The Lampshade Lady Blog

My Lamp Shop in Deep Winter

Snow has just started, again. The days are starting get longer and customers are waking up a little. How hard is it to keep making our inventories when things are slow? Sometimes I have to keep reminding myself to keep MAKING and DESIGNING because the busy days will be back. The Brimfield Flea Market will be here before I know it! I know my other craft friends that do shows have a few events in the deep winter, but mostly slim pickings. oooh how to survive the deep winter as an artist...??? recharging our design batteries is not a bad idea.
Painting my shop! I went to pick up a quart of paint in Rutland and the dear little man that mixed my paint gave me a gallon instead of a quart. I have been redoing my son's crudy bathroom and this is the wall color. LOVE it. Soooo. It's time for a new color at my shop and most likely I have almost enough. It's called Cool Aqua Semi Gloss from Benjamin Moore. It is super happy and time to say goodbye to the California Lilac!
I have a pair of these ticking shades. One of the most beautiful vintage tickings I have seen. Size 7" x 12" x 8" high, hex washer. Also just started a pair of 5" x 10" x 7" clip on, too. Fabrics like this don't last long in here!




New wall color! Everything looks so pretty against it. And the cobwebs are gone, for a while.
Pretty Paisley. One of the best ever!





One gray day this week I pulled every crazy bright color off the shelf and started in and made springlike shades! It turned into a really fun day. Color is such a vital element in our lives. Remember to USE it. I was recently in a friend's house and beige and gray were her main colors... even a little of this magenta would light a spark of light.

oooh and look at this! Do you remember these cloth kids books? I just sold one yesterday, but still have this one. Can't wait to make more. Just love the idea. So cute for a baby present or for the farm house.
here was another from the dark, winter day this week. THINK SPRING.
Well, it's time to do the other side of my shop!

Here's to hoping the snow drops come up sooner than later.

xo

judy

A Peak into Lake's Lampshades

Here's my first adventure into video. I'd say there is lots of room for improvement!!!

Hear's to a Happy Blue Full Moon Tonight

Happy New Year! What a wild year it has been. I can't imagine another year like this. This is the time of year I dread... shop is slow, chilly days, not many sales... but slowly but surely I start to love this time of year. It is beautiful out; snow topped houses and flower stocks poking through the snow. I slow down and take time to catch up. It's time to make plans to work on my website, get more product up on Etsy, get my book out farther afield in the world, tweeck my blog format, get a few more book events.... It's fun to search through design blogs around the world. Basically take it easy and catch up.

Here's a picture of my jewel tree. I recently told my son, when I'm not around don't you dare throw out this!!! I made it a few years ago. What a fun project. It weighs a ton and took hours to complete. I started with finding a big jar old junk jewelry at one of my antique stops. That was a big help and then started searching in my vintage button box, looking for beads and junk in bottoms of jars and baskets kicking around my bureau and shop.

I covered the Styrofoam cone with silk and started glue gunning and glue gunning and glue gunning. Below is a close up picture.
This is one of my favorite finds of the year. A mercury glass antique curtain pushpin. I epoxied it onto a finial base. I've never seen one, wicked handsome piece. A keeper.
Last picture of the year, vintage pushpin finial on a hanging drum lamp.

Shopped My Way to Maine and Back in Search of Great Stuff

Fun finials! In August I headed to Maine to visit my family, which of course was the perfect opportunity to catch up on my pent-up urge to antique. My friends will often ask me how long it takes to get to Portland from here..... well, first off I like the back roads and then it depends on how long I can dilly dally or of course I am really working! Right??? Shopping for my lampshop can be hard work, unless I hit gold. Old Hawk Eye did pretty good, found great white on white embroideries, lots of lamps with potential, a few dresser scarves, a couple pieces of vintage fabric, a few cool postcards. Acually I did so good on the way over that I had just about spent my wad for the trip home.

I did shop my way home to Vermont, but was in search of cool bits of treasures for making finials. How fun was that!!!! I always love all those vintage iron people and animals. So I found some of those, some vintage push pins, some old costume jewerly that I could rip apart, some little pots of flowers~ all kinds of odds and ends. I must say that came out pretty good. And they were fun to put together. Hope you like them, too.

How about this, I'm on a roll. writing 2 days in a row. The foliage is coming around and tomorrow is my day off!!!! Yay! Maybe I will go looking for more good stuff. xoxo judy