Antiquing in Iowa

I tagged along to Iowa on my husband's business trip last weekend.  I've been to Sister's Garden and Bloom in Kalona before and loved it.  Just a really laid back environment, great staff, and a rustic, chipped, imperfect bunch of fabulous stuff.

Follow your nose upstairs to A Wild Thing - Sharon Wilson's wonderful hand poured soaps.

I had the pleasure of meeting Brandon Woline and seeing his awesome designs up close and personal.  I went home with a few fun things in a post coming soon.

I loved this dresser with antler pulls.

What a great idea to hang plates - wonky wire.  Love it.

Artisan Created

I love handmade art!!  One of my dearest friends, Elle Binder, makes amazing jewelry.  I was thrilled to get this ring from her yesterday.  The freshwater pearl is beautiful and the design of the shank and how she mounted the pearl show her expert level of craftsmanship.  To check out more of Elle's work and to email her for your custom piece, visit her site HERE.

While I was at an art event last night, I picked up these beautiful cutting boards by Tommy Stein.  Another artist whose pride of work just shines in his products.  You can see more of Tommy's functional art and order your piece HERE.

Kansas City Symphony 44th Annual Designer Showhouse

I'm happy to be featuring my mosaic art (found HERE), at the 44th Annual Designer Showhouse in Kansas City.  My wares will be for sale in the boutique in the carriage house.  I took a trip there today to speck it out and snapped a few photos of the outside.  For a multimillion dollar house, it had a really crappy backyard.  There's a pool and lots of asphalt.  It will be fun to see how the designers transform this space.

This is a shot from the backyard courtyard.  I like the second story balconies.  That light is another story . . .

Another shot from the backyard.  This is just one small part of this large home.

Another shot of the backyard.  I wasn't kidding when I said there was a lot of asphalt back there.

Here's a view from the front.  I like the brick, but f it were mine, I would have to ditch the hunter green shutters in exchange for a nice shade of gray!

There's a nice fountain in the front that I'm sure will be going full steam by the opening.  I can't wait to see it in all its glory.

Here's the house across the street.  When the trees are in bloom, I bet it's hard to see from the street.

Here's the one next door.  It looks too new to be original.  Sometimes in this area, someone will pay millions of dollars for a lot and tear down the old house to build a new one.

Another neighbor.

I'd take any of them!

First Fridays

It's STILL snowing here in KC, but my friend, Karen, and I ventured out anyway for First Friday.  It was cold moving from shop to shop, but that meant it wasn't slam packed in the West Bottoms like it normally would have been.  I only took a few pics.  These first couple are from Stuffology - they had some interesting things, most of it in horrible condition and the prices were crazy high.

Next, on to Liberty Bell, one of my faves.  This particular vendor has some amazing things.

The chain link things are actually lamps.

Again, lamps made out of recycled industrial components.

I loved the giant silver cup.

A well-used sled from simpler times.

Perfectly beat up concrete statue.

This pic is from Good Ju Ju.  Too much painted furniture for me, but this rustic table was very fun.  I picked up some do dads today for the mosaics including lots of beads and some much needed pink and orange dishes.

White Out

I'm glad I'm inside where it's warm.  This is the second big snow storm KC has seen in a week.  This snow is heavy and bending the tree branches - it's also lovely.  Many of my friends have already lost power, especially those in older neighborhoods canopied by mature trees.