AHHHHH MORE JUNKIN AND DYEING…

Recently I mentioned I now carry some of Karen Kahle’s smaller patterns – they are wonderful but… I realised I did not have a ton of Karen’s colours in stock so have started redyeing some. I have been working from the Vintage Colours dye book and love these aged soft colours – what I love even more is that she uses a very limited number of Cushings dyes and carries one or 2 colours through most of her dye formulas so that although there are different colours i.e. blues, reds, golds, greens they all have a unifying dye in them that makes them all work beautifully together. I have a couple of pieces of vintage paisley that I think could have been inspiration for many of Karen’s colours – soft and aged and wonderful:

Had a fun day in the states the other day – picked up a massive bolt of linen so now we are good for a while.  Did a little shopping then lunch at Panera bakery which is wonderful!!! and reasonable (cause we all know how cheap I am when it comes to food – my idea of affordable fine dining is Subway!). They even had a special – buy a drink and you got a baked good for 99 cents – and they have the MOST delicious orange scones!  Then Gord decided he would drop me off at the crack house antique store – oh sorry I mean Old Jailhouse Antique Store!  It actually was a jail up until the 70’s and all the cells complete with bunks and wall mounted toilets are the booths – cool but a tad musty and grungy. Even met a former inmate as we were paying up on the way out! So, Gord dropped me off and then went to Gander Mountain and the sporting goods while I got to spend an hour and a half checking out things at MY pace!!!! slowwwww!  Holy cow,  I found a ton of stuff I coveted – some at realllly good prices and others at wayyyyyyy more than I wanted to pay.  Some wonderful old vintage wire baskets But I was not paying 30 – 40 dollars for a small wire basket even though they were lovely and old!  A really nice old rounded top trunk in cream chippy peely paint but at 95.00 a bit tooooo much! Then old wonderful tin oil cans (they are the new hot collectible!) – saw 3 and some old tin funnels at not bad prices but hmmm what would I do with them!  An antique goose neck table lamp for 125.00 – saw one with exactly the same base for 28 at Millers junk store last week with a nicer shade! Needs rewiring but heck Gord can do that (hopefully without burning the house down)!  Soooo did not buy that! Did get some old vintage salt shakers with the old dented lids in aluminum (one of them is a wonderful old metal one). These will become centerpieces – how??? ahhhh wait and see… Saw some tall pewter ones that I would have loved for myself! old pewter! lovely patina!!!  Then I found an old big cheese box – solid and real wood, in great shape and painted and distressed black over red. I think it would make a great storage container with a hooked piece on the top! REALLY good price! So I think I scored well. There were some really nice little tables but more than I wanted to pay with a car full of linen – maybe next time! Anyway, despite the fact that the place is a bit rundown it is a fun antique/junk store and has some good deals if you are willing to search!