Flea Market Treasures

 Trying to get back into my routine....it has been a very busy month for me. I had company, bronchitis and two awesome shows. Last weekend I had a two day show and sold 87 pieces of jewelry...crazy, crazy! I think it has taken me all week to re-coup after that show, plus I put in 2 days of work at the antique shop. So what do I do to relax?...what else but spend the day at the Flea Market.

My found treasures for the day...

round blister pearls, moonstone, copper clasps, old keys, Victorian locket and chain, brass rings, enamel watch face, clock key, enamel cuff links, old rosary beads and masonic medal,, Victorian buttons, vintage dog tags, old chains and  photo tin type.

I could not resist this 1930's G-Man toy badge...how cute is that?

I plan to spend the rest of the day in my studio and see what I can do with these treasures.

Congrats again to the Bead Trends Magazine winner QuiltingJewel39, please contact me with your mailing address.

Happy Sunday!

Treasures

Here it is Thursday and I am just getting to show you my flea market finds from Sunday! Where has the week gone!  Check out these awesome boots I found...these were made for a store in Ashland City Tennessee and are marked as such inside...way cool!

 can you imagine your foot fitting into these....so very narrow.

I love old jewelry boxes....and especially when they have velvet inside. These are tiny and can only hold little bits. I am going to use them in my show display this weekend.

I was so lucky to come across these old tokens. There were so many different varietys that I have never seen. These will be just perfect in my jewelry designs. 

I also want to share with you one of the pieces I finished the other day. I am so happy with it! It includes one of the old brass findings that I have in my shop.  

I am off to set-up for a show today, although I am in a daze. We learned yesterday that a tornado went through the town we use to live in, Wilbraham Massachusetts. Here we live in tornado alley and this little New England town gets hit with a tornado. Freaky! All my old stomping grounds were devastated. My heart goes out to all my friends.

Wishes to you all for a blessed day!

A touch of Spring

I have had pansies on my mind for weeks now, finally I was able to find some to purchase. I just needed to see their smiling faces to know that spring is here, after all it is March and we are in Tennessee so it is safe to say spring has sprung! I know lots of you are still buried under snow and ice just know that I will be enjoying this nice sunny spring weather for you!

This past Friday I went to see my bead lady Mary at the Nashville Flea Market. 

Did I need beads? NO

Did I want beads? YES 

So beads are what I got! 

sweet tiny amethyst roundels, peridot briolettes, moon stone, Tibetan beads and some fancy CZ drops and some more stuff I do not need

.

When I saw the peridot I already knew what I wanted to make.

It's Spring  

You can find these on JudithBDesigns.com

Flea Market Finds

Here it is Sunday already and I forgot to share my flea market finds with you. I went to the Nashville Flea Market on Friday and it was promised to be a little cooler but it did not turn out that way and it seems the heat and humidity still remains with us, how I long for cooler weather! Here are some of my finds...

 Check out that cute little giraffe...not sure what I will do with it but it was irresistible! I love old bus and trolley tokens, they make great bracelets!

The printed mother of pearl beads were calling me, I just loved the mod look to them. 

...and the finished product. I love the colors!

 Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!

As always thanks so much for stopping by.

Rambling Week

I can not believe Monday was my last post...where did the week go? We have been having a problem with our computer or at least with our browser Mozilla Fox, it seems it ran away....I am lost without it, nothing looks the same and it seems harder to post....please husband fix it soon!
I have finally after like 6 months of purchasing Muriatic Acid and peroxide gotten to try some metal etching. Oooooh, that stuff scares me! After lots of careful planning I finally did it....and I am loving it! It is a good start and I can't wait to do some more later today. A completed pair of earrings...Yay!

The Nashville Flea Market was this weekend, I was debating on going in this terrible heat but the longing for some new beads made me go. Here is my stash...don't you just love the keys! The Chalcedony was a splurge, the quality of the beads were irresistable.

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Beads, beads and more beads!

It is that time of the month again, the third weekend of each month is the Nashville Flea Market. I promised I would share a picture of Mary "my" bead lady. Here she is in all her glory amongst her beads. She is one colorful lady and she just loves to talk. It is really fun visiting with Mary and her husband Larry. The flea market runs Friday to Sunday. I usually go on Friday mornings as the crowds are less and it is so much easier to shop. Yesterday after I picked up my girlfriend Eileen at the airport we had a nice lunch at the Yellow Porch in Nashville and then I surprised Eileen by taking her to see Mary. I knew Mary sets up on Thursday and she had mentioned to me about customers seeing her then so I thought we would pop in and see her. We spent 3 hours pouring over beads with no one bothering us, it was so nice of Mary & Larry to let us shop early.

Eileen and Mary

Here is my bead stash....lots and lots of great turquoise! The turquoise briolettes were a must have, they are faceted and I can't wait to make myself a pair of earrings with them.

So today, guess what we did? Got up and went back to the Flea market. Went to see Mary again and then shopped around. I found a few great treasures that will make it to my antiques booth. We also stopped at an Estate sale where I was able to get 2 vintage typewriters. All in all a great day spent with my wonderful friend!

Who wants a bath?

My two silly boys Sam and Jack spend more time in this tub than anyone in this house combined! They hop in at least 10 times a day. After lots of carrying on and meowing I finally gave in and keep a cup filled with fresh water for them, however they much rather have the faucet running so they can lap the puddles up. If only those rough tongues were larger and they could do some scrubbing! Well, at least someone is putting this tub to good use.

Where does all the time go?
I ask myself that question too often lately. Time just seems to fly by. Our son Nick was home from college for a week, I can not believe he is 3/4 through with his first year! Nick will heading back today, a day late because he started getting sick on Friday. So.. with a filled prescription for antibiotics, Tylenol, Motrin and a bronchitis diagnosis he will be heading back tonight. I would rather nurse him back to health at home but he refuses to miss any school, so since he is not contagious off he goes....

I am getting ready for company on Thursday, my girlfriend Eileen is coming for 5 days. She comes twice a year and we have a great whirlwind visit. She always plans her visit in according to the Nashville Flea Market schedule. Eileen is a jewelry designer too and loves to buy from Mary. It feels like I just posted about buying from Mary and here it is the end of the month already, so there I go again asking myself "where does all the time go?". So you know where you will find us on Friday morning, sore necks and backs pouring over Mary's bead tables. I can't wait to see what she has new this month.

Flea Market Friday

The third weekend of each month is the Nashville Flea Market held at the fairgrounds in Nashville. Besides hunting for antiques and treasures I look forward to going each month to purchase beads from Mary "the bead lady". Every jewelry designer needs a "Mary". She has really awesome beads and findings and it takes me hours to make my selections. I finally thought to take a few pictures of her tables and I know you will just die when you see all of her stuff.

..these trays are stacked 3-4 high and there are at least 100 of them!

This is the stash I came home with. Stunning labradorite, green amethyst briolettes, bone beads, citrine, smoky quartz, pearls some turquoise and lots more. It is so hard to choose and the great thing is she is always getting new things every month. She also gives me great deals....$28 strands for $20 and so on.

These were my antique and vintage finds...late 1800's mother of pearl pin, glass wire wrapped bead necklace, old religious charm, old brass and stone key brooch ( I can't wait to make a pendant out of this one!) I also could not resist the vintage link necklace, I think the links are so cool!

....I know I promised to open up my new website today but you know how that goes..a few more things to tweek and hopefully tomorrow I can share it with everyone.