Fall Craft Season Kicksoff

Wow! Have I been busy getting ready for the Fall Craft Show Season. I'm so glad you stopped by, I'v been thinking of you today. My first show was not planned as I explained in my last post. It was in a very beautiful setting at our local County Park, Sharonwoods, in the Heritage Village, which is a living museum of sorts. This was my display tent on Sat. the 19th.............................................................................................. As you can see it was a lovely shaded spot dappled by sunshine and the temps were delightful, not too hot not too chilly. Being this was the first year they had invited Craft Vendors, I wasn't sure how large this event would be, so I brought a small mix of my designs. There were only 7 of us that attended. On lady had beautiful fabric decoupaged plate designs, another did fleece throws, while another had created jean purses and decorative dish towels. One young lady did beautiful hand-painting on anything fabric and the rest created whimsical and fashionable jewelry designs. The only disappointment was the lack of attendees. There were last minute ads on the t.v. and fliers sent to the Society Members, but this weekend is very busy with the Cincinnati Oktoberfest and several other established Autumn kickoff events. On Sun. the 20th it rained...and rained....and rained. The day was a literal washout. We all left by noon, so it turned out to be a learning event for the staff.

Below are a few shots from my tent.........................................................
This is the Vorhis House. They were making apple cider out back and inside the ladies were cooking up some wonderful stew at the hearth.
The Chester Park train station and woods behind were my backdrop, and this......

Beautiful Victorian Lady was beside me. The Elklick House is fully furnished and decorated in period design with several outbuildings, arbor, and a chicken coup.

This is quite a large village area taking up many acres along a sleepy creek that runs through the park. There are many other period homes and outbuildings, a Doctor's residence and office, a printing shop, merchantile, church (they rent out for weddings), and a new old one room school house. I'm amazed at how many don't know it's there...lol its been a work in progress since 1972....I'll have to take more pics to post later, it really is a pretty place. At Christmas they have it all decked out. If your in that neck of the woods you ought to stop by and check it out during any season.

Okay now to the next event the 35th Sharonville Kiwanis Arts and Craft Show
that took place yesterday the 27th. This is the oldest Craft Show in the area.

There were 49 vendors this year. It was cloudy, breezy, and chilly. The Bengals were playing the Steelers, longtime rivalry, and that meant parties and sports bars. You can see attendance was a little low, but at least they were buying!

Here is a view of my booth area. I was right on the corner of Creek and Reading Roads. I wish I had had time to snap some shots of others vendors booths. Everyone did something so different from the other. For example, Marlene does free-form pottery using her garden flowers and leaves as inspiration and as 'stamps' and the Cozy Nest does traditional pottery teapots, vases, etc. I used vintage textiles and hand-embroidery and embellishments to create my designs, another lady created clothing , purses, and home accents using new fabrics and machine embroidery....definately two distinct looks. I like shows that incorporates diverse creativity.

Well, I'm off to complete some of my future designs for the other upcoming shows.

Check out my website http://www.brownginghamcreations.com/ and go to Local Antique and Crafts for place and time info. I hope you can stop by one of them if you're in the area! Oh, and let me know when your next event is.

Melody

It's Over The Hump Day!

Well, it's Wednesday. It's the middle of the week already and I have so much to do. I'm so happy you stopped by though. Excuse all the stuff laying around.....you see it's time for the Harvest

Festival at our local county park, Sharonwoods in the Heritage Village. They decided...last minute of course..not only to have all the 19Th century buildings in period decor open as usual with demonstrations and tours, a Steam and Gas Tractor Show, food, seasonal decorations, and gardens, but they will have a small craft venue to see how it goes. We will (weather permitting) be placed along the village road under our canopies or tents. If it rains we will be in the main

ballroom of the Haynor House or the Mercantile Store. If you wonder over to my post from Sunday, you'll see some of the things I'll be adding to my displays and more show info. Let me

know what you think. I have a couple of other things I'm trying to get ready,but there is another show the following weekend,Sunday the 20th, in downtown Sharonville with over 50 vendors, so I'll have more new items for that. Last year I won First Place for Mixed Media Fiber Art, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. There are so many varied vendors and all so talented. Oh Here's what my booth looked like last year............................................................................

