Mr. is going to travel more for his work this fall/winter. I can only paint so much….. If I can fully understand what I want to say and how I want to say it, I will be back. 

Or, I’ll just post some snarky photo. There’s always that. 

Somehow I lost my way.......

I used to blog religiously. I used to facebook, pinterst, twitter and tumblr. Instagram was my friend. I jumped on the vine……. now. Nothing. I use my Flickr account a bit, and keep up with family on Facebook. Real life got in the way..and I am NOT sorry about that.

We started a small business- selling vintage furniture and fabric- that is taking off.  I taught elementary art classes last year. We did some work to our home. I traveled a bit. But the big thing, my son is going into middle school. MIDDLE SCHOOL. How that hell did that happen? I don’t know. Time flies. 

I can’t say if I will blog again. I might. Winters are long here, and my days are going to be empty. No job, no kid at home, and the Mr. is going to travel more for his work this fall/winter. I can only paint so much….. If I can fully understand what I want to say and how I want to say it, I will be back. 

Or, I’ll just post some snarky photo. There’s always that.