barn sale bonanza

For the longest time, I've envied my friend, Kim, of the wonderful chez-sucre-chez, for her access to great Amish thrift and vintage finds. I've done pretty well for myself in the antiques multiplexes of Milwaukee, but loved the idea of finding treasures in a more intimate, personal setting. Now that we've moved out of the city up to the edge of rural farmland, I've no more reason to envy- because it's Barn Sale Season!

Check. It. Out:

All this great stuff for the studio- sewing and needlework patterns, school books and a vintage Bingo game, a box of random papers- lots of tiny calendars and ledger pages- as well as, I believe, some targets for shooting practice (?). Last- but so, so, so not least-  a cigar box stuffed to overflowing with rick-rack, piping and other sewing notions. If I weren't so excited for the potential those actual textiles hold for my wine tags & notecards, I'd have still bought the lot for the fantastic labels on the cards.

And wait, wait! That's not all! I also got 5 big tomato cages for the garden (I can justify these jaunts easily when I also find useful household items), and this fantastic old honey container and some wonderful berry cartons:

I'm off to the studio now...Today was supposed to be all about getting work ready for hanging for my upcoming show, but now I'm itching to dive into my new stuff and get some new work going. (Oh yeah- almost forgot: all of the above (including the tomato cages) was $15...made my day!)