I try to make it look like a little store. I use antiques for display props, like the little twin bed fixed as a seat. When it was all set up I had lighting and a table so that I could embroidery while people watched. I really like doing shows.

Since you're here I thought I'd show you my tablesetting for Tablescape Thursday over at Susan's Between Naps On The Porch.

This tablescape was created by Alma and Myself to represent our flower shop, A&J's Floral Boutique, at the Autumn Flower Show put on by the Cincinnati Horticultural Society a few years back. It was given a Gold Award of Excellence.

We started with a 42" metal and wood table. Wrapped in natural burlap and topped it with a fall tablecloth. We then took a large grapevine cornucopia as the focal and filled it with fruits, veggies, gourds, and pumpkins. Grapevine and a

myriad of mixed flowers in fall colors were added to create a cascade of bounty to the floor. Two tall copper candle holders flanked the cornucopia and when they were lit the aroma of pumpkin pie wafted around the table. The buffet setting was completed by adding fall tone pottery plates, wooden handled silverware in green linen napkins tied by raffia and accented with small

fresh yellow mums that have a brown center To top this all off Alma even baked a pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing, which was decorated with

a miniature pumpkin and of course more fresh flowers. It took several hours, actually from 5p to 1a, to complete this design, but we were very happy with the outcome. Anyway by 8p all the other designers had gotten there to complete their competition table and it became one big party....lol....we almost lost our cake, it all smelled so good, (we were the only ones to complete the design with food! But everyone forgot about dinner!) Thank goodness the Society brought in pizza.

Well, I'd better get back to work. I'm glad you stayed. You can browse thru some of my past posts if you like and don't forget to stop by Susan's at Betweennapsontheporch to see all the other wonderful Tablescape Thursday participants.

Hey, I know, if you're here in the Cincinnati area this Saturday and Sunday or next Sunday the 2oth ...stop by my booth for a chat...... I'd love to finally meet.

It has been a busy week!

Wow, I hope your Sunday is as beautiful as it is here in Cincinnati. I've had a busy morning. I've been sitting on porch swing listing new items on my Etsy site. Here is a sample....................

Here are a couple of things I haven't listed yet.

I've been sewing like crazy getting ready for upcoming craft chows all around the Greater Cincinnati area. The first one, the Harvest Festival at the Southwest Ohio Historical Village, at Sharonwoods. Is next weekend....Sept.19th and 20th 10a-5p. There are 19th-century

re-enactors, food, crafts, village tours of period furnished and decorated homes, businesses, and a church. Tractor and gas engine show and much more. If you're close to Cincinnati/Sharonville Ohio next weekend maybe I'll see you there?

Past Meets Future.....Cool

Back in the early summer my friend Beth of Bethsbagz and Dimestorechic had a blog sale of some of her vintage finds she couldn't use. I was so excited when I saw this.....................

actually 2 issues of Flower Grower from 1958 and 1959 as well as a 1946 Family Circle...all Christmas. You know me and the floral designer in me..I had to snatch them up. They were filled with holiday decorating ideas, Christmas decoration how-to's, wonderful stories and articles, and ...........

great ads!

But, now for the cool thing. You see the ad for the Spinning Wheel planter?

Here is the Spinning Wheel we found while on one of our antique rides. Evidently it was a series..this one was from 196o.

And, the ad for the Flower Arrangement Calender really caught my eye..........................................................................




....you see I have the 1960 (my birth year) and 1959 additions.

This is why I love antiquing. To find pieces that have a history. To think someone used this item..who were they, what was their life like? I am a child of the 60's, but am lucky enough to have been exposed to many family heirlooms and treasures of the 19th and early and mid- 20th century, that were in daily use..some still today. Quilts, linens, ceramics, glassware, furniture, jewelry, and other sundry items. Probably not worth much, but has much meaning for me. I think of relatives who used the items and stories of their lives. Kind of like a living history.

