THE BLUE CANOE FOR WW

A few weeks ago a friend and I went up to Orange Co. CA to a wonderful shop in downtown Orange Circle, called Country Roads. Earlier, we had the pleasure of speaking with Tim the owner of THE BLUE CANOE. He told us he was now in this antique store, Country Roads and we should go and check out his space. All I can say is WOW! This guy is so amazing with how and what he puts together. He does all the vignetting. He and his wife, Lisa sell at a great flea market up in Northern Ca. monthly..but here at this great shop is where you can see his artful displays daily. (Clara and Marcella I know you are also in this shop, but couldn't find your space and they were so slammed at the front desk I couldn't get anyone to help...so sorry!! We'll go again and I find out where you are first!!) I thought this would be a great display of white for Kathleen's White Wednesday. You can check out others who are participating here. I hope you all have a great day!
GALE

DOIN' THE HAPPY CHRISTMAS POLKA

I'm so excited...we're leaving in a couple hours for our daughter Amy's home in Bird Rock. We will be celebrating Christmas with Amy, Paulo (her hubby) and their two children, Tabatha and Adric. Our son David and his wife Linda along with new baby Brooklyn will also join us. Sadly our daughter Heather and her hubby Shawn and their two kids, Savannah and Holly can not make it, but we will travel to Arizona after Christmas to celebrate with them. We will attend midnight Mass at the local church to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Bob and I will be spending the night with Amy and Paulo so we can wake up with the children and see what Santa has brought them...Children absolutely make Christmas morning so magical. We will walk to the small town to see a live nativity and then off to a friends for an open house. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful tight family!

My hope for you all is that you have a very blessed Christmas and enjoy a peaceful and wonderful time, whatever you are doing!

Gale

JWL CLUB

About 6 months ago I clicked on the button on Debbie of Talking Trash's blog and read what she had wonderfully written about how to honor our fellow women while working in this business . I honestly was taken back on how right on the nose she hit some of my very feelings...none so prevalent as I am feeling about number four today. I know many of you can understand, to have your most precious creation copied and blatantly published on a blog is such a slap in ones face...Aren't there enough ideas out there that all of us can put our own twist on old and new ideas without stealing exactly someone's original one. And by one who poses as a friend at that. I consider that the lowest!

I realize that this is a side that I never show, but I am so sadden that this has happened that I felt compelled to ask Debbie if I could use her resolutions and publish them again on my site.

1. I resolve to always have my sisters-in-business back at all times. If she needs something and I have it to share, it's hers. This may be in setting up, tearing down or just an itch. If she needs an extra two hands, she's got them. This also means I will not use said back as a launching pad. You will never find my footprints on your favorite tee.
2. I resolve to never talk about someone behind their back. If I have a gripe or complaint, I'll take it to the source. I'll risk a b---h slap for honesty. I also resolve to try and avoid those who like to stir you-know-what!
3. I resolve never to question someone else's taste. We're all different and that's what makes us each unique. If you love it, I love it for you, even if it is dog butt ugly to me. Always!
4. I resolve never to borrow someone else's idea without permission and when I do I further resolve to give credit where credit is due. This is a big one but there is just way too much stealing (let's just call it what it is) out there and it has got to stop.
5. I resolve to share ideas, tips, locales, recipes, love advice, sources and just about anything you can think of to help you stay in business. I do draw the line at Cat Daddy unless you really, really need him then we'll negotiate.
6. I resolve to listen when you need someone to listen. I'll even let you whine and have a little pity party if necessary. Heck, I'll whine with you.
7. I resolve to never repeat anything you tell me if you tell me not to. This one is very important. Everyone needs to let off steam now and then and one needs to know it's not going to come back and bite one on the butt.

Thank you Debbie for allowing me to republish you resolutions and I will for ever try to uphold the pledge of being a JWL Club member!!

P.S. If anyone wants a original Wizard's Tattered Elegance you can find it on this site and no other! Thanks gals for allowing me to vent!!

Rebecca over at Rebecca for Vintage living is celebrating her birthday and is have a giveaway for the next 7 days until Jesus' birthday. Go on over and check out the beauty she is giving away!

