Sunday, March 11, 2012

The 49th Annual Chiselers Market and a Fun Artsy Blog

Yesterday, Duane and Linda and I went to the annual sale held by the ladies of the Chiselers Market.  (See last year's posting on March 4, 2011 for info on our previous experience.)  The members of the Chiselers group prepare all year long for this sale held in beautiful Plant Hall.  This was actually Duane's first time at this sale but Linda and I prepared her for what to expect.  Crowded and long lines.  We ran into our friend, Danny, who has attended the sale many times before.

Unlike last year, this year we knew what to expect, particularly which areas of the sale we wanted to hit first.  Last year Linda and I made the mistake of getting to the furniture section (held on one of the verandas) too late.  Linda had been looking for possible end or accent tables and we saw many lovely ones.  All with sold signs on them.  Not this time, baby.  As the three of us pushed our way through the crowd (it's also 'bring your own bags'), Linda stopped to look at a few Queen Anne style tables.  Then as we reached the end of the furniture section, there it was.  A desk for Linda's home office.  She had been looking for the past year at new and used ones but couldn't find what she was looking for.  She had wanted a white one and may paint this one (it's stained wood) but it was such a great deal.  (Linda sent the pic of the desk after she got it home.)    Solid wood with a keyboard drawer, two deep file drawers and a section with a door perfect for a CPU.  The three of us stood there literally hanging onto it -- trust me, you have to do this -- until one of the Chiselers came through and Linda could pay and have the desk marked 'sold.'  The price?  A whopping $20.  Score!

Linda's desk.

We also scored on a smaller scale in the book room with purchases of books for pleasure reading but also some nice knitting and crocheting books for our little 'group' library.  I spent a grand total of 75 cents.  We checked out the big room called the Bargain Center hoping we might score some yarn or vintage knitting needles but if they had had any, they were gone by the time we got to that room.  Unlike last year, we didn't even TRY to get close to the jewelry section.  It was wall-to-wall derrieres around that booth and even though we had sharpened our elbows before the sale, none of us felt like fighting to reach the point where we could at least see some of the jewelry.  That was OK, though.  Linda's big score was reason enough to consider the sale a success.  We headed to a parking lot sale at one of our favorite vintage shops (I scored some DVDs there) and then stopped for refreshments at Starbucks.

Linda had to rent a truck in order to get the desk to her house.  (It's cash and carry at the Chiselers sale.)  She and Duane went to Home Depot and secured a truck.  I told them to give me a call if they needed me once they got the desk to Linda's house.  I had a feeling it was going to be really heavy since it was solidly made.  I was right.  Duane called from the truck as they were headed to Linda's house.  When the desk was loaded at the Chiselers' pick-up location, Linda and Duane knew they couldn't get it off the truck and into Linda's house without more help.  George and I headed to Linda's and after some groaning and huffing and puffing, we got it safely inside the house and placed it on a blanket Linda had ready for it on the floor.  Success! Now Linda just has to move her old desk out of the house (probably to the curb for anyone who wants it) and Duane and I can help her slide the new one into her home office.  Sweet.

On a different note, I've been following a site called Daily Paintings ever since I first read about it in the (sadly) now defunct home magazine called "Domino."  I've purchased several paintings from different artists on the site over the past several years and one of them, Kimberly Applegate, began a new blog recently called "Hunters and Gatherers."  Kimberly has a blog for her paintings called Joie De Vivre.  However, Hunters and Gatherers is a blog she set up for buyers of her art to show how they've chosen to display it.  When I discovered it, I loved looking at the different ways that buyers shared in their photos of placing Kimberly's art work.  I decided to send in a couple of pictures of the 'setting' for one of Kimberly's paintings that I purchased, too.  Right now, my pictures are the current post on this blog.  Have a look at mine and be sure to look back over the other buyer's photos, too.  Fab eye candy.        

3 comments:

  1. Saturday was certainly an adventure. Danny said I should have called him, even though he wasn't sure the desk would fit into his SUV. Oh, well. Duane was having such a good time that she kept me in good humor. It made all the difference. And it sure was good of George to help out.

    Looking at how people arrange their art work is very interesting. Everyone has different ideas and get very creative. That was fun to look at.

    And I love George's picture--the color is fantastic.

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  2. It was nice of Danny to offer but that desk is pretty big. George didn't mind helping out at all. I had a feeling you and Duane were going to need some extra hands. :P

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