Thursday, December 30, 2010

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

This is a rare sight in Jasper, Alabama, a rural southern town about an hour west of Birmingham. But it's what we woke up to on Christmas day, nonetheless.

Jasper is so vastly different from Kansas City in so many ways. I enjoy taking it all in through drives around town and stories from my father-in-law, Lee. Below is a cabin belonging to Robin and Carmen Roberts, some really nice people who are part of Lee's church family.

Needless to say, I was enthralled and couldn't wait to take pics. Robin and Carmen had friends in from Auburn to watch a football game and there was a roaring fire in this tiny cabin of not much more than a couple hundred square feet upstairs and down. They were so kind to invite us in (how giddy was I?!).

Many of the furnishings came with the cabin, which was built in 1860 as a Confederate recruiting office - WOW!!!!!

The walls are made from rough wood planks/logs with a concrete type mortar in between. Can you spy the skull on the wall? Just my speed.


Upstairs was a bed and bath in one. Very roomy with a large, rustic bed.

And I was feeling right at home with the deer mount.

The stairs were so cool - you could see the axe marks - these were NOT sent through a planer, that's for sure.

And this was a weight that aided in closing the trap door to the upstairs.

A picture of the man who built/worked in the cabin, Captain William Felix Hanby.

Decor to make you swoon.

I gave Carmen a card to the blog and Carmen, if you're reading this, I'd like to thank you once again for letting us interrupt your game for the tour. You don't know how much I enjoyed it. If you take a walk through the blog, you'll see that my love of all that is old and has a story to tell runs deep.

I also spent the week catching up on my husband, Jason Aaron's, creator owned comic book series, Scalped. Jason and RM Guera have spun an amazing and at times heart wrenching story of life on the fictitious Prairie Rose Indian reservation in South Dakota. Jason and Guera have received much critical acclaim for the book and just the other day, Jason received an email from "Jack the Stripper" in London, professing his (her?) love of the book and told Jason that if he came to London, she would "spoil him rotten". I think Jason is on the next flight. I am also THRILLED that Jason and I will be going to Spain in September for a convention and I will be able to meet Guera and his family and hang out with them in Barcelona. Yeah!!!!

And speaking of life on the Rez, here is Dash in his daddy's old Indian costume hand made (of course!) by my fabulous mother-in-law, Betty Aaron.

Okay, and elle and Nina wanted me to bring back some kudzu vines. Those in KC, have no fear, these are dead and will be indoors, so no fear of a kudzu takeover. The one on the left has ensnarled the branch of a tree - this is a very fast growing vine that was brought from Japan to prevent erosion and it has taken over portions of the south. My husband makes fun of me because I think it's "pretty".

Sales at the mall have soared after Christmas. I attribute this to the hipsters receiving gift certificates and flocking to my booth - I've sold lots of larger items which isn't the norm with folks still struggling in this abysmal economy. Thanks to those who support local business. Speaking of local business, I am very sad and shocked that the Curious Sofa is closing. I never knew the owner, but I loved her staff, especially Heather and Dana, and I am in awe of their interior design skills. I have shopped in this store since it was in the old location on Southwest Blvd and my home is filled with all things Curious Sofa; there is no store like it in Kansas City. Cheers, Deb and staff, you may be continuing online, but your brick and mortar will be missed.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Merry Christmases

Ahhhh . . . the perfect Christmas for Brendan. Not one Frank Zappa biography, but two. We celebrated a little early this year because of all the various places we'll be.

I got Jason a turntable. So fun to hear the crackle that you only get from vinyl.

Got this Kris Kristofferson album at Good JuJu a couple of weeks ago - nary a scratch and not one skip!

Dash and his Wii games

And here are a few pics of the treasures I found at the Tipton, MO auction. Love the paint by numbers and isn't this just the cutest little black metal stool ever?

It's really hard to find Ironstone for resale. I don't know how well I did on this one, but we'll see. Great patina. I see stores stacked with it and I love the way it looks but it's so expensive!!!

Very old picture of a sail boat at sea.

And I guess the word for the day would be stools. I got so many the auctioneer started making fun of me.

For now, I'm keeping this half trunk. I have no idea where the other half is, but I love the drawers.

Things at the mall have picked up this week and I'm looking forward to the fun treasure hunts the new year will bring!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Support Local

Friday afternoon, we headed down to Tipton, Missouri for my first ever auction. We found some great treasures once belonging to a woman named Rosie. Some of her family members were there. I'll post pics later of some of my finds. I was so excited about the whole thing, I forgot to take pics of the event, but here's the car after elle worked her packing magic.

I looked at all of this stuff on the ground and thought "no way". But as usual, elle got it neatly and compactly into the car. The girl's got skills.


I've been stocking the booth with lots of fun finds lately including this funky vintage Santa.

Cast iron boot.

Boys at the swimmin' hole.

Rusty Silver Mountain train.

These vintage shell and velvet pillows are the bomb.



I love this old beaded picture.

The mansion in the pic is actually quilted and puffier than the surrounding landscape.


Reverse painted picture with old wooden frame.


Piano leg.

And nothing says merry xmas quite like velvet paintings of flamenco dancers.


Sales at the mall have been very slow. I'm not sure if this is trend or my stuff just isn't hitting the mark. Please support local businesses and score some unique and special holiday gifts in the process. I'm in spaces 209 and 224 in the Mission Road Antique Mall at 83rd and Mission Road in Prairie Village, KS.

And here's a little holiday glitter from The Curious Sofa . . .