ON MY KNEES

Picture this...Friday morning this is the last barn sale of the season and my stress level was there...believe me. The night before at ten I am ON MY KNEES upholstering two chairs, only to run out of gimp...so at 7 Friday morning I am running (30 minutes each way, by the way) to Walmart to get the last on the roll of gimp that I need....get home work on the chairs...OH NOOOOOOOOOOO! I am still short by 12 inches...I have to make one of those executive decisions that I hate...put the chairs in anyway and pray that my customers will understand that I will finish up the arm for whom ever decides that they love the chairs enough to buy them!...So, I get the chairs in, take a breath and realize that my lights haven't all been plugged in, so I am ON MY KNEES, again, plugging in my lights. Well, I guess I didn't realize that it was exactly 10 o'clock and the doors always open promptly at 10...so there I am with my customers coming in and I am ON MY KNEES! But that's okay cause they are the best customers and I am here for their entertainment...BUT the final thing that put me ON MY KNEES was one of my fellow bloggers...I met her through White Wednesday, Suzan of oldgreymare. She came all the way from Las Vegas Nevada area to shop at the barn and to meet me!! What a wonderful person and she even brought me a present!! This darling little bag that says joy on it and it is filled with Christmas clipping and then a bar of her goats milk soap!! Isn't that the best! I was so taken back, thank you again Suzan!! Then the gals from Coronado came up they have a store called the Attic. I met them through Heather Bullard when she was at the barn last month. Unfortunately it was so crazy that I didn't get to spend any time with them, but I want to thank you for coming!! Then Lori from Vignettes came, what a special gal she is! I always enjoy my visits with her!! I tell you, I am blessed and was truly brought to my knees with thank fullness and gratitude for such wonderful people in my life...Now

Come...sit back and take a peek at the pictures I took of my space.....I hope you enjoy!!I see I have a picture not rotated correctly...have fun standing on your head! Lol

This month I have added a few new items to my line of linens...The first is a table drape for those wonderfully ugly plastic utilitarian banquet tables. They drape to the floor and are rather like a slip cover for the table...great for serving buffet style Christmas dinners...so perhaps for those flea market sellers...hmmm. The next two pictures are of the Christmas tree skirts. I also made Table runners..oops no good pics, sorry.

Once again my pillows were a sell out. I am so humbled beyond belief that I can't express my gratitude enough to my wonderful customers that have purchased and encourage me to keep on sewin'! And to you, all of my blogger friends, a couple of months ago you all encouraged me to put my pillows in the shop...I really am thankful that you all gave me such kind and wonderful support. You make my heart sing with your every comment!

These are a few of the necklaces I made this month. They're on a cardboard backing covered with sheet music and I sewed a piece of vintage lace on each and then punched a hole in the top and laced with ribbon so that they could be hung on a tree as an ornament or given as a gift.

MISSING YOU ALL

Boy, am I a baaaaad blogger! I am so knee deep in getting ready for our final show of the year that I can't seem to catch up enough to even get on the computer!! It started with me going on a wonderful buying trip in Phoenix with my daughter...and I had...(notice I said had)... loads of pictures to show you of the super great stores we went to and then my computer (or was it me ??, na) lost all the pics...
Now, once again I am in my panic mode as the show is this Friday and I'm still doing projects and should be decorating...woe is me!!
Just please know that I miss you all and I miss seeing and reading the wonderful posts you all do. I am going to try and post some pictures of our last show of the year later in the week...and then I'll have a wonderful 6-7 week break..to catch up on all you good little bloggers....yipee!!
My Best you
Gale

THANKS GRAMPS

Today, I'm not going to post any photos, but instead I am joining WHAT'S IN A NAME hosted by Sares of Loveleigh Treasures.. When I first read a few of the gal's blogs that are participating, I thought, I can't do this, who cares about why my name is my name.


This morning when I awoke and read more about another and another blogger that is participating in this, I have changed my mind...Now... I am going to speak about my name. While I may not be the most eloquent writer, please know that this does come from my heart...so bare with me here gals.


While I was sitting and reading all these wonderful gals talking about there given names, as I said, I was having self doubt...Well, my Dad (who has passed) and I have this very special bond, even today..whew this is difficult. Anyway, I felt his presence, slapping me and saying "shame on you".


