A Beautiful Day to Visit Alameda

I just wanted to share a few photos from our day yesterday.

It was lovely weather and we love this show.

Of course it was hard work, but it is worth it to see it all set up.

A cool dial telephone from long time ago.

The veiw from looking straight in. We have neighbors whose panel truck gives us not only a wind break, 

but also a backdrop.

Table and benches - sold.

And, the island with a metal top and the file drawers are gong to a shop in Fairfax 

called "Beach House Style"

If you are not familiar with it (I wasn't) this is a camel saddle !

It would make an awesome footstool, coffee table and quite

a conversation piece.

The "wedding area". Still waiting for that one bride who needs a jewelry bouquet.

Now, the 'far east' area.  Everyone loved the horse.

He had such lovely pitting

The little tea canisters on the top shelf came with tea inside of them.

And every one of the pyrex refrigerator dishes sold.

This is a very old beer ice chest. Falstaff was a brand

from a long time ago. Pretty good shape for the age.

Cute little animals and tiny people.

The chair, of yes, someone wanted it really bad, but then she wanted us to hold it

while she shopped all over. We couldn't hold it, she walked away, but...

she hurried back in about 10 minutes with cash in hand.

More of the animals

I crocheted these pumpkins and gourds

They are really easy and great for the fall season.

A little ironstone for display. Someone did buy one of the coffee pots without the lids.

Now this is an old fashioned bin table. 

You can't duplicate paint like this.

Two large curved drawers on the bottom,

two more drawers next up (one divided for utensils)

and two cutting boards. It had seen lots of use through the years

and it will go on working for the couple that bought it.

Unique handle/pulls

Le Creuset pots

Isn't this a cute island? It is narrow (everyone from the bay area wants narrow)

It has a cutting board and a door to the cupboard, on casters, too.

Well, just a little peek into what was what yesterday.

See you soon.

Meeting La Dolfina at Alameda

Yesterday we were selling at Alameda

And, our neighbor was Terri of La Dolfina in space T7

I guess my daughter Terry has been a follower of her blog for quite a while. The two (Terry/Terri) have never met, so at the end of the day, she gave me a hug to deliver to Terry for her. She has quite an eye for collectibles that are sea-worthy, ocean themed and just really unique.

************

Anyway, here are a few shots of our space

We had a few flags. We put them up to dress up the space and to also,

hopefully, make our space memorable to visitors.

I had one that did not fit well on its pole, so I draped it over a table and had red, white and blue things for a display. A customer came and wanted to buy that particular flag, wouldn't you know it?

Our "Lovely Bones" lady was there and generated some interest, but not enough to send her home with someone, so she will travel to another show this weekend.

You can read about her transformation on this post.

The green nightstands, 

This white chest,

and a table similar to this one

was snatched up be a dealer before 7 am

My neighbor from across the way had gathered these sweet tiny roses and bundled them for selling. She presented me with a bouquet early and they nestled below this footstool in the most charming way.

Another few shots. As you can tell, I am not very talented at arranging my wares. I get by and that is it.

A island/workstation, whatever you want to use it for... that Mr has created from repurposed items. He is getting a name for his zinc tops and also the things he brings to a show. Some have told us, they shop us first, which is very humbling to us.

Marathon Month

October 2 was the start of a marathon month of shows.

Well, actually 4 this month. We did the Alameda show last Sunday and this Friday we will travel to the Roses and Rust Vintage Home and Garden Market, in Anderson, California, leave there Saturday evening and come on down nearer home to the Sacramento Antique Faire for Sunday. On the 22nd we will again travel a little north and do a show in Willows called "Gathering Better Junque". This link doesn't really tell you about the show, but rather the wonderful ladies that sponsor it and they do an incredible job at that.

For quite a while we have been gathering special items for these shows. For this weekend, we will be featuring "I wanna be a cowboy" theme. I have tin dishes, cowboy hats, boots, bandanas, deer horns, horseshoes, and old cast-iron griddle, etc. I wish I had taken a picture (vingette?) of it before it got packed into our cargo trailer. We also have another theme we have been working on: children's things. We have a small oak table with two chairs, a child's rocking chair, two dolls, a cradle, complete with the padded mattress and quilt, Winne the pooh clock and other "stuff". Sometimes in our gathering of things we just seem to run across items that go together. We have been saving them for a theme and we will see how this all works out.

