Super Sponges and things like that

As most of you know, Valerie and I are Jack , or rather Jill's, of many trades. We dabble in painting, sewing, jewelry making, decoupage, collage, this and that and then some. One of our favorite little jewels to make are the fused glass pendants. This past Friday Valerie decided on her day off to come in while Brice was at school, and together we would make some for us to sell. You see, we say this kind of thing often. We hired Julie for Tuesday's so we could "make things to sell" and Mary for Thursday's so we could "make things to sell". Well, "making things to sell" doesn't happen too often because we get started rearranging, or Valerie gets in her hidey hole on the computer and press, or I have to do art studio recovery, or things just happen and the next thing you know it's time for us to leave. But this Friday was set, I cleaned the glass studio Thursday, got Lily and myself to the store about 9:15ish and then the routine started. Here's me, "Hey Valerie, Lily and I are going to walk to Espresso Lane because I had no cream or sugar for my coffee this morning and it is WAY past coffee time, wanna come?" and Valerie says, "Sure". So we three strut on down to Espresso Lane and I pick up my tummy warming and brain starting coffee and..... well I can't remember what Valerie got actually. Then Valerie says, "The Half Shell has great cookies that would be really yummy with these beverages". And I say, "Let's go." So the three of us set out again on a beautiful day around our quaint square. Cookies, coffee, Lily, Valerie and I then finally make our way back to TVF for a morning of creating. But first, I have to get junk outside, not real junk, but items to entice you, our customers, to come in through the doors of our amazing store. Oh, and Valerie wants to pull up a website for inspiration, but the computer is soooooooooooo slow (We need a new one but opt for more merchandise instead). Oh, and did you make a deposit? and what about e-mails?, you checked for any messages? man I need to check the belt buckles from last night upstairs...... Don't let Lily out! etc....etc....etc.... So I imagine around 10:30ish we finally get into the glass mode of thinking. That's when we decided to get out the glass grinder that had been sitting under a table in the back for 8 months or so to use for our morning of "making things to sell". Okay, I am right brained, Valerie is right-brained, and Lily, well she walks on her hands! As I think back I am giggling a bit at us putting this *@X@?X thing together. The pics I've attached up top are of the "SUPER SPONGE", man would Spongbob be proud! This thing cracked me up, I just had to have a before and after photo with it. After much ado, we finally got the glass grinder thing together and started our creative process when Fused Friday friends came in. We love these girls, so Valerie did a demo and got them started because in the meantime, my Mother had appeared for a portrait drawing 101 lesson to do with her kids at Heritage for a t-shirt design for a program yaddy, yaddy, yadda. Next thing I know Valerie is running out the door saying, "Gotta get Brice" Already 11:30? 10 minutes later she comes in saying gotta go, not a good day to bring little man in to the store. I take a deep breath and do a bit of a pout because our morning of "making things to sell" has once again been a futile attempt. Good news is though, I got amazingly busy and didn't have time to pout long! Man I love my job!

Tour du Georgia?

Okay, so today was a big day for Newnan. The Tour du Georgia bike race came riding through town right in front of our store. Yep. And they did it while Valerie and I were in the store so we missed it. We'd given up on their impending arrival and had just gone back in to....well.....work of course! We had some fun waiting with these GIANT hands though. This is Julie, me and Valerie out front waving and Valerie and I giving some serious high-fives. You betcha these will be re purposed in our store somewhere. And I am sure if you ask Valerie, she'd sell it to you. I am thinking about borrowing one for tonight first though. tisk...tisk....

Growing Fleas

Lily is growing like crazy, especially in the belly!Man I wish I could lay around like she does some days, especially on these long spring afternoons! As your spring fever hits and you go ninety to nothing like Valerie and I do getting your house clean, the flowers planted and the pollen off the cars, be sure to stop in to say hello and check out our new finds. We just had a truck delivered from an auction so we have tons of new furniture for sale!

OOOO... I almost forgot to mention our spring cleaning sale in the art studio this Thursday through Saturday. If you missed out on this one in the fall, you'll not want to miss now! Up to 75% off Easter, Christmas, Halloween, store fixtures, and just junk!

