My booth opened and Anthropologie giveaway!

 Look, y'all! IT'S MY BOOTH!!!

I'm so excited! The big day arrived with a minimum of drama and angst....
My booth opened today at the Antique Mall!

It was less than 2 months ago that I began blogging about my dream
of opening up my very first booth, and here I am!
I have to say, I really am quite thrilled with how it all turned out.
It's not perfect, but I'm proud and grateful for all the help and support
I've received from my family and friends.....that's YOU!

In celebration of this momentous event, I'm having my first giveaway!

I'm offering one lucky individual a $25 gift card from my favorite store and yours,

 

Anthropologie!

Awesome blossom, right?

There's more to this giveaway, 
but first some more pics of my booth!

 

 

And finally my two Jethro's, my Handsome Husband (left) 

and Dapper Best Friend hoisting my sign in it's future space!

Whew, that makes me tired (and giddy!) 

just looking at all these pics again!

The owners of the mall seemed to be super happy 

with my booth, and even suggested that the local newspaper 

could do a feature on my booth to drum up some publicity.

 But back to the Celebratory Giveaway....in keeping with the 
Anthropologie theme, the winner will also receive 
this gorgeous  Anthropologie Cloche!
 

Beautifully hand painted and distressed in a rich taupe/tan finish, the dome is a strong wire and has an iron knob at the top. The dome is removable and separates from the base which has feet at the bottom to raise it slightly. It measures 10" by 9 1/2".

The patina is just perfect for any style decor, 
but especially for those of you partial to the Jeanne d'Arc Living style. 
And if you're wondering who the super cute instant ancestor is in the photo, 
it's my very own mother! This beauty retailed for over $100 
when I purchased it awhile back, and it's proudly graced my living room 
for the last year or so. Now, in celebration of my booth opening, I want it to be yours.

 

 To have your name tossed into the proverbial hat, here's what ya do...

If you are a follower or become a follower, you get 3 chances.

If you leave a comment on this post, you automatically get another chance.

That's all there is to it! Easy, right?!

I'll be drawing the name of the lucky winner one week from tomorrow on Sunday, October 11th.

In closing, thank you all so, so much 
for being a part of this amazing ride with me.

Here's hoping all your dreams come true, too.

~ Anne

 

Warrenton Regrets..

"Regrets, I've had a few:

But then again, too few to mention...."

Oops sorry, just channeling a little Frank Sinatra there!

All in all, my trip to the Junkin' Shangri-la
known as Antique Weekend in Warrenton was a huge success,
both personally and God willing, professionally.
I scored some truly amazing one-of-a-kind finds for my shop,
met and made some incredible new friends,
and took home enough warm and fuzzy memories to last me until,
oh, I dunno, at least

April 2010.  ;-)

But if forced to enumerate some things
I'd like a "do-over" for, here's my list:

1. 
   Wear more comfortable shoes. Yes, my cowboy boots were way cool and kick-azz,  but I came home with a blister on my right heel the size of a lemon. Cow-patties be damned, next time I'm wearing my Birks!
   
   
2. 
   Bring more cash. Seems like a no-brainer, but cash rules.
3. No 3......is actually no 4. Blogger is jacking with me today.
4. 
   Plan on spending more than just one day. I mistakenly thought that our inability to secure lodging in the immediate vicinity would be a deal-breaker. This native Texan shoulda just whipped out an atlas and did the math...lots and lots of affordable rooms to be had in Austin, and it's not that far away.
   
   
5. 
   Actually refer to the map/guide inside the Show Daily Guide Book before the drive back home. Another Captain Obvious mistake. It has a handy dandy cross reference guide in the back to help you locate just where to find which vendor sells what.
   
   
6. 
   Quit rationalizing about all the reasons why you can't go back....already spent too much money, gotta get the booth stuff ready for Saturday, blah, blah, blah, baby fishcakes.....just DO IT!!!! It's like Disneyland only better, it's like Canton on steroids (I totally stole that last bit), it's the most fun you can have smack dab in the middle of nowhere in a cow pasture!!!
   

One thing I don't regret?

This schweeet little purchase right here...

Have you ever seen anything like it?

If you have, you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

Cute little Asian inspired crusty child's toy chest, 

or as my husband is wont to call it, the "ugly baby thing".

It needs a little love, but once I give it a good spit shine and some polyurethane, 

it'll be ready to head to its happy new home.

Come see me at Water St. Antiques in Kerrville, Texas, 

for the ugly baby thing and lots, lots more!

The Sandman Awaits....

Yes, I swore that Fiona & Twig, both the blog and the shop,
would never ever feature any cutesy cat tchotchkes
or cat-themed anything (even though my biz/blog is named after two cats).

I have a dangerously low threshold for cutesy.

But I've been sitting on these photos for nigh on a month now,
determined that someway, somehow, I was going to post pics
of my four-legged daughter Winnie in her little antique kitty bed.
And of course, in so doing, not jeopardizing my blog cred
as a cynical, sardonic voice railing against the cutesy.

Blame it on the paint fumes, or all the recent late nights cleaning and pricing
and plotting and planning my booth opening next weekend....
when fatigue sets in, my brain shuts down.
Less synapses firing = less verbosity. So win-win!

You don't have to muddle through another rambling excursion into my pysche,
PLUS you get to ooooh and awwww over precocious kitty pics.

Off to bed now. Say goodnight, Winnie.

Musings from the Midway....