Last Sunday we took many similar items to Alameda, here is a taste. And where, oh where, did my "watermarks" go? hmm
Okay, looking into the space, and traveling left side around the back to the front - does that even make sense?

a metal hutch top from a parts store on a metal topped bottom, with casters

Locking red nightstand on a small desk with a chair

A variety of nightstands, they seem to be the "butter on the bread" for us

A queen size quilt that I made - yes, it is the "block of the month" one. They are not my colors, but perhaps someone else will enjoy it.

A hutch/bookcase with glass doors

This is a 3 piece set, chest, mounted mirror on the chest and a small bedside table

A red island, work station that got so much attention (and sold)

A vintage grey rocking chair on a stained wood farm table and under that is a coffee table with stained parque wood top and shelf. There are vaious small benches and plant tables also here. The table and coffee table sold to a couple that are opening up a gathering/business place on Filmore Street in San Francisco and they wanted the dark stained wood furniture to decorate it with.

Here are two hutches, one with a metal top and the other wood. The all wood one sold.

I have some ironstone dishes and silverware in the basket on this red farm table with red legs. Under the table you get a peek of bed springs that were rather popular. Yes, bed springs! Decorators use them for candle holders, funny vases, grouped in threes - who would of thought? old rusty bed springs!

It is hard to describe the beautiful day that accompied our sale that day. Lovely clouds, the skyline of a huge city in the backdrop and temperatures that would leave those in those hot states drooling.

It is getting ready to rain, so we have packed all we can into the trailer and we are pretty much ready to hit the road on Friday. It will be around 3 hours up to Anderson, a quaint town with a rural feel. In the spring when we went there, we really enjoyed the laid back attitude and the friendliness of the shoppers, for a reminder of our time see here. It will be a different venue (or place that they are having the sale), but I am confident that we will have a good time, even if we don't make tons of sales.

Upcoming Shows For April

Well, these past few months have certainly put a damper and dampness on our show dates.  Our show in Alameda was cancelled in November and March. A "make-up rain date" was for the second weekend of March and we attended.  There were dealers there, but there were also other shows on that same date that conflicted with this one. Needless to say, less dealers, confused shoppers (who thought the show was the previous weekend and it should have been...) and still rain showers made for a show that was to me, mediocre.

These were wet, rainy, miserable Alameda shows, and yet... we sold enough...

Now, this weekend we have off, but we are both feeling poorly -- more like the flu...

The first weekend (April 3) will see us again in Alameda. The trailer is mostly packed with space for a few additional items that we hope to finish and find before the pull-out early morning.

A peek inside a partly packed trailer, when this baby is packed, there is no more room, it is packed clear to the door.

The second weekend we hope to be in downtown Sacramento, under the freeway. We have loyal customers, or at least repeat lookers at both shows. The configuration of our booths are different in each space and I have to rethink "now, how am I going to set up".

Our spaces here are set on the diagonal, whereas in Alameda, they are set straight.

The third weekend of April (17th) we will be doing a show in downtown Roseville - a small city about 15 minutes away (compare to 2 hours to Alameda) A little Antique store called "The Tattered House" will host it and the city closes the street for about 2 blocks. It is an invitation only event (We Get To Go!)  I  don't have pictures of last fall's show, but you can see theirs at their website: http://thetatteredhouse.com   Look for the Roseville Antique Market and there you go! The Tattered House is a smallish older home turned into business and perfect for a shop.

A dealer that sells in the Tattered House bought this from us

 Here it is in the store:

I know, it looks better there...

Here are a few other pictures of my last visit

Do you notice a Bricoleur?

Amazing silver jewelry sold here and a write-up in a magazine.

Bread tins turned into display

Repurposed industrial size beater turned into a chandelier

Silver forks are now easels.
Well, that is what the next few weeks will bring. Come on by and say hello if you are in the neighborhood, we would love to see you, always.