I spent the weekend with inky fingers, creating art with my peers at Artiscape in Dublin, Ohio. I had so been looking forward to the annual weekend-long event. My friend Cathy and I travel together – she’s the driver. We left Friday morning and took nearly the whole day to get there, stopping at any antique store along our path. We even ventured into one estate sale where we scored some interesting objects!

We took a little side trip to Wapakoneta to visit Gild the Lily, a lovely little antique shop we visited about three years ago. We were so glad we made to effort to get there because Glenna, who is 90 years old and the shop’s owner, was selling everything off in preparation for her retirement. We had a lovely chat with her and I bought some beautiful vintage lace to use in classes and on my own projects. Love my road trips with Cathy!

My first class Saturday was with Nancy Curry, who I was not familiar with, but her class sample intrigued me. I’m so glad I ventured into her class. It was three hours of play time with intense water colors, beautiful fibers and beads and I am so pleased with the final results. I walked away with a new enthusiasm for playing with watercolors!

Saturday afternoon I played with burned band-aid tins, rusted metal, vintage papers and old photos. This wonderful little tin houses an adorable mini book created from small Formica tiles, vintage papers and other little dangly things all tied together with raggedy muslin. I would have never thought old rusty stuff could look so nice. Four full hours of creative, free-flow fun with Lesley Venable! It doesn’t get much better than this – unless, you get to do it all over again Sunday!

And I did! Sunday’s class with Lesley included a kit with more Formica tile samples – large ones this time! In the bag were also vintage cabinet cards and papers, mica and a few other little trinkets. Another three hours of free, creative time, chatting with new friends and sharing a laugh or two.

There’s something to be said about breaking routine, meeting new friends and being open to learning new techniques.

It’s good to get away and enjoy new experiences, but now it’s back to work. We’re prepping this week for the popular Davisburg Antique Festival.

This will be our first major show so it’s a little nerve-racking trying to figure out what to take and how to get it there. I spent an hour today making a list of necessary items to bring along with the furniture. Stuff like phone charging cord, rope, signage, Sharpie, credit card reader and so much more! My biggest fear is we’ll get out there, the show will start and THEN I realize I forgot a very important thing like the change box! Hoping for good weather and lots of people who like to shop. Search out our booth – we’ll be in the tented section (not quite sure where that is). It’s a great show and they have lots of fair food – love me some elephant ears!