As a child I never much liked my name. Why did my parents name me such an odd name...why couldn't they name me something cute like Susie, Patty, or even my Mom's name Catherine? I think I struggled my entire childhood with my name.

Oddly enough, it wasn't until my Mom passed that I started to get it. For 30 years my Mom passionately studied and documented our family history. She wrote snail mail letters and patiently awaited answers. She and my Dad traveled numerous time all across the United States, so she could traipse through graveyards looking for our ancestors. They would go for hours to courthouses and libraries looking for clues on my family's genealogy.


When she passed as I was going through her affairs, I thought, "what am I going to do with all this "Stuff" that was her research, her life, her passion". Once again my Dad "slapped" me (he had already passed) telling me of course I would continue this in my Mom's honor.


Then came the how,... where,..ME? As I sorted through the piles and piles (like I said everything was snail mail and hand written...little computer usage here gals)of papers, court records, names dates....THERE IT WAS...my answer...I had been named GALE after two of my grandfathers, Kenneth Gale Quade and William Gale Quade...

In all of my pity partying, I realized that I had forgotten that years ago Mom and Dad did tell me I was named after them, but they never made a big deal out if it, as I am sure that they thought I would just carry it proudly...But these are men names...not cut little girl's names....

Both Kenneth Gale and his father William Gale, as I have found, were very strong men, beating all kinds of odds. I won't get into that now, as I tend to get very passionate and carried away with my genealogy...YES, my genealogy in honor of my Mom and my family! And that's what my name means to me...family and the carrying on, proudly of my ancestry.

I know this is long and laborious, so stay with me just a little longer... Through all this genealogy research (a researching of me) I now have a sense of pride for my name (only took about 50 years!!).


My middle name is LEE...named for my Mom's surname and our direct connection to Robert E. Lee! My maiden name is Quade, derived from McQuade. The Mc was dropped with the McQuades came to the United States from Ireland in 1818. They lived amongst the Italian community in New York and there was much discrimination against the Irish in those days, so the Mc was dropped to blend into the community better. Now I know why they're called the "Fighting Irish"!!

My married name is Payne. Here again my genealogy has been quite the blessing. My husband's family never knew anything about his family's history. One day I googled his mother's surname...and what do you know, it took me to places I never dreamed...In short, I now have his family history on both of his parent's side and even traced ,and now documented, back to Revolutionary times....

Where does this get me and what does it all mean to me...



Well, first and foremost, I carried on my Mother's dream, secondly I have now a legacy to pass on to my children and their children, and lastly I am finally proud of each and every name I have GALE LEE QUADE PAYNE.

As for my blog...my daughters came up with this name "Wizard of Once Was" They told me they were always amazed at what I could create, literally out of nothing...hence the name...thank you girls it's been a wonderful journey,.. this blogging world.

Well, there you have it ME...just me. Have a great day and do go over and visit Sares blog as you also my find that you do love your name after all!

SO, THANKS, GRAMPS!

My Very best to you all,
Gale

A VERY SPECIAL WHITE WEDNESDAY!

Happy white Wednesday to all of you!! This great blog party is hosted by Kathleen of Faded Charm. You can see all the other gals participating in the party here .

Well, ya all wanted me to show you some of the items I purchased at the Rose Bowl Carnival Brocante, hosted by Heather Bullard. The unfortunate thing is this...everything I purchased sold (that's good), but the pictures of everything I purchased, either I forgot or didn't take a pic of (that's bad...slap my hands)

NOW for the really really good news. For those of you who don't know who Heather Bullard is (you can go to her site here)...she is the contributing editor for the new FLEA MARKET STYLE magazine and also a host of a number of other magazines. When we met her at ROSE BOWL Sunday the 7th, she asked about the barn sale at Matildas. On Friday, Heather arrived, camera in hand and took lots and lots of pictures! You can view some on her blog (here). What a wonderful person she is! Absolutely as genuine and friendly as they come!! We had a great morning with her in spite of the craziness! She took pictures before the barn opened and then that girl got to shop,shop, shop!!