THE SCREAM!

As I was being rolled down the driveway to get the van positioned better for being jumped off, Valerie took this picture and said this has got to go on the blog, you look like Edvard Munch's Scream! There are a few similarities, don't you agree? The situation definitely suited a scream!

Beach Babies

I just have to show off a few of our favorite pictures of our baby fleas. Aren't they the cutest kids ever? On the left is William (7), Brice (5) and Olivia (8). The girls above are Mailey (5) and Olivia again. Mailey and William are my fleas, Brice and Olivia Valerie's.

I have to say this really was a great week for all of us. The weather was fabulous, great for shell searching and football throwing! The pools were heated which made for a nice afternoon activity. We also filled our time with games, movies and naps! Our favorite night activity had to be the Seaside Artwalk. There we meet some great shop owners, found some inspirational ideas, and the kids danced under the moonlight on the promenade. I imagine we will do this again next year!

Jinxed!

Hey Ya'll! Yep, you guessed it. We are the traveling flea road circus! If you've read my old blogs, you would know that road trouble seems to love us. So here's the latest story. I'd have let you known earlier in the week this silly saga, but we had no internet access. Talking about feeling like the dark ages!

Let me preface this story with the real beginning of the road trouble. We headed out of town Monday morning with the kids and cars loaded for a week of sun and fun. We both packed and decided to meet at the store for the journey to begin. Sunday night while packing my husband had COPS on. They of course had a lovely woman pulled over for speeding who just happened to have a warrant out for her arrest. That is when it hit me that I had a pile of parking tickets from downtown Newnan (where the meter maid is relentless!) in my glove compartment. Guess what, if you don't pay those $25 pain in the -----s they put out a warrant for your arrest. So needless to say, we made a little trip to the police station on the way out of town to pay my 5. I had high hopes that this would ward off any pending road trouble later in the trip. Boy was I wrong!

We arrive Monday afternoon with no trouble, and quite a pleasant ride too I might add. Valerie had the boys, I the girls. It took about 7 hours with several junkin' stops, several potty stops and several junk food stops, but we made it safe and sound into the dreamy beach village of Carillon. We unloaded, dressed for the pool and swam until way past bedtime. As we settled in for the night, there was prediction of rain, so I ran out and rolled up the windows to my van parked in front of Valerie's Suburban. We spent the next day at the beach and pool all day. I guess it was late that afternoon that Mailey was looking for the mermaid Barbie I thought might be in the van. That's when I discovered it locked, and moments later discovered that the keys were yes, in the ignition. Not worried because we had the suburban, I walked up to the guard house and asked if the police could be called for a jimmy. Informed very politely that they do not do this, I was given Dana's locksmith #. After a call in to her I decided that calling Billy to mail the spare would be cheaper. Only problem, no key for the mailbox. UPS! So, he located the extra key and placed it in the hands of our dear brown service. I received the keys on Thursday morning and placed them in my purse. Happy that the $6.00 was very well spent and we could get home. That afternoon we were headed to Seaside and all hopped into the van only to find that yes, you guessed it, it was dead. So, I won't bore you with many details, because the pictures tell it all above. We had to get the cuttey pattootees from two doors down to help roll the van down the drive and then jump it off. I parked it carefully front facing this time and sent the boys on back to Atlanta! We ended up having to leave it connected to the suburban for a long bit Saturday morning prior to our long trip home. Luckily, it made the whole trip home without a hitch!

Much Needed Vacation

The Flea Chicks and their baby fleas are headed to the beach for some much needed R&R. We are taking 2 cars full of stuff (everything but the kitchen sink as they say!), tons of sunscreen, no husbands (or a babysitter) and our fingers crossed for happy weather! I am sure I will have more adventures of car tragedies once I return. That's why we are taking two cars, so we have a back-up if one doesn't make it! We hope for a hidden junkin' treasure mart along the way too. Our kids are turning into flea market junkies by default, and hopes that they too will find a treasure! We hope you and your family have a fabulous Spring Break. See you soon!