I think it is soooo cool to receive old magazines all the way from Va. and have two pieces of history one from Ind. and the other from Ky. that are in those ads. Do you have any finds that you have made that are remembrances of long ago? Leave a comment with your story...I and other readers would love to hear about it!

Happy Labor Day Everyone! I wasn't sure if we were doing Show-off Monday due to the holiday. Today I'm showing off a post I did last Thursday for Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. I had been visiting her blog for a long time enjoying the diverse and inspirational vignettes. I was invited to participate and was sooooo nervous, but what fun. And, I was asked to join in again! SO many ideas... makes you stretch your creative muscle......not enough table space...lol. I know you all have seen my porch, but I thought it was outside the box so to speak. And, this is a great way to showcase some of my designs and vintage finds.
Thanks for stopping by on your holiday! Don't forget pop over to the Tablescape Thursday/betweennapsontheporch link in the post to see all the wonderfully talented tablescape designers!
Melody











Wow, Thursday came fast! Again I'd like to thank Susan for hosting this wonderful blog theme and thank her for allowing me to participate. I've been following Susan's blog for a while, but was a little hesitant to join in with all of the inspiring and beautiful tablescapes I saw every week.

Since this is my first Tablescape Thursday I thought I'd keep it simple. I love utilizing my front porch as much as possible. It's our outdoor room, even in the winter, if it's mild.(it's has been known to go up into the 60's at Christmas here in Cincinnati...so I even keep it fully decorated at Christmas.) Visit here http://brownginghamcreations.blogspot.com/2009/06/come-on-sit-spell.htmlml and here http://brownginghamcreations.blogspot.com/2009/06/im-back.html to see how it looks during the day time.

It is September...Apple Month......so, I thought I'd use an apple theme

Yes, it's dark. We eat a little late sometimes during the week, but I love the ambiance the candlelight creates, even for such a simple setting. When we have more couples I decorate the chairs and us them as set-up for place settings....it's usually informal, so we eat buffet-style.
We sit on the porch swing while the tree frogs and crickets serenade us. All those candles..citronella....give a romantic glow and keep all the flying pests at bay. This next picture gives a good view of my September dinnerware. The apple motif place settings are called the 'Cades Cove Collection' by Citation. They were a premium giveaway from the Meijer Grocery Store in the early 90's. Since Cades Cove, Tn. is our most favorite spot in the world we made sure to collected the whole set. The glasses are Libby, but I'm not sure what they are called, they are a fruit motif which matches an aluminum tray I found years ago that I'll use in another post. The small basket of apples gave off such a delicious aroma..I wish we had smellascreens. The vintage blue Mason jars were a gift from my Mother-In-Law. I don't can, but they make perfect candle holders....use them year round..everywhere!

The next views are of the side table I used to hold our dessert....................................

I've used my Jadite Pie pan to hold my lattice topped apple pie. Sorry, it's not an original. I couldn't afford the real thing. This is an authorized reproduction by FireKing sold in 2000. I still like it and use it all the time. Did I tell you I collect hand-wrought aluminum of the 30's-50's? My collection consists of about 75 pieces, so they will be sure to be included in more of my future tablescapes. This vintage coffee pot, sugar,and creamer with bakelite handles have a pretty little filigrees design and were a great find (only $5 for the set!) along the Longest Yard Sale route several years ago. I use them as candle holders and flower vases. The bowl is a Rodney Kent Tulip pattern, but was so discolored I use it only outside. The ivy leaf candelabra is a find at Tuesday Morning. And, lastly, I have a photo of one of my vintage apron I refurbish and redo. It fits in nicely with the apple theme and it comes with that wonderful 1950's Pies and Pastry Cookbook. The set is available on my website and my Etsy site.

Well, this is my first table setting for Tablescape Thursday. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Brown Gingham Creations blog. Stay a while check out some of my past posts. July was my 6 month blogiversary, so, I am relatively new to all of this. Still learning, still tweaking. Please come again and remember to stop by my website and Etsy site to see what I've been creating.

Don't forget to leave a comment, I can't wait to meet you! Now I'm off to visit your tablescapes to be inspired! Come along to see all the other tablescape participants at Betweem Naps On The Porch.