This is the entrance to my space at Matildas and this is the Victorian bed that I showed in a post about two weeks ago. It is 7 feet high, and from 1860! (Yep, it sold). Believe me, there were some of those 1:00 a.m. nights that this bed looked mighty good!! It was quite the task to paint as I had to ladder it most of the time. In the back you can see some of my pillows and bedding.

Here is a picture of some of my "Tattered Elegance by the Wizard" pillows that I made for this show. I also made bedding, duvet, dust ruffles, and stockings...It's a sell out folks!! thanks to all of you who purchased my new line...They'll be more next month! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your overwhelming response!!

Sweet little French chair along with a silver fur throw for those long winter nights. That picture is of my Mom when she was eight....I added the glitter crown.

I even made some home-made crumb topped apple pies...Hey, I gal has to eat every so often!! Coffee right next to it...yum!

This is that Wolfe dress form that I also purchased a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't going to put it in, but then thought, heck, I'll just price it high...that didn't work...it sold! I little sad, but oh well..I'll just be on the hunt for another one!

Here is another view in my space. The chairs are the one I showed a couple of weeks ago. I actually got eight! Four were in perfect condition and the other had to be repaired and painted...white of course. they all sold...yippee! I purchased them from a gentleman who used to own a very exclusive rest home for wealthy women. In the early 1960's he commissioned a gentleman in the East to hand make this chairs...no nail, screws in any way. He paid $6,000. for 8 chairs!!! Needless to say I didn't even come close to paying that...not even!!

I love this cross against the open book, the lace and the bottle. Well that's it for today folks...hope you all enjoyed! Don't forget to check out all the other gals that are participating in White Wednesday. You can find the list over at Kathleen's blog here . Happy White Wednesday!! ( so sorry about this crazy formatting!! It's about to drive me crazy...way too tired to figure it out tonight, but you all will forgive me, right?...sides you just want the pics anywhoo...ha ha)

CARNIVAL BROCANTE AT THE ROSE BOWL

A week ago today, Sandra and I headed once again to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena,CA. It's about a 2 hour drive...but oh,so worth it! It was extra special day as Heather Bullard was hosting Carnival Brocante. She invited gals to shop, share, eat, laugh for the day at the Rose Bowl. What an absolute fabulous time we had.

We arrived earlier (cause we're cheaters..he he) and shopped for about 2 hours first. Then we met Heather Bullard, Jennie Doh, Pam Garrison, and Amy Hanna,along with about 40 other women at the front gate. After we introduced ourselves, chatted..we were off like crazy women to shop. The front half alone will take about three hours to go through!!

Then we met back at the food court for lunch and show and tell. After lunch we went back in for more shopping of course. By three vendors start taking down...so we had to hurry and pick up all of our heavy and I do mean heavy purchases!!

What a great day...thank you Heather, Jen, Pam and Amy for hosting such a wonderful day to network with so many great and talented women!




Me junkin' bud Sandra





Ladies, start your engines!!

Here we all are ready to go through those gates and get to shopping!!

I won ,I won! I won best decorated cart! Can you all guess which one is mine? The other is Sandra's.



Heather, Jen, Pam and Amy made these cute bags for the prizes! This is mine!! Ye haw!


This was the cutest bag made by Karen...but sorry my picture is the worst!! Trust me it was the cutest red and white bag and she made it the night before the Rose Bowl...We're all such die-hards!


Karen won the prize for the cutest bag!


Getting ready to go back for more shopping at the Rose Bowl!!




















Heather and Amy...humm I wonder what they're laughing about...Hey, I didn't get that dirty trying to get that table!!

YAHOO, I'M BACK IN THE GAME!

Hi everyone! Finally I' am going to participate again in White Wednesday, hosted by Kathleen.....I'm just a little back from all my insanity.... I was working at the barn getting ready for this week's Christmas show until 1:00 a.m. last night. Not hardly finished, but thought I would show just a sample of some areas I am working on. A little white, pink, gold and silver for this November Christmas show. You can go on my side bar and click on the picture for driving directions and hours for the barn sale....(it's this Friday, Sat, and Sunday). Be sure and check out Kathleen's blog for more wonderful gals participating in this White Wednesday! Have a great day and I'll post more on the vignettes as they get finished.