"Yessir, folks, step right up and see Lola,
the slippery, slithery Cobra Girl: She walks, she talks,
she crawls on her belly like a reptile, a leapin', screamin',
creepin', crawlin' mawnster! She's eleven feet lawng and she's ALIVE!"

"Now move along, move along...just follow us this way
and peek behind the curtain, if you dare.......

She's perplexed, she's bamboozled,
she's LIT-ER-ALLY flyin, without a net: She's......

Annie, the Clueless Shop Dealer! "

How the heck-fire do you guys do it?
I have a newfound respect for all of you shop dealers, believe-you-me.
The sheer amount of time invested in research,
acquiring inventory, cleaning, refinishing, pricing, booth set-up, travel time....
if I didn't love what lies ahead of me so darn much,
I'd likely feel pretty overwhelmed right about now.

Pricing is proving to be a prickly point (too much alliteration, I know).

After signing my lease for my first booth space at the local antique mall,
I took a leisurely tour of every booth there (well over 50)
and jotted down how each dealer had priced their wares.
To say they were all over the map would be a gross understatement.
One dealer had vintage suitcases priced at $15,
another had almost exactly the same thing going for $55.
To be fair, the mall I'm going to be in is one of the better ones in the area.
In my research of other malls, I've come across lots of dealers
who didn't know Milk Glass from Milk Duds....
venues where the descriptors "rare" and "antique" were tossed about
rather freely, as many items designated as such were clearly neither.

Methinks I'm going to stick to just calling everything I sell
"vintage" as a sort of pre-emptive CYA move.

See how I feverishly whip around that muslin and cheesecloth
in a booth decorating frenzy?

Trust me though when I assure you that I'm not complaining,
not by a longshot. I'm loving every minute of this,
addled and discombobulated though I might often feel.
Just sharing thoughts here....keepin' it real, like I've promised you
I will always, always do. I just feel a little out of my league,
especially when I compare myself to the likes of you pros.
Here you guys are gearing up for Warrenton, the Mother of All Shows,
and I'm having a minor wigout over how to price some twee tchotchkes. Sheesh.

Hmmm, maybe being a midway denizen isn't so bad after all....

The way I see it,the chief role of the carnival barker
is to charm and to sell, correct?
And rather than luring them in to gawk at poor old hapless
Lola the Cobra Gal, my aim is to weave a fanciful world
within the walls of my booth. Isn't that what we all try to do?
To create beauty, to expose the unusual,
to sell our customers on the possibilities
of (warning:overused cliché alert) thinking outside the box, stylistically speaking?
To lure them in with the unexpected and to
present a challenge to view the world through fresh eyes?

Rewrite in progress: " Yessir, folks, step right up and see the Amazing Annie,
proprietoress ex-tra-or-din-aire!
Right this way ladies and gents, into the world of Fiona & Twig,
a world of whimsy and wonder and just a whiff of danger....."

I think I like the sound of that.

Wonder if I can hire him for my grand opening....

This post was edited to remove
any photos not taken by myself, Anne Lorys.

Big Orange Betty

It's going to be tough to part with her
once I get a booth or shop off the ground and running.

Oh, my apologies, I haven't introduced you
to my newest family member yet.....this is Big Orange Betty.....

She's a little self conscious about her height,
being 7 feet and all. A chunky hearty farm gal
from the plains of Minnesota, donchaknow.
How she made it to a flea market in the Texas Hill Country
is likely a tale to rival the very best of Lewis and Clark!
And don't ya dare even think about calling her Ugly Betty...
why she'd just as soon whomp you upside the head
with a rolling pin as put up with that sort of sass.

One of the local antique store Proprietoresses (is that a word?)
had her eye on Betty for a few weeks prior.
I know this because said Shop Owner is a friendly acquaintance,
and we've shared tales of our latest finds and acquisitions.

On the morning I picked Betty up from the market,
my trusty friend Junker Earl informed me that Shop Owner
had come by bright and early before I had arrived
to make doubly sure that I still wanted Betty and was
planning on picking her up. ]I know for a fact
that Betty wouldn't have left with her anyway....even though I got her for a steal at $85,
Shop Owner has a glorious shop full of beautiful but pricey treasures.
Betty, being a simple gal, instinctively felt more at home with me.

So, me and dutiful husband and dutiful friend loaded her up
and off we went. Got her home and began to play dress-up....

A little strip of burlap to temporarily cover the stains....

Enough lollygagging Betty, time to get to work!

Out with the unpacked wedding china,
into your watchful bosom, old girl.

She's going to be tough to say goodbye to on that fateful day,
but say goodbye I will. My shop will need a good-hearted,
big-boned sentry like Betty to keep an eye on things.....donchaknow?

Fiona & Twig is born!

Greetings All!

Welcome to the misadventures of a budding shop owner.
My fully formed blog space will be awhile in coming, but just a little info....

Fiona and Twig were two pretty special calico cats in my life.
This blog as well as my shop are dedicated to them,
although you'd be hard pressed to find
any cutesy cat knick knacks among my wares.
Dont get me wrong, I adore my felines,
but my tastes run more to vintage, industrial, retro,
architectural salvage, French ephemera, etc.
I am a Respiratory Therapist by trade, a frustrated,
wannabe writer/vintage shop owner/erstwhile superhero by night.

Welcome to my humble corner of the web.

Pax....

Anne

This post was edited to remove
any photos not taken by myself, Anne Lorys.