Matchmaker

I love to play matchmaker...

I actually have two marriages under my belt!

So when  I came across this unusual black folding stand I immediately knew it would make the perfect mate for one of my LARGE glass floats.

Don't they look like they were made for each other?

Chinese Calligraphy Brushes

You might remember my post a while back agonizing whether or not to spend $200 for this treasure...

Well, sometimes lightening strikes twice but not exactly the same way.

I scored these Chinese Calligraphy brushes last week!

Ebay Comp?

Today while trolling ebay I came across this listing...

Antique Framed Sailor's Woolies Ship Picture c. 1890's

 Superb antique framed sailor's woolies or wooly ship picture, circa 1890's or possibly earlier.

 

 

This type of folk art was stitched by sailors to pass the time aboard ship. In very good condition, colors are still bright. 

 

Frame measures 14 5/8" x 11 5/8" in size. Inscribed on the reverse: Dunbavand. 

 

This maritime scene depicts a tall ship or sailing ship.

Primarily made of wool with thread rigging. 

A wonderful primitive piece! 

Starting Bid

$999

Some of you may remember this post entitled,

Good Timing where I scored a framed stitched piece of my own.

So, what do you think?

Is the above ebay comp realistic?

 I must admit my heart skipped a beat when I saw the starting bid amount!

 

Inspiration Strikes!

In the form of RIVITS

I have Phillip Jeffries Raffia wall covering in my bedroom.

 I recently transformed a vintage cabinet/bookcase into My New Shoe Wardrobe and had the back of it covered with some of the leftover raffia paper.

I'm thinking the next step should be to add some rivets.

Are you with me?

With The Touch of a Brush

I spent Saturday afternoon with an artistic genius who happens to be a dear friend. His name is Ron Morgan.

 He ushered me into his workshop where he took out a brush and a can of paint and showed me how to transform a rather ordinary pair of mirrors, that I had sitting in my prop shop collecting dust, with just a few simple brushstrokes.

I brought them over intending to spray them a different color, but he took one look at them and declared... "They're Fab!"

"I love the color, all they need is a bit more drama".

And just like that he dipped his brush into the paint and brushed it into the center of the rings, adding bamboo leaf detail to each one.

He handed me the brush saying...

"Now get to it!"

I have a confession to make, 

I am a Virgo, a perfectionist, and I have resisted doing many things myself because I always want them to be perfect, so this was my moment of truth!

There was no way I was going to embarrass myself in front of this man who I have admired for years, so I took the brush and began to paint.

 It was challenging as I felt myself trying TOO HARD to copy his example, laboring over every stroke.

He offered a few encouraging words like, let the brush do the work which helped.

After completing the first mirror he came over with a big smile on his face declaring that it was "Fabulous" and quite a transformation.

I felt slightly more confident as I set my sights on the second mirror.

 

Halfway through I noticed he was starting to clean up and I asked if he was ready to go.  He told me to finish up and that he would busy himself with a few phone calls.

Well that was all it took for me to finally relinquish the perfectionist grip I had on the brush and effortlessly deliver my finest strokes.

It was exhilarating to stand back and look at the finished product.  Of course I fixated a bit on how each stoke looked different and a bit awkward but the overall effect was amazing and I felt liberated from the ties that have held me back from creating something with my own hands.

I've always been creative in my head but have rarely allowed myself to bring those creative ideas to life.

This was big for me!

We packed the mirrors into the back of his van and he drove me home.

After he left... I brought them into our bedroom and placed them behind the lamps on our nightstands just for fun.

My original intention was to sell them.

 I took a few steps back and I couldn't believe how amazing they looked!  To think they had been sitting in the prop shop for at least a year, forgotten and collecting dust!

Their transformation...

My transformation...

had completely transformed our bedroom!

I think there are going to be a lot more DIY's in my future :)

A Colorado Classic

Last week while visiting family in Colorado I was sitting around the breakfast table with my in-laws reading about an estate sale in the neighborhood.  The ad said they had a huge owl collection.  Jokingly I said that maybe they had the stuffed barn owl that I have wanted for the longest time.

My father-in-law said, "if you want to see some taxidermy then we need to go to the Buckhorn  Exchange!

Mind you, I lived in Colorado for 6 years in the 1980's, married a Colorado boy and yet had never heard of Denver's Oldest Restaurant until that moment!

We went online to make reservations for the following evening.

I guess we were destined to go the Buckhorn Exchange as my mother-in-law had recently received a birthday invitation in the mail entitling her to a discount in the amount of her age... 81%!

The minute we pulled up to this iconic building I knew I was in for a treat!

Just one step inside and I was lost inside a world filled with the best of west!

In fact I didn't even take my seat at the table for 20 minutes  as I walked around snapping photos of this World Famous Steakhouse that opened it's doors in 1893!

And wouldn't you know...

right inside the entrance, I looked up and there were my beloved barn owls!

From the time Buckhorn Exchange opened its doors it catered to cattlemen, miners, railroad builders, silver barons, Indian chiefs, roustabouts, gamblers and businessmen.

It seems that history, a square meal and a lusty drink always lived side-by-side at the Buckhorn.

Colorado's most historic eating and drinking emporium is now in its second century of operation.

The Buckhorn Exchange, which has liquor license Number One in the State of Colorado, was started in 1893 by Henry H. "Shorty Scout" Zeitz, easily recognized as one of the most colorful figures of the Early West.

In 1875, when Henry was only 10 years old, he met Col. William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody.

Within two years young Henry was a full-fledged member of the hard-riding, straight-shooting band of scouts.

It was during the years that Henry rode with Buffalo Bill that the great Indian leader, Chief Sitting Bull, dubbed him "Shorty Scout" due to his diminutive stature.

"Shorty Scout" Zietz became a lifelong friend to the Indian and when he died in July, 1949, the last of Cody's famous scout band was gone.

But it was his restaurant, the Buckhorn Exchange, that chronicled the lusty days of early Colorado.

President Theodore Roosevelt ate here and then went hunting with old "Shorty Scout."  Sitting Bull's nephew and a band of thirty Sioux and Blackfeet Indians come by one day and ceremoniously turned over to "Shorty" the military saber taken from the vanquished General George Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

It has always been the walls of the Buckhorn, however, that patrons have remembered through the 100-year plus history of the restaurant.

Rarely has there been a more complete collection of game--deer and moose; giant buffalo and mountain sheep; and all manner of indigenous fowl.

The fabulous gun collection includes Colt .45's, Winchesters, flintlocks, smooth bores, Derringers, repeating rifles and even a rare palm pistol.

The Buckhorn's magnificent ornate  white-oak bar and back-bar, made in Essen, Germany in 1857 was relocated to the second floor where it anchors the Buckhorn's Victorian lounge.

A splendid Roofgarten was added to serve the restaurant and its patrons.

The Buckhorn Exchange was featured in Life Magazine and Coronet Magazine in 1948 and in Holiday Magazine in 1949.

Since 1978 the Buckhorn has been written about in hundreds of newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and around the world, and been the subject of countless television shows and documentaries.

A great deal has changed at the Buckhorn since 1893, yet much is as it was in the days when the clientele packed six-guns, silver barons rubbed elbows with roustabouts, miners shook dirt out of their clothing along with the gold dust, and "Shorty Scout" entertained the customers with tales of the decade he spent on the frontier.

I still can't believe that this was the first time my husband and I had ever been here!

Believe me...

it won't be our last!

 

I can't wait to come back!

And yes, 

my sweet mother-in-law got 81% off her entree!